I’m taking a break from Homers training for a couple posts to talk about what I do to keep him healthy. Homer and I just got back from the Vet, for his yearly vaccinations. Homer gets three “extra” shots every year that our house dog’s don’t need. The first is Lyme disease, the second is Giardia and the third is Rattlesnake.
My Vet highly recommends all three for a working retriever like Homer. The Giardia shot is very important when doing water training. Many of the ponds I train Homer in have a high probability of containing Giardia. It’s a real nasty bug that causes a ton of stomach and intestinal problems. Dog’s get sick when they drink water containing the Giardia bacteria. In rare cases it can be fatal, in most cases its an expensive trip to the Vet for treatment.
According to my Vet, swimming is the BEST form of exercise for our dogs. I provides a great work-out without the pounding on hips and joints running produces. Homer gets to swim at least 3 times a week. Swimming really helps his conditioning, it also keeps his coat clean and odor free.
I’m going to do an entire post on the rattlesnake. There’s a lot of misunderstanding about this vaccination so I’ll do an entire post on what I’ve been told by my Vet.
In addition to the extra shots, Homer gets daily vitamins and Synoviflex to keep his hips and joints healthy. Homer works very hard in training and hunting so the Synoviflex is kind of preventive maintenance as well as the multi vitamin. The vitamins help assure his immune system is top notch, nicks and scrapes are fact of life for a working dog. The vitamins help prevent infections from all the little nick and scrapes Homer gets.
Contact your local Vet for the Giardia, Lyme disease and Rattlesnake shots. I’ve provided a link to find inexpensive Vitamins, Synoviflex, and Buffered asprin for dogs by clicking here. I’m also adding a new page call “HEALTH TIPS soon.
Joe Dynarski
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