John Williams Dog Training asked:
Ticks are a nasty little arachnid pest that attach to your dog and can be very irritating and soar for your pet. They carry many different diseases that can be mildly dangerous to your dog and other members of your household. Some diseases take up to twenty four hours to pass on to their host so getting rid of the pests easily and quickly is essential.
There are a lot of ways that you may have been taught as a child to get rid of ticks from the skin, the most popular is probably to burn the tick into releasing his grip of his own accord so no further problems can arise of having the jaws still stuck into the skin.
The second way often taught to get rid of ticks is to smother them in oil based liquids of Vaseline to help take the tick out in a similar fashion to the way noted above.
These ways are both wrong and can be very dangerous, the first is dangerous, can be painful for your dog and will more than likely scare your dog into behaving in a bad manner. The second is also dangerous and unneeded, the idea is to keep your skin and around the area of the tick as clean as possible to avoid further infection or disease.
The way to remove the tick properly and with little damage or pain is to use sterilised tweezers to dislodge the critter, it takes patience if the tick is stubborn and doesn’t want to move but it is the safest way to remove the pests.
Be careful not to pull on the ticks body wile pulling him out, if you pull too hard on the body it will come off separate to the jaws and mouth of the tick causing it to be harder to dislodge.
Start by cleaning the tweezers with alcohol or burning over a flame if alcohol is not available. You may want to also put alcohol around the area in question to keep it clean. Once this is done try to get as close to the skin of the dog and grab the tick at the jaws, to do this you will need to place the tweezers from the side into position. If the tick refuses to budge, try moving from side to side to unhook the jaws wile pulling away from the skin. Doing this and keeping constant pressure on the tick will cause him to tire and give in, releasing the tick in one go.
Finnish off by cleaning the area with alcohol or soapy water and you job is complete.
John Williams Dog Training asked:
The passing away of your dog is a sad time for all pet owners and a moment we all would like to avoid altogether although it is a natural process of losing a good friend or family member there are options that can make dealing with the situation better.
It is certainly can be a big shock to you when you find out your pet has passed away and the first reaction could be that of denial. Denial is a common occurrence when dealing with loss or finding out when someone your love has passed away. This is due to your body not wanting to deal with the blow of a pet’s death and it then tries to block it out like nothing has happened.
It is generally better to accept the situation of your dogs’ death if possible, this may be hard to come to terms with for many on such an emotional time, so a burial or small gathering of friends and family who knew the dog to say a final farewell may be a good idea, and it will help you accept the current situation.
Anger and blame may be a result of the shock and you may feel like this is a way to release the emotion you are feeling and pass it on to someone else. Veterinarians go through a tuff process to get to the standard of a professional vet, and for good reason, they care for the work they do. Blaming your vet should not be an option and they are always looking out for the best interest of your dog no matter what you might think when grieving your dogs’ death. Avoid this type of behaviour as it helps no one and it will only turn into guilt on your emotions start to calm down.
When the bad news finally hits home the grieving will start and your emotions will be too much to control, it’s good to let your emotional feelings out as this helps the situation greatly. Keeping yourself overly busy is not recommended like many people do, the emotions will need to come out sometime and it has to happen to stop the feeling of emptiness. Try finding groups of others in your community or internet that can relate to your problems and talk to family and friends about your feelings. The more support you get the quicker you will learn to look back on how happy you’re dog was and how much fun you had together.