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It is worth repeating that obedience is the keynote. If the animal is obedience trained, and is constantly reminded of it, the problem of excessive barking will rarely arise.
Bones are not essential to the health of the dog. The food elements contained in bones are already present in other foods that are routinely fed. True, the dog loves bones. He particularly enjoys the bone marrow and relishes it with the same enthusiasm that a child does candy. However, bone chips may lodge in the throat, scratch the delicate membranes that line the digestive system, or otherwise be the source of considerable annoyance. So to maintain the health of the pet it is best to deprive it of this pleasure. If the owner feels badly about depriving the dog of a bone, then the least harm can be done by letting the animal play with a small section of one of the large leg bones of an ox. Usually these bones are so thick that the ordinary dog can only toy with them and not chew them to bits. But the teeth and jaws of many dogs are so strong that they can mutilate almost any bone. In such cases, the feeding of bones can do nothing but harm.
One of the first and most imperative things for the puppy to learn is to obey the command, “No.” Teaching this should start in the housebreaking period. Whenever the animal makes a mistake it should be told briskly, “No,” grasped by the scruff of the neck, shown what it has done, and then placed on its housebreaking paper. The sharp “No” should also accompany any excess barking or biting on the part of the puppy as well as any other of its undesirable actions. The tone of voice and the attitude of the owner must be such as to make it completely clear to the puppy that disapproval is expressed. The dog will gradually come to associate unpleasantness with the word “No,” and will often seek refuge in its bed until the “heat is off.” The owner should maintain aloofness for a couple of minutes. By that time the pup has forgotten about the whole thing, and further punishment would serve no purpose. Dogs seem to grasp the meaning of the word “No” very quickly, and this is a good thing because the word is invaluable in further training.
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In the general care of the eyes, the only thing that the average dog owner can be advised to do is to keep them clean. This can be done by washing them once a day with a lukewarm solution of boric acid (made by dissolving one teaspoonful of boric acid powder in a glass of hot water) or by the application of boricacid eye ointment direct to the eyeball. The care of any significant eye diseases is strictly a job for the veterinarian. For safety’s sake, any injury to the eye should be considered an emergency and the veterinarian should be contacted immediately.
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Professional attention should be given even to very mild eye irritations that do not readily respond to simple treatment with washings of boricacid solution or applications of boricacid eye ointment. Eye conditions are so complex that even the veterinarian occasionally has to solicit the assistance of a human eye specialist in order to arrive at a correct diagnosis and to determine a proper course of treatment. It is apparent, therefore, that a detailed discussion of eye diseases would be useless for the nonprofessional person. It would be well, however, to describe briefly a couple of the simpler eye ailments in order to give the reader at least a casual idea of what he may encounter.
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The muscles of the head and legs are most commonly affected in chorea, though the twitching may occur in any part of the body. In mild cases, the spasmodic movements are most readily observed while the animal is lying on its side. The spasms are often less marked while the animal is asleep, and excitement may cause exaggeration of the symptoms. Consciousness is not disturbed in cases of chorea. Diagnosis is based on the history of the case, the lack of general symptoms and the characteristic periodic movements.
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