Burgess Pet Care

Hi everyone! This week’s dog diary is not so much about Codi’s adventures, but more about an observation. Warning this week’s theme is a little squeamish.

While I was round at my friend’s house, it was impossible not to notice that her dog was clearly distressed, as he kept dragging his rear on the floor and he wouldn’t leave his behind alone, his anal glands were blocked, and she was panicking trying to make a vets appointment to get them sorted out. It really got me thinking; since we made the gradual change to Burgess Supadog Sensitive premium dog food we haven’t had any problems at all with his! I decided to do some research into this subject. I wanted to know how they become blocked and why, and to help other dog owners that may be experiencing this problem regularly.

Most people never think about their dog’s anal glands until there’s a problem with them. These glands are designed to provide lubrication when a dog passes a stool, and they also give each dog its own unique scent. Find out how these glands work, how to spot when there’s a problem, and how to take care of it.

How They Work

Every dog has two small glands located on either side of its rectal opening. Each gland holds a small amount of a brown and smelly, liquid substance. Whenever your dog ‘goes to the toilet’, these glands receive a small amount of pressure that releases a tiny bit of the fluid along with your dog’s custom  scent.

Gland Problems and Diets

Many dogs never seem to have a problem with their anal glands. However, bacteria can build up in the anal glands if they don’t express properly, and this can lead to an infection. If they are left untreated, the infection can produce an abscess which may eventually rupture through the skin and cause further complications.

Some anal gland problems may be linked to the quality of pet food a dog receives. Inexpensive brands of dog food are often full of cereal fillers that tend to result in soft stools. The soft stool isn’t able to press firmly enough against the dog’s anal glands to provide the necessary pressure to express them, and there the trouble begins. Premium quality dog foods (Burgess Supadog) will help your pet produce firmer, more compact stools that actually help the glands express, so those foods may be a better food choice for your pet. This is one of the many reasons that I would recommend other dog owners to change to the Burgess Supadog range.

Signs That The Glands Are Impacted

If your dog’s anal glands fail to express properly, they may actually become impacted and make your dog very uncomfortable. Watch for these signs:

• Your dog begins scooting or dragging his rear across the floor.
• Your dog keeps licking or chewing near his rectum.
• Your dog’s stools have become soft and mushy.
• You’ll likely notice a foul or “fishy” odour coming from your dog’s rear.

If you notice one or more of these signs, it may be a good idea to take your dog in for a check up with his vet, as it’s a job that is best left to the professionals. Some professional dog groomers can also perform this procedure.

It’s important to only carry out this procedure when a dog is showing signs of  blocked anal glands. Expressing the anal sacs too often can lead to impacted anal glands, and failing to care for them may lead to infection.

So this bank holiday weekend our family decided that we would have a day, and what better place that to go for a day out that the sea side? And of course Codi would have to come with us!

Codi absolutely loves a day out, and the reason that we chose the seaside was because we’ve always loved going there and the seaside is a totally different environment to what Codi is used to. The nice flat beaches are great for walking, but there are plenty of hills where we can take him to go exploring.

From previous day trips we know that Codi loves romping around on a sandy beach!  And splashing in the surf! (He’ll go for a paddle, but he’s too much of a softie to go jumping in) He loves the Wind blowing in his hair, the smell of seaweed and wet sand is rather intriguing, while his ears perk up when he hears and the cry of gulls! I think we love it as much as he does, and we enjoy spending the day together….regardless of weather.

Most dogs love the beach, and Codi is definitely one of them, and we certainly want to give him the opportunity to enjoy it as much as we do, so there a few ways in which we like to keep him protected prom potential dangers.

• One of the reasons we go to the beach is because of the open space. Probably the most important thig to keep in mind is to keep Codi secure and on a lead at all times, due to his husky instinct/temperament if he got off the lead he wouldn’t come back. He would run and run as far as the coastline would take him.

• The beach and sea are full of alluring smells and if Codi is only an occasional visitor to the beach, these new smells will be totally bewitching. Taking into account sight, sound, and smell, Codi could get overwhelmed by the whole beach thing. It’s wise to have some ground rules before you go. This means doing some training.

• Drinking seawater won’t hurt Codi if he just takes a lap or two. But it’s important that we take plenty of fresh water to the beach, and offer it to him frequently.

• There are dangerous things on the beach – and the tide being the first and foremost. It’s important to always know the tide schedule before we go for a walk on the beach. Knowing the tide schedule is especially important if you’re walking along cliffs or undercut dunes where you wouldn’t be able to escape an incoming tide. One of the easiest ways to get the tide schedule for the day is to look online.

• It’s always important to take a towel to dry Codi off, and to have an emergency first kit in the car, just in case there are any accidents whilst Codi is paddling around in the rock pools.

• We can’t forget to take Codi’s favourite food with us too -which is Burgess Supadog Sensitive – Scottish Salmon and Rice or we would have have one unhappy dog on our hands!
  

Being such an attractive dog, Codi does attract a lot of attention; we literally can’t walk more than a few metres without someone wanting to know more about him. The reaction that we usually get from children is “WOW…Is that a wolf?”  “Snow dog” or “Can I stroke your wolf Mr?” It’s honestly like having Brad Pitt on a lead…He loves the attention!

Here are a few photos from previous outings to the beach:

80% of 3 year old dogs have periodontal disease due to lack of brushing. Cavities and gum disease are painful for your dog; they diminish its pleasure and ability to eat. Bacteria that develop can infect the heart, kidney, liver and brain. Really bad breath is usually a sign of gum disease.

Here are a few methods that we have tested with Codi:

Hard toys with “Chew-clean” grooves effectively squeegee clean dog’s teeth and gums as they chew. The large and extra large sizes are bone shaped with hollow interiors designed for holding treats. As dogs try to remove the treats, their teeth and gums are effectively cleaned by the grooves (which can be used with dog toothpaste). Some toys have a diamond braid cotton floss rope which effectively removes food debris and reduces plaque and tartar build up.

Starting a husky off with the brushing practice can take quite a lot of patience! So be prepared!

We just started off with a little toothpaste on the finger and we got Codi to lick it to taste it. Once he had gotten used to the taste, we started to brush his front teeth with a toothbrush and toothpaste. Then when he became used to that, we went ahead and brushed all his teeth. It was just something new to him, that he didn’t understand  at first he didn’t know what was going on or even if it’s a good thing. But he had gradually gotten used to his teeth being brushed, and it is not a hard of a task as it used to be!

In addition to professional cleaning a regular tooth brushing, certain dog treats are formulated to help improve breath. Hard chew toys may also help, see what you vet recommends.

We like to make Codi’s treat time fun, by playing his favourite game “Guess which hand” this is where we get Codi to sit in front of a person holding a treat, and then that person then hides a treat behind their back (swap hands just to make sure the treat has been swapped hands several times making it harder for Codi to guess which hand it is in) The person the pull their hands from behind their backs and Codi then taps which hand he thinks it’s in! Nearly every time he guesses right!

Naughty……

Most of all: most importantly it’s important to keep up with vet exams. Be certain to follow your vet’s recommendations. And remember, what you do at home can really make all the difference.

As a husky owner I am saddend to hear that over the past few years there has been an increase in the number of huskies being sent to rescue centres up and down the country. It’s obvious why people are so attracted to huskies, they really are one of the most attractive breeds around…(Okay I might be a bit biased) They are fluffy and cuddly and look absolutely adorable!

But…Huskies are notoriously difficult to look after, and this is a big problem for inexperienced dog owners.

Over the past decade there has been a dramatic increase in the number of huskies that have been sent to adoption centres, and it’s a dramatic increase that I fear will only get worse. More and more dogs are being out up for adoption because their owners don’t understand that type of commitment that these dogs need. Although they do look like wolves and are very attractive dogs they aren’t really a pet for the novice. Too many inexperienced dog owners are being sucked in by their looks.

Originally bred to pull sleds for long distances, huskies are high maintenance, and need huge amounts of exercise. Finding the right owners for these dogs is a priority for many rescue centres across the country. Rescue homes are looking for experienced dog owners to help save these wonderful, characters. Rescue centres say that dog owners don’t necessarily have to have experience with a husky/malamute/sled dog but more so the experience of owning a difficult dog, dogs that may have had behavioural problems, or someone who is aware of the time and commitment that you need to put into a dog.

Many dogs wait months or even years for new owners, I just hope that all of the beautiful yet misunderstood dogs will all find a home very soon!

Our family always wanted a dog but we kept putting it off because of family and work commitments. When my dad decided we should get one he decided the husky breed was the one for us, and the whole family could do with the exercise! We had done a lot of research on the husky breed and there is a lot of information on YouTube regarding the pros and cons on taking on such an active dog.

We also wanted to re-home one as we knew from our research that there were lots in freeads and other such publications. It was a sort of fate when we found Codi – My dad got home from work one day and was just browsing the internet thinking “should I or shouldn’t  I get a dog” and there he was, those Ice blue eyes starting out at him from the photo on free ads.

My dad called the number and spoke to the people rehoming him and arranged to go and see him. He looked like a right handful when we met up, straining to get out of the owners car. We met at the owners parent house as they had a big garden, he was just running round the garden Husky style. He finally calmed down and came across to where we were talking and my mum pulled out a treat and told him to sit and give her his paw. To everyones amazement he did and got his treat. The owner had no idea he could do that sort of thing. It turned out that they had rehomed him 4 weeks earlier and he was only 10 months old!! Such an intelligent dog!

That was it, we took him home and have never looked back. He gets plenty of exercise and sleep and I get plenty of exercise but not as much sleep. We’ve had him 4 years now and I can’t imagine life without  the big boy. We go walking in places we would never have visited if we hadn’t got Codi, we’ve even started camping !

As Burgess Pet Care &  Burgess Supadog mention on their website “As long as you have a good understanding of what owning a dog entails and you can give him the love and commitment he requires then you will have a happy and active friend and companion”

Thanks for reading!

-Steph & Codi

Recently I’ve seen a dramatic increase in headlines warning us of the outburst of ticks and fleas recently, and apparently the damp and mild weather conditions we’ve seen recently are the perfect habitat for the little mites! (It was only snowing last week…so strange!)

As dog owners we’ve always been wary of ticks, as the weather is becoming warmer we regularly add a couple of drops of tick repellent onto the back of his neck, it’s important that it goes on the skin and not his fur, because the skin is where they attach themselves onto and with Codi’s thick fur it can be quite difficult to spot a tick until it has fed and become bloated with blood. We always have flea and tick protection solutions available at home…Just in case, and we’ve always taken him to vets to check him over when we have found one. There has been the odd occasion where we have taken him for walks in areas surrounded by ferns and heather, and he has come home with the odd tick. There is a lot of differing information regarding the removal of ticks, and here are a few that worked for Codi

-Rub the tick in a circular motion and pretend you’re trying to make the tick dizzy. I generally stick with one direction, clockwise. It usually takes less than a minute, so if it’s not working, make sure the body of the tick is moving around. Remember you can’t get dizzy unless you’re actually moving in a circle quickly. I doubt the tick actually gets dizzy, but they sure don’t like something about the movement and they crawl out on their own.

-Another good method that eliminated a chance of leaving part of the tick in the dog is to cover the tick completely in Vaseline; the tick will then suffocate and drop off. After the tick is removed wash the area with a form of antibacterial liquid.

-Removing the tick with sharp pointed tweezers, or specially made tick tweezers, grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible, and as close to its embedded mouthparts as you can, If you squeeze the body or head, you risk compressing the guts and salivary glands and could be at risk of expelling more bacteria through their mouth into the dogs body. Don’t twist the tick or turn the tweezers as you pull the tick out. Pull out straight with a quick and steady motion. Twisting can force more bacteria into the dogs body, and may result in the head or more being left in the body. We always find it handy to carry a pair of tweezers around with us when we take Codi out for long walks.

One last thing! Ticks can actually attach themselves to humans too and can cause a bad disease in some cases. Make sure keep your legs covered when walking through bracken, ferns and moorland.

There is plenty of information on the Burgess Supadog website which can help you to care for your dog in the best possible way. You can also download a Care Guide!

Thankyou for reading & good luck with your Flea and Tick control!

-Steph & Codi

While it was bad news for the majority of people who were badly hit by the snow yesterday, it was fantastic news for Codi! Our garden was transformed into a scene from Narnia and he couldn’t contain his excitement.

All of the family woke up earlier than usual as the news of the heavy down fall soon travelled fast throughout the house, and we began to panic as we thought we would end up snowed in.  Before he’s even got outside Codi and his sixth sense knew that there was something abnormal going off. He began to get more and more excited and as he ran down stairs after my mum shouted ‘wee wees’ he began jumping and scratching up at the door bursting to get outside. He knew what was waiting for him outside! After calming our crazy dog down, we slowly opened the back door, and like a rocket he was out into the white blanket of snow. He began jumping and pouncing and doing laps around the garden, he then ran back inside of the house where we were all stood watching him as if to say “come one everyone! Come and have a look at this!” he then dashed outside again and repeated his jumping, pouncing and running sequence. He then ran back in the house for a second attempt to show the family what the white stuff was that had magically appeared in our garden, It was an extraordinary scene!

We wanted to make the most of the weather so we took him out on a long walk; he loved trekking through the snow and exploring in the fields, he likes to stick his nose in the snow to have a sniff about, he also likes to dig through it and his huge paws help him move better through the snow that a human.  After doing our research surrounding huskies and snow, I discovered that there is such a thing as “Snow Nose”; this is fairly common in Siberians. A snow nose is a reddish or pink marking on a black or liver coloured nose. Snow nose can disappear over warmer months and reappear over the winter months. There is nothing wrong with a snow nose, and it is perfectly acceptable in the Siberians.  After seeking advice from other Husky owners online we were advised not to worry about it, as it is caused by lack of sunlight! Despite the weather yesterday, it is starting to get warmer. So snow nose shouldn’t be a (potential) problem until next winter. There is only reason to worry about it if you see loss of pigment & hair around mouth, eyes, ears, & dry flaky sores as this could be a zinc deficiency.

Here are some pictures from yesterday:

Siberian Huskies are an Arctic Breed (A Northern Breed) Their thick double coat, a coarse outer coat plus a woolly undercoat, insulates and protects them from the harshest weather, They can tolerate temperatures of minus 50-minus 75 degrees below zero. Huskies enjoy the cold weather and they love snow! They’re strong, adventurous, agile and full of energy.

Thankyou to Burgess Supadog Sensitive producing such a great food that Codi loves aswell as keeping him fueled for long walks in the colder weather.

While the sun is out it’s a great time to get Codi out and enjoying the sunshine as well as ourselves, so yesterday my dad thought he would take Codi for a 2 mile run!

We don’t want to push him any further until he’s finished blowing his coat. My dad is aiming for 3-4 miles on a cool, un-humid day. Summer running can be quite iffy with huskies, but we have to get Codi out of there for a couple of runs, it’s important that he stops for frequent water stops (every 20 minutes or so) especially if we’re planning on taking him on a longer run. We try to avoid high traffic areas so we tend to take him running on trials or in parks. We find it useful to use a hands free leash that attaches to the waist to help keep our running form as normal as possible (although it is never exactly the same when running with any dog on a leash!) Days that are unreasonably warm or humid we tend to leave him at home or just take him for a longer steady walk.

We waited until Codi was in his prime at just over 1 year old  before we started with the long distance running and we allowed him to adjust to this amount of exercise gradually in small stages. We started by doing a bit of walking/jogging with him on the hands-free leash and we tried to keep Codi beside or behind us during the training, otherwise we would find ourselves getting dragged at a sub 6 pace for the majority of our daily runs!!

Codi is fuelled by Burgess Suapdog Sensitive and he’s just bursting with energy! I think he could run for miles and miles before getting tired out! It’s important that we don’t take him running straight before or after a meal times because it can cause a twisted stomach, so it’s important for his food to settle before an exercise session. We always ensure when he gets an endless supply of fresh, clean water to keep him hydrated.

Here are a few picture of Codi enjoying ths sunshine this week!

The other day I was walking Codi through my local park, the sun was beaming down on me and the birds were out chirping, and it was a great feeling knowing that spring was finally here, but along with the nice weather comes an abundance of floral blossoms and there’s also a thick presence of pollen. As well as setting off your allergies, it can also affect your pet! Your pets can suffer from seasonal allergies just like humans. Flowers are blooming and the trees are getting green, the beginning of spring is a beautiful sight but the colourful blooms can mean a lot of sneezing and itching.

In this week’s Diary of a Supadog I’ll be discussing the things that myself and my family are going to do to protect Codi from allergies. After doing some research I’ve come up with a few tips on how you can protect your dog from those dreaded pollen attacks!

Firstly things to look for are:
• Low grade fevers
• You may begin to notice they’re sneezing a lot
• If they don’t feel good they will tend to lay around more
• They can start to paw their face when their eyes become dry and sore.
• They can also begin with a nasty cough

It’s important to catch these symptoms at an early stage and to get your pet help quickly because they can be prone to bad sinus infections, they can also scratch their eyes so much corneal ulcers can form and then it becomes a far more serious problem.

Here’s my checklist of things to do that can help prepare Codi for the arrival of the warm weather:
• We need to ensure that his flea and tick protection is up to date.
• We need to make sure his first aid kit is up to date because especially because he’s prone to mishaps and injuries when he’s out walking. Dogs are different from humans and they need their own kind of first aid kit.

• Our spring planting needs to be pet-friendly, some flowering plants, bulbs and shrubs can be toxic so to ensure Codi isn’t in danger it’s important that we find out about potential poisonous plants that can be found in our garden.

Click Here For A Full List

• As I discussed in my previous dog diary post Codi’s thick coat takes a lot of grooming, but this season his coat is going to malt even more because he’s beginning to lose his thicker winter coat, so I think a trip to the grooming salon is in order to get him prepared for the warmer weather.
• There’s no better time to have a cleanup of Codi’s gear. Spring cleaning is a great time to replace Codi’s bedding, toys, bowls and grooming tools. It’s also a great time to stock up with a new supply of Burgess Supadog Sensitive- British Lamb and Rice that he loves!

The arrival of spring is a great time for all of us, but even more so for Codi and becuase we’ve taken time out to do our research we can now ensure that Codi is protected and that he can enjoy playing outdoors to the maximum and following these steps will make the transition to warmer weather a smooth one!

Dog’s are amazing animals. They are friendly and loving, able to learn new tricks and behaviours, and will keep you company whenever you want. But we need to remember that they are dogs and not humans, and they can be prone to misbehaving. There will be times when dogs will misbehave, and the more badly they behave, the more frustrating it can be, so I thought behaviour could be the theme of this week’s dog diary.

Codi is an all around well behaved dog because we have worked hard with him from the very beginning. We’ve developed a close relationship and because of this we have been able to prevent any major behaviour problems. But due to his ‘husky temperament’ he can sometimes be very stubborn when he decides to take that extra couple of seconds do what he’s told, and he sometimes likes to push the boundaries when he thinks he’s the alpha male of the house.

This week I experienced a particular interesting moment with Codi. When he was told to “lie down” after he was begging for food, he lay directly in front of my mum and kept putting his paw on her foot, my mum then responded back to him by placing her hand on top his paw. I thought this was quite unusual and I was intrigued as to why she responded like that. She then explained that when he puts his paw on top of your foot, it’s a sign that he thinks he’s the top dog or leader of the pack, so when she responds by putting her hand on his paw it’s a reminder that he isn’t the alpha male.

This scenario got me thinking about the ways in which we cope with Codi when he starts to misbehave.
Firstly, I think that it’s important that he has a daily routine because consistency and structure helps to promote good behaviour, we then reward good behaviour with a reward. We also find that the more exercise Codi gets the less naughty he’s likely to be because he’s completely worn out!

The only major problem we used to have was when Codi was younger; he had a big chewing problem. He would chew everything! I recall one time my sister had spent a lot of money on a book for university and it was posted through the letter box, we came home to find it had been ripped into a million pieces! His personal favourites were shoes and with my mum, dad and two sisters he had a great selection to choose from. We cured this problem by firstly attaching an outside letterbox, so that straight away prevented any temptation. We then began hiding dog treats in his toys, this method keeps him occupied and stimulated and ever since we introduced it he hasn’t chewed anything!

When he has been naughty we find that commanding him to “lay” works because again this is a sign of submission. Occasionally we found that Codi would sometimes come up to us and would just stare at us in a dominant kind of way, like he was the alpha male. We found that keeping eye contact with him until he turned his head away is a sign of submission and this tells him that he’s not the leader of the pack.

We also used to find it stressful when we used to walk him because he would pull; now we use a harness that prevents him from pulling too much and he walks lovely! Even when we attach a different lead he still walks nicely. We’re still not confident enough to let him off the lead because we know that with his husky instinct he will be far too tempted to run away, but were taking small steps by gradually giving him that extra bit of trust when it comes down to letting him off the leash. When other dogs approach him we usually get him to sit until they’ve passed, and again we reward him with a small treat.

One thing that we have NO intention of stopping Codi doing is digging holes in the back garden because this is what huskies naturally do, out in the wild they use these holes to keep warm. Codi likes to dig and bury and we did plenty of research around this area and knew what we were letting ourselves in for when we first got him.

Because we gave Codi so much time and attention at the beginning of our relationship, we have been able to prevent any major problems happening and make the minor issues pretty easy to take care of.

Well when I say old…I mean 5….Anyway….

It’s Steph again, bringing you this week’s entry of Diary of a Supadog, I’m updating you on what my Siberian Husky – Codi has been up to this week. Well… apart from the pampering, long walks, cuddles…and generally howling when he doesn’t get what he wants. It’s been a quiet week for Codi, so this week I thought I’d give you an insight into how we’ve trained him over the past few years, and how we managed to progress in learning him new tricks.

Before we even attempted to learn Codi tricks, we had to be fully aware about the background of his breed. Huskies are different from other types of dogs and because they were originally bred to work as sled dogs they really are accustomed to being pack leaders and because of this they are naturally strong willed, independent and stubborn. We knew we would have a challenge on our hands so we started with the simple commands such as “Sit” and “No”. We managed to tech him the basics when he was younger and we were successful becuase we rewarded Codi’s good behaviour with small treats, and with a lot of patience and persistence the hard work eventually paid off.  We would never imagine that we could teach Codi anything other than to sit and “no”.

He proved us wrong becuase he loves to learn things and now he understands sit, down, stay and come. Sometimes he has his own agenda so I have to bribe him to do things and he will do anything for food. Now he can jump, crawl and even give kisses, although you do end up being slobbered all over, he can even open or back door that has a VERY stubborn handle on it (sometimes I even struggle to get out!) I’m afraid he’s not able to close it behind him though. As I mentioned one of my previous posts we’ve even managed to teach him some sledding language like “mush” and “halt” for when he goes out on his scooter.

Whoever said you can’t learn old dogs new tricks has never met Codi!

Some of his personal favourites are ‘guess which hand’ and ‘high five’ and he just loves to show these tricks off. Codi loves the Burgess Supadog Sensitive Salmon and Rice that much we’ve even replaced his old treats with individual kibbles, he loves the taste that much! And because Supadog is a premium dog food it includes all of the necessary vitamins, minerals and amino acids in their correct ratio, it’s a healthy reward; unlike other products we’ve had in the past that didn’t particularly agree with Codi which left him feeling rather gassy to say the least.

Click Here To Watch Codi Play ‘Guess Which Hand’ With Burgess Supadog Sensitive

OR

Click Here To Watch Codi Play High Five With Burgess Supadog Sensitive