Puppy food has been one of the most common causes of allergies in dogs and puppies. Most dog-owners have difficulty dissecting whether or not the symptoms presented are due to a food allergy or other allergic conditions, because it’s almost the same. Remember though, the onset of a food allergy may be acute or develop gradually over a period of days, weeks, months or even years. Therefore, it is possible for your puppy to be allergic to the food that you are presently giving him, but he hasn’t developed any symptoms yet. Sometimes, it requires continuous exposure to the allergens before an allergic reaction will develop. Studies show that almost 70% of food allergies are caused by feeding the puppy the same puppy food for more than two years.

The most essential thing for any responsible owner of a canine is to know exactly how a food allergy looks when it presents itself in your pouch.

* First, you’ll see skin conditions. Overly hard and frequent licking and scratching are dead giveaways. Obviously, your pup’s skin itches way more than it should. He may even grate his head, back, butt, or other parts of his body on the carpet, floors, walls, or furniture to try and end his itching pain. Digging and chewing on his skin repeatedly can result in further irritation, swelling, flakiness, and even bleeding. He could even begin losing hair.

* Digestive Problems If your puppy has a food allergy, expect to see him vomit, excessively pass gas, and have loose bowel movements.

* Breathing Difficulties Like all allergies, it may lead to conditions that can impair breathing such as, coughing, sneezing, and wheezing.

Now, let’s explore some things you can do to help prevent / treat these reactions.

* When the allergic reaction starts to manifest, take your pup off her current food. The next step is to begin slowly returning the ingredients of this puppy food formula, ONE ingredient at a time. By doing so, you can pinpoint exactly which ingredient is causing your pup’s allergies when systems return. You will then know just which ingredient, or ingredients, to remove from your dog’s diet. Of course, you should consult you vet before starting this elimination diet. With consent however, your vet should recommend following this diet for 12 weeks.

* You can also feed your young canine a hypo-allergenic puppy food with more pure and healthy ingredients like vegetables, potatoes, rice, duck, and lamb.

* Your pup can be desensitized. To desensitize (or hypo-sensitize) your pup simply means that your veterinarian administers a routine regimen of small-scale injections to built up a tolerance to certain allergens. Antibodies are then created to fight off reactions that allergies can otherwise cause.

* Antihistamine These are medications that are used to treat allergies, both in animals and humans. Ask your doctor for help regarding the proper use of antihistamines on your dogs.

* Blood and skin testing is also available. Veterinarians specializing in animal dermatology can perform these tests. Research shows a very high rate of accuracy with these tests in pinpointing specific allergies, thereby eliminating any doubt as to which puppy food ingredients to remove from your pup’s diet.

If you’ve just picked up your family’s new furry addition and want to find out the right way to care for your puppy, then check out Puppy Pet Supplies for helpful tips and advice on puppy training, and so much more! Plus, discover how to potty train your puppy effectively and quickly!

An Example Of How To Potty Train A Puppy

You can teach your dog a lot of different commands. Some of these are very useful, like “stay”, and some of them are potentially life saving, like “come”. There are other commands that aren’t as important, but are very convenient. My very favorite is to teach my dog to pee on command.

Why would I want to do that? I used to compete in obedience and agility competitions, and if my dog urinated in the ring, we were heavily penalized. I taught my dog to urinate on command, and before we went in the competition ring, I’d take him for a walk, ask him to pee, and I’d be confident he’d not cost us points by doing it at the wrong time.

There are also some other times it is useful. As an example, late at night, when you are tired, the last thing you will want to do is wait for your dog to eventually empty his bladder. If he can pee on command, you’ll be back inside and in your bed very quickly.

You may be visiting your vet, and your vet may need a urine sample. No problems, take your dog outside, ask him to pee, and come back in with a freshly voided sample for testing. It really is a useful behavior for your dog to learn.

Although your dog may not always pee immediately when told to, he will go to the toilet quicker than if he had not been trained.

You can train your dog to pee when you tell him to at the very same time as you are toilet training him. It’s easier for him to learn at the same time as he learns where his toileting area is when you’re potty training a puppy. However, older dogs are just as capable of learning this command.

Take your dog outside to his toileting area, and as he urinates, give him whatever command you’ve chosen - it could be “toilet” or “pee” or even “tinkle”. It doesn’t matter, as long as you’re consistent, and use the same command every time.

When your dog urinates, give it lots of praise and cuddles. Because of this, when dog s learning where it’s ok to pee, he’s also linking it with your command.

You will need to give your this command every time he pees, and reward him when he gets it right. This means you’ll have to do it while you’re out walking, or at the beach. You could get some odd looks from some people, but don not let a chance go by to reinforce what your command means.

Commands like “sit” or “drop” are very quick to teach using food, however training your dog to pee on command can be a slow process. It takes time, repetition and lots of patience, and in some cases, dogs don’t ever “get it”. Dogs are clever though, and in most cases, they eventually learn. When your dog gets it. providing your dog has something in it's bladder, it will be very willing to do as you ask. Taking him to the toilet last thing at night will be so much more convenient.

Dogs potty training is more necessary today than at other times in history as most dogs now live indoors.Training can start at any age, but the time that it will take depends on the dog’s age.Older dogs and puppies take the least time while younger puppies take the most time.Instruct the dog during training, do not condemn the dog.It will be the owner’s fault if there is a failure in this training.

Only one person should be responsible for the dogs potty training.If there are too many people attempting to train the dog, it could get confusing about who does what when.This is a full time job because it is necessary to constantly supervise the dog or puppy.The best procedure is to prevent problems before they happen.The dog will give signals through its body language.Look for the dog to run to the door or an expectant look on its face.

To help in this process, keep a regular schedule.Feeding the dog on a regular schedule will give you an opportunity to observe what its habits are.Dogs usually need to go a short time after eating.  If you need to correct a puppy, remember that its memory is about 30 seconds long so you have to be quick.When you go to bed at night or if you have to leave the dog alone, lay out some newspapers and confine the dog to a small area.  In fact a very effective method for dogs potty training is “paper training”, by using old newspapers indoors.

Properly deal with accidents. Accidents must be cleaned up quickly and put the rags outside because they have odor on them.There are products that are specifically designed for this purpose that should be used.  If you don’t have a product like this wash the spot with soap and water and then soda water.

There are some dogs who, it seems, can not be potty trained.  If this is the case with your dog, it could be due to training problems or there could be medical problems.A Vet should check the dog to determine if there are medical problems.  If the dog is healthy, it may be the training, so get a course on how to train your dog.

The above tips and procedures for dogs potty training should be followed.Walk the dog often; watch its body language for signs that it has to go; feed on a regular schedule; clean up messes quickly; praise the dog for good behavior and correct it for undesirable behavior.Following this advice, dogs potty training should go well, but you may require more information.  If you require more information, get one of the available courses that deal with dogs potty training.