HINTS & TIPS
Any hints and tips you have, please feel free to email me.


General advice on walking with a dog :
Ensure she has a collar on and preferable microchipped also. For identification if she goes missing / lost.
You know your dog better than anyone else. Be aware of when she gets tired or unwell and know her walking capabilities before embarking on a long walk.
Take a dog first aid kit with you (I have listed the contents of Polly's first aid kit below).
Take a litre bottle full of water, unless you know for sure there will be clean streams / rivers for her to drink out of (and not dried up in summer).
Take a few doggie biscuits with you (or share YOUR food)
Take her a coat or a raincoat if she is a short coated dog (it does get very cold in winter and can rain rather a lot in the mountains in Scotland !!)
Keep on lead near livestock and make sure she doesn't chase sheep if she is off lead on the hills !
If in a field of cattle and they charge you ... then let her off lead ... the dog can escape but not if tied to you ... that safeguards you from getting attacked by the cattle as well

FIRST AID KIT ~
PIRITON TABLETS




COTTON BANDAGE

SORE PAWS

CUTS / GRAZES


For stings and bites.
Polly got quite badly stung by nettles on her belly. She was going mad, pulling herself on the floor, licking it and trying to bite her belly.
I gave her 1 Piriton tablet and within 15 minutes she was fine.

In case of cuts to paws ~ bound tightly will stop bleeding

Cotton baby bootees held on with elastic bands (not too tightly of course)

I use Tea Tree ointment on Polly ~ she usually gets cuts on her belly from the grain stalks going through the fields and between her toes sometimes. I put it on at night then she won't lick it off when she's asleep

PORK Too much Pork is supposed to give them tummy upset and diarrhoea. Apparently it's because Pork is a protein that dogs find the hardest to digest and eliminate any extra nitrogen (from the excess protein).
POISONOUS TO DOGS Chocolate ~ in any quantity.
Grapes ~ 500 g. of grapes could kill a dog
Onions
~ highly toxic to dogs ~ cumulative ~ builds up in the system resulting in death
Sultanas & Raisins ~ highly toxic ~ can cause renal failure
BONES

I never ever give bones to Polly ~ bones stick in the gut and stomach causing perforations

CYSTS (External) Dab the offending cyst with Tea Tree Oil. This dries it up and should make it disappear. Cysts are quite common to all breeds of dog, especially the Inter-digital cysts (the ones between the toes).

I am very careful what I feed Polly (and Amber) but do not go to the extreme of feeding her human quality food (unless it is special offer). I always leave complete biscuits down (Science Plan) all the day so they can snack at any time.
Her diet is (not in any particular order)

Porage for breakfast
Fish bits (Haddock offcuts from the fishmonger, being very careful to remove the bones) ~ cooked
Beef (cheapest cuts from the supermarket) I feed them this chopped and raw
Beef mince is good, I mix it in with the complete biscuits so the fat soaks into the biscuits~ cooked. Sometimes raw.
Beef heart or lungs ~ cooked
Chicken / Turkey ~ cooked
Rabbit (caught by the local gamekeeper) cooked

Minced, chicken / beef / heart & lungs / venison / pheasant / rabbit / turkey (all with very finely minced bone)
cooked
Tinned sardines in tomato sauce
Occasional small pieces of cheese
Eggs (from our chickens) raw
Porridge for breakfast
Also ~ Tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, peas, broccoli, green beans

 

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