Dog hyper before bed? Vet visits, vaccines & ear care explained

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I think that is a great idea! Bring a stool sample with you. The Vet can go over her vaccine schedule, get her started on flea/tick and heartworm prevention and discuss having her spayed. I hope this helps and I wish you all the best!

Hi there. Snowball sounds like she has a good life :) I agree with you, meds are not a good idea especially at this young age. You can try a natural remedy like Rescue Remedy (be sure to get the one for pets) or Comfort Zone (dog appeasing pheromone). Here are links to the products: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bach-Rescue-Remedy-Pet-Natural-Stress-Relief-for-Pets-0-35-FL-OZ/25581235 https://www.comfortzone.com/dogs The first thing you have to do is rule out a medical versus a behavioral issue. This can be hard to do. If she is really gassy this could be causing the restlessness. You may want to consider a diet change AND/OR the addition of a probiotic like Fortiflora to her current diet. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Purina-Pro-Plan-Veterinary-Diets-FortiFlora-Probiotic-Supplement-30-CT/43284986 It could also be that she has a urinary tract infection even if she is showing no other signs. Watch her closely for any accidents, excessive licking at the vulva or any changes in appearance/odor to the urine. This can be very uncomfortable. Of course, continue with lots of exercise. Sounds like you are doing everything right. She just may be one of those anxious dogs just like there are in people where you can't really pinpoint a cause. I hope this helps. Feel free to ask more questions if you need to. Best wishes. Dr. Amber

Make sure she has vaccines including DHPPi (distemper, hepatitis, parvo, parainfluenza) and rabies. Depending on her age, the vet the can tell you her vaccination schedule. Spay her before she goes into her first heat (around six months of age) to significant reduce the risk of her developing mammary tumors and eliminate the chance of her developing a pyometra later in life. Put her on a good flea and tick prevention program, make sure to deworm her, and give her heartworm protection. I would have your pup seen by a vet this week to start all of these things to keep her healthy :-)

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Abby. The rabies vaccine is required by law so this vaccine is absolutely necessary. I recommend keeping her current on her other vaccines as well. The annual exam is just as important to ensure that she stays healthy especially as she ages. I recommend a scheduling an appointment with her veterinarian to discuss risk factors in your area based on her lifestyle. From there, you can decide together on vaccinating her. I hope this information helps!

It is recommended to have a yearly physical examination with animals. Ideally they would be seen every 6 months. This is because animals age a lot faster then people and catching diseases and behavioral problems earlier is beneficial. Regarding vaccinations the first rabies vaccination is good for 1 year. After that it is good for 3 years. The Distemper vaccination after the first series should be repeated in a year. Depending on Kaya's lifestyle then I would recommend doing it every 1 or 3 years. If there are a lot of dogs or Kaya goes to a daycare/dogpark/kennel then I would give it every year. If she is a house dog that doesn't come in contact with any other animals then every 3 years is ok. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Congrats on your new dog, Peppen is so cute. You need to make an appointment with a vet to get her vaccines (she will need her DHPPi combination shot (distemper, hepatitis, parvo, parainfluenza) as well as rabies), and the vet can prescribe flea and deworming treatments. You can talk to the vet about training classes you can enroll her in, and you do not need to bathe her more than once a month unless she is very dirty.

All good questions!. Dog's ears are shaped a little bit differently than people's ears. You don't have to be very scared of damaging the ear drums because the canals are L-shaped. As long and you go straight in and do not try and bend a q-tip in a 90 degree angle, there should be very little chance for damage. A cleansing formulation should be available at most pet stores. Deposit this into the ear first, massage at the base of the ear, and then clean the ear with gauze and/or q-tips. Be sure to get most of the liquid out, as leaving residual moisture in the ears can actually cause an infection. As far as teeth, tooth brushes and doggy toothpaste is readily available at your vet or a pet store. You don't have to brush them every night, but once or twice a week would be great. Depending on the color your dog's nails, you can sometimes see precisely just how far you can clip the nails without causing a problem. If you cut too far, you will sever the small blood vessel at the end of the nail and cause some bleeding. These can bleed quite a bit but are easily stopped with something called "Quick Stop", another product available at most pet stores. For long-haired dogs I would use a brush with plenty of wiry bristle on them to break apart any potential knots and mats in the hair. As long as your brush regularly, you shouldn't have to worry about this much, though. The nails can be trimmed down just before the point where you can actually visualize the blood vessel. Alternatively, you can considering using a grinder / dremel to achieve a smoother surface on the nail. In terms of bathing, this can be done anywhere if Rusty doesn't tolerate a tub well. As long as you can get him wet and lathered up, it doesn't really matter what the location is.