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We all know that there is nothing cuter than a tiny dog breed puppy but unless you intend to become a breeder, there is no need for your animal to sire or bear a litter of puppies prior to being spayed or neutered. There is nothing cruel or inhumane about the process and in fact, spaying or neutering your tiny friend can actually prevent some health problems later in life. Female dogs who have been spayed before their first heat have a significantly lower chance of developing breast cancer in later life. Neutered males have a much lower incidence of prostate problems in later life. Vets generally recommend that puppies be brought in around 6 to 8 months of age for this procedure. While spaying a female may take a couple of days of rest, your small canine will be back on her feet and ready to romp and play in a week or so. Males who are neutered, will bounce back even more quickly since their surgery is less invasive than that of the female dog. Neutering and spaying not only stops the possibility of pregnancy in females but it can also prevent undesirable or embarrassing male dog behaviors from becoming habits that are hard to break. If your dog is around this age, be sure to discuss all of the health ramifications regarding spaying and neutering your animal with your veterinarian. Good preventative care for your animal means that s/he will live a longer and happier life . And,  who doesn’t want as much time as possible with their furry, little  bundle of joy?

Sometimes we see our dogs eating or chewing on grass when they are outside. While sometimes dogs do chew grass to settle an upset stomach, some dogs chew grass just because they like to do so. While for the most part grass eating is harmless, there are some things that you should watch out for while your tiny friend is outside enjoying the sunshine and the yard. If your grass has been treated with herbicides,  insecticides or fertilizers, then you should not allow your dog to chew on the grass under any circumstances. Tiny dogs can easily become very sick from ingesting these chemicals. Since their body mass is very small, it only takes a small amount of these chemicals to make your dog sick. If your dog comes in from outside and begins vomiting with small blades of grass, call your vet immediately for advice. Making sure you know what is safe before problems begin is a great way to help your little guy or gal live a long and healthy life with you.

After Angel’s disastrous visit to the groomer in mid-December, her fur is finally starting to grow back thick and beautiful. It is now about a half of an inch long so she is not needing to be bundled up to go outside when the sun is out.  She still needs her sweater on for early morning or night trips to her potty place but at least not during the day now.

This experience got me thinking about what causes a dog’s fur to grow so I looked up some information about this. It seems that dogs are interesting creatures because more than one hair can grow from an individual hair follicle. The main coat is refereed to as the “topcoat.”  This topcoat can be surrounded by smaller secondary hairs known as the dog’s down or undercoat. In Angel’s case, her undercoat is really growing in thick to give her extra warmth during this cold weather season. The growth cycle of a dog’s coat is controlled by several things such as temperature, increasing or decreasing daylight hours, body hormones, nutrition, stress and of course, the dog’s own genetic make-up. When the days become longer and warmer, the dog’s coat thins out in preparation for summer when a lighter coat will be more beneficial. Thank goodness Mother nature knows better what a dog needs than a human groomer!

Last week-end, Angel went with us for a wonderful hike in the warm Arizona desert. Unfortunately, while she loved the hike, she came home with her tiny feet full of small stickers and burrs. If you have ever tried to remove stickers or burrs from a tiny dog’s feet, you know they scream and yell like you are in the process of killing them. Angel was certainly no exception so —  rather than torture her any further,  I went looking for some ideas on how to get the burrs out without all of the screaming and nipping behavior.

So, here are some great solutions that I want to share for this big problem. A good way to remove stickers or burrs is to put a little cooking oil on your fingers and rub it into the dog’s fur around the area. Some people even suggested spraying an aerosol cooking oil like Pam on the dog’s coat. I tried both of these and both worked well. The aerosol spray was easy to use because it got into the foot area quite easily. Once the area was oiled up, the burrs easily pulled right out without much fuss. I also found a suggestion that corn starch can help untangle coat mats so I will try this the next time I find a mat in Angel’s fur. If anyone has any other good suggestions for getting burrs or stickers out of a dog’s fur, please be sure to share them here.