Who doesn’t dream of an active, healthy and good-looking dog into old age… but how do you ensure that your beloved four-legged friend stays healthy?
When you read the word dog care, you usually think of grooming the coat, but this also includes the right food, thorough care of paws, nails, eyes, ears and teeth, sufficient mental and physical exercise every day and regular care by the vet.
‼️ Keep in mind that long nails, bad teeth, matted fur, overweight etc. are not only unsightly, but can also have serious health consequences for your Tamaskan.
The Tamaskan Dog is a dog breed with a so-called double coat, i.e. the coat consists of two layers: a dense undercoat of short hairs (with a woolly texture) and an overcoat of longer hairs, the so-called topcoat. A double coat serves as insulation and keeps your Tamaskan warm in winter and cool in summer.
Please do NOT clip your Tamaskan, but brush your darling regularly. More often in summer, of course!
Regular coat care is therefore an absolute must, because by checking regularly you also check the following points:
– Are parasites (e.g. ticks, fleas, deer louse flies etc.) detectable?
– Have eczema and redness formed on the skin?
– Does the coat appear scaly and dull? Does it smell unpleasant?
– Are the eyes watering? Are the paws and ears matted?
Normally it is sufficient to brush your Tamaskan Dog once or twice a week. Basic grooming equipment includes a brush, a curry comb and a flea comb. Brushes such as the Furminator (with blades to get out the undercoat) should be used with caution as they can damage the top coat.
Combs and brushes suitable for dogs can be found in pet shops, online or at your local groomer.
When brushing your pet regularly, please also check the ears, teeth and paws. The dog’s teeth are (contrary to many claims) not completely “self-cleaning”, because by chewing on chewing articles and toys designed for dogs, the Tamaskan prevents deposits on the teeth, but does not prevent them completely, and brushing the teeth is unfortunately not replaced by this.
Unfortunately, no dog is naturally free of unsightly plaque and the resulting tartar for life. In the worst case, this can lead to serious inflammations due to the accumulation of bacteria in the mouth area. Extremely stubborn tartar is then usually removed by the vet with the help of an operation under anaesthetic.
Please check the teeth regularly and get your pet used to dental care from puppyhood!
When caring for your dog’s teeth, use a toothpaste suitable for dogs and a soft brush. It would be advisable, for example, to use a very soft (electric) toothbrush for children. Please never brush more than once a day and not less frequently than every 2 days to effectively prevent tartar formation due to plaque residues. Of course, brushing less often than every 2 days is better than not brushing at all.
On the subject of chewing articles and chewing toys: Unfortunately, these do not replace tooth brushing (as has been proven), but they can of course support it.
For ears, the smell test is normally sufficient: a healthy dog’s ear does not smell unpleasantly with a nutty note. If there are any discrepancies, please contact your vet. Of course, it would be advisable to get the dog used to cleaning its ears (by means of medical training) in case of emergency.
Many dogs have too long nails, because nail care is a point that is often forgotten or simply not carried out due to the refusal of the pet.
Too long nails are not only not nice, but also permanently painful for the dog. The gait is disturbed, the dog starts to walk in a relieving posture and the entire apparatus cannot function as it should. The long-term consequences range from sore paws to tension and arthrosis. NOT all dogs will grind their nail on their own, hind and dew claw nails always have to be shortened.
The nails are definitely too long if they touch the ground when the dog is standing, or even better if there is a few millimetres of space.
You don’t necessarily have to cut the nails , there are also grinders or scratchboards. If the dog is not used to it, you should definitely take it slowly and train and then work your way up nail by clawnail (in combination with lots of treats or liverwurst, of course 😉 ). Some dogs bite their own nails short, so you should be careful, as the nails can quickly tear or crumble and become infected.
CONCLUSION: If possible, the nails should be cut regularly.
For years, we have been hearing from well-known health organisations that we people and children in industrialised countries are getting fatter and fatter. And the number of overweight people is steadily increasing. Unfortunately, this also applies to our beloved pets. According to studies, 47% of all cats and 44% of all dogs living in Germany are too fat. In plain language, this means that almost every second dog is at least 10% over its ideal weight.
Of course, our beloved dogs can also suffer from the secondary diseases of being overweight (as well as obesity) such as diabetes, high blood pressure, respiratory distress, hormone disorders, cancer, athrosis due to the heavy strain on bones and joints, as well as a (severely) shortened lifespan, etc.
Since not only the daily amount of food but also the choice of food has an influence on the weight of your Tamaksan, we present the most common feeding methods:
The abbreviation BARF stands for “bone and raw food“.
People feed their dogs raw, fresh ingredients such as meat, vegetables and optional carbohydrates. Feeding a dog a fresh food diet must ensure that the dog receives all the necessary nutrients, vitamins and minerals.
If the meat to be fed comes from conventional factory farming, there may be a risk of contamination due to drug residues or other substances that are hazardous to health.
Dry as well as wet food usually contains all the necessary nutrients that the dog needs as well as other, mostly even not openly declared ingredients such as sugar (!) and artificial additives such as flavour enhancers, colourings and preservatives. In most cases, industrial dog food follows the divesis: All well and good on the outside, no good on the inside. The legal situation makes it possible at all for the feed industry to trick with the ingredients used.
Animal by-products actually refers to all products that are not suitable for human consumption: from bones to unusable meat scraps to feathers/beaks/tendons.
Thus, low-quality slaughterhouse waste, questionable ingredients (such as wood shavings) and various camouflage names for sugar are an integral part of many well-known pet food manufacturers.
A good dog food usually has a meat content of more than 50%, contains no (disguised) sugar and does without grain & corn as fillers as well as artificial flavours, colours and preservatives.
Please always provide sufficient fresh drinking water!
