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Author
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Topic: survey poll
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lou3
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Member # 343
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posted February 18, 2004 06:07 AM
a friend of mine is doing some sort of "market research" for her course on common misconceptions among pet owners. Please take two minutes to answer these questions for her.
Poll Information
This poll contains 12 question(s). 23 user(s) have voted.
You may not view the results of this poll without voting.
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Posts: 461 | From: uk | Registered: Nov 2003
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MissBandit
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Member # 641
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posted February 18, 2004 04:51 PM
Lou, are you going to tell us if we are correct? I'd like to know how I measure up ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Posts: 36 | From: British Columbia, Canada | Registered: Feb 2004
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lou3
Member
Member # 343
Member Rated:
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posted February 19, 2004 06:47 AM
ok here are the answers to the questions that arent opinion questions (these are the answers my friend gave me word for word - not my own answers)
1 - it is correct to spay/neuter a dog that will not be used for breeding, usually around 6-9 months. Some vets recommend letting them have one season to encourage urinary tract development, others recommend spaying/neutering as early as possible. So any of the first three are correct. Not spaying/neutering should not be considered an option by responsible dog owners unless the dog will be used for breeding.
2 - the best thing you can feed your dog is a commercial dried food. Tinned food is bad for their teeth and smell, can encourage copraphagia and may cause gastrointestinal upset. Raw meat diets and "whatever you eat yourself" diets are horribly deficient in a lot of things. Raw meat is particularly bad because dogs are essentially omnivores and so the diet will not contain many of the trace vitamins and minerals that are necessary for a healthy animal
3 - you should clean your dogs teeth every day if possible, if you cant then regular veterinary attention should be provided
4 - my friend was quite concerned with some of the answers to this one. An active breed like a gundog or collie requires a minimum of 2-3 hours exercise per day. (someone put 20 mins twice a day - your dog would go mad with that little exercise)
5 - every dog no matter how "lap dog ish" should get at least two twenty minutes walks per day.
6 - chocolate and dogs is ... disastrous, poisonous with cumulative effects. even really tiny amounts fed over a period of time can cause death. Some dogs have lower tolerance than others and it is not unknown for a single square of plain chocolate to kill a labrador. In short if you dont wanna kill your dog - dont give it chocolate.
8 - small breeds (border collie downwards) should be fed puppy/junior food till they are 12 months old, large breeds (esp those pointer size and bigger) should be fed puppy/junior food until they are 18 months old.
10 - dew claws are removed to prevent injuries, there is no specification in the breed standards therefore it does not need to be done for cosmetic reasons. Usually only the back dew claws would be removed.
11 - puppies should start eating soft food at 3-4 weeks of age. Before this their gastrointestinal tract is not developed enough to cope with solids, resulting in choking and gastrointestinal problems, but later than this they begin to need more nutrients than the mothers milk alone can provide resulting in sickly weak puppies.
12 - the most common form of malnutrition in dogs is obesity. one in four pets are overweight. if you cant feel your dogs ribs it is clinically obese, however it is overweight long before it reaches this stage. In aa ideal weifht dog the fat coverage should only JUST obscure the ribs from view - being able to see the outline of a couple of them is fine too as long as they arent sticking out of the coat. Some breeds require slightly more fat coverage (such as labradors and newfoundlands) but this should not be used as an excuse to allow the dog to become overweight.
Vitamin and mineral deficiencies are also very common in dogs fed raw meat only diets.
Thankyou all for answering
Lou
Posts: 461 | From: uk | Registered: Nov 2003
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