Owning dogs, in particular taking care of the chesapeake bay retriever, is nothing new for humans across the world. Some zoologists believe dogs were domesticated sometime between twelve thousand and 25,000 years ago—and that all canines evolved from the wolf. Since those days, people have selectively bred more than 400 breeds, varying in size from 4-pound teacup poodles to Irish wolfhounds, whose 3-foot stature has earned them the distinction of tallest canine. But the most preferred canines are non-pedigree dogs—the one-of-a-kind dogs known as mixed-breeds. The chesapeake bay retriever is another popular pick among canine owners. Many owners are oblivious, however, of many of the most crucial chesapeake bay retriever care tips.
Health care cost of the chesapeake bay retriever
The annual budget for taking care of the chesapeake bay retriever—to include nutrition, to doctor bills, toys and license—can vary between four hundred twenty and seven hundred eighty dollars. This is not even considering capital costs for spay/neuter procedures, collar and leash, dog carrier and a crate. Note: Make sure you have all of your supplies before getting your chesapeake bay retriever home for the first time.
Typical chesapeake bay retriever Care
chesapeake bay retriever Feeding Routine
- chesapeake bay retriever pups between eight and 12 weeks need four bowls of food every 24 hours.
- chesapeake bay retriever puppies 3 to 6 months old should be fed 3 meals daily.
- Feed puppies six months old to 1 year old two times daily.
- When your chesapeake bay retriever reaches his or her first birthday, 1 meal every 24 hours is sufficient.
- Sometimes adult chesapeake bay retrievers might eat 2 lighter helpings. It is your job to learn your chesapeake bay retriever’s eating habits.
Top-quality dry dog food provides a balanced diet to grown chesapeake bay retrievers and can mix with canned food, broth, or water. Your chesapeake bay retriever may also like cottage cheese, fruits and vegetables, and cooked eggs, but these foods shouldn’t add up to more than ten pct of her daily allowance. chesapeake bay retriever puppies should probably be given excellent-quality, name brand puppy food. You should limit “people food”, however, because it can result in vitamin and mineral deficiencies, bone and teeth concerns, and might result in very picky food choices as well as obesity. Give fresh, clean water at all times, and be certain to wash food and water bowls frequently.
chesapeake bay retriever Care Tips: Your chesapeake bay retriever needs exercise daily
chesapeake bay retrievers must get some daily physical activity in order to burn calories, stimulate their brains, and maintain their health. Exercise also tends to help chesapeake bay retrievers avoid boredom, which often leads to destructive behavior. Getting out and about can curb most of your chesapeake bay retriever’s instinctual urges to dig, retrieve, chase, chew and herd. Exercise needs will depend on your chesapeake bay retriever’s age and his level of health—but ten minutes in back of the house and a couple of walks around the block every day probably won’t suffice. If your chesapeake bay retriever is a six to eighteen month adolescent, his requirements will probably be more.
chesapeake bay retriever Grooming Tips
Frequent brushing will help keep your chesapeake bay retriever clean and reduce shedding. Check for fleas and ticks daily during warm weather. Most chesapeake bay retrievers don’t need to be bathed more than a few times per year. Before a bath, cut out or comb any and all mats from the chesapeake bay retriever’s hair. Rinse all soap out of the coat, or the dirt will stick to the soap residue.
How to Handle Your chesapeake bay retriever
Puppies, as opposed to adults, are obviously easier to handle. When carrying the chesapeake bay retriever pup, take one hand and put it under the dog’s chest, either with your forearm or your other hand supporting the hind legs and rump. Never attempt to grab or lift your pup by his or her forelegs, tail or nape. If you must lift a larger, full-grown chesapeake bay retriever, lift from the underside, bracing his chest with one of your arms and rump with your other arm.
Housing the chesapeake bay retriever
chesapeake bay retrievers need a comfortable quiet spot to rest apart from all the drafts and away from the ground. You may want to think about purchasing a doggie bed, or think about making one from a wooden box. Place a clean comforter, blanket, sheet, or pillow inside the bed. Wash your chesapeake bay retriever’s bedding often. If the chesapeake bay retriever will be spending a lot of time outdoors, be sure she has access to shade and plenty of cool water in the summer, and a warm, dry, covered shelter in the cold.
Licensing and Identification for chesapeake bay retrievers
Heed your community’s licensing rules. You should connect the license to your chesapeake bay retriever’s collar. This, together with an identification tattoo or tag, may help you recover your chesapeake bay retriever should he go missing.
chesapeake bay retriever Behavior Information
About Training Your chesapeake bay retriever
A well-mannered, companion chesapeake bay retriever can truly be a blessing to have. However, left untrained, your chesapeake bay retriever can easily be a big pain. Training your chesapeake bay retriever on the minimums—”Sit”, “Stay”, “Come”, “Down”, “Heel”, “Off”, and “Leave it”—bolsters the relationship both with your dog as well as the family. If you own a pup, start training her on the right responses as soon as possible! Use treats as an incentive and a reward. Pups should join obedience classes when they have been sufficiently vaccinated. Call your local SPCA or humane society for details about training schools. It is wise to keep your chesapeake bay retriever leashed in public, even while a pup. Just be certain your dog will come to you when you tell her. A disobedient or aggressive chesapeake bay retriever should not be allowed to play with people.
Your chesapeake bay retriever’s Health
chesapeake bay retrievers should see the veterinarian for a thorough exam, vaccinations and heartworm exam each year, and immediately when he is hurt or sick.
Your chesapeake bay retriever’s Oral Health
While many of us might object to our chesapeake bay retriever’s foul breath, we must pay attention to what it may mean. Halitosis usually indicates that your chesapeake bay retriever is in need of a dental check up. Dental plaque triggered by germs brings a terrible odor that can only be cured with the help of a professional. Once you have given your chesapeake bay retriever a professional cleaning, the gums and teeth can be be preserved in a healthy state by feeding a special diet focused on dental health, eliminating table food, and regular brushing. The vet can supply you with other data on reducing oral disease as well as halitosis. You should clean the chesapeake bay retriever’s teeth using a dog toothpaste or a simple baking soda and water paste a couple of times a week. Use a child’s soft toothbrush, a gauze pad or a piece of nylon stocking stretched over your finger. Sometimes chesapeake bay retrievers get periodontal disease, sometimes called gum disease. Often, teeth loss takes place because of gum disease. Disease can also spread to other areas of your chesapeake bay retriever’s body. The vet may brush your dog’s teeth at a typical checkup.
Bad chesapeake bay retriever Breath
Although dental disease alone is not a serious threat when it is caught early enough, the foul odors may be indicative of fairly serious, long-term problems. A sweet, fruity smell may frequently be a sign of diabetes, while intestinal or liver diseases may cause foul breath. When your chesapeake bay retriever’s breath smells of urine or ammonia, kidney disease may be the cause. Set an appointment with a veterinarian whenever your chesapeake bay retriever has halitosis along with other signs of disease like excessive urinating or drinking, depression or lethargy, weight loss, nausea, or decreased appetite.
Dealing with Ticks and Fleas in chesapeake bay retrievers
Regular, daily inspections of your chesapeake bay retriever for ticks and fleas in the summer are of utmost importance. Use a flea comb to remove fleas. There are numerous new methods of tick and flea control. Talk to your veterinarian about his or her options.
Heartworms in chesapeake bay retrievers
The heartworm is a parasite that lives in the heart and passes from a contaminated dog to your chesapeake bay retriever by way of mosquitoes. Many chesapeake bay retrievers die each year as a result of heartworm infestations. It is wise to make sure your chesapeake bay retriever takes a heartworm screen each and every spring—this is vital to stop infections from the prior year. A monthly tablet taken during the warm, wet time of the year will help to protect your chesapeake bay retriever. Your chesapeake bay retriever should be on heartworm medication throughout a winter trip to a warmer climate. There are some places, usually the places with milder temperatures, where the veterinarians advise parasite medication be given continuously.
Medicines and Poisons
Don’t ever give your chesapeake bay retriever medication that has not been prescribed by his veterinarian. One little ibuprofen tablet is known to cause stomach ulcers in chesapeake bay retrievers. Make sure your chesapeake bay retriever is never exposed to rat poison and other rodenticides. When you have reason to suspect that your doggie has eaten a toxin, contact your doctor or the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 for twenty-four-hour animal poison help.
chesapeake bay retriever Sterilization Operations
Female chesapeake bay retrievers should be spayed—which is the removal of the ovaries and uterus—and males neutered—extraction of the testes—by 6 months of age. Spaying before maturity greatly diminishes the risk of breast cancer, which is a usually fatal and common ailment of more mature females. The chance of a diseased uterus, which is another serious condition that impacts more mature females, will also be eliminated by spaying while young. Testicular cancer, prostate diseases, some hernias and certain aggressive behavior are preventable by neutering male chesapeake bay retrievers.
Immunizing your chesapeake bay retriever
- The combo vaccine (also called the “5-in-1 shot”) must be given to your chesapeake bay retriever at two, three, and 4 months of age and again once per year. This innoculation immunizes your pup from hepatitis, leptospirosis, parvovirus, parainfluenza, and distemper. The chesapeake bay retriever puppy’s immunization regimen cannot be finished prior to four months old.
- If you have an uninnoculized chesapeake bay retriever older than four or five months, she must get a set of two innoculations two to 3 weeks apart, followed by a yearly vaccination.
- chesapeake bay retriever puppy socialization and innoculation should go hand in hand. You can bring your chesapeake bay retriever pup to socialization classes by 8 to 9 weeks of age, according to most doctors. They should have already received their first immunizations by then.
Since rules vary around the country, call your local vet for instructions about rabies innoculation. For example, in New York City, the rule states that all pets older than 3 months must be vaccinated for rabies. After the first shot, he must get another shot the following year, and then every 3 years. There are several innoculations that may or may not be effective for your chesapeake bay retriever. Your veterinarian can tell youmore about them. By the way, if your chesapeake bay retriever gets sick because she is not properly vaccinated, do not give the immunization until the dog has made a full recovery.
Roundworms in chesapeake bay retrievers
chesapeake bay retrievers are commonly exposed to worms and possible infestation—in all areas, both rural and urban. Microscopic eggs created by intestinal worms are transmitted through an infected chesapeake bay retriever’s stool. Even the healthiest of chesapeake bay retriever puppies carry roundworms or hookworms. An accurate, early diagnosis is the key to effective treatment. This will make sure that the medicine is effective against the worms your dog has. A dewormer that eliminates hookworms, for example, can’t kill tapeworms. Your doctor can best determine the culprit—and assign the effective treatment.
Miscellaneous chesapeake bay retriever Care Tips
chesapeake bay retriever Supply Checklist
- Excellent-quality dog food and treats specifically for chesapeake bay retrievers and similarly-sized dogs
- Food bowl
- Water dish
- Toys, toys and more toys, including safe chew toys
- Brush & comb for grooming, including a flea comb
- Collar with license and ID tag
- Quality leash
- Carrier (for puppies)
- Crate for training
- Box or dog bed with quilt or towel
- Child’s toothbrush
The no-no list
Never feed your chesapeake bay retriever the following:
- Alcohol, beer, wine or liquor
- Chocoloate or any food with caffeine
- Raisins or grapes
- Spoiled or moldy food
- Onions, chives or garlic
- Chicken, turkey, or any other poultry bones
- Salt and salty foods
- Tomato leaves, stems and unripe fruit
- Dough
The “Bottom” Line
Unless you are at home, or in a secured, fenced-in space, keep your chesapeake bay retriever on a leash at all times. If your chesapeake bay retriever does #2 on your neighbor’s grass, her sidewalk or any other public space, please remove it! Don’t forget to check out these other articles about chesapeake bay retrievers
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