Owning dogs, in particular providing care for the irish water spaniel, is nothing new for humans. Some experts speculate that dogs were domesticated between 12,000 and 25,000 years ago—and that canines evolved from wolves. Since those days, human beings have selectively bred more than 400 breeds, varying in size from 4-pound teacup poodles all the way up to Irish wolfhounds, who have earned the title of tallest pooch. However, the most popular canines are the non-pedigree dogs—the one-of-a-kind dogs known as mixed-breeds. The irish water spaniel is also a favorite pick among canine owners. Many owners are oblivious, however, of many of the most important irish water spaniel care tips.
Typical health care cost for your irish water spaniel
The yearly budget for rearing your irish water spaniel—including everything from meals and snacks, to vet bills, toys and license—can vary between $420 and $780. This doesn’t even include capital costs for sterilization procedures, dog collar and leash, carrier and a dog crate. Note: Make sure you have obtained all your items before you get your irish water spaniel home.
Basic irish water spaniel Care
irish water spaniel Feeding Outline
- irish water spaniel puppies between 8 and 12 weeks old need 4 meals daily.
- irish water spaniel pups 3 to 6 months old should be fed three meals daily.
- Feed puppies 6 months old to 1 year two bowls of food daily.
- When the irish water spaniel reaches his first birthday, one feeding daily is sufficient.
- Many times adult irish water spaniels might eat two smaller bowls. It’s your job to adapt to your irish water spaniel’s eating tendencies.
Premium-quality dry dog food provides balanced nutrition for adult irish water spaniels and can mix with canned food, water, or broth. Your irish water spaniel may also be fond of cooked eggs, cottage cheese, and fruits and vegetables, but these foods should be less than ten pct of her daily nutrition. irish water spaniel puppies ought to be fed a high-quality, brand-name puppy food. You should try to cut down on “table food”, though, since it can result in mineral and vitamin imbalances, bone and teeth problems, and may create some extremely finicky eating habits as well as obesity. Give clean, potable water exclusively, and make sure to wash food and water bowls frequently.
irish water spaniel Care Tips: Your irish water spaniel needs physical activity daily
irish water spaniels must have exercise to stay in shape, stimulate their minds, and remain in good health. Daily physical activity also tends to help irish water spaniels avoid boredom, which has the potential to lead to destructive behavior. Supervised fun and games would quench most of your irish water spaniel’s instinctual urges to chew, dig, chase, retrieve and herd. Individual exercise needs can depend on your irish water spaniel’s age and his level of health—but just a walk around the block every day and ten minutes in back of the house probably won’t be sufficient. If your irish water spaniel is a 6 to 18 month adolescent, her requirements will be relatively more.
Grooming tips for irish water spaniels
Frequent brushing will help keep your irish water spaniel clean and reduce shedding. Check for ticks and fleas daily during warm weather. Most irish water spaniels don’t need to be bathed more than a few times during the year. Prior to the bath, cut out or comb any mats from the irish water spaniel’s coat. Rinse all soap out of the coat, or the dirt will stick to the soap residue.
irish water spaniel Handling
Pups, as opposed to adults, are clearly the easiest to handle. When carrying your irish water spaniel pup, put 1 hand under the dog’s chest, with either the forearm or your other hand supporting her back legs and rump. Don’t ever try to lift or grab your puppy by her front legs, tail or back of the neck. When you have to lift a larger, full-grown irish water spaniel, lift from the underside, bracing her chest with 1 of your arms and rump with your other arm.
Housing the irish water spaniel
irish water spaniels need a comfortable quiet spot to relax apart from all the drafts and away from the floor. You may want to buy a doggie bed, or prefer making one from a wood box. Place a clean blanket, sheet, comforter, or pillow inside the bed for cushioning. Wash your irish water spaniel’s bedding often. If the irish water spaniel will be spending a lot of time outdoors, be certain she has covering and plenty of cool water in the summer, and a warm, covered, dry area when it’s cold.
irish water spaniel Identification
Your city has licensing rules to follow. You should connect the license to your irish water spaniel’s collar. The license, together with an identification tattoo or tag, may help secure your irish water spaniel’s return should he get lost.
irish water spaniel Temperament Info
irish water spaniel Training
A well-behaved, companion irish water spaniel is a blessing to own. However, when left untrained, your dog can easily be trouble. Teaching your irish water spaniel the standards—”Heel”, “Off”, “Sit”, “Stay”, “Come”, “Down”, and “Leave it”—will bolster your relationship with both the pooch as well as the neighbors. If you have a puppy, begin training her on the appropriate behavior quickly! Use treats as recognition and incentive. Puppies can commence obedience class when they are sufficiently vaccinated. Call the local SPCA or humane society for obedience schools. Always keep your irish water spaniel on a leash while in public, even while a pup. Just be certain your doggie will come back to you when you tell her. A disobedient or aggressive irish water spaniel cannot play with people.
Your irish water spaniel’s Health
irish water spaniels should visit the vet for a complete assessment, innoculations and a heartworm blood exam each year, and immediately when he is ill or injured.
Your irish water spaniel’s Dental Health
Although we may simply dislike our irish water spaniel’s halitosis, we must pay attention to what it might be a sign of. Foul-smelling breath usually means that your irish water spaniel is in need of a dental exam. Dental plaque brought on by bacteria causes a terrible stench that necessitates treatment by a professional. Once you have given your irish water spaniel a professional dental cleaning, her teeth and gums can be maintained in a healthy state by brushing the teeth regularly, feeding a specially formulated dental diet and treats, and avoiding table scraps. The vet can provide you with more information for eradicating dental diseases and stinky breath. You can use a baking soda and water paste or a dog toothpaste once or twice per week to brush your irish water spaniel’s teeth. Use a child’s soft toothbrush, a gauze pad or a piece of nylon pantyhose stretched over your finger. Periodontal disease,which is an infection between the teeth and gums, often affects irish water spaniels. This painful affliction can sometimes cause loss of your irish water spaniel’s teeth and also propagate infection throughout her body. The vet can sometimes clean his teeth as a regular part of your irish water spaniel’s health examination.
irish water spaniel Halitosis
If your irish water spaniel has bad breath, periodontal disease might not necessarily be the issue, as other problems have that symptom. A pleasant, even sweet smell may frequently be indicative of diabetes, while diseases of the liver or intestines may cause foul breath. If your irish water spaniel’s breath smells like urine or ammonia, kidney disease is a possibility. Any time you find your irish water spaniel has bad breath along with other signs of disease, like loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, weight loss, moodiness, including depression, too much urinating or drinking, set a visit to his or her veterinarian.
Tick and Fleas in irish water spaniels
When it’s warm, it’s important for you to perform regular, daily checks of your irish water spaniel for ticks and fleas. Use a flea comb to find and remove fleas. There are numerous new methods of tick and flea control. Speak with your vet about her or his options.
irish water spaniels With Heartworm Issues
This parasite resides in the heart and is passed from a contaminated dog to your irish water spaniel by way of mosquitoes. Heartworm infestations are known to be deadly. It is critical that you make sure your irish water spaniel submits to a blood test for worms annually each spring. It is also good to give your irish water spaniel a once-a-month pill throughout the course of mosquito season in order to protect him from heartworms. Your irish water spaniel should be on heartworm medication throughout a winter trip to a warmer climate. In some warmer areas, veterinarians recommend preventive parasite medication be taken continuously.
Medicines and Poisons
If you’re pondering giving your irish water spaniel medicine that was not prescribed for him by his veterinarian, don’t even think about it. For example, are you aware that one regular-strength ibuprofen capsule causes stomach ulcers in irish water spaniels? Keep rat poison and other rodenticides away from your irish water spaniel. Be sure to call your dog’s veterinarian when you have reson to think your irish water spaniel has been exposed to poison. You may also call the ASPCA Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 for 24 hour help.
irish water spaniels: Spaying and Neutering
It is recommended that female irish water spaniels be spayed—the removal of the uterus and ovaries—and males neutered—extraction of the testes—by six months of age. You can greatly diminish your female irish water spaniel’s breast cancer risk by spaying prior to adulthood. The possibility of a sick uterus, which is another serious condition that impacts more mature females, can be eliminated by spaying before 6 months. Neutering male irish water spaniels prevents prostate and testicular diseases, certain aggressive behavior and some hernias.
irish water spaniel Shots
- The combination vaccine (also called a “5-in-one shot”) ought to be given to your irish water spaniel at 2, 3, and four months of age and then once every year. This innoculation protects your puppy from parainfluenza, parvovirus, leptospirosis, hepatitis, and distemper. The irish water spaniel puppy’s immunization regimen cannot be completed before four months of age.
- If your irish water spaniel has not been innoculated and is older than 4 months, he will need to be given 2 innoculations asap, two to three weeks apart. After that you must innoculate every year.
- irish water spaniel pup socialization and immunization should coincide. You can bring your irish water spaniel puppy to socialization classes as early as eight or 9 weeks old, according to most doctors. At this point, they should have already received their first series of vaccines.
Because laws vary between different areas, call your community veterinarian for instructions about rabies innoculation. For example, in NYC, the statute states that all pets older than three months of age to be vaccinated for rabies. After the initial shot, he must get a second shot the following year, and then every three years. There are several immunizations that could be right for your irish water spaniel. Your veterinarian can tell youmore about them. Please note, if your irish water spaniel happens to get ill because he is not immunized, the shots needs to be administered once your pet is back to health.
Worms in irish water spaniels
irish water spaniels are commonly exposed to worms and possible infestation—even in urban areas. Tiny eggs created by roundworms are transmitted through an infected irish water spaniel’s feces. Most pups, even from healthy mothers in good homes, carry roundworms or hookworms. Getting an accurate, early diagnosis is the secret to treatment. This will make certain that the medicine is highly effective against the worms your dog has. A dewormer that eradicates hookworms, for example, can’t kill tapeworms. Your doctor can best define the culprit—and decide the right medicine.
Miscellaneous irish water spaniel Care Tips
irish water spaniel Supply Checklist
- Excellent-quality dog food and snacks specifically for irish water spaniels and similarly-sized dogs
- Food bowl
- Water bowl
- Toys, toys and more toys, including safe chew toys
- Comb and brush for grooming, including a flea comb
- Collar with license and ID tag
- Leash
- Dog carrier (for pups)
- Crate for training
- Dog box or bed with comforter or towel
- Dog toothbrush
The no-no list
The following items should never be fed to irish water spaniels:
- Alcoholic beverages
- Chocolate, coffee, or tea
- Grapes or raisins
- Spoiled or moldy food of any kind
- Onions, garlic or chives
- Poultry bones
- Salt and salty foods
- Tomato leaves, unripe fruit and stems
- Yeast dough
Final Thoughts
Retain your irish water spaniel on a leash whenever you are outdoors, unless you are in a fenced-in, secured area. And please, when your irish water spaniel defecates on your neighbor’s grass, remove it! Don’t forget to check out these other articles about irish water spaniels
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