Raising dogs, in particular taking care of the hokkaido, is old hat for people across the globe. Experts believe dogs were domesticated 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 four hundred breeds, varying in size from 4-pound teacup poodles all the way up to Irish wolfhounds, who have earned the distinction of the tallest dog. But the most popular dogs are non-pedigree dogs—the one-of-a-kind dogs known as mixed-breeds. The hokkaido is also a favorite choice with dog owners. Many owners are unaware, however, of many of the most crucial hokkaido care tips.
Health care cost of your hokkaido
The annual cost of rearing your hokkaido—to include everything from food, to vet bills, toys and license—could range between $420 and seven hundred eighty dollars. This doesn’t even count capital costs for spay/neuter surgery, dog collar and a leash, carrier and dog crate. Note: Make sure you have procured all of the required items before you bring your hokkaido home.
General hokkaido Care
hokkaido Feeding Outline
- hokkaido puppies between 8 and 12 weeks old need 4 bowls of food every twenty-four hours.
- Feed hokkaido puppies three to 6 months old 3 meals in a 24 hour period.
- Feed puppies 6 months old to 1 year old two bowls of food per day.
- By the time the hokkaido makes his first birthday, 1 bowl in a twenty-four hour period is usually sufficient.
- Some adult hokkaidos might prefer 2 smaller meals. It is your job to adapt to your hokkaido’s eating tendencies.
Excellent-quality dry dog food ensures a balanced diet for full-grown hokkaidos and may be mixed with water, broth, or canned food. Your hokkaido may love fruits and vegetables, cooked eggs, and cottage cheese, but these foods should not total more than ten percent of his or her daily nutrition intake. hokkaido puppies should probably be given premium-quality, name brand puppy food. Try to limit “table food”, however, since it can result in mineral and vitamin imbalances, bone and teeth concerns, and might cause some very picky food choices as well as obesity. Clean, fresh water should be available always, and be certain to wash water and food bowls very often.
hokkaido Care Tips: Your hokkaido needs physical activity daily
hokkaidos need physical activity so they can burn calories, recharge their brains, and stay healthy. Daily physical activity also really helps hokkaidos fight boredom, which would often lead to naughty behavior. Exercise can cure many of your hokkaido’s instinctual urges to herd, dig, chase, retrieve and chew. Exercise needs will depend on your hokkaido’s level of health and his or her age—but a couple of walks down the street every day and ten minutes in the backyard probably will not do. If your hokkaido is a 6 to 18 month adolescent, her requirements will probably be greater.
hokkaido Grooming Tips
Frequent brushing will help reduce shedding and keep your hokkaido clean. Inspect for fleas and ticks every day during warm weather. Many hokkaidos don’t need to be bathed more than a few times a year. Before bathing, cut out or comb all mats from the hokkaido’s hair. Carefully rinse all soap from the coat, or dirt will stick to the soap residue.
How to Handle Your hokkaido
Puppies are clearly the easiest to manage. While carrying the hokkaido pup, take 1 hand and place it beneath the dog’s chest, either with your forearm or other hand supporting his or her back legs and rump. Never try to lift or grab your pup by his or her front legs, nape or tail. When you have to lift a bigger, full-grown hokkaido, lift from underneath, bracing her chest with one of your arms and rear end with your other arm.
hokkaido housing
hokkaidos need a cozy peaceful place to be able to relax away from all the drafts and away from the floor or ground. You might want to think about purchasing a doggie bed, or prefer making one out of a wooden box. Put a clean sheet, comforter, blanket, or pillow in the bed for cushion. Wash the hokkaido’s bedding often. If your hokkaido will be spending a lot of time outdoors, make sure he has access to shade and plenty of cool water in hot weather, and a covered, warm, dry area during the winter.
hokkaido Licensing and Identification
Your area has licensing rules to heed. You should connect the license to your hokkaido’s collar. This, along with an ID tattoo, can possibly help you recover your hokkaido if she happens to go missing.
Info on hokkaido Temperament
About Training Your hokkaido
Well-behaved, companion hokkaidos are a blessing to own. However, when untrained, your hokkaido can be a pain. Training your hokkaido on the fundamentals—”Sit”, “Stay”, “Come”, “Down”, “Heel”, “Off”, and “Leave it”—will strengthen the relationship both with your pooch and your house guests. If you’re the owner of a pup, begin teaching him or her the appropriate responses asap! Food can be utilized as a lure and a reward. Pups should commence obedience courses when they have been sufficiently immunized. Contact the community humane society or SPCA for details on obedience class recommendations. You should always keep your hokkaido on a leash in public, even while a pup. Just be sure your dog will come to you every time you call her. An aggressive or disobedient hokkaido can’t play with children.
Knowing Your hokkaido’s Health
Your hokkaido should see the veterinarian for a complete check-up, immunizations and a heartworm examination each year, and ASAP when she is hurt or ill.
About your hokkaido’s Dental Health
Although we may object to our hokkaido’s halitosis, it’s important to be aware of what it might indicate. Bad breath usually means that your hokkaido needs a dental screening. Dental plaque brought on by germs creates a terrible stench that requires the help of a professional. Once your hokkaido has had a professional cleaning, his gums and teeth can be maintained in a healthy state by eliminating table food, feeding a special diet focused on maintaining dental health, and brushing regularly. The veterinarian can provide you with additional info on reducing dental problems and bad breath. You can use a baking soda and water paste or a dog toothpaste once or twice per week to brush your hokkaido’s teeth. Clean them with a sterile gauze pad, a piece of nylon stocking stretched over your finger, or a child’s soft toothbrush. Sometimes, hokkaidos end up with periodontal disease, which is also known as an infection between the gums and teeth. This dreadful condition can sometimes initiate your hokkaido’s loss of teeth and cause disease to her body. The doctor will usually brush your hokkaido’s teeth during the regular health diagnosis.
hokkaido Bad Breath
While the foul odors due to periodontal disease may not be serious if found early enough, sometimes odors may also be indicative of fairly serious, chronic problems. A sweet, fruity smell can usually be indicative of diabetes, while liver or intestinal diseases may cause foul breath. When your hokkaido’s breath smells like urine or ammonia, kidney disease might be the reason. Set an appointment with a veterinarian whenever your hokkaido 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 hokkaidos
During the warm seasons, it’s important for you to perform daily, regular inspections of your hokkaido for fleas and ticks. Use a flea comb to remove and find fleas. There are numerous new procedures of tick elimination. Talk to your veterinarian about his options.
hokkaidos With Heartworm Issues
The heartworm is a parasite that lives in the heart and is passed from an infested dog to your hokkaido by way of mosquitoes. Many hokkaidos die each year as a result of heartworm infections. It’s important to ensure your hokkaido submits to a blood screening for this parasite annually each spring. It’s also wise to give your hokkaido a once-a-month pill throughout the course of mosquito season to help you protect him from heartworms. If ever you travel in a warmer-than-usual region with your hokkaido in the winter, she should be on the preventive medicine during the trip. There are some regions, usually the places with warmer temperatures, where the veterinarians advise heartworm pills be given continuously.
Medicines and Poisons
Never, ever give your hokkaido medication that hasn’t been prescribed by a veterinarian. Did you know that just 1 regular-strength ibuprofen caplet causes ulcers in hokkaidos? Make sure your hokkaido is never exposed to rat poison and other rodenticides. Be sure you notify your dog’s veterinarian if you think your hokkaido has been exposed to a toxin. You may also immediately call the ASPCA Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 for 24 hr. help.
hokkaido Sterilization Procedures
Female hokkaidos should be spayed—which is the extraction of the ovaries and uterus—and males neutered—removal of the testicles—by 6 months of age. You will significantly diminish your female hokkaido’s risk of breast cancer by spaying prior to maturity. Spaying also eliminates the chance of a sick uterus, a traumatic problem in more mature females that demands surgery. Neutering male hokkaidos prevents testicular and prostate diseases, some hernias and certain aggressive behavior.
hokkaido Vaccinations
- hokkaido pups should be vaccinated with a combo shot (called a “5-in-one”) at two, three and four months old, and then once every year. This innoculation protects your puppy from parainfluenza, parvovirus, leptospirosis, hepatitis, and distemper. Your hokkaido must be immunized for at least the first 4 months of her life.
- If you have an unvaccinated hokkaido older than four or five months, she must have a series of 2 innoculations given two to 3 weeks apart, followed by a yearly vaccination.
- hokkaido pup innoculation and socialization should go hand in hand. You may bring your hokkaido pup to socialization courses as early as eight or 9 weeks of age, as recommended by many veterinarians. They should have already received their first immunizations by this point.
Rules are so varied between different areas, that it’s best to contact your community veterinarian to get rabies innoculation information. For instance, NYC codes declare that pets older than 3 months must be innoculated for rabies. The first rabies innoculation must be followed up by a subsequent shot the next year, and then every three years. There are a variety of innoculations that may or may not be effective for your hokkaido. Ask your hokkaido’s vet for his opinion. By the way, if your hokkaido happens to get sick because he is not vaccinated, the immunization needs to be administered after your pet is back to health.
Intestinal Parasites in hokkaidos
hokkaidos are often exposed to worms—in all areas, both rural and urban. Eggs that carry roundworms and hookworms are transmitted through a hokkaido’s stool. Most pups, even from healthy mothers in good homes, carry roundworms or hookworms. The key to treatment is correct diagnosis. This will make certain that the medicine is successful against the parasite your dog has. A dewormer that eradicates roundworms, for example, cannot kill tapeworms. Your vet can best identify the culprit—and prescribe the most effective medicine.
hokkaido Care Tips: Additional Info
Checklist of hokkaido Supplies
- Excellent-quality dog food and treats specifically for hokkaidos and similarly-sized dogs
- Food bowl
- Water bowl
- As many safe toys as you can provide, especially chewable
- Brush and comb for grooming, including a flea comb
- Collar with identification tag and license
- Quality leash
- Carrier (for pups)
- Training crate
- Dog box or bed with sheet or towel
- Child’s toothbrush
Warnings to be Heeded
Do not feed your hokkaido the following:
- Alcohol, beer, wine or liquor
- Chocoloate or any food with caffeine
- Grapes and raisins
- Moldy or spoiled food
- Onions, garlic or chives
- Chicken, turkey, or any other poultry bones
- Salt or salty foods
- Tomato leaves, stems & unripe fruit
- Dough
The “Bottom” Line
Unless you are at home, or in a fenced-in, secured location, always keep your hokkaido on a leash. Whenever your hokkaido does #2 on a neighbor’s yard, her sidewalk or any other public location, please take care of it! Don’t forget to check out these other articles about hokkaidos
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