Owning dogs, especially taking care of the kooikerhondje, is a specialty of humans across the world. Some historians postulate that dogs were domesticated between twelve thousand and 25,000 years ago—and that all canines evolved from the wolf. Since then, we have selectively bred more than four hundred breeds, varying in size from 4-pound teacup poodles all the way up to Irish wolfhounds, whose three-ft stature earns them the distinction of tallest pooch. But the most preferred pooches are non-pedigree dogs—the one-of-a-kind dogs known as mixed-breeds. The kooikerhondje is also a favorite pick with dog owners. Many owners are uninformed, however, of some common kooikerhondje care tips.
Health care cost of your kooikerhondje
The yearly budget for caring for your kooikerhondje—including everything from meals and treats, to vet bills, toys and license—can vary between $420 and seven hundred eighty dollars. This is not even considering capital costs for sterilization surgery, a collar and leash, dog carrier and a crate. Note: Be sure you have all your items before bringing your kooikerhondje home for the 1st time.
Basic kooikerhondje Care
How To Feed the kooikerhondje
- kooikerhondje puppies between eight and twelve weeks old need 4 bowls of food in a day.
- Feed kooikerhondje puppies 3 to 6 months old 3 meals in a day.
- Feed puppies six months old to one year 2 meals in a day.
- When the kooikerhondje makes his or her 1st birthday, 1 meal in a day is typically enough.
- Sometimes adult kooikerhondjes might prefer two lighter meals. It’s your duty to learn your kooikerhondje’s eating habits.
Premium-quality dry dogfood provides a balanced diet for grown kooikerhondjes and can mix with canned food, broth, or water. Your kooikerhondje may also love cooked eggs, cottage cheese, and fruits and vegetables, but these additions should be less than 10 percent of his or her daily food. kooikerhondje puppies should probably be given excellent-quality, name brand puppy food. You should try to limit “table food”, though, since it can result in mineral and vitamin deficiencies, tooth and bone problems, and might cause extremely picky food choices as well as obesity. Give fresh, potable water only, and be sure to wash water and food bowls frequently.
kooikerhondje Care Tips: Make sure your kooikerhondje does plenty of daily physical activity
kooikerhondjes need some daily physical activity to stay in shape, stimulate their minds, and maintain good health. Physical activity also tends to help kooikerhondjes avoid boredom, which often has the potential to lead to to difficult behavior. Getting out and about will cure many of your kooikerhondje’s desires to herd, dig, chase, retrieve and chew. Activity needs can depend on your kooikerhondje’s age and his level of health—but 10 minutes outside and just a walk around the block every day probably will not be enough. If your kooikerhondje is a six to 18 month adolescent, her requirements will probably be relatively more.
kooikerhondje Grooming
Regular brushing will help keep your kooikerhondje clean and reduce shedding. Inspect for ticks and fleas daily during warm weather. Sometimes kooikerhondjes don’t need a bath more than a few times a year. Before the bath, cut out or comb any mats from the kooikerhondje’s coat. Carefully rinse all soap out of the coat, or dirt will stick to the soap residue.
kooikerhondje Handling
Pups are obviously easier to manage. To carry your kooikerhondje pup, put one of your hands under your dog’s chest, either with the forearm or other hand supporting his or her hind legs and rump. Never try to lift or grab your pup by the front legs, nape or tail. When you must lift a larger, adult kooikerhondje, lift from the underside, supporting his or her chest with 1 of your arms and rear end with the other.
How to House the kooikerhondje
kooikerhondjes need a comfortable quiet place to be able to relax apart from all breezes and away from the ground or floor. You may want to purchase a doggie bed, or make one out of a wood box. Put a clean sheet, blanket, comforter, or pillow inside the bed. Wash your kooikerhondje’s bed covering often. If your kooikerhondje will be spending a lot of time outdoors, make sure she has access to plenty of cool water and covering in hot weather, and a warm, dry, covered shelter in winter.
kooikerhondje Licensing
Your town has licensing regulations to follow. You should affix the license to your kooikerhondje’s collar. The license, together with an identification tattoo, can possibly help secure your kooikerhondje’s return should he become lost.
Information on kooikerhondje Temperament
Training Your kooikerhondje
Well-behaved, companion kooikerhondjes can be a blessing to raise. But when untrained, your dog may be trouble. Teaching your kooikerhondje the fundamentals—”Stay”, “Come”, “Down”, “Heel”, “Off”, “Sit”, and “Leave it”—will bolster your relationship with both your dog and your company. If you’re the owner of a puppy, begin teaching her manners as fast as you can! Use doggie snacks as recognition and incentive. Puppies can enroll in obedience classes when they have been adequately vaccinated. Contact your local SPCA or humane society for information about training course recommendations. Invariably you should keep your kooikerhondje on a leash in public, even as a puppy. Be positive your doggie will come to you whenever you tell her. An aggressive or disobedient kooikerhondje cannot play with people.
About your kooikerhondje’s Health
kooikerhondjes should see the vet for a complete diagnosis, innoculations and heartworm test every year, and immediately if she is injured or sick.
Your kooikerhondje’s Oral Health
Although we may simply dislike our kooikerhondje’s foul breath, we must be aware of what it might indicate. Halitosis usually suggests that your kooikerhondje requires an oral check up. Plaque , which is brought on by bacteria brings a foul smell that demands professional treatment. After you give your kooikerhondje a professional oral cleaning, her mouth can be kept healthy by brushing regularly, feeding a special diet focused on dental health, and eliminating table food. Your veterinarian can provide you with more advice for minimizing periodontal disease as well as bad breath. You can easily brush the kooikerhondje’s teeth with a dog paste or a homemade paste made of baking soda and water twice weekly. Clean them with a gauze pad, a piece of nylon stocking wrapped around your finger, or a soft, child’s toothbrush. Periodontal disease,which is an infection between the gums and teeth, often affects kooikerhondjes. This troublesome affliction will sometimes result in loss of your kooikerhondje’s teeth and propagate disease to his body. Your vet usually will brush the kooikerhondje’s teeth during the routine health assessment.
Breeds with Halitosis (bad breath)
Although periodontal disease in and of itself is not a serious issue when it is caught early enough, bad breath may be indicative of fairly serious, persistent problems. Liver or intestinal diseases sometimes cause halitosis, whereas a fruity, even pleasant smell can usually be a sign of diabetes. When your kooikerhondje’s breath smells like urine or ammonia, kidney disease is a possibility. Set an appointment with a veterinarian whenever your kooikerhondje has halitosis along with other signs of disease like excessive urinating or drinking, depression or lethargy, weight loss, nausea, or decreased appetite.
Dealing with Fleas and Ticks in kooikerhondjes
When it’s warm, it’s crucial for you to perform daily inspections of your kooikerhondje for ticks and fleas. Find fleas using a flea comb. There are several new techniques of flea management. Visit your vet about these and other options.
Heartworms in kooikerhondjes
Your kooikerhondje is at risk of contracting heartworms if he is exposed to mosquitoes often. Mosquitoes carry this parasite from dog to dog. Many kooikerhondjes die yearly due to heartworm infestations. Your kooikerhondje should have a blood test for heartworms each and every spring—this is crucial to catch infestations from the prior year. A once-a-month tablet taken during mosquito season can help to protect your kooikerhondje. Your kooikerhondje should be on heartworm medication throughout a winter trip to a warmer climate. In some more moderate areas, vets recommend preventive heartworm medication throughout the year.
Medications and Poisons
If you’re contemplating giving your kooikerhondje medication that was not prescribed for him by his vet, forget it. For example, are you aware that just 1 ibuprofen caplet causes ulcers in some dogs Make sure your kooikerhondje is never exposed to rat poison and other rodenticides. If you have reason to think that your pooch has consumed a poison, immediately call the 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 information.
kooikerhondje Reproductive Operations
It is recommended that female kooikerhondjes be spayed—which is the removal of the uterus and ovaries—and males neutered—extraction of the testicles—by six months of age. You will usually significantly diminish your female’s breast cancer risk by spaying prior to adulthood. Spaying also eradicates the risk of a sick uterus, a very serious condition in more mature females that can only be treated with intensive medical care. Neutering males helps prevent testicular and prostate diseases, some hernias and certain aggressive behavior.
kooikerhondje Innoculating
- kooikerhondje puppies should be vaccinated with a combination vaccine (called the “5-in-one”) at two, 3 and 4 months of age, and then once every year. This immunization immunizes your pup from hepatitis, leptospirosis, parvovirus, parainfluenza, and distemper. The kooikerhondje must be innoculated for at least the first 4 months of her life.
- If you have an unvaccinated kooikerhondje older than four or five months, he must have a series of 2 vaccinations 2 or 3 weeks apart, followed by an annual vaccination.
- kooikerhondje puppy socialization and innoculation should coincide. Most doctors advise that new owners bring their kooikerhondje pups to socialization classes, as early as 8 or nine weeks of age. They should have already received their first innoculations by then.
Because statutes vary between different areas, call your community doctor to get information about rabies immunization. For instance, NYC regulations declare that pets older than three months be innoculated for rabies. After the original innoculation, she must have another immunization the following year, and then every three years after that. There are many innoculations that may or may not be effective for your kooikerhondje. Your vet can give you her recommendation. Also, if your kooikerhondje gets sick because he is not innoculated, do not give the innoculation until the dog has made a full recovery.
Roundworms in kooikerhondjes
kooikerhondjes are often exposed to worms—especially in rural areas. Eggs that carry roundworms and hookworms are transmitted through a dog’s feces. Most puppies, from all environments, even those with healthy mothers, carry roundworms or hookworms. Getting an accurate, early detection is the secret to treatment. Early, accurate diagnosis maximizes the possibility that prescribed medicine will be successful against your kooikerhondje’s worms. A dewormer that eradicates hookworms, for example, won’t kill tapeworms. Your veterinarian can best determine the culprit—and assign the effective medicine.
kooikerhondje Care Tips: Additional Info
Checklist of kooikerhondje Supplies
- Top-quality dog food and treats specifically for kooikerhondjes and similarly-sized dogs
- Food dish
- Water bowl
- Toys, toys and more toys, including safe chew toys
- Comb & brush for grooming, including a flea comb
- Collar with ID tag and license
- Leash
- Carrier (for puppies)
- Crate for training
- Box or dog bed with blanket or towel
- Doggie toothbrush
The no-no list
Do not feed your kooikerhondje the following:
- Alcohol, beer, wine or liquor
- Chocolate, tea, coffee, or any other caffeinated foods
- Raisins or grapes
- Spoiled or moldy food of any kind
- Onions, chives or garlic
- Poultry bones
- Salt or salty foods
- Tomato leaves, unripe fruit & stems
- Yeast dough
Final Thoughts
Retain your kooikerhondje on a leash when you are outdoors, unless you are in a fenced-in, secured spot. And please, when your kooikerhondje defecates on your neighbor’s yard, dispose of it! Don’t forget to check out these other articles about kooikerhondjes
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