Owning dogs, especially providing care for the golden retriever, is a specialty of humans. Some experts theorize dogs were domesticated between 12,000 and 25,000 years ago—and that all dogs evolved from wolves. Since those days, humans have selectively bred more than four hundred breeds, varying in size from four-pound teacup poodles all the way up to Irish wolfhounds, whose 3-foot stature has earned them the title of tallest pooch. However, the most popular canines are non-pedigree dogs—the one-of-a-kind dogs known as mutts. The golden retriever is another favorite choice among canine owners. Some owners are unaware, however, of some important golden retriever care tips.
Cost of care for your golden retriever
The yearly budget for taking care of your golden retriever—including everything from meals, to vet bills, toys and license—could vary between $420 and $780. This figure doesn’t include capital costs for spay/neuter operations, collar and leash, a dog carrier and dog crate. Tip: Make sure you have obtained all the required supplies before bringing your golden retriever home.
General golden retriever Care
How To Feed the golden retriever
- golden retriever pups between eight and twelve weeks old need four meals each day.
- Feed golden retriever puppies 3 to 6 months old 3 meals in a twenty-four hour period.
- Feed pups 6 months to one year old 2 bowls of food daily.
- By the time your golden retriever reaches her 1st birthday, 1 meal every 24 hours is enough.
- Sometimes golden retrievers, however, eat 2 smaller helpings. It is your responsibility to adapt to your golden retriever’s eating habits.
Top-quality dry dog food ensures a balanced diet to grown golden retrievers and can mix with water, broth, or canned food. Your golden retriever may dig fruits and vegetables, cottage cheese, and cooked eggs, but these foods should not total more than ten pct of his or her daily calorie intake. golden retriever puppies need to be given high-quality, name brand puppy food. Please limit “table food”, however, since it can cause mineral and vitamin imbalances, bone and teeth problems, and may create some very finicky eating habits and obesity. Give fresh, potable water only, and make certain to wash food and water dishes daily.
golden retriever Care Tips: Make sure to get your golden retriever plenty of daily physical activity
golden retrievers need some daily physical activity so they can burn calories, recharge their minds, and remain in good health. Daily exercise also seems to help golden retrievers avoid boredom, which often has the potential to lead to to difficult behavior. Getting out would cure many of your golden retriever’s instinctual urges to dig, retrieve, chase, chew and herd. Exercise needs will depend on your golden retriever’s level of health and her age—but merely a walk down the street every day and 10 minutes outside probably won’t cut it. If your golden retriever is a 6 to eighteen month adolescent, her requirements will be a little more.
Grooming tips for golden retrievers
You can help keep your golden retriever clean and reduce shedding with brushing. Check for ticks and fleas every day during the summer or other warm weather. Most golden retrievers don’t need a bath more than a few times per year. Prior to giving him or her a bath, comb or cut out all mats from the golden retriever’s coat. Rinse all soap out of the coat, or the dirt will stick to soap residue.
Handling Your golden retriever
Pups, as opposed to adults, are clearly the easiest to handle. When carrying the golden retriever pup, take one of your hands and place it beneath the dog’s chest, either with your forearm or other hand supporting her hind legs and rump. Don’t attempt to lift or grab your pup by his front legs, back of the neck or tail. If you need to pick up a bigger, full-grown golden retriever, lift from underneath, holding his chest with one of your arms and rear end with your other arm.
golden retriever housing
Your golden retriever needs a comfortable quiet place to relax away from all the drafts and away from the ground. You might want to think about purchasing a dog bed, or feel like making one from a wood box. Place a clean sheet, blanket, comforter, or pillow inside the bed as cushion. Wash your golden retriever’s bedding often. If the golden retriever will be outdoors frequently, make certain she has plenty of cool water and covering in hot weather, and a warm, covered, dry shelter when it’s cold.
Licensing and Identification for golden retrievers
Your city has licensing regulations to heed. You should attach the license to the golden retriever’s collar. This, along with an ID tag or tattoo, can possibly help you recover your golden retriever if he happens to go missing.
Information on golden retriever Behavior
Thoughts on Training your golden retriever
Well-behaved, companion golden retrievers are truly a joy to own. But untrained, your dog may be trouble. Teaching your golden retriever the basics—”Heel”, “Off”, “Sit”, “Stay”, “Come”, “Down”, and “Leave it”—will improve your relationship with both your pooch as well as the family. If you have a puppy, begin teaching him the appropriate responses as soon as humanly possible! Little bits of food should be utilized as a lure and a reward. Pups can begin obedience classes when they have been sufficiently vaccinated. Call the community humane society or SPCA for details on training courses. Invariably you should keep your golden retriever on a leash in public, even as a puppy. Be sure your golden retriever will come to you if you tell her to. An aggressive or disobedient golden retriever should not play with children.
About your golden retriever’s Health
Your golden retriever should see the vet for a complete check-up, shots and heartworm examination every single year, and ASAP if she is hurt or sick.
Your golden retriever’s Oral Health
While many of us might object to our golden retriever’s halitosis, we must be aware of what it may represent. Foul-smelling breath is a symptom that your golden retriever should have a dental check up. Dental plaque , which is caused by germs brings a foul stench that can only be cured with professional treatment. Once your golden retriever has had a professional oral cleaning, his teeth and gums can be be preserved in a healthy state by eliminating table food, feeding a special diet focused on maintaining dental health, and brushing regularly. Your vet can give you other tips for mitigating dental disease and halitosis. You can use a baking soda and water paste or a dog toothpaste once or twice per week to brush your golden retriever’s teeth. Use a child’s soft toothbrush, a gauze pad or a piece of nylon pantyhose stretched over your finger. Periodontal disease, also known as gum disease, sometimes affects golden retrievers. This troublesome condition will sometimes lead to your golden retriever’s loss of teeth and also propagate diseases to his body. Veterinarians will brush his teeth as a regular part of your golden retriever’s health screening.
Bad Breath in golden retrievers
Although halitosis caused by dental disease may not be that serious if found early, sometimes those odors may be indicative of fairly serious, long-term causes for concern. Intestinal or liver diseases may cause foul breath, while a fruity, sweet smell can usually be a sign of diabetes. Kidney disease might be the cause if your golden retriever’s breath smells of ammonia or urine. If you find your golden retriever has halitosis and other indications of disease, such as loss of appetite, nausea, weight loss, moodiness, including depression, increased drinking and urinating, schedule a trip to his veterinarian.
golden retriever Tick and Flea Issues
When it’s warm, it’s important for you to perform daily, regular inspections of your golden retriever for fleas and ticks. Find and remove fleas with a flea comb. There are numerous new methods of flea and tick reduction. Get advice from your vet about these and other options.
Heartworm problems in golden retrievers
The heartworm is a parasite that resides in the heart and is passed from a contaminated dog to your golden retriever by mosquitoes. Many golden retrievers die yearly as a result of heartworm infections. It’s very important to make sure your golden retriever has a blood test for this parasite annually each spring. A once-a-month pill taken in mosquito season can help to protect your golden retriever. Your golden retriever should be on heartworm medication throughout a winter trip to a warmer climate. There are some locations, usually the areas with milder temperatures, where the doctors advise heartworm medication be used all throughout the year.
Poisions and Medicines
Do not ever give your golden retriever medicine that has not been prescribed by a veterinarian. Did you know that 1 ibuprofen pill can easily cause ulcers in golden retrievers? Keep rat poison and other rodenticides away from your golden retriever. When you believe your dog has eaten a poison, call your vet or the ASPCA Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 twenty-four hours a day for information.
Neutering and Spaying golden retrievers
Female golden retrievers should be spayed—which is the extraction of the uterus and ovaries—and males neutered—extraction of the testes—by six months of age. Spaying before maturity greatly diminishes the breast cancer risk, which is a usually fatal and common disease for more mature female golden retrievers. Spaying also eradicates the chance of a sick uterus, a traumatic issue in older females that can only be treated with intensive medical care. Neutering male golden retrievers prevents prostate and testicular diseases, certain types of aggressions and some hernias.
golden retriever Vaccinating
- Your golden retriever puppy should be innoculated with a combination innoculation (called a “5-in-1”) at two, three and four months of age, and again once per year. This innoculation protects your golden retriever puppy from distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, parvovirus, and parainfluenza. Your golden retriever puppy’s immunization program cannot be finished before 4 months old.
- If your golden retriever has not been vaccinated and is older than 4 months, she will need to be given two innoculations promptly, 2 to three weeks apart. Then you must vaccinate annualy.
- Your golden retriever puppy’s socialization should coincide with her immunization program. You should bring your golden retriever pup to socialization courses by 8 or nine weeks of age, according to many doctors. At this age, they should have already received at least their first vaccinations.
Laws vary so much between different areas, that it’s best to call your local doctor to get rabies vaccination information. For instance, in NYC, the law requires any pets older than three months must be vaccinated for rabies. After the initial shot, he must get another innoculation the following year, and then every 3 years after that. There are many immunizations, many of which are effective for your golden retriever. There are others that are not, however. Ask your golden retriever’s vet for her opinion. Also, if your golden retriever gets sick because he is not immunized, do not administer the shot until the dog has made a full recovery.
Intestinal Worms in golden retrievers
golden retrievers are commonly exposed to worms—in all areas, both rural and urban. Tiny eggs produced by roundworms are transmitted through an infested golden retriever’s feces. Even the healthiest of golden retriever puppies carry hookworms or roundworms. The secret to effective treatment is early detection. Early, accurate diagnosis maximizes the possibility that prescribed treatment will be successful against your dog’s worms. A dewormer that eliminates hookworms, for example, won’t kill tapeworms. Your vet can best identify the culprit—and prescribe the appropriate treatment.
golden retriever Care Tips: Additional Information
Checklist of golden retriever Supplies
- Premium-quality dog food and snacks designed for golden 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 ID tag and license
- Quality leash
- Carrier (for puppies)
- Training crate
- Dog box or bed with warm sheet or towel
- Doggie toothbrush
Warnings to be Heeded
The following items should never be fed to golden retrievers:
- Alcohol, beer, wine or liquor
- Chocolate
- Raisins & grapes
- Spoiled or moldy food of any kind
- Onions, garlic & chives
- Bones of chicken, turkey, or any other animal (choking hazard)
- Salt or salty foods
- Tomato leaves, stems or unripe fruit
- Dough
The scoop on poop
Unless you are at home, or in a secured, fenced-in place, keep your golden retriever on a leash at all times. When your golden retriever goes #2 on a neighbor’s grass, the sidewalk or any other public place, please take care of it! Don’t forget to check out these other articles about golden retrievers
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