Hypoglycemia is a condition in which blood sugar (or glucose) drops to lower than normal and stable levels. Glucose is your body’s primary energy source and provides energy for physical and mental activity.

Initial symptoms of this condition in dogs include disorientation and tremors. If left untreated, this condition could lead to seizures, coma, or even death. The feeling of hypoglycemia is not just an empty, growling stomach feeling that wants to be fed. It is an overall low energy feeling throughout the body including in your mind.

What To Look For In Your Pup
Common signs of hypoglycemia are loss of appetite, lack of balance and coordination, extreme lethargy, muscle twitching, and overall weakness. At times a pup will have a discolora­tion of skin and gums. Despite the pup needing energy when their sugar levels are low, many will not eat or drink.

Why Does This Happen?
Basic hypoglycemia cases tend to occur when a dog is overly active and rapidly burns off energy too quickly in between meals. This also true when the pup had a meal that did not provide substantial nutrients. Hypogly­cemia also may occur secondary to another con­dition. Other less common causes include Addison’s disease, insulin-producing tumors of the pancreas, severe liver disease, and glycogen storage diseases. Veterinarians generally treat the underlying condition before treating hypoglycemia.

What To Do If Your Dog Shows Signs Of This Condition
Your veterinarian should be made aware of your observations. The mere fact that your pup exhibits some of the basic signs does not mean he is suffering from hypoglycemia. Many very minor conditions cause the same initial symptoms in dogs. Should your pup show advanced signs, such as seizing or not being able to stand up, emergency veterinarian assistance is required.

Poodles, to Pugs, to German Shepherds – Any Breed Can Be Affected
Just like a person, any dog can be affected by hypoglycemia. Smaller Toy Breed dogs are particularly vulnerable because their brain mass to body weight ratio is not as proportioned as a larger pup is. The larger the brain (in general or size to body ratio), means more glucose is needed to fuel the brain.

If you have questions about this condition, speak to your veterinarian. A puppy care specialist from a reputable puppy adoption store can also help answer questions you have. We all love our adorable puppies and want the best for them. Always be sure to take the time for things when it comes to their health and wellbeing.

Pups love a fresh green lush lawn. Running, playing, and rolling around in it while chasing their favorite fetch toy brings them a lot of joy. It makes no difference if you have a Mini Goldendoodle, a Cavapoo, or a Poochon, all pups also nibble on this luscious buffet of turf. Although this is normally very safe for a dog, lawns that have been treated with pesticides do pose a hazard.

First, let us go over what a lawn pesticide is defined as. A pesticide is a substance used for destroying insects or other organisms harmful to cultivated plants or to animals.

These agents are very effective at killing undesirable weeds and other vegetation that grows in your lawn, as well as certain critters who are known to damage your lawn. Although they do a great job at making your lawn stand out in your neighborhood, they can lead to very serious medical issues in dogs and people.

Certain pesticides are known to be associated with severe medical issues such as cancer, neurological problems, asthma attacks, skin disorders, and congenital disabilities when coming in contact with a living being. After all, these are harsh chemicals. If these chemicals can make you sick, think about what they can do to your fur-legged friend who is eating and rolling around in them.

Some of the known short-term effects on dogs exposed to these chemicals include skin rashes, nausea, eye irritations, and breathing issues. These are red flag warnings that your pup may be reacting to a pesticide, and changes where he is playing need to be made.

Before spraying your lawn with a pesticide, take the time to research its ingredients. There are specially formulated “pet safe” pesticides on the market that are safer for human and canine exposure. These products generally come with a slightly larger price tag, but it is well worth the cost when it comes to you and your pup’s health.

Now that we have a better understanding of how and what our pups are capable of smelling, let’s look at some pups who have the best sense of smell. We will also compare their sense of smell versus ours and learn more about what they can detect.

Your Sense Of Smell VS Your Pup’s Sense Of Smell

Like everything on this planet, bedbugs have a unique scent. Dogs who are trained to look for this scent can identify it and alert their handlers to the presence of these awful critters.

When humans are pregnant, our bodies produce certain hormones that also have a unique scent. A trained dog can pick up and identify this scent. 

Pups know when you are feeling stressed and out of sorts. This because humans produce stress hormones, and these hormones give off a scent that your dog picks up. 

Covid-19 causes the human body to emit certain hard to detect odors, which can be found in our saliva or and or sweat. Our pooch’s remarkable sense of smell is able to detect this odor. 

Which Dogs Have The Best Sense Of Scent Detection?

Although all dogs have a scent of smell which is nothing but amazing, the following breeds are known to have the best detection skills. 

Bloodhounds

Basset Hounds 

Beagles

German Shepherds

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel 

Labrador Retrievers

Belgian Malinois

English Springer Spaniels

Poodles

Coonhounds

German Shorthaired Pointers

Pointers  

Pups with larger and floppy ears have an advantage when it comes to scent tracking detection. They incorporate their ears to essentially sweep the ground they are tracking. Their ears help to stir up the scent that was left behind by the person they are tracking, which keeps them heading in the right direction. 

With so many dogs to choose from, it is always recommended to first research which breed is best for you and your household. Purchasing a puppy from a puppy adoption store that offers professional services such as puppy care specialists is a great start. Come up with a list of qualities you are looking for in a dog and compare the qualities that each breed offers.

The nose of a dog is more high-tech than anything man has ever created. Your pup’s extraordinary sense of smell allows him to detect odors of things that are more than twelve miles away! 

This fantastic tool was crucial in a dog’s survival before mankind domesticated him. Whether it was used to smell his next to-be hunted meal, to pick up the scent of an approaching predator, or to find his way back to his pack, this tool has been critical for his survival.

How Does His Nose Work?

The science behind your pup’s amazing scent of smell is fascinating. The air around us is filled with thousands of invisible scents. Many of these scents are far too small for us to smell. As air enters your pup’s nose, it gets divided into two parts. The first part is delivered to your pup’s lungs for breathing. The second part is delivered to an area inside your pup, which is designated merely for smelling. Just after the air being directed for smelling enters his nose, it is scanned by up to three hundred million olfactory receptors. These tiny but strong receptors virtually scan and read the odor molecules in the air and send the data to your dog’s brain. His brain receives the scent data, followed by quickly translating and identifying what the odor is. Pretty impressive!

The second stage of this process takes place as your pup exhales. As the air leaves his nose area, it exits through specially developed slits near his nostrils. These slits allow the air to linger and be inhaled a second time. This process helps to trap more odor molecules and strengthen the scent. His constant wet nose also works to trap air scent particles on it, which can be smelled by your pup. 

Everything on our planet has a distinct odor profile, and once learned by your dog, will allow him to quickly recognize what he is smelling. Food, another animal, a person, water, etc.

Surround Sound Smelling

Have you ever sat in a room with surround sound speakers? The speaker in front of you may be the sound of a car engine revving, and the speakers behind you are the sounds of someone’s shoes walking through a crisp pile of leaves. Your ears hear these sounds coming from different areas of the room as the speakers provide a directional sense of sound. Unlike humans, a dog’s nostrils independently move and from side to side, which helps them determine which direction a particular scent is coming from. It’s sort of like scent radar for your pooch.

What Can He Smell?

Those of us who own a family pup such as a Yorkshire Terrier or an adorable Morkie can testify to the fact that their pups can smell a good meal being baked in the oven! His advanced sense of smell, however, can smell much more than just obvious odors. Incfredibly, dogs also play a role in the medical field too.

For instance, cancer disrupts our cells in the human body resulting in the cells producing a special type of protein. This protein gives off a scent that you and I can not detect; however, it can be detected by our pups. Research has shown that dogs are able to detect lung cancer via breath and prostate or bladder cancer via the smell of urine. Studies have also shown that dogs are able to detect melanoma.

This is a valuable tool in early-stage diagnostics. It does not stop there, though, as some dogs are even trained to detect glucose levels on their owner’s breath and alert their owners of this medical issue before their owners even realize there is a problem.  

Dogs have also played a crucial role in tracking people. As a person walks, he leaves an invisible scent behind. A well-trained tracking dog can follow this person’s scents for ten or more miles. This ability has helped to locate and reunite missing children and adults with their families as well as find suspects of a crime who fled the area. 

Our fur-legged friends have also been trained to find the scent of narcotics, bombs, and other sorts of very dangerous weapons. Their detection ability has played a big role in safety and security in places such as airports or large entertainment centers, which tend to be targets of terrorism. 

Part two of this blog will go over more fascinating dog scent abilities as well as review the top dog sniffing noses.

9/11/01. A day that changed the world forever. A day when mankind pulled their resources together for the greater good. A day when man’s best friend also suited up and bravely entered one of the largest disaster areas in the history of the world to save human life.

The relationship and companionship between man and dog are one of the greatest bands on earth. A dog will lay his own life for his owner without hesitation. On 9/11/01, more than three hundred search and rescue dogs were deployed to ground zero. Finding survivors who were rescued and locating the remains of many others which, allowed the slow and painful process of closure for their family and friends to begin.

Although all of the hero dogs who assisted on 9/11 are remarkable, one pup in particular really stands out. A six-year-old black Labrador named Jake was deployed to the scene. Unlike most dogs that are born and adopted to a loving and caring family to live a good life, Jake’s life started off anything but that.

When Jake was just ten months old, he was found abandoned on the streets. He was not well and suffering from many injuries. Two of which were a dislocated hip and a broken leg. Jake was nursed back to health and adopted by a person named Mary Flood, who is a member of a search and rescue organization called the Utah Task Force, who assisted on 9/11.

Without hesitation, Jake began searching for people trapped in large amounts of debris, fire, and smoke. His efforts and bravery will never be forgotten. On the 25th of July 2007, Jake became ill and passed away at the age of twelve.

Dogs are remarkable creatures and are a part of our country’s DNA. Pups such as the Poodle, French Bulldog, Pug, Yorkshire Terrier, Cavalier King Charles, and Maltese are often used as therapy dogs for those suffering from certain psychological conditions. Not all heroes wear capes; some wear collars.

Dogs are loved for many reasons. They offer unconditional love and companionship and adore their families. Throughout history, some pups were specifically bred to perform specific jobs or tasks. Although some of these breeds still perform the jobs they were originally bred for, many have found a new job of simply being your fur-ever friend.

Below are five common household breeds who held some pretty fascinating jobs in the past.

Poodles were bred to assist their German hunter owners in retrieving waterfowl. Their water-resistant coats made them efficient in the water, while their above intelligent brains allowed them to quickly learn the tasks at hand.

Bernese Mountain Dogs were bred to drive cattle, guard farmyards from predators, and were revered for their ability to pull their own weight many times as drafting dogs.

Once upon a time, Portuguese Water Dogs lived along Portugal’s coast, and because of the breed’s durability, strength, and ability to work hard, fishermen depended on them to herd fish into nets, retrieve lost tackle, and act as a messenger between ships and shore.

The Greater Swiss Mountain Dog specialized in hauling loads of meat and dairy products to markets, and due to their build and durability, were able to travel through remote mountain passes.

The Siberian Husky was utilized as a sled dog capable of working in sub-zero temperatures. In 1925, the breed made headlines when Huskies rushed a lifesaving serum to Nome, Ala. to combat a diphtheria epidemic, traveling 658 miles in only five-and-a-half days.

The first of twenty-two interesting dog facts has to do with the number twenty-two. The average dog owner takes a twenty-two-minute walk per day with his fur-legged friend.

The average lifespan of a dog is about 4,000 days. The longest living dog walked the earth for about 11,000 days!

Dogs live in one out of three houses in the US. The US has more dogs than any country in the world. More than eighty million!

Dogs have up to three hundred million olfactory receptors in their nose and have a sense of smell forty times better than humans. They can smell dinner before it’s even in the oven!

The average pup can sprint at nineteen miles per hour. A human who’s in good athletic shape may reach brief speeds of about fifteen miles per hour.

Much to contrary belief, dogs are not color blind.

A dog’s hearing is about ten times better than a human’s hearing. A dog’s hearing is ten times better than a human’s hearing. Oh, you heard me the first time?

Female dogs are pregnant for about sixty days before giving birth.

The Labrador Retriever has been America’s top breed of dog since 1991.

Dogs are indeed a part of a family. Nearly 70% of families sign their pooches name to holiday cards.

Adult dogs have forty-two teeth. Imagine how expenses his braces would be!

Due to their unusual proportions, French Bulldogs trouble copulating. As a result, a large majority of French bulldogs are created through artificial insemination.

Puppies are born blind and deaf. It takes puppies about two weeks before they can see and hear.

Puppies need between fifteen to twenty hours of sleep every day.

A puppy is considered a “dog” on his first birthday.

Pups are born without teeth.

Newborn puppies can’t poop without the help of their mother.

To soothe a puppy, sing to her.

The Newfoundland breed is such a skilled swimmer he is used as a lifeguard in parts of the world.

Three dogs survived the Titanic sinking.

Dogs’ eyes contain a special membrane called the tapetum lucidum, which allows them to see in the dark.

No need to call the doctor! The average pup’s temperature is between 101 and 102 degrees.

Dogs’ noses secrete a thin layer of mucous that helps them absorb scent. They then lick their noses to sample the scent through their mouth.

Many of us know the feeling of stepping on the scale, mumbling to ourselves, and thinking we need to cut out the extra servings at dinner and up our exercise routine. Having a proper diet and healthy weight help to assure longer and healthier lives for people. This proves true for our fur-legged friends too.

Did you know an estimated that 56% of pups living in the US are overweight? That’s more than one in two pups. An overweight dog not only struggles to get around and has a difficult time playing but tends to also have a shorter life. They can become lethargic and age quickly due to this. Carrying a lot of weight also leads to physical health issues later in life.

Always make sure his weight gain isn’t a result of a medical condition. It is always wise to consult with your veterinarian for any puppy medical questions and with your puppy care specialist with any feeding questions.

If your pooch has packed on the pounds, consider some of the below tips, which may help him to shed some weight.

The first may sound obvious, but it’s where the diet begins, in his food bowl. Less food! Each pup has calorie intake needs. These needs are based upon his breed, size, and activity level. Consult with your pup’s veterinarian or your puppy adoption store’s dedicated puppy care specialists if you are not sure how many ounces each feeding should be.

Kick up the exercising. Many of us take our fur-legged friends for a daily walk. While this is good, some pups would greatly benefit from a second daily stroll. Basic things like even playing fetch for fifteen minutes a day can lead to weight loss and a healthier pup.

If your pup tends to gulp his food down, consider breaking his meals up into smaller but more frequent servings. This will allow him to feel fuller more often and will reduce appetite spikes. Smaller meals every four to six hours also allow your pup’s energy to be dispersed more evenly.

Quality dog food is very important. You would not expect to lose weight and feel great if all you ate was junk food. Your pup won’t either. Take the time to learn about the food you are providing your pup. Better-quality dog food may cost a little more money but is well worth your dog’s health.

Dog treats should be “treats.” They should never take the place of a meal. Although there is nothing wrong with a daily dog treat, too many can add up and begin to weigh your pup down. It is also smart to check what the treat is made of. A lot like his regular food, the treats should be of high quality and healthy nutrition.

Table food is also a common contributor to his weight gain. Those puppy eyes are hard to resist but stick with puppy food that is made for all of his nutritional needs.

The joy and excitement of bringing home a new puppy are second to none. Years of love, companionship, and unforgettable memories await. One of the first things puppy owners do after bringing home their fur-ever friend is begin routine puppy training. A well-trained pup will grow into an obedient and friendly pup who will be pleasurable to be around in his adult years. 

Below are a few basic training tips that may help in your pup’s training. 

Begin training early in your pup’s life. Starting your training regime when he is young will help to prevent him from developing tough to break habits. Certain things like teaching him not to jump up onto people are much easier to correct when he is six inches tall and weighs five pounds versus when he is twelve inches tall and weighs twenty-five pounds. 

Do not rely on one method of training. All pups are different, and some training techniques work well with some dogs but not with others. Be patient, and if plan A does not pan out, try plan B. Training should not be a one size fits all approach.

Overly stern discipline does more harm than good. Remember, your puppy is still a baby. He is trying to learn and wants to make you happy. Although his owner should have an optimistic tone for when his pup does good and a lower, more authoritative tone when his dog does wrong, never overreact. Yelling at your puppy will not help him learn any faster than using basic training tones. Physical correction (forcing his face onto an area of the floor where he had an accident) is never suggested and will lead to a pup that is nervous around his owner and cause bonding issues. 

Not all dogs are the same. If you owned a puppy in the past, his training might have been much easier than your new pup. Different breeds have different training qualities. Pups such as the Poodle, Maltipoo, and Cavapoo tend to train easier than breeds such as the Boston Terrier or Shiba Inu, who tend to be a little more stubborn. All are great dogs, but some take a little more effort to train. 

Be patient… Pups can be difficult, but in time will learn the ropes. Losing your patience will not speed up the training process and cause unnecessary stress. Try to remember, your pup wants to make you happy and is looking at you for direction. Training takes time.

Be consistent. If your pup is not allowed on the couch, the rule needs to apply every day. By having rules that change, your pup will not understand why you correct behavior that was permitted in the past. 

When your pup makes a mistake, address it with him when it happens. This will help him to understand what he did wrong at the time of the incident and will help to prevent him from repeating it. 

Training is an essential part of your responsibility as his caretaker. For more suggestions, tips, and tricks on effective training methods, speak to your puppy adoption store’s knowledgeable puppy care specialists. 

Winning a World Series trophy or Superbowl ring even once is an amazing accomplishment. On rare occasions, an incredibly skilled and talented team will win two years in a row. And every great once in a while, a team will achieve this accomplishment three years in a row. Throughout history, this has only happened a hand full of times. 

Imagine taking first place five, ten, fifteen, or twenty years in a row? Impossible!

Somehow the Labrador Retriever has accomplished this incredible achievement for twenty-nine consecutive years. You read that right! With about two hundred recognized breeds of dog to compete with, being first for twenty-nine straight years is nothing but amazing. This breed’s popularity has made him the most sought-after pup in the world. He initially took this title in 1991 and has held the reign since.

What About This Breed Makes Him So Desirable?

The Labrador Retriever is a marvelous pup who loves his family. They are friendly, trainable, loyal, strong, and very well-rounded. They are also a handsome looking dog who has become an American icon. A part of their popularity also has to do with how multi-talented they are. They fit within a variety of households and enjoy anything from swimming to hunting to snuggling with their family on the couch. They have incredibly friendly temperaments and very rarely show signs of aggression. They also fit in well with other family pets and even with strangers’ pets at the pet park.

The History Behind The Labrador Retriever

The Labrador dates back to the early 1800’s, when St. Johns Water Dogs bred by European settlers in Newfoundland were first introduced to Britain from ships trading between Canada and Poole in Dorsetshire. These pups were then bred with British hunting dogs to create what is now known today as Labrador Retrievers.

Responsible For A Lot Of Breeds 

The Labrador Retriever is used for breeding with more than thirty other types of dog breeds. Some of the Labrador Retrievers’ most popular mixed breeds are: 

Aussiedor– a mix between a Labrador Retriever and an Australian Shepherd

Borador – a mix between a Labrador Retriever and a Border Collie

Labradoodle – Mix between a Labrador Retriever and a Poodle

Beagador – a mix between a Labrador Retriever and a Beagle 

Pugador – a mix between a Labrador Retriever and a Pug

Spanador – a mix between a Labrador Retriever and a Cocker Spaniel 

Labratzu – a mix between a Labrador Retriever and a Shih Tzu

For more information about puppies, contact a reputable puppy adoption store and speak with one of their puppy care specialists. Your fur-ever friend is waiting!