Opening your heart to a Pomeranian can be fun, but you must be willing to take on the responsibility of dog ownership. When you become a Pom owner, it’s up to to do everything in your power to make your pet’s life a happy one, the proper care, environment and companionship. If this sounds like a big commitment ‘ it is! But rest assured, the rewards of pet ownership far outweigh the work you have to put into it.

An often overlooked, but very important step in caring for your Pomeranian is to insure that he is properly trained. A properly trained dog will be a pleasure to both strangers and his master, but a lot of people do not take this important step and then wonder why their dog is not ‘well behaved’. Many a dog has been considered a ‘bad’ pet when all he really needed was the owner to take the time out to train him properly.

Proper training isn’t just about performing cool tricks, although that is one side benefit. A properly trained dog will be safer than one who is not trained. A properly trained dog will be obedient and come to your side should you need to call him out of harms way. A well trained Pomeranian will not be a nuisance to guests and training your dog is also a bonding experience and will enforce the fact that you are the ‘master’. You can train a dog on your own, or you can join an obedience training class and get instruction from professionals.

The Pom is an active dog who is intelligent courageous and a loyal companion. The Pomeranian may not interact well with small children and due to its small size can suffer abuse from children . The Pomeranian can make a good watch dog but can become to yappy if you do not train him to avoid excessive braking. The Pom may be hard to housebreak but are very smart and can be trained very quickly.

Another important part of Pomeranian ownership is to get regular vet checkups. A yearly check up is a must and he should have all his vaccinations kept up to date. Also, if you notice anything different in your Pomeranians behavior schedule a vet appointment right away. Oftentimes animals hide the fact that they are feeling sick and even a small change could indicate something more serious. Have your Pomeranian neutered or spayed - they WILL be much happier.

Providing a safe environment for your Pomeranian can eliminate unfortunate accidents in the home, especially for puppies. Be careful to pick up small objects your dog could ingest and make sure there are no unsafe places in the home. When guests come over, or if the kids are running in and out, make sure they know not to leave the door open so the dog can get out. Refrain from feeding your Pomeranian table scraps as some of it can actually harm your dog. Chocolate, in particular, can be lethal.

Grooming your Pomeranian not only helps him look his best but is also important to keep him in the best of health. Cleaning his ears, brushing his fur, trimming his nails ‘ these all contribute to the overall health and happiness of your pooch. Proper dental care is the most important grooming task you can do for your Pomeranian. Without regular brusing, bacteria can build up in your dogs mouth. This bacteria can break away and cause serious health problems for your dog. Make sure you brush at least a couple of times a week and have a dental check up every year!

Finally, you need to have a plan in case something goes wrong. What if there is a fire or some other disaster? Make sure someone is responsible to get your pet out of the house in case of emergency. It’s also a good idea to have a neighbor or friend that can take your pet on short notice should you be called away in an emergency.

When you let a Pomeranian into your home as a pet, you are making a lifetime commitment to provide everything he needs for a healthy and happy life. Some Pomeranians can live into the teens so consider your commitment carefully ‘ in the end I think you will see that the rewards far outweigh the work involved in caring for a pet.

Try not to take your new puppy to the vet the very first day you bring him home. Allow your new toy puppy to get acquainted with its new family, home and surroundings. Do take your toy puppy to the vet within 48 to 72 hours and begin to establish a rapport between the vet and your new puppy.

You will want to make sure you’ve purchased a healthy puppy. If your vet finds disease or a defect the breeder was not aware of your health guarantee may warrant a return of the puppy for a full refund or exchange within a certain amount of time.

It is important to spend time with your new toy puppy during the first week in his new home. Exercise will be important. Make sure you are also having fun and building a bond of trust. Play games together. Puppies love to run after toys you toss and bring them back to you. The more your new toy puppy focuses on you, the easier it will be to train him later.

Have a collar and leash ready to put on your new toy puppy for times you take him out. Toy dogs can be accidentally injured or killed by children or adults who might drop them, or step on them. Provide adequate supervision for the toy puppy at all times.

Expose your toy puppy to all the normal day-to-day noises in your household such as television, radio, the telephone ringing. Introduce your toy puppy to the rest of canine household. You want your new toy puppy to be accepted as a new family member. Do not bring your toy puppy inside to invade your other dog’s turf until they have been properly introduced on neutral ground (belonging to neither of them at the moment). If you have more than one other canine to introduce to the new member, introduce them all one on one, to each of the others one at a time. Just as you would give lots of attention to your first-born when brining home a new baby, be sure to give lots of praise to your other dogs when in the presence of a new puppy. Pat the dog. Pat the puppy.

When the older dog or dogs show a caring, gentle reaction to the new toy puppy, praise them for their good behavior. Don’t let anyone feel left out at anytime. You want to create one big happy family. Let them spend time together in the beginning under your close supervision.

Depending on the season you bring your new toy puppy home, have on hand all his special clothes. For example, if it is spring or summer, have lightweight, cotton t shirts, shirts or dresses. If it is cold weather have coats hats, sweaters and fleece t shirts readily available for inside and outside. Dressing your toy puppy can help create a healthy bond between you and your new toy puppy. Consider having several stylish collars, leashes and accessories.

As a homeopath, I understand what we call ‘maintaining causes’ of disease. In other words health problems can not only be caused by an event such as an accident or be hereditary in origin, but it can also be caused by something you’re doing every day.

Let me give you some examples. If you smoke regularly, it’s widely known that you’ll probably eventually get lung problems. If you’ve had a job which entails handling and cutting asbestos, you’ll probably have lung problems later on. If you regularly drink a lot of alcohol, you know your liver will eventually be affected.

Diet plays a crucial part in health. Most people realise that they need to look to healthy food to keep them in the peak of condition.

You are what you eat.

It’s not the only factor which can contribute to ill health, but by virtue of its daily consumption, food plays an enormous role in your overall health.

And it’s no less true for dogs.

What you feed your dog will reflect how healthy he is and how healthy he remains.

I have found, in my practise, that an enormous number of common dog health questions can be answered, simply by taking the dog off commercial dog food.

When I was feeding my pets commercial pet food, many years ago, I read of a remarkable life changing experience for a young dog.

She was only about three years old, but had developed such severe arthritis, that the vet recommended euthanasia.

The dog’s people were not happy with this recommendation and decided to look elsewhere. They searched extensively and eventually come across the notion that the food they were feeding her could be the problem.

So they stopped feeding her commercial pet food.

One day, a friend dropped by. One who knew the dog and the prognosis. As he crossed the yard to the house, he noticed an agile dog playing and frolicking about, as only young dogs can.

Assuming the worse, he started to give his condolences.

He was gobsmacked when he was told that this was the very same dog.

That’s when I decided to stop feeding my pets commercial pet food.

It really doesn’t matter what dog health questions you have. It could be anything. The first thing you really need to try is stopping the commercial dog food.

If you’re a bit unsure, try it for a month. After an initial worsening of symptoms (signally a clearing), especially in older dogs, your dog will start to bloom.

What have you got to lose?

It’s really pointless going for a medication or other form of treatment if the food your dog is given is the problem.

So lets have a look at some common dog health questions, which may all be addressed by stopping the commercial pet food.

My dog

has a terrible skin or an itchy skin has arthritis is overweight has heart problems has spinal myelopathy is infertile regularly gives birth to dead puppies, or the puppies die soon after birth has kidney stones has hip dysplasia has tumours has cystitis

Holistic veterinarians has all been able to address the above dog health questions with a change of diet off commercial pet food.

Diarrhea can, and chances are will come to every dog you ever have in your lifetime and is a very common type of illness to have but in most cases is nothing serious and is not a cause to worry.

Lots of things can cause diarrhea in your dog and although on most cases the vet need not be contacted if it persists or becomes uncontrollable by your dog then it may need a better examination and diagnosis to prescribe the correct medicine.

Diarrhea is more common in puppies due to their immune system not being as strong as a dog’s immune system yet but diarrhea in dogs is also very common. Situations which cause diarrhea can be anything from a change in surroundings, worms, or conccidia, to a virus or pest your dog has caught.

A change in diet or food may have triggered the illness and it should be looked into to stop it happening again, dogs are very vulnerable to changes and it can affect them in many ways. Being over excited or having stressful days along with other emotional changes may bring this problem.

It is always important to look after your dog well while they are suffering this illness, puppies and dogs will get dehydrated in these times and you need to make sure they have enough fluids to stop further illness.

While your dog has diarrhea they become weaker due to low body weight and not getting sufficient vitamins so their immune systems lower making it easier to catch other viruses and illnesses.

Keep a close eye on your dog when they have diarrhea and if you have fears of it being anything but a common diarrhea cause then seek a vet or professional for advice. There are plenty of advice leaflets and informational sheets around in pet shops and dog care specialist places, as long as you are aware of your dog’s problem and are aware of these facts you should be in good shape.

Your dog may be the best trained dog in the world, understand your commands perfectly, and you may think that your dog understands the roads and can cope with cars well, but there is always a chance your dog could get knocked over by a car and knowing what to do in this situation is vital.

As stated above, you may think your dog is well suited to roads and can avoid cars and know when and where to cross the road, but from a dogs perspective this is all guess work and learnt from previous situations and near misses. Even after many years of crossing roads and viewing cars, dogs can still get caught up in situations that are dangerous and harmful.

If your dog does become the target of a road accident there are certain rules that should be adhered to when arriving at the scene and these rules can be the basis of how much pain and how healthy your dog will be afterwards.

The first thing to do is not panic, if your dog is conscious and can sense you panicking then they will panic also which won’t help the situation. Common injuries of a dog being run over are cuts and bruises so there is a good chance your dog is fine.

Dogs should not be moved after a car incident and until you know and are sure of the injuries they have, should remain in the same place or moved using a few people and a sheet or blanket as a stretcher if totally necessary.

Always check their breathing, your dogs breathing may have stopped as a cause of the accident and will need respiration by holding the muzzle closed and breathing air through the nose. If there is any severe bleeding you will need to add pressure to stop the bleeding and then seek urgent medical treatment.

If you are not sure of the seriousness of the damages, then contact your vet and explain the conditions to get advice on how to deal with the situation properly.