Reasonable nutritional supplements for dogs in winter

Supplementing nutrients and energy in winter is the first priority, because only by consuming enough nutrients and energy can dogs have stronger cold resistance in winter. .

Dogs that frequently move outdoors need more food in cold weather. Prepare high-quality dog ​​food for them and feed them more every day to preserve more calories to resist the cold. From another perspective, dogs that spend the winter indoors and rarely go out need less food in winter to avoid obesity caused by reduced activity.

Cold temperatures will cause a large consumption of heat energy in the dog's body. Therefore, foods containing more vitamin A and fat should be added to the winter feed mix. This type of feed can quickly replenish calories and enhance the dog's resistance. Cold ability.

There is no need to take supplements when raising dogs in winter

Professional veterinarians believe that if dogs want to take additional medicines or supplements, it is best to consult a doctor first and give appropriate instructions, because these minerals If your dog eats too many supplements with ingredients, the harm may outweigh the benefits. In terms of calcium, dogs that have broken bones or suffer from postpartum fever usually need to take it, because dogs with broken bones only need more calcium to help bone recovery, and postpartum dogs also need to supplement calcium. Normal dogs eating too much calcium will cause damage to the dog's skin and bones.

Prepare an appropriate amount of clean warm water for it

The air is very dry in winter, and dogs will also need more water.

Prevention of colds in winter

The weather is cold in winter, and the management focus during this period should be on cold protection and prevention of respiratory diseases. After exercise, being blown by wind and rain, coupled with the humidity and temperature of the kennel can cause colds, and serious respiratory diseases such as bronchitis and pneumonia may be secondary.

In particular, small dogs and puppies generally have poor cold tolerance and are prone to respiratory diseases. When a puppy has a cold, it must not be kept in an unclean place with a strong smell of urine and feces, otherwise it may cause chronic bronchitis.

Colds are the cause of all diseases, and there are many other diseases caused by colds in dogs. Even if it is just a small "cold", it should be treated promptly to avoid future troubles.

How dogs behave when they feel cold: whining, trembling, appearing anxious, walking slower, looking around, etc. When you have these symptoms, please take your dog home quickly or go indoors nearby.

The types of dogs that are prone to cold are:

1. Puppies under 6 months old;

2. For older dogs and arthritic dogs, low temperature will harden their joints, causing them to feel pain when walking;

3. Dogs with diabetes, heart disease, endocrine disorders, and kidney disease, because these dogs have difficulty regulating their own body temperature;

4. Underweight dogs;

5. Short-haired dog;

6. Dogs with short legs are easy to pick up in the snow.Touch the snow.

Effective measures to prevent colds include: preventing cold and heat insulation, thickening mattresses, replacing them in time, keeping them dry, and preventing cold winds; on sunny and warm days, strengthen the dog’s outdoor exercise, enhance the dog’s physique, and improve the dog’s health. Disease resistance. Dogs can not only be heated by the sun, but the ultraviolet rays in the sun can also disinfect and sterilize, promote the absorption of calcium, which is especially beneficial to the growth and development of the bones of puppies and prevents rickets in puppies.

During the winter, vaccinations should be carried out in time. Prevent colds and infectious diseases, enhance resistance to diseases, and enhance the ability to survive the winter. For epidemic prevention, it is particularly important to vaccinate the dog with the six-part vaccine and the kennel cough vaccine.

Beware of dogs suffering from "depression" in winter

1. Provide clean drinking water at all times. In dry winter climates or in hot, dry indoor environments, you should also ensure that companion animals have ready access to clean, cold, boiled or purified water.

2. Keep warm. Dog and cat nests should be kept away from drafts, kept warm and dry, and kept at a distance from the ground. Keeping any companion animal outdoors is not only harmful to their health, but goes against their natural desire for human companionship.

3. Keep exercising and maintain regular exercise.

4. Adjust recipes. For companion animals that always stay indoors, be wary of them accumulating excess fat when spring arrives.

5.Nature protection. Dogs with thin, short coats, such as greyhounds, whippets, or those with arthritis, should wear special winter clothing.

Beware of other common winter diseases

The main diseases of dogs in winter include canine distemper, canine parvovirus, canine infectious hepatitis, canine coronavirus infection and canine adenovirus type II infection.

Prevent other accidents

Prevent burns. Burns are classified into first, second and third degree. The first degree is the damage to the epidermis, which is the degree of redness; the second degree is blisters; the third degree is injury to both the skin and subcutaneous tissue. Dogs kept indoors are more likely to suffer burn injuries. Pay attention to indoor heating equipment and avoid dogs from touching it to avoid burns.

Traveling in snowy weather is a big problem. Many dog ​​owners are too lazy to lead their dogs when they go out. But don’t forget that in this weather, you will be slippery when walking, and even more slippery when driving or riding a bicycle. If a driver suddenly sees a passing puppy, it’s hard to say whether he can stop with an emergency kick. If you are lazy for a moment, you will not only put your precious dog's life in danger, but may also bring disaster to your friends who have difficulty braking.

During the New Year and Spring Festival, sick dogs with gastrointestinal diarrhea and vomiting often increase, because there is a lot of food in the first month of the New Year, which often causes indigestion in dogs.

Puppies and elderly dogs need special care

Winter puppy care

Autumn is the season for dogs to be in heat, mating and breeding. The average gestation period of female dogs is 60 days. Puppies enter the cold winter immediately after giving birth, because puppies are weak, have poor digestion ability, and have incomplete body temperature regulation function.Good and other physiological characteristics can easily cause death. Therefore, it is very important to raise and manage puppies well in winter.

Prevent cold and keep warm

The temperature inside the kennel should be kept between 13 and 15℃ in winter. If the temperature inside the kennel is too low, the dog's heat production will increase, thus enhancing the dog's body metabolism. More energy is consumed to maintain body temperature. Energy consumption also increases the dog's food intake and increases the feeding cost. In addition, puppies are not cold-tolerant, and low temperatures can easily cause them to freeze to death. Therefore, the key to keeping puppies warm in winter is to protect them from the cold. The specific measures are as follows:

1. The door of the kennel should be hung with straw, and the windows should be sealed with plastic sheeting. The puppy kennel can also be kept warm by imitating the plastic greenhouse method, and at the same time, the cracks in the walls should be blocked to prevent the invasion of wind.

2. If possible, the following measures can be taken for heating, such as infrared lamp irradiation, fire walls between walls, etc. Generally, a dog bed should be equipped with felt, soft grass, etc., and should be changed frequently and exposed to the sun to keep it dry.

3. Sunbathing puppies can not only help them keep warm, but the ultraviolet rays in the sun can also disinfect and sterilize, and can also absorb calcium, which is beneficial to the growth and development of bones of puppies and prevents them from getting pregnant. Rickets occurs in dogs. Therefore, when the weather is sunny and warm, puppies should be allowed to bask in the sun more, exercise more, enhance physical fitness, and improve disease resistance.

Winter feeding and management of puppies

1. Do a good job of "two maintenance and three transitions"

"Two maintenance" refers to maintaining the original pen and house and maintaining the original feed ; The "three transitions" refer to the transition of feed, feeding system and environment.

⑴. Excessive feed: About 1 week after weaning of puppies, the feed formula should still be the same as that of the lactation period. Then it will be gradually transitioned to about 2 weeks after weaning, and it can be changed to puppy feed.

⑵. Transition of feeding system: A stable living system can promote the growth and development of puppies and reduce the occurrence of diseases. The puppy's feed should be refined, fed regularly and quantitatively, with small meals and frequent meals, and only 7 to 70% of the food at each meal, to maintain the puppy's strong appetite and digestion ability.

⑶. Excessive environment: After weaning, the puppies are still raised in the original pen. They do not move out of the original pen, do not mix groups and nest together, and just take the female dog out. In this way, the puppies can adapt to it after a few days. Then the puppies are divided into groups according to their size, strength, breeding, meat, etc. The puppies can adapt to the new living environment in 3 to 5 days.

2. Training "three-point positioning":

Three-point positioning refers to the fixed place for eating and drinking; the fixed place for sleeping; and the fixed place for defecation and urination.

Keepers should place food and drinking utensils in fixed locations and not change locations frequently. After the puppy enters the new enclosure, the place where it slept for the first time is very important. The puppy thinks it is the safest place and will sleep in this place in the future. Therefore, the puppy should be locked up or tied to a designated place to sleep on the first night after entering the new pen. Generally, the puppy's sleeping place can be fixed after 3 to 5 days. If puppies defecate everywhere, managers can collect the feces and pile them inDesignated place. In this way, usually after 3 to 5 days, the puppy will defecate at this fixed point.

Keeping dogs in winter requires deworming and disease prevention

Winter is the season when canine infectious diseases occur frequently, especially canine distemper, canine parvovirus and other diseases that harm puppies. In order to avoid these diseases For the occurrence and spread of the disease, deworming and disinfection of food troughs, utensils, kennels and the environment should be carried out to completely eliminate the source of the disease, cut off the transmission route, and enhance the dog's body's resistance.

Puppies are generally dewormed at 20 to 25 days of age, and then once a month. The dog feces and worms after deworming should be concentrated and fermented to avoid contaminating the environment and infecting other dogs.

The sink is cleared once a day. Food troughs and sinks should be disinfected once a week. They can be boiled for 20 minutes, soaked in 0.1% new chloride solution for 20 minutes or soaked in 2~4% caustic soda solution, and finally rinsed with clean water.

Keep your dog warm in winter

For aging dogs, warmth is especially important to them. As long as the temperature drops sharply, especially in cold winter and at night, elderly dogs will be very sensitive and even tremble with cold. In this case, when you go out for a walk, you need to put on a warm coat for your baby, shorten the walking time, and try not to expose him to the cold wind and rain. If the weather is really bad, simply cancel the walk and let the baby stay in a warm room. alright.

It is worth noting that it is best to choose pure cotton clothing to reduce the generation of static electricity; help the dog take off its clothes immediately after returning home to reduce the impact of temperature differences.

In winter, you can place the kennel next to the heater; or place a hot water bottle in the kennel. Of course, the prerequisite for this is that your baby has no history of destroying things at will.

Diet mix for dogs in winter

Dogs depend on food. Older dogs will be more picky about their food due to their reduced digestive ability and dull sense of smell. In this case, the owner will When preparing dog food, you should pay attention to both deliciousness and nutrition. Don't give your old baby the opportunity to live in old age because of his picky eating.

It is very necessary to absorb rich nutrients, especially protein and calcium. You can add some meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, etc. to their recipes, and pay attention to the supplement of vitamin A and calcium. It is not advisable to add more salt, fat and bone ingredients to food. Since metabolism is slower in winter, it is best to feed more easily digestible food.

In terms of feeding method, you can adopt a small and frequent meal system to reduce the gastrointestinal burden of elderly dogs and ensure full absorption of nutrients. Of course, don’t forget to let your baby have access to clean drinking water at any time.

Raising dogs in winter should prevent them from contracting diseases

In winter, we should also be careful to prevent elderly dogs with low immunity from being infected with diseases or catching colds. Once they get infected, it is difficult to cure quickly, so it is better to The best way is to reduce contact with other dogs and outdoor activities.

Care for dog hair in winter

Do not bathe your dog too frequently in winter, not only because of the weather, but also because dogs who bathe often are prone to colds. Bathing too frequently will wash away the protective oils on your dog's body. The wind is strong in winter, and the weakly protected skin is more likely to be infected by some bacteria and skin diseases, which will affect the growth and maintenance of the coat. But it’s not okay not to take a shower. Because oil can easily become a breeding ground for various bacteria after a certain period of time. It is most appropriate to bathe your dog 2-4 times a month, which can be determined according to the length of the dog's coat. When taking a bath, it is best to choose a shampoo product with moisturizing ingredients. Or use conditioner to provide the nutrients the coat needs.

There is another way to provide the nutrients needed by the coat, which is food. Protein and unsaturated fatty acids in food are important substances for a softer and healthier coat. Ordinary dog ​​food will contain these two substances, but because of the harsh climate in winter and the individual differences between pets, it is best to choose some pet grooming products or eat some cheese, but because many dogs cannot digest milk The lactose in cheese can easily cause diarrhea, so be careful when feeding cheese.

In winter, dogs need to be groomed more frequently. Because combing the coat can not only prevent the coat from knotting, but more importantly, regular combing can promote blood circulation and promote the growth of the coat. It is also very important to choose the correct grooming tool when grooming the coat. The tools suitable for long-haired dogs and curly-haired dogs are different.