Heartworm, or roundworm, is very serious can affect all types of gun dogs. With gun dogs, working dogs, and other outdoor dogs, you must be especially concerned because they are more susceptible to heartworm. The worse case scenario is that an affected dog can pass it on to humans, as well as other dogs. In turn, you can also pass on heartworm to your own dog.

Prevention of heartworm is crucial, especially when you consider that once your dog is infected with this parasite it made lead to death. Of greater concern is other in animals that come in contact with your dog such as coyotes, fox’s, and others may have roundworm and may transmit that disease to your dog.

Preventing Roundworm/Heartworm

Prevention can come in the form of tablet or food additive when given to your dog as a preventative measure. A tablet can be ingested orally and mahy come in the form of a dog treat, and food additives can be added or mixed with food. Most of these treatments are monthly applications. Remember to give it to your dog each month. Use a calendar if it helps you remember.

In areas where there are four seasons, the primary carrier of roundworm is mosquitoes, which ingest infected blood and then give it to another animal as they sting them. In areas with less harsh seasonal changes, roundworm is more often transmitted from animal to animal. In all cases, giving your gun dog preventive treatment every month, no matter the time of year, is a best practice.

Symptoms of Roundworm

In its early stages, roundworm is very hard to detect since your dog won’t show any physcial signs of illness. Your vet can test for the disease, or skilled vets can tell by observation. It is typical of heartworm to gestate for several months before affecting your dog. During this stage of the illness, the disease can easily be treated, but it is best when your dog is asymptomatic.

Typically a dog infected with the round worm becomes lethargic and not necessarily interested in is normal daily activities. You may notice a cough or weight loss in addition to these other symptoms. Contact your veterinarian immediately because in addition to roundworm there may be other infections that may be causing the symptoms.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Roundworm

Diagnosing roundworms requires a blood test. During the blood test one step will be to determine whether the roundworms are male or female which will help direct your veterinarian to the proper treatment course.

Roundworm treatment is extensive and may be very expensive to treat. Aside from that the treatment is very difficult for your dog and in fact may result in his needing dialysis. Almost all dogs will be listless, suffer weight loss, and has other symptoms while the Worms are discharged. Follow-up treatments will be necessary to ensure that all of the Worms are eliminate it from your dog system.

Damage to organs can also be a result of roundworm infection and can mean lifelong treatment for that as well. This is why it’s so important to catch the infection as early as possible and to not delay in getting treatment for it.

When you have any sort of hunting dog, you should always keep in mind that you should always keep your dog’s health as top priority. There are also lots of different hunting dog supplies that you should have on hand for your dog such as electronic dog collars or dog collars.

What do you need to successfully train your dog? Other than Tritronics collars and Sport Dog training collars, one of the hunting dog supplies you’ll need is the dog training bumper. The ideal one for training your retriever is one that is made to last for repetitive use, and flexible, soft plastic.

Hallmark Dog Training Bumpers

You can find dog training bumpers in many different styles and sizes so that you can train any type of retriever. A brand called Hallmark offers a wide range of high-quality training bumpers, particularly those constructed with plastic or foam. You will have your choice of plastic, feather-holding, and canvas-covered. Regardless of which one you go for, you’ll see that they are very durable, and have a realistic feel which will help your dog with his retrieval skills. These training bumpers are also safe and non-toxic to your dog. A great feature is that these training bumpers can hold duck scents, which makes the training of your dog easier and more effective.

Regardless of the type of dog training bumpers you buy make sure you look for the following features in each of them:

A) Superb construction
B) Durable materials
C) Safe, non-toxic materials

If you’re training a puppy, you’ll likely be best served with plastic training bumpers. These are less expensive, are usually more durable (until puppy has learned to “soft mouth”), and come in many bright colors for easy spotting.

Dog training dummies

Training dummies that float are also very useful and popular training tools. Using foam-bodied dummies with your training can better simulate retrieving in the field and better prepare your dog for the job. Remember that “bumpers” and “dummies” are interchangeable names that apply to both types of training tool, whether it’s land or water-based. They’ll both help you train your dog to hunt and retrieve fowl for you.

How to use dog training bumpers and dog training dummies

You’ll find it advantageous to use training dummies or bumpers that can be used in conjunction with scents. A common scent is that of a duck, and are available in virtually any hunting dog supply store. Injecting duck scent into dog training dummies and bumpers offers another training tool so that you can have a well-trained hunting dog.

If you’re the happy new owner of a puppy that you plan to train to someday be a hunting or gun dog, then you’ll be wondering what you’ll need to make that happen. Besides patience, love, and a sense of humor, you’ll need some tools to make the training process easier. Before you bring puppy home, make sure you have the things you’ll need to make him comfortable and get him off to a good start.

Dog Crates

The fact of the matter is, puppies aren’t born housebroken. Sad, but true. This means you’ll need to housebreak puppy and the best way to do that is through create training. A lot of other benefits come from this as well and crate training utilizes puppy’s “denning” instinct to make it all happen. Crates also keep your dog (and your house) safe while he’s unsupervised.

Fortunately, regardless of the size of your dog, crates are easy to use, they come in a variety of sizes and some can even be collapsed and put away once you are done using it. Some dog owners only use a crate until a puppy is housebroken and then only for rare occasions.

Most dogs like to be in a crate. The dog crate helps them feel protected, secure and they begin to consider it a safe place to go. Most dogs treat their crates as if it was their own personal den! Whether you elect to purchase aluminum or a metal wire dog crate, you will want to make sure that you have purchased the appropriate size. If you get a dog crate that is too small, your dog will be unable to turn around comfortably in it and a crate that is too large may result in your dog being frightened and not feeling safe. Some dog crates come with removable panels that can be added or removed depending on the size of your dog.

Dog Training Collars

Dogs don’t train themselves—another sad fact. Luckily, they have us to do it for them and the process is usually fun. Training hunting dogs is even more of a challenge with greater rewards. Training collars can really help with this, especially the long-range electric collars. Whether you choose one of those or a simple choke collar for obedience training, make sure it’s the right one for you and your dog.

You will have to decide if your dog responds best to positive discipline (i.e. give him a treat when he does the right thing) or if electronic stimulation offered through electronic collars are best for him. Many owners of hunting dogs (especially larger ones) find that the electronic stimulus collars work best.

Other Hunting Dog Supplies

Start working with puppy early to begin the training process and to set a schedule of training, play, and down times. The earlier you begin obedience and hunting training, the more effective it will be. There are a lot of products out there to help you accomplish these tasks and they are generally available at all hunting and pet supply stores:

1. Dog whistles to train your dog to listen to you at home and in the field
2. Dog training bumpers – to teach retrieval
3. Launchers – to teach fetching and retrieval

Your puppy will become a part of your hunting and a member of your household for years and years. Getting the proper dog training supplies will ensure that you have everything you need for successful training so that he will listen and remain safe in your care.