'My 14 year old Shih Tzu begging for food, right after being fed. He\'s an expert beggar; with a little teeth grinding, head shaking, high pitch whine and a persistent laser beam stare thrown in for good measure. He makes you want to stuff his face with food. But I\'ve never overfed him. He\'s in great health. He eats lots of veggies; leafy greens, canned pumpkin... sweat potatoes are his favorite. I\'ve always kept him thin. No chocolate, alcohol, raw onions, raisins... I did give him garlic for natural flea control, but some say it\'s toxic. Fish oil is good for the coat. His dog food is good ol\' Purina Lamb and Rice, because he doesn\'t have an allergic reaction to that. Although soon I will be putting him on prescription dog food for weight control. He\'s not as active due to arthritis. NO chicken, because the hormones they use make most dogs itch. Many pet owners don\'t realize chicken is the culprit to their dogs skin allergies. I also give him 2 drops of Sam-e per day, made by Cell Food. Helps with cell rejuvenation, liver, and joints. Ever since he was a puppy, I taught him to chase cats around the neighborhood, which gave him a good workout. And I also encouraged him to chase my hand under the sheets, he would dig and dig~ that would really tire him out! I attribute daily physical exercise to his good health. His eyesight is great, and his hearing too. I never put flea killer on him. If it\'s killing fleas, then it surely is harming the dog as well. Instead, I clip his hair myself, and keep him basically bald so no fleas have a place to hide. He loves not having any hair. I know because when his hair grows out he licks it non-stop as if it bothers him. I also sometimes use Comfortis if his hair is a little long during cooler months. And it\'s also important to extract the anal gland. So many high-strung dogs just need an extraction. It\'s easy to do it yourself, just google it. The vet told me you can\'t harm them by doing it yourself. Otherwise, your dog will be in extremely itchy discomfort. That\'s why dogs scoot their rear ends along the carpet. A little doggy vitamin doesn\'t hurt either. Easy access to CLEAN water. Hami has 3 water bowls! That\'s my recipe for a long happy dog life. EDIT/ I had to put my boy to sleep on November 24, 2014. He almost made it to 16 years. He was still in great health, but I found out he had a bad back with slipped/ruptured discs and was in a lot of pain. He got to where he couldn\'t walk without his back legs giving out. What I thought was arthritis turned out to be a bad back. So if you have an elderly dog, please be very careful with the way you pick them up, put them down and handle them like they are very fine china! And give yourself at least 6 months to grieve when you must say goodbye... for some its a grief they will never experience again in their lifetime. It can be much worse than losing a blood relative. Scientific studies using CAT scans of the brain show we bond with dogs the same way we bond with our children. And dogs prefer humans over their own kind. It truly is a loving relationship we share with these little guys.'
Tags: Food , cute , old , shih tzu , 14 year old , begs , whines
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