When given every month, year-round heartworm prevention is very effective. Again, it kills the larval stages before they can develop into adult heartworms, and adult heartworms are really what cause the problem in dogs. The American Heartworm Society recommends monthly, year-round heartworm prevention for all dogs, especially in coastal and hot areas. We're sort of borderline here, but I don't think that we can count on mosquitoes that transmit heartworm disease to die reliably, so I don't think that there should be any break in heartworm prevention, and that's how it's going to be most effective.

We recommend starting heartworm prevention at eight weeks for all of our patients. So when they come in for their puppy exam, we typically give a first puppy dose of heartworm preventative based on the weight and what the owner wants to do in the long-term as far as giving those preventative, and we discuss the options with you.

The best way to prevent heartworm disease in dogs is by getting a product from your veterinarian, whether it be orally, topically administered by you at home, or injections that can be administered by your veterinarian every six to 12 months.

One type of heartworm prevention that we have here is an oral Interceptor, which is an oral dewormer. It targets heartworm as well as intestinal parasites, roundworms, hookworms, and whipworms, and targets the larva and the bloodstream. We also have a topical called Revolution, which is put on the skin and gets in the bloodstream and acts similarly; however, it does not target the intestinal parasites. So we do recommend the oral, if at all possible.

I think if you have a short coated dog and they just need a good bath and their nails trimmed a little bit, that's certainly something that you can do at home. But when dogs really need their hair to be cut, it’s probably best left to groomers. They know how to do it safely. They know what the breed standards are and they are trained professionals on how to get it done so they can get it done quickly and your dog is happy to have that done.

There are a lot. I'll just go through some of the most common ones. If fleas and ticks ingest enough of your dog's blood, this ingestion can cause anemia or low red blood cell count, which can be life-threatening to your dog—also, there are some common tick-borne diseases that we know. Lyme would be one of the most common ones. And dogs can also be clinical with Lyme disease as well.

When fleas bite, the dog can get irritated skin, including dogs with allergies who may have flea allergy dermatitis. Their skin gets red and bumpy can even get infected. The other thing about fleas is when a dog eats a flea because it's bothering them, they can feel it in their fur; then they can get tapeworms from the flea.

Ticks carry a multitude of tick-borne diseases. The one we most commonly heard about is Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Babesia, Ehrlichiosis, and Anaplasma. Those are just some of the many diseases that ticks can cause in people and dogs.

Heartworm is prevented in dogs by giving a monthly dewormer that kills the larva in the bloodstream and prevents them from developing into adult heartworms.

If your dog is bored, they're going to enrich themselves. If we look in this room, it's not a very exciting room, but this door handle looks pretty chewable. This trim looks nice. My in-laws' dog ripped all of those things off their house. What are you going to give your dog to keep them happy? Lots of attention. You want to make sure that you are not leaving them alone for prolonged periods. If you can give them toys that are safe to play with, that can help. However, you should first observe them play with said toy to make sure the dog isn't going to chew the toy to pieces and swallow bits. Otherwise, that could be a risk. Think of agility dogs. They have holes and tunnels to weave through. You could have rope ties for tug-o-war. You could use a ball to play catch with them, or maybe a paddling pool.

It depends on the dog. If it's a dog that just needs to be bathed and brushed, you've gotten them very comfortable doing that at home, and you can ensure that the ears get cleaned out appropriately, we're not getting soap in the eyes, and that it's not super stressful for the pet, then there's nothing wrong with doing that type of grooming care at home. And I would encourage it to get the pet used to it and make it a positive experience. Anything beyond that, though, such as any grooming that involves clipping or shaving, should really be done by a professional groomer.