There are three basic forms of parasitism: Internal organs, blood and skin. The geographical region in which you live will determine which parasites can affect your shih tzu.

Worms are a common parasitic infestation and one cause of diarrhea. The presence of diarrhea, however, does not mean a definitive diagnosis of “worms.” Definite diagnosis is made by a veterinarian, under microscopic examination, of a fresh fecal or blood sample. Only a veterinarian who has made the determination of the type of parasitic infestation should prescribe medications to treat the infestation.

Chiggers affect man and dogs and are prevalent in southern U.S. Areas. Eradication if chiggers is generally best achieved by manual removal. Prevention is somewhat effective if you will limit your shih tzu to manicured grass.

Coccidiosis cause an enteritis condition of cats and dogs. Coccidiosis is most common in puppies and kittens. Symptoms are mild to severe bloody diarrhea, lethargy and weakness from dehabilitation of nutrients caused by the diarrhea, anorexia and death if not treated. Coccidiosis is seldom fatal when treated with the proper medication by the veterinarian who diagnoses the parasite in a timely manner. Coccidiosis is always present among canines. Some canines become carriers and have no symptoms themselves. Excessive stress can cause symptom producing coccidia in very young puppies and kittens that can become life threatening if not treated properly.

Fleas are most common to dogs of any breed including the shih tzu. Fleas constantly bite and can produce allergic reactions in some shih tzu or any breed of dog. A sensitive dog will scratch and chew to relieve the itch, only to produce a “hotspot” or some other type of skin dermatitis which can lead to a secondary infection.. Fleas can also act as temporary hosts in tapeworms’ life cycles. A dog can acquire a tapeworm as it chews and ingest the fleas. Tapeworms can be effectively treated by your vet. The best protocol is to avoid fleas altogether. Flea control is comparatively easy through a wide selectin of products including soaps, shampoos, sprays, powders, dips, natural and herbal treatments.

Giardia is usually found around remote bodies of water. It can occur in dogs or shih tzu of any age and can be transferred to humans. Onset is usually sudden. Symptoms are diarrhea, lethargy, lack of appetite and weight loss. Diagnosis is made by fecal microscopic examination. Resolution is successful provided treatment is initiated early.

Heartworm occurs in two forms throughout the lower forty-eight states. One is harmless, the other if left untreated is deadly. The heartworm is carried by mosquito bites. Diagnosis is made through a blood test. Regular prophylactic treatment is available and highly recommended.

Hookworms are found primarily in the southern portions of the United States. Infection may also be transferred to puppies from the mother’s milk. For this reason, all newborn puppies need to be regularly dewormed starting at 2 weeks of age up until at least 12 weeks of age following the recommendations and schedule of your own personal vet. There are a variety of dewormers available that completely eradicate the problem of hookworms.

Mange occurs in one of two forms: Demodex or Sarcoptes. Positive diagnosis can be made only by a veterinarian under microscopic examination of skin samples taken from an affected area. If treated early, mange can be completely cured. Treatment is usually by therapeutic shampoor or dips once a week for several weeks. Prevention of the mite infestations that can cause Sarcoptes mange is recommended. Ask your vet for appropriate mange mite medication to prevent the disease. The same mites that cause mange in dogs and shih tzu can cause ear mites and ear infections.

You may be asking yourself, “Didn’t he get his puppy shots at the shelter where I got him?” Maybe – but there’s a little more to it than that. Immunizations keep puppies healthy and happy – after all – those natural antibodies from their moms only last for about six to eight weeks.

So, here’s what to expect when you take your four-legged friend to the vet:

• The First Visit – (6 to 8 weeks old) Your veterinarian will give him a combination vaccine (DHPP) to protect him from four dangerous diseases: Canine distemper, infectious hepatitis, parainfluenza, and parvovirus infection.

• The Second, Third, and Fourth Visit – (9 to 12 weeks old) He’ll get a second DHPP vaccination and possibly vaccinations against coronavirus infection, leptospirosis, Lyme disease, and kennel cough, depending on his risk for those diseases.

• The Fifth Visit – (13 to 16 weeks old) He’ll get another DHPP and any others your veterinarian recommends, plus his very first rabies shot.

• The Last Visit…finally! – (15 to 16 months old) He’ll get all of them again, then you’ll both be done.

After that, it’s all fun and games for you and your new pup – with the exception of those yearly boosters he’ll need. These help keep vaccine levels high enough to offer ongoing protection. PETCO’s website has a great article on this if you need more information (http://www.petco.com/Page.aspx?pc=Article&PetTypeID=1&TopicID=12&id=2240&nav=153).

By the way, don’t worry about the scary needles; they probably intimidate you more than your unwitting puppy. Just give him a little doggie treat when it’s all done and he’ll quickly forget it ever happened!

The main goal of puppy training is to prevent problems before they get started. The best time to start puppy training is as soon as your bundle of joy comes into your home. Puppy training is very important, whether you are training your first puppy or your 20th. Puppy training is, as much as anything else, the formation of good habits.

The amount of patience required during puppy training is a test for even the most mellow of us. Reinforcing commands in puppy training is essential. All puppy training is designed to direct your puppy’s behavior into making her an acceptable member of human society. For this reason, puppy training is extremely important for the happiness of the dog and for your household.

Puppy socialization and puppy training is a very specialized type of training. Successful puppy training is all about proper supervision. Puppy training is a very important part of being a puppy owner and can prevent possible problems from developing in the future. Puppy training is a must for a happy pet and family. Best of all, puppy training is easy, fun and can be done by all family members, including children.

Puppy training is often considerably easier than training an adult or adolescent dog. Puppy Training is for every dog, regardless of breed or size. Puppy training is an important part if your dog’s life. Although puppy training is not hard, it takes a lot of dedication and patience on the part of the owner.

The goal of young puppy training is to get your puppy headed in the right direction to enhance future formal obedience training. Puppy training is the key to proper adjustment. Puppy training is a vital and necessary component of a well-adjusted, well-behaved dog. The main purpose in puppy training is to build a communication system between the two of you. We know that puppy training is very important to the character development of your puppy.

A puppy does not have a very long attention span so short segments of training are definitely the best. Puppy training is a matter of consistency which means always using the same word for each command. Puppy training is nothing more than positive praise when he does a good job and prevention so that he doesn’t make any mistakes. The greatest value of very early puppy training is the opportunity you create for your puppy to succeed and be praised for it.

Puppy training is widely recognized as a huge step in deriving maximum pleasure from a well controlled and obedient dog. If you’ve got a new puppy, then puppy training is vital to his future well-being. Part of puppy training is socializing your pup to people, other dogs and new situations and surroundings.. All training, including the early puppy training is teaching your dog what he or she knows to be safe and happy.

A lot of good puppy training is preventative (housetraining, barking and chewing, for example). The goal of puppy training is to build a bond between you and your dog and for both of you to enjoy the process. New dog owners may be daunted by the task, but puppy training is not as hard as you think. Puppy Training will teach your puppy basic manners that will be carried into your puppy’s adult life. Early puppy training should be done with bits of food as rewards such as pieces of cheese (kibble takes them too long to chew).

Introducing your puppy to new experiences and new locations is also an important part of puppy training. Repetitive actions are a large part of dog and puppy training. You want to have a smooth and easy time with this puppy, and a wonderful life with her. Puppy training will help you turn an adorable ball of fur into a well trained companion for life.

Dogs and foxes have nearly fooled me several times and, while I never have shot at any of these animals in mistake for deer, it would take but little imagination to change a large fox into a small deer if the setting were right. These and other animals can be easily mistaken for deer by the amateur who is so “keyed up” that he expects to see a deer at all times and isn’t exactly sure of what he is looking for.

It is to prevent these mistakes that I recommend the study of lithographic prints of the picture deer. I have seen living picture deer on a few occasions and they are an unforgettable sight. When seen at the edge of a field in the early morning sun and with an evergreen background, they are a sight to thrill the heart of any hunter. They are seldom seen under these conditions and when they are it seems a shame to destroy so beautiful a picture. Usually the deer which the hunter sees is nothing but a ghostly shadow drifting across a shaded woods road or, more often, a dodging, bouncing streak of white as the animal seeks safety in flight with its white flag upraised to give the hunter a target which is well above and behind the one he wants to hit.

The instantaneous identification of deer in the woods or fields is almost impossible, until one has hunted for years and seen them under many conditions, for each deer is usually seen in a different setting and from a different angle with different lighting conditions. Without this experience, any animal with the camouflage of the white-tailed would be hard to identify anywhere in its natural wild setting, and many things other than deer are likely to resemble these animals more than the real thing. Fixing the picture deer in the mind is a sort of negative identification method. Anything which resembles the picture is a deer; and other objects which could be, might be; but such objects call for better identification before shooting.

In my own case, I have always been right when I was sure at the first glance that the object I had sighted was a deer; but when I have seen an object which I thought might have been a deer and had to take a second look for positive identification, I have been mistaken more than half of the time, for the object was something other than a deer. Of course, the hunter will seldom mistake anything else for a running deer (with the possible exception of dogs and red foxes) and most of the objects which he mistakes for standing deer are, more or less, the products of his imagination.

It is to prevent the mistake of shooting it is very recommended to study of lithographic prints of the picture deer. The instantaneous identification of deer in the woods or fields is almost impossible, until one has hunted for years and seen them under many conditions, for each deer is usually seen in a different setting and from a different angle with different lighting conditions.

Without this experience, any animal with the camouflage of the white-tailed would be hard to identify anywhere in its natural wild setting, and many things other than deer are likely to resemble these animals more than the real thing.

Try these tricks to entertain both of you!

1. Fetch. It’s no fun to play ball with a person or an animal that won’t give the ball back. Teaching your dog how to fetch will make you both wish playtime would never end.

If your dog is a retriever, you’re ahead of the game. Your dog is hard-wired to want to fetch. But other breeds catch on quickly, too. You just have to be more patient and consistent. Train with your dog just a few minutes a day to be the most effective.

To teach your dog to fetch, you need a retrieving training tool called a dumbbell. You can buy it at the pet store. It will be a wooden or plastic tube with flanges on both ends to keep it from falling out of your dog’s mouth. Be sure to buy one that your dog can pick up easily and one that will allow him to close his mouth around the middle, not the flared edges.

You start training a dog to fetch by teaching him to open his mouth. Say “Take it” and offer him a food treat. Once he starts opening his mouth in expectation when he hears you say, “Take it,” slip the dumbbell inside his mouth. Leave the dumbbell there for a second, then praise him and give him a treat. Try this about four times, and then stop. Do this part of the training for a few days until your dog gets used to having the dumbbell in his mouth.

Now, start putting the dumbbell in your dog’s mouth and command, “Hold it.” Gently hold his mouth around the dumbbell for a few seconds. Then say, “Give,” and let him spit the dumbbell out. Be sure to praise him and give him a treat. Do this exercise for a few days until your pet will hold the dumbbell in his mouth.

Next, hold the dumbbell in front of your dog’s mouth and command, “Take it.” Pull his head toward the dumbbell if you have to. Be sure to praise and give him a treat, even if he just moves his head toward the dumbbell. Practice this until he’s used to taking the dumbbell in his mouth. All you have to do now is increase the distance slowly. Continue working on “Hold it,” and “Give.” It might be a good refresher course for “Come,” too. Before too long, your dog will put it all together!

2. Speak. This is usually a simple trick for your dog to learn if he’s vocal already. The trick is to entice him to do it on command and from distances.

First, choose a hand signal - some trainers make a twisting motion with a closed fist; others open and shut their hand using their fingers and thumb. Using your hand signal, command your dog to “speak.” When he barks, reward him and praise him. If your dog doesn’t bark automatically, continue to give the command until he gets frustrated and barks, then quickly reward him. Keep practicing and he’ll soon understand.

3. Shake hands or “Gimme five.” This is perhaps the easiest trick to teach your dog. Give your dog the “Sit” command. While you gently hold his paw with one hand, say “Gimme five” and hand him a treat with your other hand. You shouldn’t have to do this more than a few times for your dog to get the hang of it.

4. Give me a kiss. This is another easy one. Most dogs will kiss you whether you want them to or not! All you have to do is get them to do it on your terms. Command your dog, “Give me a kiss,” and then put your cheek in front of his mouth. When he licks your cheek, praise him and give him a treat.

5. Roll over. Start by giving your dog the “Down” command. Kneel beside him and gently roll him over on his side and command, “Roll over.” Keep rolling him until he’s upright again, and then give him praise and a treat.

A couple of caveats about this trick:

- Don’t keep trying it if it’s obvious your pet doesn’t like being on his back. Some dogs have stronger backs than others, and if you are successful in teaching your dog to roll over, it’s probably a trick you want to retire when he’s middle aged. Most elderly dogs have back and hip pain, and there’s no point in making your pet suffer.

- Be sure to only perform this trick on grass or carpet. Asking your dog to roll over continuously on a hard surface could hurt him.

6. Play dead. This trick produces gales from laughter from school-age boys, so if you have one of those, you might want to get him involved with training the dog on this one. A good time to practice this trick is you’re your dog has just exercised and is ready to rest. There’s a prerequisite, too - your dog must know the “Down” command.

Give your dog the “Down” command and notice what side he’s leaning on. Gently push him on over as you command, “Bang.” As he rolls over, praise him and rub his tummy. Repeat until you don’t have to use pressure to force him to roll to his side. Use the “Stay” command to stay “dead.” Add the hand signal, a pointing forefinger, as you command the “Bang.”

Most Important Is that you have fun with your dog. A happy dog will always be the dog that responds to your every command. Have a fun day with your dog!

Marilyn Burnham

Author: ‘Dog Owners Boot Camp’

The How To Guide, Dog Training Secrets Professional Dog Trainers Don’t Want You To Know!

For More Information On Dog Training

The inventive colors and designs on models in Milan, Paris and New York have found their way into dog clothing boutiques around the world. Designers have only a short time after the human fashion shows to develop their new lines to go along with what the parents will be wearing. “The dog version of clothing must not only match human styles, it must also be functional for the dog” said Onika Carroll, a designer for Elizabeth Austin. All of these challenges lead to a varied array of dog clothing ranging from the cute and simple to the haute couture.

The different styles that are in this season include an assortment of day and evening wear as well as beach wear. Longer dresses and even ball gowns are going to be hot thanks to the popularity of the TV show “Dancing with the Stars”. The good news for retailers is and customers is that there is a wide variety of gowns and dresses to fit anyone’s taste. Colors like pink, lilac and lime green are strong this season, and polka dots and floral designs are prominent as well. Another fashion choice that should be popular is having sequins or appliqués of hearts and butterflies. Pooch parents want their girl dogs to be dainty and their boy dogs to be cool or tough. A very popular print this season for boys and some girls is anything camouflage. The bottom line is, there’s going to be plenty for everyone to choose what style fits them and their baby best.

The Chihuahua comes from Mexico. The Pekingese and Shih Tzu originated in Tibet and China. Many types of terriers were bred in the Scottish Highlands. It is possible that the ancestors of the petit chien lion and of the poodle were from ancient Greece. The Chinese crested hairless dog is a descendant of the Aztec kingdom and China.

In earlier times to own an expensive purebred dog such as the Pekingese or the Shih Tzu was reserved only for the wealthy and privileged individuals. The situation changed, however, with the French Revolution when privilege based on social class was called into question. The middle class began to own expensive pedigreed dogs that were easily distinguished from a mutt. The popularity of the purebred dogs began to soar.

Breed standards in every breed describe from head to toe, height, weight, general appearance and character traits. A breed standard specifies how the ideal representative of each breed should look. Nature does not permit complete uniformity to these breed standards set by “people.” A standard only represents a goal to which breeders are suppose to come as close as possible of creating. Unfortunately, these rigid standards call for things that have created unnecessary health problems and unnatural characteristics for a dog. For example, noses that have been bred to be excessively short hindering the dog’s breathing and can cause pinched nostrils, which can lead to heart problems. Some breed standards call for legs so short that the dogs can no longer walk normally. It is the goal of responsible dog clubs and associations to work against excesses of this kind.

Small dogs differ from large dogs only in terms of their size. It does not need to be overly protected. It is untrue that small dogs are more susceptible to disease just because they are small. On the contrary, small dog’s life expectancy is even higher than larger dogs.

One of the added enjoyments of the smaller dogs is dressing them up in cute tiny dog clothes and accessories. Larger dogs can be dressed up as well, but there is just something extra sweet and cute about the teacup dog clothes, to see a cute little Yorkie in dog clothes is eye opening, and the Chihuahua dog clothes sometimes are the cutest of all.

In reality, obedience training is created to impose control over dogs. These canine friends should know who the master is and who the follower is.

With all the teachings of science and man’s remarkable brain, the guidelines about obedience training in dogs were created. All of these are inclined to teach the dogs how to obey simple to complex commands and how to behave properly.

However, the concept of training dogs how to obey may vary on styles, equipment being used, or on the principles being implemented. Nevertheless, all of these things are focused on making dogs obey their masters.

The question is: How do trainers or these concepts make the dogs obey their masters? What is the reason that lies beneath the idea considering the fact that dogs are not humans who can logically understand why they have to obey?

What people don’t know is that there are only two keys in order to make their dogs obey them: consistency and compassion.

Consistency is extremely important in every training program. This is because as mentioned earlier, dogs are not logical thinkers. This means that they don’t know and they don’t understand why they have to obey or what does their master want from them. That is why it is important to let them know the things they should do and the things they shouldn’t do.

In this way, people should be consistent on distinguishing the things that should be done and those that are not appreciated.

On the other hand, compassion is needed in teaching dogs to obey because they are not like humans who will immediately understand what is wrong or right. This means that people should be a little more patient when teaching dogs to obey in order for them to gain the dog’s trust.

There are instances wherein trainers get impatient after repeating one command several times. In the end, they tend to hurt the dog. In turn, the dog gets hurt and may no longer trust his trainer.

The bottom line is that, dogs are not humans and they don’t behave like humans. That is why training them to obey needs more time, more patience, and more understanding from people who know better.

If you choose not to glue or are not persistent, you will still have a beautiful, wonderful dog but he/she may not look like a GSD. Most will think he/she looks like a mixed breed. I LOVE mixed breeds too! - but for a GSD to ‘look like a GSD’ he/she needs to have ears up!

We do not recommend the ‘old’ way to get the ears up which was to ‘tape’ the ears up. The puppies do not like the tape and a lot of the time will try to get it off; you would have to take the tape off every few days to clean their ears as no air can get into their ears and the pup could get an ear infection; and it takes way more time to do.

We suggest waiting to ‘glue’ till the pups are 4 1/2 months old. We like to hear from our puppy owners if they have any question about when the time is right to glue ears. If the puppies ears are moving around, up and down, we may advise to wait till the puppy is 5 months to glue. Puppys ears do go up and down while they are teething.

The likelihood is usually that the puppies ears would go up anyway on their own before Puppy is 7 months old but we would rather be sure, not wait, and not take any chances, because it may then be too late! If you wait untill the puppy is 6 months old and they did need help, there may not be enough time left to get them up! The general consensus is that if the puppies ears are not up by the time the pup is 7 months old they will not go up at all. In rare instances though it is still possible to get a pups ears up till they are 1 year old. So if you are reading this and you have an older pup whose ears are down it cant hurt to try! For people who have one of our pups, who’s ears need help, we do say to glue at 4 1/2 months old but you will need to start trying to locate the glue around the time Puppy is 4 months old because it could take some time to get it.

If the puppies ears at 4 months old are quite flat, have no base to them and are not moving around at all- up and down- they should be helped to go up sooner. We would say to glue early- at 4 months old which would mean locating the glue even sooner.

Locate Glue: We use Tear Mender Fabric Glue. No other ‘fabric glue’ will work. It is a really neat glue similar to when one gets like a credit card in the mail and the card is ‘glued’ to the paper. Slightly rubbery. When wet looks like Elmer’s Glue but thinner. Easily peels right off your fingers. It is usually available at Walgreen’s Drug Stores, some fabric stores and also some craft shops or some Ace Tru-Value Hardware stores. I recommend using your phone book to call the stores rather than driving all over town as it can be difficult to locate but easy to locate on line. On line purchase will then cost a few dollars more for the shipping. Tear Mender by Val-o-Chicago. Or purchase at Care-a-Lot dog catalogue, 1-800-343-7680 or www.carealot.com item #1768 is 3.99, plus the shipping. A good time to order x-mats, nyla bones and balls too.

If you have been grooming your Puppy and clipping his nails and cleaning your Puppys ears on a regular basis and taught your puppy to sit in front of you while you do that he should sit well for you while you glue his ears with no problem.

HOW TO GLUE: Shake glue well. NEVER pour the glue from the bottle directly on to puppies ears! We recommend putting some of the glue on to a paper plate or piece of note book paper, etc. The ears will be glued together over the puppies head like an Indian tee-pee. Using your finger, put a small amount of glue in a verticle line on the outside/back side of the ear leather- edge of the ear from just slightly above the base to the tip of his ear.(edge on the top of puppies head- over forehead–NOT the outer up and down edges toward pups shoulder sides) Press and hold for 30 seconds even though the glue will appear to hold after about 3 seconds.

Their ears will stay glued for about 1 month. Do not attempt to take them down or ‘pull’ them apart- prior to their growing out or their coming unglued. If they start to come apart any sooner, and you can tell the ears are not up yet, you would not want to take down the ears if you are able to simply add a bit more glue to the ear with your finger. The ear hair/glue will start to grow out after about 1 month. After the 1 month if the Pups ear hair has almost grown out- to where the ears are almost apart- the remining hair can be carefully trimmed so the ears are unglued. Try not to cut away hardly any of the hair. You want hair there for re-gluing, if neccessary. Leave puppys ears alone (unglued) for 2-3 days to see how they do on their own. If they are not staying up after the 2-3 days then re-glue.

After 1-2 months puppies ears should be up but we have heard of one person that had to glue for 3 1/2 months to get a tip up. Im sure there could be the stubborn case where it could take even longer, but I would not quit - till you talked with your pups Breeder or call me if you can not reach your breeder.

If you have a pup from us whos ears need assistance going up- leave the ears glued up till they come down on their own AND keep in contact with us about length of time to leave them glued.

Do not give up! Persistence - when necessary- will pay off. After the first time you do this it will only take probably less than a minute to glue the ears together one time a month. It is very easy! -if you have taught your puppy to sit still in front of you for grooming!

When you just need to get a ‘tip’ of an ear up or for standard coat GSD’s - you can use a piece of paper towel roll cardboard- cut to smaller shape of the inner ear. It should be bit narrower than his inner ear. It should go almost to the tip of his inner ear.(round the corners of the tall triangle shape). Use just a thin amount of glue around the edges of the cardboard.

If you feel it is necessary, when you are finished gluing there is an Adhesive Remover in the catalogue or from most drug stores. I have never had to use it though.

We always advise people not to let their puppy play unsupervised with other dogs and puppies while the ears are going up- even with out the glue! - as when dogs play they will bite heads, necks, and ears! That could damage the ears causing them to not go up ever. Also if you have glued your puppies ears, rough play could tear apart your puppies glued ears hurting your puppy and leaving no hair to re-glue to.

Being able to guarantee balanced diet for your dog is ideal. The problem is on how you are supposed to materialize this goal. Asking an advice from veterinarians can be a good idea or you can make researches in the web. It’s always your prerogative.

What is really a balanced diet for your pet dog? Does it follow that you need to purchase an expensive dog food to be assured of your dog’s balanced diet? Or are you going to search for the greatest recipe in the Internet? All of these can just be a waste of time and effort.

Achieving or maintaining a balanced diet does not mean that you go always go for the most costly items. In fact, even in your own simple way you can have the chance to give your pet the best of a diet. You just need to have a sprinkle of knowledge about the needed information that you have to know.

Here’s how to attain a balanced diet for your dogs:

• Ask recommendation from your veterinarian about the most reputable brands of dog food that you can turn to. Your vets know more about this because some of the manufacturers are providing them information sheets about a particular dog food product.

• Try to consider the age, weight, size and activity level of your dogs before picking dog food. These factors will determine the range of their needs.

• To keep the teeth of your dogs squeaky clean and white feed them with dry dog food and moist canned food as well.

• A balanced nutrient for your dog can be achieved with the intake of foods rich in protein and amino acid. A dog that is used to take about 20 to 30 percent of protein has a healthier body.

• Overfeeding must be prohibited. This can lead to obesity and several medical problems. It can also totally aggravate the health condition of your pet if this will continue to worsen. Obesity can also be a cause of abnormal growth and development.

• Prevent your dog from eating too much left over. You can do this unless you mix it with canned or dry dog food. Scraps can also encourage begging behavior to your dog which is not good.

• Feed your dog with food scrap after your family have eaten and do not forget to place it on a bowl as well. Beware of onions or chocolates that may come into it because these are not good for them.

• Give your food with the proper amount of food only. Excessive dog food may spoil and it will just be a waste of money. Be sure to measure the food accurately and add if you think that it is necessary to do so.

Coupled with the said tips for attaining balanced diet for your dogs is the intake of vitamins and minerals. However, do not over supplement your dogs with vitamins because these can also cause nutritional imbalance and some are even toxic and risky to the health of your dog.