Puppies love to bite. They do it naturally but it is something that they must be taught not to do. This needs to be addressed while they are young because dog bites can lead to all sorts of problems including legal action. It may seem fun and funny to have a puppy biting but a full-grown dog can do a lot of damage, particularly to children if they are in the habit of biting. Dogs have immense strength in their jaws and even a playful nip can do permanent damage to a child.

Generally, puppies are taught to control their biting from their mothers but in most cases we get puppies as pets that have been taken from their mothers at a very young age and it is up to us to teach them as puppies not to bite.

By letting your dog socialize with other dogs from a young age they will quickly learn from their elders, provided they have been taught well, that the desire to bite needs to be curbed to avoid retaliation and an ensuing fight.

The sooner the puppy is taught not to bite by the owner or by interaction with other dogs, the less aggressive they will become as they grow older and the more pleasant they will be to live with.

Taking a puppy to a dog training school will allow it to interact with other dogs where it will quickly be corrected for any misbehavior. Puppies should generally learn to interact with other dogs within the first three months of their life. The longer this is left the more difficult it becomes for your dog to socialize correctly and they can become dangerous later in life. As with children, the sooner your puppy can learn correct behavior patterns the better they will be in the long term.

It is also wise to get the puppy to behave correctly in the presence of other animals including cats and any other pets that they might come in contact with over their life.

There are many items that are available from the pet stores and vets that can give your puppy suitable satisfaction to chew and bite upon. This will allow your puppy to learn what is right and what is not right to bite.

HOW TO SAVE MONEY AT THE VET (INCLUDING WHAT THE ONLINE PHARMACIES DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW!)

In case you haven't noticed, quality vet care isn't cheap. But if it wasn't-I'd be worried. Because it would be your pet's health that had to suffer! The cost to run a veterinary clinic is more than what many people expect and most veterinarians retire before their college loans are paid off.

Of course, you probably could care less about all that! You just want your pet to receive proper health care without breaking the bank. Understood. Let's find out how.

Tip #1: Be straight up!

If your pooch is acting sick and you KNOW he ate something out of the garbage-tell the vet! I can't tell you how many times we've gone through a list of expensive (and sometimes unnecessary) diagnostic procedures to find out that the owner knew all along what the problem might be!

"Oh yeah-I did notice that I had a sock missing . . ." Ugh!

We had one gentleman who knew his dog ate a pair of panties but didn't want to tell us because, well . . . the panties didn't belong to his wife.

Fortunately, the dog got better but his pocketbook paid the price. Not sure what happened to the marriage.

We're not here to judge you-we're here to make your pet feel better!

Tip #2: Follow your vet's recommendations when it comes to preventative medicine (heartworm preventative, vaccinations, blood tests, etc.). Do you think heartworm pills are expensive? Well, the cost of heartworm preventative is chump-change in comparison to what it costs to treat a heartworm positive dog. Depending on the dog's weight, a month of heartworm preventative can cost $3-8. If your dog tests positive expect to pay $500-$1000 (or more) to have him treated. Egads! That's a mortgage payment for some folks. And by the way, ALL DOGS are at risk for acquiring heartworm disease, even if living indoors. It only takes ONE bite from an infected mosquito. I've seen all kinds of dogs test positive for heartworm. The past few months our clinic treated a Chihuahua, a Bouvier, a Siberian Husky, and a Labrador retriever. There has been a lot of discussion lately between the veterinary community and vaccine manufacturers. Thanks to scientific advances the immunity provided by many pet vaccines is lasting longer. Therefore, many veterinarians are recommending giving boosters on certain vaccines every three years instead of yearly. That will save you money! Hopefully your veterinarian has jumped on this bandwagon. Vaccines are essential in protecting our pets against deadly viruses. But the less vaccines we have to give the better. It all depends on your pet's age and lifestyle. Talk to your vet. Blood tests often reveal hidden health problems. If a disease is detected early, it will be both easier and cheaper to treat-for both you and your veterinarian. Treating diseases involving kidney failure and liver disease will cost you lots of money if your pet is in the later stages. Even if your pet's blood tests are normal you will have a baseline of his healthy values if there ever is a problem in the future. Not a bad investment.