eat it?

Experienced and professional animal trainer provide their insights in answering this question :
A. Could be hook worms. Your vet should have a dewormer that will get rid of them. Checking a fecal would be a good idea to make sure that he doesn’t have any other worms.

How to Identify Common Pet Problems ?

Our sources include academic articles, blog posts, and personal essays from experienced pet care professionals :

Tapeworm infections are usually diagnosed by finding segments—which appear as small white worms that may look like grains of rice or seeds—on the rear end of your dog, in your dog`s feces, or where your dog lives and sleeps.
Tapeworms in pets are diagnosed by seeing ~1/8 inch individual segments either in a fresh stool sample or in the hair around the anus. They often look like a little moving white caterpillar that dries up and looks like a piece of brown rice.
Treating Flatworms in Dogs

Your veterinarian will administer high doses of deworming medication to rid a dog of the parasite. Medication such as praziquantel or fenbendazole may be effective if the infection is caught in time. Your dog will probably be hospitalized during treatment.

Tapeworms are flat, white worms that are made up of tiny segments. Each part is about the size of a grain of rice. Tapeworms attach themselves to the walls of your dog`s gut using hook-like suckers. Then they start to feed and grow.
As a pet parent, you may be shocked to find worms in dog poop — but you`re not alone. Intestinal parasites including hookworms, roundworms, whipworms and tapeworms are common in dogs. Worms can often cause a variety of health concerns as they`re highly contagious.
As the adult tapeworm matures, individual segments (proglottids) break off from the main body of the tapeworm and pass in the dog`s feces. The segments resemble grains of rice or cucumber seeds and are about 1/2” (12 mm) long and about 1/8” (3 mm) wide.
Can I get a tapeworm infection from my pet? Yes; however, the risk of infection with this tapeworm in humans is very low. For a person to become infected with Dipylidium, he or she must accidentally swallow an infected flea. Most reported cases involve children.
Unlike many other parasites that dogs can get from exposure to an infected dog`s feces, dogs only become infected with tapeworms by ingesting a flea or rodent carrying a tapeworm. Treatment involves deworming medication, as well as managing flea and rodent exposure.
Tapeworms in dogs can be treated with a parasiticide drug called praziquantel . This drug is available in both oral and injectable form and is dosed by weight. Once praziquantel has been administered, it causes the adult tapeworms to detach from the intestinal wall.
Dogs are treated with deworming medications, usually administered twice – to catch the adult worms and then two-to-four weeks later to catch those that are newly developed.
To kill them — and that`s important to do — spray them with strong orange oil mixtures. Or, even better, put them in a jar with a strong orange oil mixture. Remember, orange oil mixed stronger than 2 ounces per gallon of water will burn or even kill plants.
Paragonimiasis is caused by infection with a flatworm. That`s a parasitic worm also called a fluke or lung fluke because it commonly infects the lungs. Usually, infection comes after eating undercooked crab or crayfish that carry immature flukes. Once swallowed by a person, the worms mature and grow inside the body.
Chronic illness may cause dogs to stop eating but continue drinking. If your dog is avoiding food but is drinking excessive amounts of water—much more than is normal for him—this is a telltale sign that he has develop diabetes. Take him to the vet for a diagnosis and to find out more about his options.
Yes. These worms, like other infections that humans can get from animals, are called zoonotic (zoe-o-NOT-ick) infections or zoonoses (zoe-o-NO-sees). By learning about these infections and how to prevent them, you can help protect your pets, yourself, and your family.
Most commonly, your pup will be given two doses of a drug called praziquantel two weeks apart. The goal of this treatment is to interrupt the life cycle of any parasites affecting your pup. Two doses will generally suffice in curing these infections, but they have a tendency to recur.
Tapeworms are usually treated with a medicine taken by mouth. The most commonly used medicine for tapeworms is praziquantel (Biltricide). These medications paralyze the tapeworms, which let go of the intestine, dissolve, and pass from your body with bowel movements.
Once inside your body, the tapeworm head attaches to the wall of your intestines. It uses the food you eat to grow new segments. The older segments, which contain eggs, then break off and leave your body with your poop.
Treatment for tapeworms in humans

Sometimes, the tapeworm leaves the body on its own. This is why some people never have symptoms or only have mild symptoms. If a tapeworm doesn`t leave your body, your doctor will recommend a treatment based on the type of infection.

Though this practice is illegal in the United States, individuals are still able to obtain these products in other countries or via the Internet. By intentionally ingesting these parasites and becoming infected, individuals hope to lose weight and then take a medication that will rid their body of the tapeworm.
You should cook ground meat to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Smoking and drying meat won`t prevent tapeworms. Safe fish preparation: Cook large freshwater fish, such as salmon, to an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit. If you`re eating fish raw, it`s safest to freeze it first.
Once ingested, cysticerci attach to the small intestine and develop into adult tapeworms over the course of 2 months. The adult tapeworms produce proglottids that mature, detach, and migrate to the anus and are then passed in the feces.
A parasiticide called Praziquantel is used to treat tapeworms. It comes in two forms: as an oral medication and an injection. Multiple doses might be needed to kill all of the tapeworms, their larvae, and their eggs. Praziquantel is very effective against tapeworm and has no known side effects, so it`s very safe!
Treatment for tapeworm infection

Your health care provider treats a tapeworm infection in the intestines with anti-parasitic drugs. These include: Praziquantel (Biltricide). Albendazole.

It works because unlike other vinegar it increases the alkaline levels in the dog`s intestines making it inhospitable for parasites and worms. Add 1/4-1 teaspoon of raw organic ACV to your dog`s water every day you may also notice an improvement in coat condition along with several other health benefits.

Relevant Questions and Answers :

the most relevant questions and answers related to your specific issue

Q. We adopted a long haired chiwawa from the shelter. She was short flat white worms in her poop that move arond. What kind of worm & and to treat it?
ANSWER : A. Could be hook worms. Your vet should have a dewormer that will get rid of them. Checking a fecal would be a good idea to make sure that he doesn’t have any other worms.

Q. What’s the best way to train a dog to use a lead again?
ANSWER : A. It depends on how serious your issue is. If you need to start from scratch: Bring out the leash, place it on the ground. Click and treat your dog. Say his name, work on attention, click and treat for attention. Work with the cheese sticks, or with some chicken.. something stinky, soft, and high value. Allow him to sniff the leash, praise him, click, treat, click, treat. Pick up the leash, click treat him. Hook the leash to his collar and allow the leash to drag, click treat him. Have him just follow you around, click and treat him to hold his attention.

Then, pick up the leash, click and treat him. Then drop the leash again, click and treat. Take baby steps. Then, hold the leash while you take a step, click and treat him for following. Open the front door, click and treat him. Then, take off the leash, click and treat him, and end training.

Pick training back up in an hour, and do the same exact thing from start to finish, only this time, “finish” will be you two going outside, you clicking and treating him a bunch, and then you bringing him back inside. Work your way up slowly. You can’t expect to just bring him outside and bring him on a walk right away.

When outdoors, use a front hooking harness like the Sensible/Sensation harnesses: http://www.softouchconcepts.com/index.php/product-53/sense-ible-harness / http://www.softouchconcepts.com/index.php/product-53/sense-ation-harness. These harnesses will eliminate the pulling power of your pup in a positive way. This will put you in control without the use of force. Carry high value treats with you everywhere, and offer them for good walking behavior – treats like white meat chicken, cooked fish, turkey pepperoni, turkey bacon, diced ham, mozzarella cheese sticks, hotdogs, all cut into tiny little pieces. The more you work on walking on-leash/attention indoors, the better it will be outdoors, remember that.

Q. Whenever I take my dog on walks he always barks at people and others dogs in my neighborhood. What should I do to resolve the problem
ANSWER : A. The very first thing to do is to make sure your dog is getting sufficient physical and mental exercise every day. A tired dog is a good, happy dog and one who is less likely to bark from boredom or frustration. Depending on his breed, age, and health, your dog may require several long walks as well as a good game of chasing the ball and playing with some interactive toys.

Figure out what he gets out of barking and remove it. Don’t give your dog the opportunity to continue the barking behavior.

Ignore your dog’s barking for as long as it takes him to stop. That means don’t give him attention at all while he’s barking. Your attention only rewards him for being noisy. Don’t talk to, don’t touch, or even look at him. When he finally quiets, even to take a breath, reward him with a treat. To be successful with this method, you must wait as long as it takes for him to stop barking. Yelling at him is the equivalent of barking with him.

Get your dog accustomed to whatever causes him to bark. Start with whatever makes him bark at a distance. It must be far enough away that he doesn’t bark when he sees it. Feed him lots of good treats. Move the stimulus a little closer (perhaps as little as a few inches or a few feet to start) and feed treats. If the stimulus moves out of sight, stop giving your dog treats. You want your dog to learn that the appearance of the stimulus leads to good things.

Teach your dog the ‘quiet’ command. Oddly, the first step is to teach your dog to bark on command. Give your dog the command to “speak,” wait for him to bark two or three times, and then stick a tasty treat in front of his nose. When he stops barking to sniff the treat, praise him and give him the treat. Repeat until he starts barking as soon as you say “speak.” Once your dog can reliably bark on command, teach him the “quiet” command. In a calm environment with no distractions, tell him to “speak.” When he starts barking, say “quiet” and stick a treat in front of his nose. Praise him for being quiet and give him the treat.

As in all training, always end training on a good note, even if it is just for obeying something very simple, like the ‘sit’ command. If you dog regresses in training, go back to the last thing he did successfully and reinforce that before moving on again. Keep sessions short, 15-20 minutes max, and do this several times a day.

Q. We have a 4 yr old lab-pit mix we raise from 6 weeks.If my husband tries to take hin by the collar and make him go out to pottie he growls.Problem?
ANSWER : A. This is not good behavior. Rather than take him by the collar, call him to come with you. If he’s not good about coming when called, you can work on that. Keeps treats on hand to to entice him out and reward him when he does go potty and he’ll come to look forward to it. Clicker training is another great way to teach a dog all kinds of things, from obedience to tricks.

Have treats on hand that you know he loves, then simply click and treat. He will come to associate the sound with getting a treat. Start putting distance between you so he has to come to you. Call and click and when he comes to you for that treat, treat him and give him lots of praise. Move to hiding somewhere in the house, call and click. When he comes to you reliably inside when you call, click and treat. When this behavior is consistent, move outdoors with a very long leash. Call and click, if he doesn’t respond, give a light tug on the leash. If he takes even a single step toward you, click, treat and lots of praise. Keep doing this until he comes eagerly. Next, try him off-leash in a securely fenced area. Call and click. At this point he should be responding well and coming easily to the call and click. If he does not, go back to the last step he performed reliably and work on that again until he responds well. Eventually, you can start not treating him every time, but still praise him. Gradually lessen the frequency of the treats until he comes just to the click and praise.

Keep training sessions short, ten or fifteen minutes to start, no more than 30 minutes at a time and do it a few times a day. Try not to do it any time he is overly excited so that he can pay attention to you. Always end a training session on a good note, even if it is just getting him to do something he already does well on command. And never, NEVER punish a dog when they come to you, no matter how far they’ve made you chase them, no matter how frustrated and angry you might be. That teaches your dog that coming to you is a bad thing.

Read Full Q/A … : Causes of Limping in Dogs

Q. Cat showing no signs of fleas, some scratching, doing well.Found a worm the other day.Does the cat have fleas again?Can garlic in catfood help?dangers
ANSWER : A. I’m sorry that you are having itching issues! Those can be tough to figure out! Fleas can also be a tough issue. They are hard get rid of and hard control for sure! If your cat is itching and you are finding worms there is a chance that you may have fleas. It depends on the type of worms of your finding. If the worm was a small, flat worm that resembled a grain of rice, I would say for sure that you most likely have fleas. This was most likely a tape worm segment. Tapeworms are the result of flea infestations. If the worm was longer and white, then you could be looking at another type of worm such as a roundworm. The best option would be to take your kitty into the vet where they can run a fecal test and see exactly which kind of worm eggs are in the sample. This way they can treat your cat for worms and solve one of your issues!
Now on the your next questions: the Garlic. Garlic is actually TOXIC to your cat so I would recommend to not use it under any circumstances! There are some great products that your vet can recommend for fleas that won’t harm your kitty. One that works great and actually takes care of fleas and all sorts of worms is called Revolution. It is a monthly topical solution and cats tend to tolerate it really well. I hope this was helpful and I hope your kitty feels better soon!

Q. My puppy will be 8 weeks old tomorrow. I’ve had her for a week now, and she still isn’t responding to any training or her name. What can I do?
ANSWER : A. Try clicker training her to come when called. Clicker training is an effective way of training you dog to not only come when called, but can be used to teach a variety of tricks and tasks.

Have treats on hand that you know she loves, then simply click and treat. She will come to associate the sound with getting a treat. Start putting distance between you so she has to come to you. Call and click and when she comes to you for that treat, treat him and give her lots of praise. Move to hiding somewhere in the house, call and click. When she comes to you reliably inside when you call, click and treat. When this behavior is consistent, move outdoors with a very long leash. Call and click, if she doesn’t respond, give a light tug on the leash. If she takes even a single step toward you, click, treat and lots of praise. Keep doing this until she comes eagerly. Next, try her off-leash in a securely fenced area. Call and click. At this point she should be responding well and coming easily to the call and click. If she does not, go back to the last step she performed reliably and work on that again until she responds well. Eventually, you can start not treating her every time, but still praise her. Gradually lessen the frequency of the treats until she comes just to the click and praise.

Keep training sessions short, ten or fifteen minutes to start, no more than 30 minutes at a time and do it a few times a day. Try not to do it any time she is overly excited so that she can pay attention to you. Always end a training session on a good note, even if it is just getting him to do something she already does well on command. And never, NEVER punish a dog when they come to you, no matter how far they’ve made you chase them, no matter how frustrated and angry you might be. That teaches your dog that coming to you is a bad thing.

Q. My puppy refuses to walk outside on the leash. This only happens when we’re outside… Is it stubbornness or fear?
ANSWER : A. It is never stubbornness. Dogs are not stubborn, they can’t be. Dogs do not generalize well, and dogs display fearful behavior that appears to be stubbornness. Absolutely NEVER force this dog to walk outside when he is uncomfortable with doing so.. the more you force him to do it, opposition reflex – the more he will resist. The more he resists and is forced into it, the less he learns about being comfortable, and the more he becomes fearful of you and of the situation.

What you can do is carry extremely high value treats outside with you. Things like cooked white meat chicken, cooked fish, turkey pepperoni, turkey bacon, diced ham, mozzarella cheese sticks – all cut up into tiny little pea-sized pieces. You can also use peanut butter in a squeeze tube. First, put on the leash indoors and begin feeding him the treats. Help him make positive associations with having the leash put on. Then, take the leash off, and start over in 10min. Put the leash on, feed treats, walk to the door, open the door, feed treats, close door, take off leash. Start over in 10min. Put on leash, feed treats, go to door, feed treats, open door, feed treats, go outside, feed tons of treats and praise. Keep Titus in his comfort zone. If he doesn’t want to go far, just feed him tons of treats where he IS comfortable going. Make sure everything is calm/happy/positive. I bet in a week of doing this, he will be happy with walk further and further all of the time. If ever he is uncomfortable, feed him lots of treats for being a brave boy, and then turn around and go back home. It’s all about keeping him in his comfort zone.. it’s all about remaining within his threshold and never forcing him to feed uncomfortable.

This is very common for puppies. The world is scary! It’s brand new to them, and it’s up to you to make their interactions and discoveries positive, happy, calm, and to never force them into anything.

Q. My dog is house trained but has started pooping in the house, why is she doing that?
ANSWER : A. It could be the type of food you are feeding. If you are feeding a lower quality kibble, it will be packed with fillers. These fillers will cause your dog to poop more than is necessary, and it can cause your dog to poop indoors because of the excess poop. Finding a higher quality kibble like Taste of the Wild, Orijen, or a high quality food like Ziwipeak, or Honest Kitchen, will help with that issue.

Remember to NEVER scold for accident indoors. The more you scold, the more fearful your dog is of pooping in front of you, the less your dog will want to poop in front of you outdoors, the more he will poop indoors, the more you scold… it’s a vicious cycle.

Have you been cleaning messes with Nature Miracle? Pick up a bottle, and try cleaning with that instead of regular cleaner. It will eliminate the smells deep down (even to your dog), which will discourage him from potting in that spot again.

Maybe he needs to be taken outside more often, and maybe he needs to be kept outside longer each time. He should be allowed at least 10 minutes of roaming outside before he has to come back inside. Allow him 10 minutes every single time you bring him outside, just in case he has to poop. He needs every opportunity you can give him. Bring him outside every hour if he’s full grown, every 40 minutes if he’s an adolescent (6-10 months), and every 30 minutes if he’s a puppy (2-6 months). If you have a doggy door, you should still be bringing your dog outside yourself to encourage him to stay outside longer, and poop. When he does poop outside, you should praise him, and reward him with lots of treats!