As with other wounds, you should stop any bleeding by putting pressure on the wound and then clean the area extensively. Since dog bites are at big risk of becoming infected, most children should take 3-7 days of an antibiotic, usually Augmentin, to prevent an infection from developing. Keep in mind that most dog bites aren't sutured closed, because of this risk of infection. Bites on the face, or those considered to be 'clean' or quickly seen by the doctor may be sutured at times.
Other preventative measures that you may need to take include getting your child a tetanus shot if they have had less than three doses. Even if they have had three or more tetanus shots, if they have a bite that is not considered clean and minor, they may need a tetanus shot if it is been more than 5 years since their last one. Children with clean, minor bites may also need a tetanus booster if their last one was more than 10 years ago. Since most kids have had 4 tetanus shots by 18 months of age and a booster at 4 and 12 years, they may not need another one after a dog bite.
About Rabies
Rabies infections in people are rare in the United States. However, worldwide about 50,000 people die from rabies each year, mostly in developing countries where programs for vaccinating dogs against rabies don't exist. But the good news is that problems can be prevented if the exposed person receives treatment before symptoms of the infection develop.
Rabies is a virus that in the U.S. is usually transmitted by a bite from a wild infected animal, such as a bat, raccoon, skunk, or fox. If a bite from a rabid animal goes untreated and an infection develops, it is almost always fatal.
If you suspect that your child has been bitten by a rabid animal, go to the emergency department immediately. Any animal bites — even those that don't involve rabies — can lead to infections and other medical problems. As a precaution, call your doctor any time your child has been bitten.
Transmission
About 7,000 cases of rabies in animals are reported each year to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Raccoons are the most common carriers of rabies in the United States, but bats are most likely to infect people. Almost three quarters of rabies cases between 1990 and 2001 came from contact with bats.
Skunks and foxes also can be infected with rabies, and a few cases have been reported in wolves, coyotes, bobcats, and ferrets. Small rodents such as hamsters, squirrels, chipmunks, mice, and rabbits are very rarely infected with the virus.
Because of widespread vaccination programs in the United States, transmission from dogs to people is very rare. Outside the United States, exposure to rabid dogs is the most common cause of transmission to humans.
An infected animal has the rabies virus in its saliva and can transmit it to a person through biting. In rarer cases, an animal can spread the virus when its saliva comes in contact with a person's mucous membranes (moist skin surfaces, like the mouth or inner eyelids) or broken skin such as a cut, scratch, bruise, or open wound.
After a bite, the rabies virus can spread into surrounding muscle, then travel up nearby nerves to the brain. Once the virus reaches the brain, the infection is fatal in almost all cases
Signs and Symptoms
The first symptoms can appear from a few days to more than a year after the bite occurs.
One of the most distinctive signs of a rabies infection is a tingling or twitching sensation around the area of the animal bite. It is often accompanied by a fever, headache, muscle aches, loss of appetite, nausea, and fatigue.
As the infection progresses, someone infected with rabies may develop any of these symptoms:
* irritability
* excessive movements or agitation
* confusion
* hallucinations
* aggressiveness
* bizarre or abnormal thoughts
* muscle spasms
* abnormal postures
* seizures (convulsions)
* weakness or paralysis (when a person cannot move some part of the body)
* extreme sensitivity to bright lights, sounds, or touch
* increased production of saliva or tears
* difficulty speaking
In the advanced stage of the infection, as it spreads to other parts of the nervous system, these symptoms may develop:
* double vision
* problems moving facial muscles
* abnormal movements of the diaphragm and muscles that control breathing
* difficulty swallowing and increased production of saliva, causing the "foaming at the mouth" usually associated with a rabies infection
If Your Child Is Bitten by an Animal
If your child has been bitten by an animal, take the following steps right away:
* Wash the bite area with soap and water for 10 minutes and cover the bite with a clean bandage.
* Immediately call your doctor and go to a nearby emergency department. Anyone with a possible rabies infection must be treated in a hospital.
* Call local animal-control authorities to help find the animal that caused the bite. The animal may need to be detained and observed for signs of rabies.
* If you know the owner of the animal that has bitten your child, get all the information about the animal, including vaccination status and the owner's name and address. Notify your local health department, particularly if the animal hasn't been vaccinated.
* If you suspect that your child has been bitten by an unknown dog, bat, rat, or other animal, contact your doctor immediately or take your child to the emergency department.
Treatment
At the hospital, it is likely that the doctor will first clean the wound thoroughly and make sure that your child's tetanus immunizations are current.
To keep any potential infection from spreading, the doctor may decide to start treating your child right away with shots of human rabies immune globulin to the wound site and vaccine shots in the arm. This decision is usually based on the circumstances of the bite (provoked or unprovoked), the type of animal (species, wild or domestic), the animal's health history (vaccinated or not), and the recommendations of local health authorities.
Prevention
You can reduce the chances that your family is exposed to rabies. Vaccinate your pets — dogs, cats, and ferrets can be infected by rabies. Report any stray animals to your local health authorities or animal-control officer. Remind kids that animals can be "strangers," too. They should never touch or feed stray cats or dogs wandering in the neighborhood or elsewhere.
As a precaution against rabies or any other infections, call your doctor if:
* your child has been exposed to an animal that might have rabies, but is too young to describe the contact with the animal
* your child has been exposed to bats, even if there is no bite
* you plan to travel abroad and may come into contact with rabid animals, particularly if you're traveling to an area where you might not have access to health care
When I went browsing on the friendster account of my pals' sis Janet, a lead vocalist in China., I happen to encounter the account of Caress, with the pics of these two dogs... I am not alone! I have friends in the net. I was actually ecstatic after knowing that there are dogs like me who do the cyber! Splendid!
I am actually planning to create a friendster account of my own, but I'm kinda busy with my blog now.. just keeping the faith still. Take care you guyzzzz, by the way Caress? hmmm... ASL? jejejeje...
Scooby-Doo is a long-running American animated series produced for Saturday morning television in several different versions from 1969 to the present. The original series, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, was created for Hanna-Barbera Productions by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, CBS executive Fred Silverman, and character designer Iwao Takamoto. Hanna-Barbara produced numerous spin-offs and related works until being absorbed in 2001 into Warner Bros. Animation, which has handled production since then. Although the format of the show and the cast (and ages) of characters have varied significantly over the years, the most familiar versions of the show feature a talking dog named Scooby Dooby Doo and four teenagers or young adults: Fred "Freddie" Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, and Norville "Shaggy" Rogers.
These five characters (officially collectively known as "Mystery, Inc.", but never referred to as such in the original series) drive around in the Mystery Machine van , solving mysteries by exposing seemingly otherworldly ghosts and monsters as flesh and blood crooks. Later versions of Scooby-Doo featured different variations on the show's supernatural theme, and include characters such as Scooby's cousin Scooby-Dum and nephew Scrappy-Doo in addition to or instead of some of the original characters.
Scooby-Doo was originally broadcast on CBS from 1969 to 1976, when it moved to ABC. ABC aired the show until canceling it in 1986, and presented a spin-off, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, from 1988 until 1991, which featured the characters as children. The series was revived for the WB Network's Kids' WB programming block as What's New, Scooby-Doo?, which ran from 2002 until 2006. The most recent Scooby-Doo series, Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!, ran from 2006 to 2008 on The CW network; a new series, Scooby-Doo - Mystery, Inc., will begin airing on the Cartoon Network in 2009.
Thousands of family dogs in America spend their lives tied to chains. Although there are laws in some states and communities restricting chaining and tethering, each winter, dogs are found by rescuers frozen in the snow, suffering from frostbite and enduring unlivable conditions. In the hot sun they fare no better when they often go thirsty and are susceptible to heat stroke. And besides harsh weather, dogs are social animals that thrive on interaction with people. Continuously chaining a dog leads to loneliness, boredom, frustration and often times aggression.
For these reasons, Feb. 7 to 14 has been designated as the annual "Have a Heart for Chained Dogs Week" by Dogs Deserve Better, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to freeing and helping chained dogs. Each year DDB sponsors activities that the public can participate in to help chained dogs. The following are ways you can help on Valentine's Day and any other day of the year.
Snoopy D. Hill is a fictional character in the long-running comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. He is Charlie Brown's pet beagle. Snoopy began his life in the strip as a fairly ordinary dog, but eventually evolved into perhaps the strip's most dynamic character — and among the most recognizable comic characters in the world. The original drawings of Snoopy were based on Schulz's childhood dogs, Snooky and Spike.
Snoopy, whose fictional birthday has been established as October 2, made his first appearance on the strip October 4, 1950, two days after the strip premiered. He was first identified by name on November 10. Schulz was originally going to call him "Sniffy" (as described in 25th anniversary book), until he discovered that name was used in a different comic strip. He changed it to "Snoopy" after remembering that his late mother Dena Schulz had commented that if their family were ever to acquire a third dog, it should be called Snoopi.[2] In earlier strips it is not clear who Snoopy belongs to; for instance in the February 2, 1951 strip, Charlie Brown accuses Snoopy of following him, only to be told by Patty that Snoopy isn't following Charlie Brown but merely lives in the same direction.[3] Indeed many early strips show Snoopy interacting with Shermy (who is shown in one early strip running with Snoopy on his leash) and Patty without Charlie Brown, making Snoopy appear to belong to all of the neighborhood kids, similar to the dog Pete in the Our Gang comedies, who is everyone's dog.
Snoopy was a silent character for the first two years of his existence, but on May 27, 1952 he verbalized his thoughts to readers for the first time via a thought balloon; Schulz would utilize this device for nearly all of the character's appearances in the strip thereafter. In addition to Snoopy's ability to "speak" his thoughts to the reader, many of the human characters in Peanuts have the uncanny knack of reading his thoughts and responding to them. In the animated Peanuts films and television specials, Snoopy's thoughts are not verbalized; his moods are instead conveyed through growls, sobs, laughter, etc., as well as through pantomime and foreign languages. The only exceptions are in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Snoopy!!! The Musical, in which Snoopy's thoughts are verbalized through voiceovers (by Robert Towers and Cam Clarke, respectively). Animation producer Bill Meléndez voiced both Snoopy and (eventually) Woodstock in numerous television specials from 1965 to 2006. He does however shout "HEY!" in It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown before dancing with some rabbits.
Hi guyz... this is Ikay. I dont know exactly what his breed is but what was said to me was that she belongs to the bloodlines of the big labrador. She is still 6 weeks and she's quite big at that age.
I had just given her a deworming pill and those small thingy from her tummy are hopefully gone, for now I guess. Ikay is so lazy, the routine is always - a sleep after a big sumptuous meal., soundz like me.. jejeje..
Anywayz, I'll keep you posted as Ikay grows older
Hercules: The World's Biggest Dog Ever According to Guinness World Records
Hercules was recently awarded the honorable distinction of Worlds Biggest Dog by Guinness World Records. Hercules is an English Mastiff and has a 38 inch neck and weighs 282 pounds.
With "paws the size of softballs" (reports the Boston Herald), the three-year-old monster is far larger and heavier than his breed's standard 200lb. limit. Hercules owner Mr. Flynn says that Hercules weight is natural and not induced by a bizarre diet: "I fed him normal food and he just grew".... and grew. and grew.
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