The vet said certain practices can be bad for your dog (stock image) (Image: Getty)
A vet has taken to social media to share the top five things most owners might do, but that he recommends avoiding at all costs.
Dr Marcus, known online as the Friendly Vet, is an emergency veterinarian based in Oakland, California in the United States. He often makes videos on to teach people the best ways to take care of their and how to keep them as safe as possible.
In one video, he shared the top five things he would never do to his own labrador, Charlie, after seeing what his patients have go through at the animal hospital.
“These are five things I would never do with Charlie as an ER veterinarian,” he started the video with Charlie laying in his lap.
“Number one, we’re not going to any dog parks,” he said. “Can he catch a tennis ball? Maybe. But you know what he can catch there? Parvo virus, giardia, these hands from another dog. Way too many bite wounds that I’m healing or stitching up in the hospital for me to take my chances there.”
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The next thing he mentioned was that he’ll never give his dog a or bully sticks.
“Either foreign bodies or a fractured tooth, either way, I don’t want to do emergency surgery on my dog,” he said, and instead recommends people to give their dogs dental sticks.
Dr Marcus then went on to say that he wouldn’t ever think about walking Charlie without a lead.
“All it takes is one squirrel, one tennis ball – now he is in the middle of the streets of Oakland and he gets hit by a car, or as we call it in the hospital, an HBC,” he said.
He continued: “Number four, stopping any of his long-term medications, prevenitives, or vaccines. It’s way easier to prevent a disease than it is to treat it.”
The last thing he would never do to his dog is let him free feed, saying he always wants to be in control of how much food Charlie eats.
“As much as he would love to eat everything all day every day, I like to control how much he eats and keep him on a consistent schedule,” Dr Marcus said. “And also, it allows me to see if he has a decrease in appetite, which can be a huge marker for underlying disease.”
Every dog is different and requires different elements in order to live a healthy and happy life. Always do your research to see what life changes best suits your dog, and talk to your vet if you have any questions.