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American Eskimo - Training, Eating Habits, & Health Issues

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American Eskimo Dogs

The American Eskimo is a great companion as well as watch dog. They are very protective but with my experiences, are very gentle with children. The American Eskimo breed is a very smart, loyal, and playful dog. Usually a spoiled pet, but thats just the Eskimo!

If you are thinking about, or just recently adopted an American Eskimo: Please read through my article to get a small idea of what to expect.

The American Eskimo is a very special breed and requires alot of love and play time!!!

Eating Habits

When choosing a food for your American Eskimo Dog, make sure to select a good quality food. It's not that a dog needs expensive food, its that a quality food is much more healthy. Iams has a great selection of Dry and Canned meals to make any American Eskimo yip with happiness! However you might want to look into some different brands and foods there has been some talk about some food containing very unhealthy components. So it may be a good idea to do a bit of research.

The American Eskimo can be a very picky eater so it may take a bit of time to figure out what they like best. Some may even simply not eat until they have to. This should be watched closely as it's unhealthy. If your having issues with a type of food try different brands.

Some Foods to Consider

Some Top Dog Foods

Six Star Dog Food Brands:
- Horizon Legacy
- Innova EVO
- Instinct
- Go Natural Grain Free

Five Star Dog Foods:
- Acana
- Artemis Fresh Mix

More feeding and nutrition information available here

Making your own Treats

Fun way to treat your American Eskimo

Peanut Treats

2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/4 Tbsp baking powder
1 1/4 cup peanut butter
1 cup milk

Combine flour and baking powder in a large bowl.
Combine milk and peanut butter in a separate bowl and mix until smooth.
Gradually stir peanut butter mixture into flour in the larger bowl.
Knead dough by-hand and roll-out on floured surface to desired thickness. Cut-out treats.
Place aluminum foil on cookie sheet and bake 15 minutes at 400F.
Cool before storing. Note: cooking time may vary depending upon thickness.

Healthy Dog Biscuit

Servings: 1

1/2 cup Milk powder
1 Egg, well beaten
2 1/2 cup Flour
1/2 tsp Garlic/ salt
1 1/2 tsp Brown sugar
1/2 cup Water
6 tbsp Gravy
1 jar baby food (meat)

Combine and shape into ball and roll on floured board. Use extra flour if needed. Cut. Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes. Cool.

Tasty Dog Biscuits

2 1/2 cups Whole wheat flour
1 tsp Brown sugar
1/2 cup Powdered dry milk
6 tbsp Meat drippings
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Beaten Egg
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 cup Ice water

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly oil a cookie sheet. Combine flour, dry milk, salt, garlic powder and sugar. Cut in meat drippings until mixture resembles corn meal. Mix in egg. Add enough water so that mixture forms a ball. Using your fingers, pat out dough onto cookie sheet to half inch thick. Cut with cookie cutter or knife and remove scraps. Scraps can be formed again and baked.

2. Bake 25-30 minutes. Remove from tray and cool on rack.

Training

The American Eskimo is known for it's quick learning and intelligence. They can be easily house broken in some cases but it is a dog - so they each have their own personality. Expect to be patient with your new puppy, don't expect them to pick up anything super fast.

Make sure to do some research on training methods and stick to them. The American Eskimo is much easier to train than most other dogs. There are many books available if you cannot find what you need with a google search.

There is some decent information available on the internet.

Stop Excessive Barking

Dog Barking To Much

Excessive barking is probably common among many breeds but I did encounter this issue with my American Eskimo. The major issue was that when he started, my other dog would join in and it became very frustrating to calm them both down. After some research I learned to target the one that starts the bark fest. Try calming down your dog and rewarding with praise which may solve your problems over time. Using treats is also ok as long as they don't start thinking bark = treats.

Health Concerns

This is one of the most important parts of my lens! Alot of people never research this type of stuff enough and the Eskimo ends up untreated. Here are some of the common issues with an American Eskimo breed.

This section was taken from the Wikipedia American Eskimo Page:

"The breed lives on average between 12 and 14 years, although some individuals might live as long as 20 years or longer. The Eskie is a fairly healthy breed, although close attention should be paid to its eyes and tear ducts. They are prone to hip dysplasia, Elbow and Knee degeneration, patellar luxation, Legg-Calve-Perthes Disease, progressive retinal atrophy, cataracts, epilepsy, urinary stones and allergies, especially flea allergies, that can lead to acute moist dermatitis 'or hot spots'."

Wikipedia page on American Eskimo Dogs

Tear Stains

Getting rid of Tear Stains on Mini American Eskimo dog

Your American Eskimo dog may experience "tear stains". This dosn't occour in all american eskimo however is a very common issue. The staining is caused by fluids in the eye leaking onto their fur. It is usually rust coloured and according to vets, this a natural occurence and not much can be done to solve the staining.

You should not use any chemicals in the dogs eyes or near the eye, you should instead gently wipe under your american eskimos eyes in the morning with a soft wet cloth or cottonball. Obviously, try not to touch the dogs eyes. Daily maintenance should help control these problems. Though can be hard to "solve".

According to the AKC (American Kennel Club): "Tear stain, unless severe, is not to be faulted. Presence of tear stain should not outweigh consideration of type, structure, or temperament."

And other Eyerelated information from the American Kennl Club: "Dark to medium brown is the preferred eye color. Eye rims are black to dark brown. Eyelashes are white. Faults: amber eye color or pink eye rims. Disqualification: blue eyes."

Rescue Units

Heart Bandits is an American Eskimo Rescue unit. There are other similar organizations around you can try to look up. Heart Bandits has units across the US and Canada that you can look into if you require their services. They are a nonprofit organization that helps abandoned and neglected American Eskimo Dogs. They try to find adoptive homes for the Eskimo dogs that were brought to them under many different circumstances.

If you have been considering getting an American Eskimo PLEASE contact a rescue unit and ask about adopting from them and give a new life to one of these amazing dogs. Most rescue units will work with you to find a good match for your type of home and family.

You can contact Heart Bandits from their website at:
http://www.heartbandits.com/

If you cannot find the right addition to your home, do some research and find a quality breeder. Please avoid pet shops, alot of them get their puppys from puppy mills that have their dogs in horrible - unhealthy condtions. Bad breeders are there for the profit and sell unhealthy pups that will usually have bad health condtions later on from neglectful breeding.

Contact a breeder and arrange a meeting at their facility and decide yourself. Petland is know for selling puppy mill pups.

Resources

Helpful Information

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  • Reply
    Barbara Mar 21, 2010 @ 5:19 pm | delete
    Hi, saw that you had stopped by my site so returned the favor. I love your page, it is full of great info and laid out making reading and navigating it very easy. And of course the dogs are so beautiful!
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