Some types of worms can be spread between pets and people and can cause diseases especially to children. Even healthy-looking animals can carry worms, so it's important to know you are helping keep your pet worm free.
FIRSTLY: its far better to PREVENT WORMS than have to treat a large outbreak.
Worm prevention means a healthier looking active pet and in the case of puppies a far stronger faster growing pup., what can we do to prevent worms?
Firstly : one of the biggest problems that assist the worms in breeding is human made and is a build up of food in the pets digestive tract that leads to a sluggish digestive system that in turn can become a breeding ground for yeast and other bacteria/fungi slowing down/ preventing the absorption of a great many nutrients. A clean digestive system allows more nutrients to be absorbed through the body – and your pets bodies natural worm fighting functions perform far better, how do we speed up the digestive tracts function? Well its as simple as STOP ALLOWING YOUR DOG TO GRAZE leaving food down for your dog all day isn't good for it so just putting your dogs meal down once a day for only 15 minutes allow the digestive tract to clear and to function as it should ie clear it out and start optimal absorption of nutrients allowing the dog to fight worms naturally far better and slow down the breeding rates of worms (also means less poo's). Your dog will soon get used to this regime and within a couple of days will eat enough when the bowl is put down , DO NOT BE TEMPTEDTO PUT BOWL DOWN AGAIN OR FOR LONGER BECAUSE YOU THINK YOUR DOG IS HUNGRY.
Adding 5ml of Apple Cider Vinegar to every litre of drinking water alters the pH levels by increasing the alkali levels in the dogs stomach and can naturally help prevent worms by making it an inhospitable enviroment for them.
Hard to believe but the main cause of worms in dogs are FLEAS yes FLEAS . They are notorious carriers of worms and when biting your dog to have a meal they help infest your dog/cat through body fluid transfer (worms grow to the size of their host) so its important to keep fleas under control also.
Picking poo up as soon as possible this is incredibly important for a whole raft of reasons but for this subject worm eggs are often passed in dogs poo and can become active from as little as a week after being passed into this enviroment then the dog only has to touch it to run the risk of re-infection
SECONDLY: Prevention isn't guaranteed so you may well need a worming regime, some people take a faecal worm count to see if the dogs need worming yet but this can be expensive especially in a multi-dog household. So you will need to worms your charges whether naturally or chemically, right here is where I upset a lot of people even though I am an advocate of all things natural FURRY TREATS DO NOT DEWORM YOUR PETS and that's a fact lets dubunk a couple of things, Fur passing through the digestive system dislodges SOME worm larvae eggs and SOME tape worm reducing the load a little but never fully clearing a worm load and NEVER preventing getting worms ( infact furry treats are far better for dogs with anal gland problems reducing the amount they need their glands expressing) the only thing to rid a dogs body of whip worm is treatment whether chemically or natural extracts . I an in no way saying stop using furry treats, I am saying use them they have a whole host of benefits and usually fat free and teeth cleaning , help express anal glands , non toxic hypo-allergenic etc just people need to stop claiming they treat worm loads they don't , they at best help lower the worm load thats all
The thing about a chemical regime is they can often do long term damage to dogs or affect the central nervous system (I won't go into it here because there's enough on the net about it) so in my opinion it's better to use a Complex Tincture specifically for worming such as our Complex Wormwood Tincture (complex means a blend of other tinctures known for the treatment of parasites in a wormwood extract base) as a complex tincture works in various different ways instead of just one and is usually given over 3 days on food every 10-12 weeks but will not harm your dog if given everyday and contary to a rising opinion your dog does still need a regular worming programme of which furry treats are part of.
Darren Gallagher