Puppy Love - Wonderful Companions
September 13, 2007
Everybody loves puppies. Who can resist those cute little faces and wet noses? Puppies can be a lot of fun, but they also come with a lot of added responsibility.
More than five million puppies are born every year in the United States. In fact, one in every three families owns one or more dogs. A female dog carries her puppies for a term of approximately 60 days before they are born. Puppies are born blind, deaf, and with very little sense of smell. Their eyes stay closed for about 10-15 days. By four weeks old they have complete vision. A puppy’s sense of smell and hearing develops quickly. Puppies have 28 temporary teeth, which start to appear around 3-4 weeks. Their 42 permanent teeth begin to emerge around four months. Be sure to have plenty of chew toys for your puppy. Puppies need to chew to stimulate the loss of their baby teeth and to help place their permanent teeth.
Puppies like to stay cuddled up close to their mother and siblings to stay warm and feel secure. Because puppies are somewhat dependent on their mother and need to learn to get along with other dogs, they should stay with their mother for at least eight weeks.
Train Your Dog With Respect
September 12, 2007
Proper training of your dog should begin when he is a puppy. The first four months of a dog’s life are very important in the training of your dog. This is when they learn behaviors that they will practice in the future.
Socializing your dog is one of the most important things you can do to influence your dog’s future behavior. As soon as you bring your new puppy home, you should start letting him interact with other puppies, dogs and humans. Take your dog to parks where there will be other pets and people. Ask your friends if it is okay for your dog to visit their dog at their home or yours. Puppies will learn how to get along with other puppies and dogs if they are allowed to play with them when they are young. Introduce your dog to new experiences. Give him rides in the car, walk him on a leash around the park, let him hear the vacuum cleaner running. Help your puppy get used to a regular routine of baths, brushing , and healthy meals.
7 Good Reasons for Playing With Your Cat
September 12, 2007
Playing reinforces the bond between you and your cat.
Playing with your cat is the best possible way to build up a bond between the two of you. Do you want your cat to think of you as more than someone who is there to provide food, shelter and warmth? Then regular play sessions will go a long way to ensuring that your feline friend sees you as an object of his or her affections, that you are someone to greet when you arrive home.
Do not let your cat think that your hands are playthings. If your cat gets the message that it is OK to scratch at, or bite your hands, you will have the devils own job of curing him of the habit.
Playing will help preventing your cat from becoming overweight.
The best way to ensure that your cat does not become overweight is by feeding him correctly with a balanced diet, but exercise also plays a part in keeping your kitty healthy. If yours is an indoor cat, then playing with you may be his only opportunity for exertion and staying trim. Don’t overdo it though, limit play time to about 15 minutes.
Pets: The Wild Kind
September 11, 2007
Just because we moved out to the country a couple years back does NOT mean we want to run a farm. Tending to animals is just not how we want to spend our time. We don’t want cows or sheep or chickens. We don’t want hogs or ducks. We don’t even want a dog or a cat to train.
OK, so my wife says that she wants a cat, but that’s only because she knows I won’t have anything to do with it. I suspect that if I ever said, “OK, you win. Let’s get a cat”, she would run screaming down the stairs pulling at her hair and just keep on running… causing damage to the stairway carpet, not to mention the window at the bottom of the staircase.
We don’t want a parrot or a rabbit or a hamster or even a mouse.
But when you live in the country, you have pets, whether you like it or not.
The first summer, we were welcomed by Muffet the skunk. Although she never responded to that name, we let her keep it. She just loved our compost heap. In fact, she had a frequent-eater pass at the all-you-can-eat compost buffet.
The Different Breeds Of Dogs
September 10, 2007
The American Kennel Club recognizes 150 different dog breeds. There are seven different groups in which the dog can belong. They are assigned to one of the groups based on what the breed of dog was originally developed for. There is also a miscellaneous group if the dog doesn’t fit into one of the seven. The seven different dog groups are as follows.
The first is the sporting group. These dogs were developed to work with people who hunted birds. A Labrador Retriever would fit into this group. Labs can also be beneficial as guide dogs and in search and rescue.
The second group is the hound group. These dogs were developed to hunt using their scent and sight. This group includes the Whippet, which is the fastest domestic animal of their size. They can run up to 35 mph.
Thirdly, is the working group, which includes the Saint Bernard. They have been known for hundreds of years for their rescue work in the Alps. Other dogs in this group are useful for herding or guarding.
Dog Obedience Training Basics
September 9, 2007
The most important things in dog training are consistency, keeping dog’s attention and understanding your dog. To get the respect of your dog you must be consistent. You should make a set of do’s and don’ts for your dog. Follow these guidelines to the letter, if a dog does something desirable always reward it, if a dog does something bad punish him or her appropriately. In dogs world consistency is a sign of a leader. You will make your training my easier and effective by being a leader who the dog respects and follows. Ninety percent of your dogs training will be getting his or hers attention and keeping him focused on yourself. If your dog cannot focus on you, it will not listen to you, and thus making the commands you give fall on empty ears. I will describe a technique on how to get and keep your dog’s attention with few very simple exercises. First, most dogs will respond to their name, so call them and when they look at you tell them "watch". After doing it few times the dog will associate the command with looking at you. After you have perfected the "watch" command, start doing exercises aimed at expanding your dog’s attention span. A good technique is to hold a treat with your teeth and while standing in front of your dog give it a watch command. Stand in position for a few seconds keeping dogs attention, then praise. Repeat the exercise until your dog focus on you for about a minute. The more attention your dog can give you the better student it will be. A vital part of dog training is the understanding of how a dog thinks. Dogs, like small children, have a very short attention span. Most dogs can be focused on training for about ten to twenty minutes, after that time they will start loosing focus and will require a small break. A good idea is to make regular training sessions of 20-30 minutes per day. Another important thing is to make the training fun for the dog. Make the dog look forward to the training time instead of dreading it. To achieve this you should always make their effort worthwhile. After every successful command make sure to give them a treat or praise them with very excited voice. The more willing the dog is to train the more effective the training will be! Incorporate these techniques into your training sessions and in no-time you will be ready to proceed to much more complex obedience training exercises. You and your dog will both enjoy the time spent together, your dog will respect you for being a responsible owner and other people will appreciate your dog’s great behavior after you are done!
Secrets of Kitty Body Language
September 8, 2007
Kittens communicate in a very distinct way. Did you know that every twitch, every purr, every motion actually means something… at least to your kitten!
The key to building a devoted and caring relationship between you and your kitten is understanding how kittens communicate
Lets discuss the primary mechanisms a kitten uses to communicate.
Eyes
The eyes truly are the windows to the soul… even when you consider the souls of kittens. Kittens use their eyes to tell you what they want.
For example, if a kitten gazes at something for a few minutes, but then turns away, it is usually an indication that he recognizes the object or person, but chooses not to communicate with them for the time being.
If however, a kitten stares at something and holds its gaze for some time (and also twitches his tail and perhaps raises its fur) that is a clear indication that he feels threatened.
At times the kitten will also make an aggressive meow to indicate they are ready for combat if necessary.
Tail
Dogs & Kids: Happy Together
September 7, 2007
Dogs and kids, it’s a combination that at it’s best can be the stuff of childhood dreams. At it’s worst, it can be a source of heartache and pain and even injury. How can you ensure that your child and Man’s Best Friend have a loving and safe relationship? Mostly, it’s the responsibility of the adults of the house to teach toddlers and even older children that a dog is not a toy. It’s a living, breathing creature that feels pain, shame and humiliation as much as love, pride and happiness. A dog that bites a child may only be defending itself the only way it knows how. But to minimize ever having to worry about a parent’s worst nightmare, family animal psychologist, Larry Lachman, M.S., offers the following advice:
SAFETY PREVENTION TIPS TO TEACH YOUR CHILD:
Why Does My Cat Drink Dirty Water?
September 7, 2007
You know that cats should always have a supply of water, especially if you are feeding them dried food. There on your nice clean kitchen floor is a bowl of nice clean fresh water, in a nice clean bowl.
What does your cat do? Maybe gives the bowl a sniff and walks away from it, or just ignores the bowl completely, as if water were the last thing a self respecting cat would consider drinking.
“Okay”, you think to yourself, “Kitty just isn’t thirsty at the moment”. But then later, you happen to spy your cat busily lapping up stale water from a puddle in your garden as if it was nectar.
Cats are self-reliant, independent creatures, but surely your cat is not going to turn its nose up at the nice clean water you provide, just to let you know it can survive without you? After all, kitty does not reject the food you provide even though it is perfectly capable of catching mice.
7 Tips To Keep Your Pet Safe On Halloween
September 6, 2007
