Pets

Studies have shown that regularly petting a dog brings a person the following benefits:

• Lower blood pressure
• Lower cholesterol
• Lower risk of heart disease
• Improvement in chronic illnesses (such as Alzheimer’s or AIDS)
• Improvement in emotional condition — easing of stress, sadness, and pain.

A lot of that is common knowledge. Pick up any book on pet ownership and it will tell you these things. But what about the dogs themselves?

Well, a recent study at the University of Missouri showed that after a round of petting, both the human and the dog had a 10% decrease in blood pressure.

For the dog, it didn’t end there. Levels of cortisol, the hormone released by the body when it’s under stress, decreased.

In another study (cited in the Vet Med Today journal), researchers explored this question directly. They found that when a dog gets frightened, their fear (as measured by their heart rate and blood pressure) would drop dramatically when a person petted them.

So pet your dog as much as possible… everyday… but especially when he or she is under stress (such as during 4th of July fireworks).

Watch out though. There are times when petting can be detrimental to your dog. This can be the case when it becomes unpleasant for them, like when you pet them too much.

Look for the following warning signs that the petting has become unpleasant for your dog (and when you see them, stop):

• Growling.
• Staring at you.
• Wiggling away from you.
• Starting to pant.
• Yawning.
• Rolling over.

As long as you don’t see any of those warning signs, you and your dog will be okay.

On a daily basis, one of the best things you can do for your dog’s health. So to sum up, make daily petting an action plan for you and your dog. Make time to pet your dog multiple times a day. Not only will it deepen the love between the two of you, but it also will ease your (and your dog’s) stress and help your circulation.

Mum, can I have a pet snake? Dad, mum won’t let me keep rats in the house! I dunno, kids and their animals. I remember having a pet mouse when I was a youngster (unbeknown to my parents), but it wasn’t really a pet as a pet is truly defined, as its home wasn’t a cage with a revolving wheel, a tray full of nibbles and a bunch of wood shavings, no, my mouse, Sniff, lived in a box at the bottom of the garden at night and the inside pocket of my school blazer during the day. Why? Well, I thought it would impress the girls. Ah well, we live in learn. I know now that all the lads with nice girlfriends had a family dog as their pet, and taking it for walks was a great way to meet up with their sweethearts of an evening.

Mum, dad, can I have a dog? I don’t know why I kept asking as the answer was always a predictable NO each time the question was raised. Our neighbors had a dog called Trash and that’s exactly what it did. This mongrel bitch trashed everything she could during her conscious hours. Their furniture was torn to shreds, all the wooden doors were scored with scratch marks, the house reeked from top to bottom with doggy odors, including the fowl stench of pee, and the retched thing never stopped barking. I often wondered why they never gave it some kind of obedience dog training so that everyone, including them, would get a bit of peace and quiet into their lives. I used to despise the Smith family and always blamed them for my parent’s decision not to get a dog. That was until Elsa came into our lives one very cold, wet, and wintery day.

I remember returning home from the fish and chip shop one evening and hot on my heels was this floppy eared cross breed with a limp and a lop sided jaw. She’d obviously been out for a while as she was shivering and shaking with the cold. I felt so sorry for the poor little sod as this pooch was soaked through to the skin too. The young mutt appeared a little shy, even nervous perhaps, and I wondered if she’d attended some kind of dog training school at some point as she seemed to obediently walk by my side without any fuss whatsoever.

I allowed her to follow me home and that caused a right ole ruckus indoors. “You can take that filthy hound right back to where you found her”, screamed my mother. “Just look at the state of my lovely clean floor! Get that dopey dog out of the house NOW!” I was just about to guide this dripping dog back to the streets when she flopped herself onto the kitchen floor, rolled her big sad eyes up towards mum as if to say, “please misses, just let me stay for the night”.

Guess what? It worked! The lady of the house turned to me and said; “Don’t you think I’m going soft or anything, but we can’t really send her back out onto the streets on a cold winter’s night like tonight. We’ll clean her up a bit, give her a feed, and fist thing tomorrow morning, we’re taking her to the dog pound where her owners can collect her”. Of course, I was over the moon to have a dog in the house, even if was for just one night.

The following day, we took Elsa, as we had temporarily named her, to the dog compound. They said it was unlikely that anyone would come to collect her as it appeared she had been badly treated by the previous owners. They went on to say that they had most likely driven her miles from the family home and abandoned her onto the streets. They asked if we would mind looking after her for a couple weeks just to see if anyone did come for her. They explained that they were full to capacity and if she wasn’t collected and no one adopted her as a pet, it was very likely she would have to be put to sleep.

To cut a very long story short, she wasn’t collected, but she wasn’t returned to the dog compound for sudden death either. Over that fortnight, she won over the hearts of everyone in the house, including my anti-animal mother who went out and invested in some dog grooming supplies. She became a family pet for 13 long years and was permanently named Elsa. This much loved and pampered pooch really did live a dog’s life before she sadly passed away in the spring of 1986.

Your pet depends on you for feeding, playing and discipline among other things and you as a pet owner depend on it for companionship and a connection with the animal world and in case of dogs, for household security and protection. Your pet is very special to you as you are to him. For these reasons and more, you should protect your pet from harm, and yourself from loss, by getting him a tag, lest it gets stolen or strays.

A pet tag is generally a small flat tag worn on collars or harnesses by household pets like dogs and cats, usually with identifying information such as the owner’s telephone number so that the owner can be notified if the dog is lost or strays. Dog collar tags hang on your dog’s collar and provides all the necessary information for calling your dog, contacting you as the owner, and alerting people to your dog’s dietary restrictions if it gets lost or strays. Some dog tags also include vaccination information, such as when your dog last received shots and when is the next one due.

Once you’ve settled on what all information to put on your pet’s tag, it’s time now to pick out a tag that suits your style and needs. If you’re just looking to tag your dog with basic information, a plain plastic tag will do. But if you want to add a personal touch, consider getting your dog silver, jewel, gold, or even a diamond dog tag. You can even have your dog tag customized and shaped exactly the way you want. Dog tags were traditionally worn on a chain, rope, or collar around the dog’s neck. Gone are the days of bland and functional tags. These days, dog tags can make a fashion statement. Some dogs wear harnesses instead of collars, so tags might be attached there instead.

Tags are made of many different materials. Metal tags usually have the information embossed or etched onto the surface, and might also have electronic chips embedded. Plastic chips can be etched or printed, come in many colors, and are often highly reflective to make the dog more visible if it gets loose and runs into the street after dark.

There are various types of pet collars and tags. They can be made of durable nylon and may be embroidered with your pet’s name and your phone number. Pet collars and tags are also made of stainless steel and these are the most durable. These stainless steel tags are specially polished, and the engraving is deep and filled with a black lacquer for easy reading.

Choose the best possible tag for you pet suiting your style and need. It would be an ideal companion of your pet. Just think of the peace of mind knowing that your lost or strayed dog’s identification and medical information is always available on your pet’s collar. These pet collars and tags make a great pet gift, are made to last for a long time, and will probably be the only dog identification you will ever need.

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Your child says he or she wants a pet. This is often a good idea, as pets can help teach respect for other living creatures, as well as teach children responsibility and the importance of taking care of what belongs to them. However, it is not always a good idea to simply run out and purchase a dog or a cat. Even something small, like a hamster or a gerbil, may not be the best route for a first pet. A fish, on the other hand, is an excellent choice for a first pet, as its specific qualities make it ideal for helping kids learn about taking care of a pet.

Many parenting experts will tell you that it is important to give children small amounts of responsibility to begin with. While it is important that kids learn how to do things on their own, overwhelming them with unreasonable demands will only cause emotional distress and may even permanently damage their confidence. The same rule applies when choosing out a first pet. The reason that fish are such great first pets lies in the fact that fish requires some work on the part of the child, but not so much that it is overwhelming. Additionally, fish are easier to care for in general, and they won’t make a mess all over the house or the yard.

Finding out that they are getting a fish can be disappointing to a child, but you need to explain things to him or her. If you live in an apartment and any other type of pet is not feasible, you need to say that. If you are allergic to other animals, you need to explain that cats and dogs make you sick. And if you think that you will get another pet down the road, tell the child that you will use the fish to see whether or not he or she is responsible enough for a pet. Once the child proves that she or he will take care of the fish properly, then you can move on to a more care intensive pet.

Shopping for the fish can actually be a fun experience. The kids get to look at different kinds of fish, and they get to look at aquariums. Picking out what goes in the aquarium, to “decorate” the fish’s “home” is also part of the fun. Starting out with a simple aquarium, or an even simpler fish bowl, is a good bet. Let the child choose out colorful rocks for the bottom of the fish tank or bowl, and let him or her choose a plant or some ceramic decoration. It need not be fancy.

Put your child in charge of feeding the fish each day. Show him or her how to properly do this, and choose out a time of day that is easy to remember for the regular feeding. Just before school, or just before bed, are good times because they are times of the day that are generally associated with a fairly set routine. Help your child clean out the tank as needed, ensuring that the child learns how to care for animals.

You might think the most important bit of dog health advice would be to let your furry loved on spend all day enjoying the outdoors. But you’d only be half-right. You know we must protect our children and ourselves and from the sun. But do you know that leading canine health experts now say that the most important dog health advice they can give is to protect your dog from the sun, too?

Dog Health Advice: Identifying Dog Sunburn

Like us humans, dogs need sunlight to help balance their bodies’ levels of calcium with their metabolism. Yet too much ultraviolet radiation can irritate our dogs’ skin as it does our own, causing sunburn.

Identifying Dog Sunburn:

Dog sunburn begins as redness and hair loss.

Where sunburn first appears:

bridge of the nose tips of the ears belly.

Dog Sunburn Dangers

aggravates any existing skin problems skin ulcers (sores) infection cancer.

Sunburn and Dog Breed

Pale and short-hair dogs are particularly prone to sunburn, usually on the nose, abdomen, groin, and inside of the legs. Being close to the ground, they not only are affected by the downward sunlight, but also by sun reflecting up from pavement or hot sand. Some breeds, like Weimaraners and Boxers, are predisposed to cancer. Therefore, they must have extra protection from the sunburns and UV rays to avoid a kind of skin cancer.

How you can protect your dogs:

Think about the precautions that you take to prevent yourself from sunburn and UV exposure. You stay out of the sun at the peak hours like noon to 3PM, use sunblock and cover up, don’t you? Those same suggestions can work for your dog.

Here’s more dog health advice: Be sure that your dog is inside the house or in a shaded area during the sun’s peak hours, even on overcast days. Apply sunblock to the bridge of the dog’s nose, ear tips and other small, sensitive areas whenever the dog is outside for more than a few minutes. Consider some sort of covering for your dog.

Some veterinarians say that the most important and effective protection is a type of bodysuit for dogs, which is designed to block ultraviolet rays and prevent sunburn. Our dogs give us hours of pleasure and years of unconditional love. In return, all we must do is love and keep them healthy. It’s still good dog health advice to let your dog play outdoors. But spare your “best friend” the pain of sunburn and its consequences.

Does your dog have allergies? It is interesting how dogs experience many of the health issues that humans do, including allergies.

Dog allergies can include skin allergies, dog food allergies (particularly corn and soy), house dust and dust mites, ragweed, molds, pollens and others.

Common Signs and Symptoms of Dog Allergies

Common signs and symptoms of dog allergies include your dog licking her paws, scratching her body or pawing at her ears (due to inflammation). In severe cases, you dog may have oozing hot spots on her body. Allergies may be seasonable or your pet may suffer all year round, depending on the allergen.

How to Avoid Allergens

Avoiding allergens should be the first step in treating your dog’s allergies. If you suspect your dog may have allergies, see your vet for proper diagnosis and treatment.

If you dog is allergic to dust mites, vets suggest you use a plastic cover over your dog’s bed, use a waterproof liner to keep mites from getting in the bed, avoid letting your dog on upholstered furniture and avoid stuffed animals. Dogs with dust mite allergies do best in uncarpeted rooms. Be sure to vacuum very frequently.

If you dog has allergic reactions to pollens, keep him out of fields and tall grasses. Keep your lawn cut short and keep your dog indoors during days with high pollen counts.

How Are Allergies Treated in Dogs?

Typically, mild allergies are treated with soothing shampoos liked oatmeal shampoo, vitamins containing essential fatty acids to help stop itching and keep skin from getting dry. Hydrocortisone spray or shampoo may also help to relieve itching. Check with your vet for other recommendations.

Best Dog Breeds If YOU Have Allergies

If you suffer from dog allergies, the following dog breeds may be a good choice for you because they don’t shed much, or have hair rather than fur: Terriers, Chinese Crested (hairless), Italian Greyhound, Maltese (has coat similar to human hair), Shih Tzu (has hair rather than fur), Poodle (little shedding). Other popular low-breeds are crosses with Poodles such as the Cockapoo and Labradoodle. Keep in mind that no dog is completely non-shedding, except perhaps hairless breeds!

Attack dogs are dogs trained to bite people on command. Although these dogs are usually associated with police work, they had different uses in the history of human-canine relationship. Hundreds of years ago, attack dogs were used to break the first line of enemy armies and to capture and kill fugitive slaves.

In theory, an attack dog must be able to bite and stop biting on command. Thus, an attack dog would be a useful helper for police forces without being a dangerous animal.

Unfortunately, some dogs are trained to attack but not to stop their attack on command. Besides, there are some vicious dogs that may bite their own owner or trainer. These are not real attack dogs but vicious and dangerous animals, often owned by irresponsible and disturbed people.

Well trained attack dogs must also be well socialized and have reliable obedience training. These dogs are not supposed to attack any person, unless their owners are facing a threat. Every dog trained to attack on command must be carefully chosen according to its physical and psychological features. In addition, it must go through long and demanding obedience training.

– Attack dogs and guard dogs

Guard dogs are not the same as attack dogs. Although an attack dog may also be a guard dog, guard dogs can not always be attack dogs.

The main function of a guard dog should be to inform about the presence of a stranger. So, guard dogs are not supposed to attack the stranger. Therefore, several small breeds can be used as guard dogs, though they can not be effective as attack dogs.

– Are attack dogs dangerous?

An attack dog will always be dangerous if it has been trained in the wrong way. In this case, the dog will just become a vicious dog which can attack even its owner.

However, a well trained attack dog may be safe. I say “may be” because safety depends on the dog’s handler. An experienced handler who understands the dog will be able to control it and to predict its responses to different stimuli. Thus, such handler will avoid risky situations and the dog won’t be dangerous.

On the other hand, a well trained attack dog is dangerous if the handler is inexperienced and/or does not know the dog’s reaction to several stimuli. This would be like a small kid with a knife.

So, if you are considering training your dog to attack, you must train yourself in the first place. Getting enrolled in canine clubs to practice sports like Schutzhund, Mondio Ring or French Ring may be the best way to get involved in attack dog training. These sports have high and well defined standards so their practitioners are knowledgeable in training, dog behavior and canine aggression.

Usually, sport dogs are reliable and safe because their owners and handlers are experienced people who know very well how their dogs behave.

– Are attack dogs necessary?

The utility of attack dogs is arguable. Since no dog can compete with modern weapons, attack dogs are useless except in some particular situations. On the other hand, no dog is 100% reliable under stressful circumstances, even if it is very well trained.

Because of their limited utility, I think attack dog training should not be recommended for canine companions. Attack dog training should be left for police dogs, army dogs and, of course, sport dogs.

The sweet, playful expression of the Havanese has caught your eye. You are hooked by their fluffy fur and affection. You excitedly scope the classifieds and internet for a Havanese breeder. You can’t wait to bring home a new puppy today!

Slow down. Take a moment and breath. Don’t be too quick with your decision. It is optimal to find a Havanese that has the personality, physicality, and connection that is top notch. Therefore, it is beneficial to take the following factors into account before selecting your specific Havanese.

While purchasing a new dog can be emotional, do not let your emotions outweigh your practical side. You will have your dog for their entire life which can be close to 20 years with a Havanese. Therefore, you want to make sure that you find the Havanese that is going to fit in with your family and enjoy its new home. You must think about your dog’s needs as well as your own.

Set a goal to make an informed decision when choosing your Havanese. The following are some of the issues you need to take into account when you are faced with several different sweet Havanese puppies to choose from.

The issues you should consider when searching for a Havanese include:

• Finding A High Quality Breeder

This is probably one of the most if not the most important considerations to make before you choose your Havanese Puppy. Choosing the wrong breeder may mean you either buy a puppy that is not Pure Havanese, or one which may not be as healthy as you would like and end up costing you enormous in Vet bills.

• Male Versus Female

This, for many remains a personal decision. Whether you prefer a Male or Female Havanese puppy is up to you and what you are looking for in a puppy.

• Age of the Havanese

There are many owners who for some reason or another no longer want their Havanese and give them up. This means there are many older Havanese dogs that are waiting for a new owner. You have a choice when you buy your Havanese. You can either choose to buy a puppy or rescue an older dog.

• Temperament / Personality

When you visit each Puppy you are trying to choose between, you will certainly notice that they each have their own personality. You will need to have an idea as to what temperament or personality you are looking for in your new puppy.

• Health of the Havanese

To save you expensive Vet bills and possibly heartache, it is important that the Havanese you choose is as healthy as can be. This also goes back to making sure you choose the right Havanese breeder.

These are practical issues that must be evaluated so as to avoid any troubling situations or unmet expectations in the future.

Dogs are such loveable creatures. They can be such a happy companion. They can also be of big help in many ways. They are pets that have so much to offer. No wonder many families have dogs as house members.

Yet, all these good things and more do have a downside. It is not all about the rewards of having a dog. There are also obligations and tasks that have to be done in a dog-care experience. One of these crucial obstacles is dealing with the dog urine.

Dog urine is a serious problem for dog owners.

Helpful Tips in Dealing with Dog Urine

1. Train the dog as early as possible.

Dogs that are kept outdoors will not be much of a problem inside the household. However, it is also crucial that the dog is trained to go only on a specific spot. This is to avoid making the whole garden or yard a restroom to your dog.

Find a spot where people do not often go. This way the odor will be concentrated and will not spread to the rest of the yard. It is not fun to have an afternoon of barbecue with the smell of the urine taking over.

For dogs that are kept indoors, especially the toy dogs, it is best to provide a litter box for them to use. Some owners who maintain the dog indoors still choose to let them go out when they need to soil or urinate. Both of these options will take some serious dog training. Anyhow, any effort will be worth it once the pet learns how to behave properly.

2. Most dogs are also dependent on routines, especially the newly-trained ones. It is best to keep watch of the behavior of the dog when big changes happen in the household, like when repairs are done or someone moves in.

3. Doggy diapers are also available in the market. However, the ones available are good only for male dogs.

4. Always use an odor remover or cleaner to the places where the dog urinated or soiled. This is to avoid it from being marked as its territory. The dog will not help but return to the same spot if there will be any odor left.

5. There are household items that can be used to remove the odor like using vinegar and water. This is being resourceful. However, to get the best solutions in the urine odor problem, purchase odor removing products from the market. Surely there is one available in the nearest grocery or pet shop. The internet community is also a good source to shop for some quality products.

Compared to the water and vinegar, these products could leave a fresh scent for your household.

6. There are also instances when the dog keeps urinating indoors despite training. This could be due to some spots where the dog urine had left some residue. These spots may however be beyond your capabilities to identify on your own.

There are cleanup kits especially made for dog urine. They often come in packages that are able to clean the coverage of a big room. This is a good solution for serious dog urine problems.

Tackling the serious problem of dog urine is really stressful. However, there are options to handle the situation. Know the options available. Make the experience of owning a dog a wonderful one.

Why is it that my neighbor can’t seem to figure out that when he locked his untrained payout and goes off to work all day that the dog does nothing to bark, bark and bark. What an idiot, a neighbor I mean, not that the dog. I don’t plan a little puppy, how is he supposed to know better? He barks out of loneliness, out of frustration, out of anxiety, and out of fear. Occasionally he barks to protect his territory, pitiful as it is with its leftover poop, a water bowl turned over, and a single ratty chew toy the dog outgrew the first week it was brought to the house. I wonder if this moron has ever heard of dog-training books? I know I’m about ready to clue him in.

When your fat freak of a self gets home, you enter your house—to the barking—and take your sweet time (to eat) before retrieving your supposedly beloved pet. Then you take the were animal off and sequester it into some room or he is once again all alone. Instead of paying an idiot and doing the dog a great disservice you could be reading one of the many EASY-to-comprehend dog-training books, and teach that beautiful little animal how to cope with daily life.

He is after all just a baby. You could be surfing amazon.com or powells.com or another of the hundreds of Internet bookshops for dog-training books. They number in the thousands. That will show you how to condition your dog not to bark at every living being and every leaf that happens to fall from a tree. No, you fat ignoramus, amazon.com is not a place to find amazons to amuse you, and powells.com is not a play on words for closet masochists. This is about the dog, not you. If it were we would be talking to the dog—who clearly has a great deal more sense than you apparently do.

In fact, you could read at least one of the thousands of general and specific dog-training books to understand WHY your poor little puppy needs to be treated. HOW you can keep him from chewing furniture (so you don’t have an excuse anymore for why you lock him away outside so he won’t bother you but the neighbors instead). We need to get up and go to work too. The constant barking doesn’t do anyone any good. If you can’t handle owning a dog then maybe you should find a more hospitable home for it.

We chose to be dog-less. You have made a choice…now take some damned responsibility for it. By some dog-training books and read them, put them into action. You may even be well served by some damned human-training books. The problem lies with you, not the dog.