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How To Prevent Dog Chewing Problems

admin — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 22:34:40 +0000

: Image by Ben Lawson via Flickr

Dog chewing problems can really be a burden. But why do dogs chew excessively in the first place? Well, dogs chew a lot because of a variety of reasons. One, they do it because they want to explore things. When they see an object that interests them, they examine it by chewing it. Next, they chew because they want to relieve stress. Oftentimes, when they are left alone, they become stressed. Sometimes, they also chew because they feel bored. So, chewing stuff is the only way to keep them occupied. And lonely dogs often chew to comfort themselves. Dogs that are often ignored or left alone in the house are most likely to get lonely.

On the other hand, puppies chew because it is their means of teething. Their gums become painful and itchy, so they chew to experience relief. In addition, most dogs chew because they like shredding. That is why they chew clothing and couches until these are torn and in shreds. Nonetheless, chewing may be very inconvenient for humans. Dog chewing problems are very annoying. Valuable and personal items could be destroyed if not stored in a secured place. Moreover, chewing may actually be hazardous to dogs. If the dogs accidentally chew on electrical cords, toxic materials, or garbage, they might be poisoned or injured.

So, it is imperative for dog owners to keep dangerous and valuable items out of their dogs’ reach. They should put away books, clothes, gadgets, shoes, and money. All valuable and expensive items must be stored in a safe place. They should also make sure that they lock the cabinets and keep the trash cans away from where the dog frequently stays. Then, toys of children must be kept in a separate room, as well. This is to prevent dogs from mistaking these toys from theirs. And the electrical cords must be kept behind furniture so as not to tempt dogs into gnawing on them. Dog owners may also provide a crate for their dogs. Or if they want, they could put up a wooden gate to keep the dog inside a room. However, lots of safe toys must also be provided to prevent the dog from getting bored and chewing on inappropriate items. Dog chewing problems may be prevented if only dogs are not allowed to access their owners’ personal stuff.

Then, dog owners must also show their dogs the items that they are allowed to chew. So, whenever they catch the dogs chewing on shoes or chair legs, they should hand them chew toys instead. But old clothes and other personal items must never be given as chew toys if dog chewing problems are to be avoided. This will only make dogs think that it is alright to chew on their owners’ belongings. Furthermore, dogs have to be taken outdoors often to let them exercise and unwind. Walking and playing at the park will make them focused on these activities and generally forget about chewing inappropriate items. Mental stimulation will also help them mature faster. And most importantly, they should be given adequate attention by hugging and patting them everyday.

Article Source : How To Prevent Dog Chewing Problems : ArticleBase

Jayasiri Opatha -
About the Author:
Jayasiri Opatha is a dog training master who helped hudereds of people to handle their dog behavior problems like constant barking, biting, eating fecal matters etc. You can get help from him with his Free dog training courses here: http://e-training4dogs.com

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Local Lowdown – Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day With Your Dog

admin — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 02:05:14 +0000

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Filed under: Dogs

barriebarrie, Flickr

Welcome to Local Lowdown, where we give you ideas for hanging with your hound (and kitty!) in your home city. We’ll tell you about interesting local events, important activities, useful resources and other fun happenings all across the country. And feel free to help us do a better job by writing in with suggestions for local events near you.

You don’t need an Irish wolfhound, Irish setter or any of the nine dog breeds recognized as the Dogs of Ireland to enjoy St. Patrick’s Day with your pooch; you just need to know where to celebrate!Show your spirit and dress your pup in his finest green attire (if he’ll let you), or simply choose a festive shamrock collar or bandana. Then join or watch one of the hundreds of St. Patrick’s Day parades planned for this coming weekend. In addition to the floats, bands, Irish dancers and more, many humane societies often join the processions with dogs available for adoption, hoping the luck o’ the Irish will find them homes. Chicago’s South Side parade even offers a best-dressed “Irish” dog contest.

Below is a sampling of parades celebrating St. Patrick’s Day this weekend. Start your search for a parade here or check in with your local Humane Society to see if they have special events planned around the parade in your area.

Chicago, Ill.
Take part in the South Side Irish Parade Family Fest on Sunday, March 14, which includes a parade and festival featuring the best-dressed “Irish” dog contest, live entertainment and more.

Jersey City, N.J.
March with the pups and people of Liberty Humane to show your support at the 48th Annual Jersey City St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Sunday, March 14.

Continue reading Local Lowdown – Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day With Your Dog

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Fuji Announces Camera Designed Specifically for Pet Photos

admin — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:42:11 +0000

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If you take many photos of your cat (and who doesn’t??) you’ll be interested in a new Fuji camera that’s been designed with an automatic cat/dog face-detection feature.

FujiFilm’s Finepix Z700 can recognize canine and feline faces, and it can snap a picture automatically when they look towards the camera lens.

Fuji is demonstrating the animal face recognition feature at this week’s Camera and Photo Imaging Show in Yokohama, Japan, with stuffed toy dogs and cats. It works just like face detection does with a human. When it finds a face, a green box is drawn around it and the camera auto-focuses. In the auto-shooting mode it waits until the animal turns toward the camera before taking a picture.

It comes with a number of caveats, however. The feature won’t work on pets who are constantly in motion, and it works better on some breeds, colors and coats than others. Although it can detect up to ten cat (or dog) faces per photo, the feature won’t work in scenes with both cats and dogs.

FujiFilm also says the feature is less accurate if the animal has a dark coat, if it has large patches around its eyes, a wrinkly nose or hair over their eyes, all elements that make it difficult for the camera to recognize facial markers and determine whether it is looking at a cat or dog.

The 12-megapixel Fujifilm FinePix Z700EXR has a 3.5-inch screen, is 16.9 millimeters thick and comes in several colors. It will be available later this month and costs US $279.95 at Amazon.

[SOURCE: maximumpc.com]

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Rare Black Penguin, Hens Hatching Hounds and More

admin — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:40:12 +0000

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Rounding up our favorite photos, entertaining videos and compelling stories from the Web each week!

Penguin Noir

Onlookers were stunned to see a rare all-black penguin. Turns out the bird was just going through a goth phase. [via The Daily Mail]

Worth More Than Gold

Olympian Steven Holcomb isn’t satisfied with one gold. Now he has another one: a rescued golden retriever he met on the set of Today.[via People Pets]

No Service Dogs At Subway?

Subway sandwiches refused to allow a man and his seeing-eye dog into the building. The dog just wanted a $5 footlong![via CBC News]

Eagle vs. Deer

One man not only sees an amazing act of nature, he photo-documents it. Watch as a very hungry eagle tries to nab a deer. Yes, a deer..[via Chicago Wildlife News]

Hen Raises Puppies

Some people believe that this chicken, who has bonded with a litter of puppies, thinks she’s a dog. But maybe the dogs think they’re chickens.[via The Daily Mail]

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Fear of feeding

admin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:18:29 +0000

: Image by Vandelizer via Flickr

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It’s an extremely frustrating problem I see every single day of my life. Whether we’re talking about my exam room patients, puppy park players, a neighbor’s pooch or my family members’ dogs, the problem is the same: Their pets are fat and they know it…but they’re scared of offering them too little to eat.

OK so that’s my personal interpretation of the psychology that underlies the problem. And I may be wrong. But I believe it’s what most people objectively viewing the situation might conclude as well. Read on to see if you agree:

The owner of a fat beagle cross who admits she’s gained plenty of pounds and is more than “a touch” fat. Last year she adopted the “carrots instead of cookies” approach I recommended and it worked well for a time. Unfortunately, now Miss Chunkster won’t eat her carrots unless she’s encouraged with some other tidbit (like a dollop of peanut butter!).

What’s wrong with this picture?

“But she’s always hungry!” her owner complains, adding, “If she won’t even eat her treats maybe it’s because she’s sick. I just need to be sure she has an appetite.”

That’s irrational, right? If the dog is “always hungry” yet doesn’t eat every time she offers something then something must be wrong so she’ll give her something she really likes to make sure she’s OK. Meanwhile, the dog’s looking like Goodyear should be printed along the entirety of her burgeoning midsection.

It’s an almost daily finding: An “always hungry” overweight pet whose owners will freely admit they don’t like to feed him X food because “he won’t eat it.”

OK, so how hungry can he be? Does it not stand to reason that your pet WANTS food… but doesn’t NEED it? Can you appreciate that distinction?

When it’s clear that the humans I’m speaking to cannot comprehend this basic point, I have to move onto bigger guns: Telling them exactly how much they should feed. Which should be an empirical, iterative process but which more often than not comes down to a prescription I’ll reluctantly offer.

Then there’s the corollary to this condition. It’s the one where the perfectly proportioned pet arrives with an owner who’s wrung her hands until they’re raw on the subject of her pet’s too-skinny, won’t-eat-a-thing, I-have-to-hand-feed-her condition. Meanwhile, the pet looks like the picture of perfect health.

“I’m not a therapist,” I’ve been known to complain to my receptionist between clients like these. Because what these pets really need is someone to sort out their owner’s angst…not a veterinarian who knows she isn’t getting anywhere as long as her exhortations and explanations continue to fall on deaf ears.

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Why You Need To Get A Pet Gate

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 07:05:25 +0000

: Image by young and with it via Flickr

Any gate can work in a multitude of ways to get the desired effect of keeping a pet out of certain areas. Of course this will depend on the particular design and the exact area you place it in the house. Whether you buy it to use indoors or outside on a sunny day the primary reason is to create a safe environment for your pet to wander, play, roam and have as their own.

There are lots of other reasons to get a pet gate. One of the most important ones is that it is an effective method for “training your pet”. The gate acts as a barrier that the pet realizes is a limit to their territorial boundaries. They can’t be watched all the time nor trained all the time so a gate is an effective remedy.

Others reasons for buying a gate and keeping a pet confined are the following:

First and foremost is to protecting the pet from areas of the house that may cause them harm. There are a lot of dangerous items that when alone a pet can “get into” or break and eventually hurt them. Chemicals, lamps, glassware are just a few of the items they need to be protected from. We aren’t around all the time so we need to keep them secure and protect them from themselves from what they might do.
Blocking off areas of the room serves as an effective boundary and limits their access. It is an effective tool to train them.
If children are around the gate keeps the child safe from even inadvertent mishaps around the pet. A child can be knocked over by a pet. They can cause the child to trip and hurt themselves. Even an innocent tug on the pet’s fur can cause the pet to turn and nip. So if you can’t keep an eye on your pet all the time, which no one can, then this may be a good solution.
Sometimes keeping pets outside on a sunny day is a nice change for them instead of being locked in the house. Keeping them contained on a deck, in a certain area of the yard or away from other pets will require a gate.
A pet gate is an easy way to keep them from jumping on something. The gates are tall enough to stop them from leaping over and are made to withstand a lot of pressure if the dog pushes in to it.
A pet gate is designed to keep the animal from getting shut out from activities going on in the house. They are kept contained but at the same time they can still see what’s going on in the other room.
Keeping the pet contained from going up or down the stairs has never been easier.
Setup and installation is easy as pie.
Areas of the house, that in the past were considered to hard to block off are now more than ever, easily handled. With over 14 styles of gates to choose from, the selection process is gratifying not grating.
Accessories for any mounting situation are available which takes the apprehension out of installing a gate even for the technically challenged individual.

There are probably many other reasons why you should own a pet gate. So get out there and purchase one. You and your pet will get along much better than you already do right now.

Article Source : Why You Need To Get A Pet Gate : ArticleBase

Joe Cinova
Joe is an on-line author and internet affiliate marketer/engineer. He’s been involved with sports for many years and includes a 2nd Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do. He has also raised 6 cats, 8 dogs and countless birds. With his background he has written articles to share this information and experiences developed over the years.
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