Pet Information

When choosing a dog, people base their choice on many different factors. As there are so many breeds of dogs to choose from, hunters for example base their choice on the type of hunting they want to do with the dog. However, no matter what hunting breed you choose there is one thing that is essential. It’s called bird dog training and apart from being very enjoyable it is crucial for a hunting dog. The most important thing about such training is that it must start quite a long time before planning the first real hunting trip.

It is very well known that all bird hunting breeds do have their natural inborn instincts, which make them so good for that type of hunting, but we still need the bird dog training in order to learn how to control those instincts. And make hunting much more enjoyable both for us and for the dog. It is an unpleasant emotion when hunting to yell at a dog that never listens. That’s why the main purpose of a good bird dog training program is to learn to communicate with your dog. Once you have the program all you need is consistency, as it takes many weeks, even months to learn that lesson.

The hunting dog breeds have a kind of inborn need to please their owner. It’s like a second nature. Usually hunting breeds are quick learners and are very eager to go hunting – naturally they’ve been bred to do that. But those dogs do need their trainer to be very consistent in the way he trains them. That training teaches the dogs to follow the hunter’s commands, and when at the end that dog knows exactly what the hunter wants it to do it will insure a plentiful and successful experience hunt after a hunt.

The training for bird hunting dogs is not only limited to the upland game hunting, it also applies for dogs hunting water fowls. The training for water dogs emphasizes a lot more on the dog’s ability to stay and mark the spot where the fowl lands, however the main goal of the training is still to learn how to communicate, because only the faultless communication between the hunter and his dog can deliver maximum pleasure from a hunting experience.

Although it has to be very consistent, it does not have to take up lots of time. Researches show that if 5 to 10 minutes are spent with the dog each day, especially at feeding time in order to practice a certain technique, the dog will learn. Actually any minute you spent with the dog can be used as such training. A retrieving game for example, not only provides good exercise for the dog, but also teaches making and staying, as well as retrieving to the hands of the owner. Even if the bird dog training doesn’t deliver dog show quality training, it will at least save you the unpleasant experience of yelling at the dog every time you need him to do something, while you are supposed to be having great time hunting.

Iguanas are probably the most popular lizard kept as a pet today. Many pet stores tell people that they are very easy to care for, but this isn’t true. They actually have very strict care requirements. They also can grow to be extremely large!

Many get baby iguanas not realizing how large they get. They aren’t one of these animals that just grow as large as their tank. When they get bigger, they will need a very large cage, or their own room.

When you select an iguana, try to get one that looks alert and healthy. Make sure there are no sores or abrasions on their body and also look for bright, clear eyes. You should also be sure that the place you get your iguana cleans the cages regularly. If the iguanas are living in dirty conditions, they could very well be sick.

The first thing you will need for your iguana is a cage. If you got a baby, it is best to start with a thirty to fifty gallon aquarium. As your pet grows, it will need a larger cage. You will probably end up having to build a custom cage. The cage needs to be at least one and a half times longer than the length of the lizard, two thirds times wider than the length of the lizard and the same height as the lizard’s length. Iguanas love to climb, so try to get a tall cage.

You will need to keep some kind of substrate at the bottom of the cage. Artificial turf, orchid bark, carpeting, alfalfa pellets, or newspaper all work well. Do not use wood chips or cedar chips. Bark and wood chips can attract insects while cedar chips can be toxic.

In the cage you will need to have branches set up for your iguana to climb on. Iguanas live in trees in the wild, so branches are a necessity. The branches should be large enough so that the iguana doesn’t have trouble laying on them. Hot rocks are not recommended because they can cause burns.

Iguanas need to be kept warm in order to be healthy. Keep a thermometer in their cage so you can monitor the temperature. The cage should be kept around 85 degrees in the day and in the low 70s at night. You will also need a spot close to the heat source where your iguana can lay in the heat. This basking spot needs to be between 95 and 100 degrees. There should be an area in the cage that is shady so your iguana can go there if they want to get out of the sun.

Iguanas need to be fed a diet that is low in phosphorous, high in calcium and contains Vitamin D3. They should be fed lots of greens, such as collard greens, dandelion greens, mustard greens, and turnip greens. Greens should be the large majority of their diet. Fruits and vegetables like squash, yams, zucchini, raspberries, bananas, and blackberries can also be added.

Iguanas don’t actually drink very much. They get most of their water out of the air. You should mist your iguana regularly or put a humidifier in their tank. Humidity in their cage needs to be between 95 and 100 percent.

When you bring your iguana home, let it settle in for about a week. Don’t try to handle it during this time. After that, start to hold it for brief periods daily. Your iguana will soon become much calmer. Stroking their neck and sides also seems to help a lot. Never pick up your iguana by the tail.

To keep your pet happy and healthy, you will need to keep their tank clean, provide food and water and spend as much time with them as you can. You should also find a vet in your area that treats iguanas. Bring your iguana to the vet regularly for checkups.

A quality Koi and goldfish food starts with quality aquatic based ingredients. Fish derive their energy from fats, not carbohydrates (although cereal is needed as roughage). also the amino acids that make up proteins should be ones that can be easily metabolized by fish. Soy proteins and feather meal that are used by many foods are of poor quality. An analogy I used to describe this to my customers to compare amino acid (protein) quality is this: You can achieve the protein analysis of many pet foods with a pair of leather shoes, yet leather shoes are for the most part, made up of un-digestible proteins that will eventually lead to renal (kidney) failure in fish. An amino acid missing in many goldfish diets is DL-methionine. This is an essential amino acid for producing the “Lionhead” feature in goldfish. High levels of methionine can be found in the vegetable proteins of spinach, green peas, and garlic. DL-methionine can also be found in fish meal.

It also should be pointed out that no one food should be fed alone (including Sanyu). A balanced diet for goldfish should also include Spirulina Flakes, and Brine or Mysis shrimp (which have a natural laxative for goldfish). Frequency of feeding is also important, think of goldfish as under water horses (there are differences of course), they are regularly grazing, unlike say a lion. The point is that goldfish have digestive tracts meant for a more vegetable diet and constant grazing, not unlike horses (yes there are differences, as godfish do not have the stomach like a horse), and if not kept full, they can develop gas (that is also why the brine shrimp and spirulina are important). Another point of note is that most fancy goldfish are very inbred and have poor digestive tracts which make them even more sensitive to a poor diet and intestinal gas.

Try and feed your goldfish at least two or more times a day (if more often, feed less per feeding). Also soak your fish food in water for at least 5 minutes so that it does not float, which will prevent your goldfish from ingesting air (which can cause digestive problems). Be careful with feeding too much flake food (even the spirulina flake, although this flake does not cause the intestinal gas problems that many flakes such as TetraFin due to the high cereal content and lower quality proteins), and again soak any flake food too.

For more in depth information about fish nutrition in general, please see this article: Quality Fish Food; What ingredients are needed for proper nutrition, health and growth

Sanyu Vital is a complete diet to provide all necessary nutrition for goldfish and koi. This food is formulated to meet the diet requirement for goldfish and koi. The raw material used is selected from vegetable based, high carbohydrates and less protein ingredients are easily digested. Feeding this food will result a rapid colour enhancement. With various vitamins and minerals added ensure the fish stay healthy and vital. Although this food contains soya meals (a poor source of protein in fish), it derives the majority of it’s proteins from quality sources such as spirulina vegetable proteins and fish meal.

Ingredients:

Vegetable protein extract, fish meal, soya meals, rice bran, wheat flour, corn meal, carotenoid, lecithin, vegetable oil, vitamin A, C, E and important minerals and trace elements

THESE BASIC STEPS WILL HELP WITH SUCCESSFUL GOLDFISH KEEPING:

*A quality food (another is Spirulina 20 Fish Food Flake),

*Changing water (20%) once per week,

*Keeping a ph of 7.2- 7.6,

*Proper mineralization and electrolytes, using products such as Wonder Shells.

*Proper filtration (including germicidal)

*And proper tank size (one average adult goldfish per 4-8 gallons, depending on filtration)

Sanyu Tropical fish and cichlid food is similar in quality, but with a higher concentration of aquatic based proteins (such as shrimp meal) and less vegetable based ingredients.

Tropical Fish Food Ingredients:

Fish meal, shrimp meal, dried yeast, wheat flour, corn meal, fish oil, carotenoid, inositol, vitamin A,C,D, calcium iodate, iodine, magnesium and other elements. Analysis: Protein 37%, Fat 3%, Fibre 4%, Moisture 10%

Kittens are and have always been adorable creatures. Of course, these youngsters are also playful, naughty and mischievous as well. Perhaps that’s the reason why people are attracted to them, as they entertain us with their peculiar antics and curiosity. Cats and dogs have been found to relieve humans of stress and make great companions at home. Of course, choosing between a cat and a dog is totally a personal choice.

Why should we get a kitten then? Well, for one thing, they are cute and adorable and are less active as compared to dogs. They recognize us as their masters but do not overly show their enthusiasm like dogs. That’s why they make you work for their affection all the time, instead of the other way around.

Kittens are small in size and therefore easy to carry around. This makes it easy for you to take your cat around in your car or when you need to take your cat with you outside. However, cats and kittens have tendencies to seek ways to escape from your home and therefore this may prove to a problem if your cat keeps trying to make its way out of your house. With this, many owners let their cats roam in and out of their houses, and most of the time, their pets return home on time for dinner. Sometimes, they even bring home their own prey for dinner.

Kittens and cats bury their own waste in the sand box, so that you don’t have to take after them, unlike dogs. They can be trained to use the sand box which you just need to have a change of sand once in a while. On the other hand, kittens also each much less than dogs, and therefore cost less in maintenance. They are usually non-aggressive, and will be less likely to bite anyone. However, they may get irritated with human behavior and sometimes may want to be left alone. With this, they can scratch with their sharp claws if they are not happy.

Kittens can’t be trained be trained. They just won’t listen. That is why you will not need to send your cat to cat school to be trained. This will also mean that you don’t have to spend money getting your cat trained. Cats and kittens also do not bark and therefore are suitable for apartment or condominiums where they won’t even wake up the neighbours.

One thing about cats is their nature to wander around their neighborhood which may get them into trouble sometimes. With this, they may get knocked down by a car or be involved in accidents. Apart from this, cats also can get sick, especially when they wander outside and eat material from outside the home. You will then need to pay for your cat’s medical bills, although it will not cost you as much if you were to have a dog.

Finally, kittens do not need you to exercise them like dogs. They don’t need to be taken out for walks and they don’t make demands on you as well. They live their own lives, but do need to be pat once in a while. If you are a cat person, you will definitely understand them! Look at the adorable cute little kittens and cats!

Please keep the following a secret. Don’t tell anyone. I don’t want everyone “and their uncle” copying my dog training techniques/concepts and then claiming them as their own.

Anyway…

My neighbor couldn’t believe it. I’d just brought this beautiful 9 month-old German Shepherd dog home, only two weeks ago, and already she was responding reliably to off-leash commands. (Or more specifically, coming immediately when I call and responding instantaneously to the word, “No!” from a distance…without yelling or screaming).

“How is it possible, Adam? We’ve had our dog for over three years, and he never listens to us! You’ve had your dog for less than two weeks and she’s already responding to your commands, off-leash… and you only whisper your commands, once? I’m jealous.”

“Look,” I replied, “It’s all in the book.”

[To read more about this book I referred to, please see: http://www.dogproblems.com/newvideos.htm ]

“Okay, okay… I need to go back and read the book,” he responded. “But at least give me a tip as to how you got such fast results with this dog?”

I replied, “Well, it’s definitely easier if you know what you’re doing, from Day 1. I never gave this dog an opportunity with me where she could learn that she can run away, or not respond to commands… without there being a negative association with disobedience. And that’s the secret. Once you teach the dog to understand what commands mean, the next big step is to let the dog choose to do correct or incorrect behavior… BUT: Be sure that you’re always in a position to reinforce the desired outcome. “

“She learned quickly that it was okay if she wanted to try to run off, like she did with her previous owner, but if I called her then every time, she’s going to have the opportunity to make a choice: Do it my way and get lots of love and praise. Or do it any other way and get a correction, and then the chance to make the choice again,” I instructed.

“You need to let the dog know that every time she does a behavior, she’s going to get the exact same outcome. And that ‘outcome’ is going to have a meaningful reaction, be it positive or negative,” I explained. “Once you’ve done this, then the dog very quickly learns that it’s best to respond to ALL COMMANDS quickly because she’s going to avoid a negative association and obtain a positive association, that much quicker.”

In this sense, dogs are a lot like humans: We go through life trying to minimize negative experiences and maximize positive experiences. If your dog understands how to do this… because you’ve used my “Three Keys To Behavior Modification” (also in the book, on page 21)… then you will be astounded as to how lightening fast you will achieve results with your dog.

One of the most frequent complaints about canine behavior is barking. Aside from the behavior a barking dog is probably the pet peeve of many non-dog owners.

Most dogs get noisy when exposed to anything new or unusual. Like most dog behavior, barking is typically a symptom of an unsatisfied need. Barking is simply a dog’s means of communication, whether directed at other dogs, at members of the household, or at the world in general. It may be an attempt to stake out territory, or warn owners of intruders. Since dogs are social animals, it could be a symptom of loneliness and attempt to get attention- announcing to the unseen, but very audible early morning chorus of his peers that, “Yeah, I’m here, too.” A lack of exercise and interaction with humans, or other dogs, may produce barking, as will boredom when left alone indoors for extended periods of time.

If your neighbors complain about your dog barking while you are not at home, first purchase a voice-activated tape recorder and set it up where your dog will trigger the tape if it barks. You may find that your neighbor is incorrect about how much your dog actually does bark (keep a log of the barking you record). You may find out what exactly causes it to bark (hearing a car drive by before each barking sequence, for example), giving you some ideas for eliminating the behavior. But do determine that there is actually a problem before you try to do something about it.

If you know that you have a problem, you might enlist the help of your neighbors. Neighbors are often happy to help you with this problem! Have them squirt water at excessive barking, or rattle cans of pennies/rocks, etc.

In any event, take a neighbor’s complaint seriously, even if it is unwarranted. More neighbor disputes arise over barking dogs than anything else, and dogs have been injured or killed by neighbors desperate for a good nights sleep.

Some dogs bark at everything they see and hear. Some dogs will stop barking if they cannot hear or see the interlopers. So, if dog is an in-the-house noisemaker, put her in the kitchen or laundry room with a crate or bed, away from windows, common walls, and hallways, and turn on a radio before leaving the house. Classical music stations may work best; they have fewer disruptions by commercials with doorbells and other noises that could trigger barking. Confine dog in the room with baby gates in the doorways, not by closing doors, so she doesn’t panic.

There is some evidence that barking is an inherited trait: if the parents bark a lot, chances are their puppies will, too.

Often, one method that helps alleviate barking is to give your dog specific permission to bark. Teach it to “speak” — let it “speak” when appropriate (say, when you’re playing in the park). Then “no speak” follows from that. However, there is often a problem when the dog is alone. The following methods outline some other possibilities to address this problem. Training the dog to stop barking on command can be accomplished with lure-reward techniques, disruption techniques, or head halter and leash training.

Training a dog to be quiet on command allows it to continue to bark at stimuli but stop at your request. Rewards are then given for quiet behavior.

At each subsequent training session the dog should remain quiet a little longer before the reward is given. Teaching a dog to stop all barking in the presence of the stimulus is much more difficult. To be successful, barking must be interrupted immediately as it begins, and the process repeated until the dog does not bark at the stimulus (at which time it can be rewarded).

Punishment is generally ineffective in the control and correction of barking problems. Excessive punishment can increase anxiety and further aggravate the problem, while insufficient punishment merely rewards the behavior by providing attention.

For punishment to be effective, barking must be disrupted at the instant it begins, using a technique or device that effectively interrupts the barking. When you are not present as barking begins, the only solution might be to use bark-activated products.

My dog was adorable during his days as a puppy, but of course, there were some moments when I didn’t think the same way. I remember perfectly how much I hated to discover that he was having his potty accidents in the living room, right on the carpet.

Yelling or punishing him would have been useless so, instead of doing any of that, I have decided that it was about time to train him to “go” outside. What I had to do first was to clean after my puppy and finding the product who would remove 100% the smell hasn’t been easy.

Why this has to be the first step? Because when dogs pee on one spot on the carpet, next times they feel like doing that, it will happen at the exactly same place. Their sense of smell is well developed and it’s the smell which tells them to “go” there. Using this tip when taking the puppy outside to pee or to poop is very important, because you have to take it at the same place every time.

Do not forget to say “go potty” before and while he is “going” and to praise him afterwards.

However, even after he learned to associate “go potty” with “going”, accidents happened and I even caught him in the act a few times. Punishing was out of the question because this only scares the puppy and he will get the message that is wrong for him to “go” in front of you. In this situation there is only one thing to be done: distract his attention by clapping your hands or doing any other noise. He will stop going and this way you can quickly take him outside. After he had finished up, he must be rewarded. That is why puppies need to be supervised!

But what was in fact causing him to “go” at night? In a way, puppies are just like kids, therefore they need a schedule when it comes to eating, drinking water, sleeping. Once I’ve stopped giving water to my puppy a few hours before his bedtime, he stopped peeing at night. Taking your puppy out after a nap - no matter the duration of it, or before playing with him it’s mandatory! Puppies also need to “go” 5 or 10 minutes after eating and drinking.

In order to prevent accidents from happening, it’s better to establish a feeding schedule and this way I knew exactly when he needed to potty.

Personally, I think that everything gets a lot easier when you train him to do some kind of signal whenever he needs to go out. I have heard that some pet owners use bells or other stuff similar to that, but I have trained my puppy to scratch at the door - and this is the most common signal. Another option, however not always possible, is a dog door, that way the puppy can go outside whenever he feels like it.

And one last thing: don’t forget to take your puppy outside first thing in the morning! He will not be able to hold all night.