Pet Information

What is dog power?

The most common answer is the power a dog has when pulling something. That definition, often relates only to the dogs physical strength. Dog power can also mean the power of your dogs spirit. Recently, I had an amazing discussion with Gary Williams. Gary is 3rd degree black belt in the Mars-Zen-Do style of Karate. He owns the website www.karateforhockey.com His website offers insights into how Karate can help improve a variety of sports.

Gary and I discussed the similarities and differences between Karate training techniques and dog training techniques. In Karate, sparring is the practice of technique, but sparring does not have to include contact or physical harm. Canine sparring is what what happens when dogs play.

In Karate, instructions are barked out to keep the intensity of the movements up. The instructor will then make his way down the line of students critiquing stances and movements and giving praise or correcting positions. At the spiritual or etheric level, eye contact is always part of that praise. The student receives positive reinforcement through the acceptance of the teachers’ energy. The lower level student is expected to accept eye contact so that he can receive the energy the teacher is giving. At the higher levels, energy is exchanged through Karate blocks and strikes whether there is contact or not.

Respect for the Sensei (Master) comes from this exchange of energy. In dog training, you must breathe AND offer your dog an acknowledgment of respect and an exchange of energy. If you just hold your body and breath rigidly while staring your dog down hoping he’ll look away, you have not asked for respect, you have simply bullied your dog. Asking for respect is a two way street.

Respect also comes in the form of respecting space. If a dog growls at you when you go near his food dish it is not always a challenge. It is just a reminder for you to respect the dogs space, and the fact that he considers that dish and the food in it his. Giving respect at a simple time like that can be meaningful to a dog. Challenge him at that time and he may not back down. Things can escalate unnecessarily. This is the difference between picking fights and respecting space.

If you have a working dog, like a Husky, they are bred for a specific purpose. That means they have certain genetic traits that allow them to do the things a husky is bred to do. The characteristics such as strength, endurance, and intelligence come with, for lack of a better term, side effects. These side effects have several names such as stubbornness, excitability, or bad behavior. Good dog handlers (or Karate Masters) harness the energy and spirit of side effects into stamina. This adds to the overall power of the dog (or human in Karate).

Stamina is only one benefit of being able to harness and channel the spirit and energy (in dogs and people). Train-ability and loyalty are also things that are present in those traits. Depending on the environment the husky (or human) grew up in, and the teachers or trainers they have as they mature, is what determines when and if these good traits can be drawn out.

In Karate, sparring is only allowed when the Sensei (Master) feels the student has enough skill, but more importantly control of his skills. Karate students first learn to spar with no contact allowed, and gradually progress to light contact. Finally, full contact sparring is allowed, but only to specific body areas. This controlled sparring determines strengths and weaknesses of the opponent, but more importantly the strength and weakness of the self.

This is similar to the meaning behind crate training a dog. When a dog or puppy is new to your home they do not have much self control. Not just control of bodily functions, but control of curiosity. It is up to the human to provide a place where control can be discovered. When you crate a dog, you are providing a quiet place with few distractions. In Karate, when people spar, the rest of the class is required to sit quietly and watch. This provides a safe, distraction free environment for learning. It is in this quiet way that fear and trust issues between humans, or owner and dog, can be resolved. Yes, trust is involved in learning self control for humans as well as dogs. As a dog becomes better at controlling his curiosity he gains trust, and then he is allowed more freedom.

Karate is based on principals of universal laws. Universal means dogs fall under these laws. However, as the supposed more intelligent being, and our conscious understanding of those principals, we have the responsibility to uphold respect with our canine counterparts.

Parrots are famous throughout the World, not only because of their exotic, colorful and cheerful looks, but also for their unique ability to reproduce words with a precision that often knocks at the door between fun and scary. When you hear about a “talking parrot” don’t get confused thinking one could engage in minor chit chat with it, the words they reproduce are basically “recordings”, but admittedly, they will also learn how to respond to some sentences or words, with their own.

As long as you don’t overload their vocabulary, parrots can be thought to say almost anything you want them too, as long as you keep it clear and simple. It’s evident that you’ll have an easier time teaching your parrot to say “I love you” rather than the German “Luftschiffkapitän”, since it’s clearer and easier to pronounce (that doesn’t mean that parrots prefer English to German though). And yes, I know what you’re thinking, parrots can be easily trained to swear and they can even learn to swear without any training, simply by living in an environment where curses are used all the time.

The story of Charlie the Cursing parrot is of notoriety, the 50 year old parrot belonging to Winston Churchill being thought to throw curses at the Nazis during the Second World War.

But getting back to how you can teach your parrot to talk, there are basically two main strategies you can undergo. One would be to buy a training tape and place it near his cage. These tapes repeat specific sentences or words over and over again and many owners leave them on and on auto-repeat while they’re off to work. Eventually, your parrot will start to grasp and reproduce the sounds he hears, but this method is extremely annoying for him. Because it looks more like a torture method rather than a training one, most parrot owners tend to go the “hard way”.

The hard way means that you’ll have to personally take care of the parrot’s training. It’s obviously best if you start doing so while he’s at a younger age, relating an action (such as feeding him for example) with a word or sentence. For example, every time you hand-feed the parrot, say “Thank you!”. After a while, if you keep focusing on these words, he’ll form a link between them and getting fed and he’ll start reproducing the sounds when you hand-feed him. You could also give him a reward when you hear him “talking”, so he’ll be more eager to pronounce the words.

To conclude, you should take note that some parrots are less trainable than others in this regard. Amazons and Conures are known to be great talkers, whereas Lorikeets are commonly regarded as less likely to be successfully trained to reproduce sounds. Some species only start talking at older ages (such as the African Greys for example) whereas others are extremely chatty even in their first few years. Even if you own a parrot that is less likely to talk, training him in this direction is extremely fun (actually, experienced parrot trainers state that it’s more fun to successfully train a parrot that doesn’t have an affinity for sound reproduction, rather than one that’s considered chatty by nature) so you should make the best of it.

Q: I just moved to a house that was vacant for over a year and a few neighborhood cats think it’s their territory. One of them is much bigger than my cat and has attacked my cat three times now even though my cat ran under the house to get away. Is there anything I can do to signal to these cats that this is not okay territory for them to be in anymore? When I am here I yell and spray the hose but most of the time I’m not here. I’ve had to keep my cat indoors whenever I leave and this is not a good permanent solution. My cat is female and she is neutered. I believe that the other cats are non neutered males

A: It’s a difficult question I am afraid and one that is asked a lot. Whenever a new cat enters an area there is disruption and usually plenty of fights until everyone found their place. Your situation seems more difficult if these other cats consider your house to belong to them.

The first thing to say is that given time things should improve, and one option is no action at all, wait until everything settles down naturally. It will help if you are making it clear to these cats that you don’t want them there. Water spraying and noise is a good plan to deter them. There are also a whole selection of other deterrents available, none of which I have had any experience of I am afraid, but maybe worth a try, a lot of them seem to be electrical, upsetting intruders in various ways -if you can find one with a short range that you can use around your house (without affecting your cat, or the ones next door) then that could help move them on, or at least put them off trying to occupy your land.

Do you have a cat flap? They can work well to provide your cat with access to the safe haven of home and magnetic collars can give them their own key so noone else can come in. It doesn’t solve your problem but it will make sure that whilst things are settling down your cat will have an escape route.

Do you think the cats are feral? If this is the case then you may be able to get a local animal charity or animal warden to remove them (depending on where you are). There are a lot of programs of stray animal capture, health checking and neutering which you may be able to point in the direction of your neighbourhood.

I should point out the health risks to your cat, bites can result in abscesses, and so any wounds should be treated by your vet. It is also essential to make sure she is fully vaccinated so that she is not put at greater risk from viral infections (especially if they are stray). Feliway, is a pheromone mimicker which will help to relax your cat during this stressful time, do not under-estimate stress, we know that in cats it can be responsible for many health issues.

I suppose another option is to resign yourself to having a house cat, they can be just as happy, don’t feel guilty in the short term, she is probably really glad that you have closed the door safely behind her.

One of the large challenges you face as an equine marketer is achieving what marketing professionals call “top of the mind awareness” of your horses and business.

What is Top of the Mind Awareness?

Top of the Mind Awareness, or “TOMA,” is being the first supplier a prospective customer thinks of when they think about the horses, equine products, or horse-related services that you offer. Increasing your level of TOMA in your prospects’ minds impacts your current sales of horses and services as well as your future sales.

Here are some examples of TOMA at work:

Example 1: You have TOMA of products with which you are familiar.

If someone asks you about farriers, the image or name that pops into your mind is probably that of your own farrier. You are most familiar with your own farrier, so he is on “top of your mind.” Your awareness may be so strong that when you hear the general word “farrier,” you picture your own farrier’s face!

Most people maintain their own status quo—when they find their service providers to be satisfactory, they are in a comfortable position than selecting another and venturing into the unknown. You are a current customer of your farrier and, as long as you are otherwise satisfied, that familiarity helps to keep you a current customer.

Example 2: You have TOMA for products that you have never used!

Think about a type of product that you haven’t tried. For example, the first time you think you might try feeding a joint health supplement, do any names come to mind? Cosequin, Corta-Flx, or another brand?

Even though you don’t have first-hand familiarity with the product, you probably can think of one or more specific brands. The reason those brands come to the top of your mind is that effective marketing has put them there! You have seen an ad for the brand, or the product package, or heard its name in conjunction with the product’s purpose. Odds are, you have been exposed to information about the product in several ways and many times. Your mind has associated that brand with the idea of “joint supplement,” and stored it away in your memory.

How to Build Your Horse Business by Building TOMA:

Familiarity builds positive associations. In one psychological study, each subject was shown a random squiggly line. When the person was later presented with a set of squiggly line patterns and asked which they liked the best, most chose the line that they had seen before.

It works for squiggly lines, for products, and for business and brand names: The more familiarity, the more likely that something is preferred.

Think of ways to create TOMA with your prospective customers, put those strategies into practice, and become your prospects’ instinctive first choice!

It can take a while for us humans to suspect that we may have diabetes and go in for tests. It’s much harder for us to spot the symptoms of diabetes in dogs. The disease tends to sneak up and the symptoms will often go unnoticed until the disease has become quite advanced. Here are some things you should always watch for in your dog and take them to a vet to be tested if you suspect that your dog may have developed canine diabetes.

**Canine Diabetes Symptoms To Watch For**

Drinking a Lot of Water

Although it’s natural for your dog to be thirstier in the summer or after a bit of rambunctious exercise, excessive drinking throughout the day and that continues for several days can be a sign of diabetes. If you notice that you’re having to fill the water bowl more often, you may want to have your dog tested for canine diabetes. Other diseases may also cause an increase in thirst as well, so having a veterinarian check your pet is a good idea.

Urinating a Lot

It stands to reason, if your dog is drinking more, then they’re going to be wanting outside a lot more too. So, although you may not notice the increased water intake right away (as it can be very gradual), you’ll certainly be made aware of the increased need to urniate (think revolving door).

Your Dog May Develop “Sweet Breath”

Most of us dog owners will complain of a dog’s “bad breath”, so you’ll most likely notice if the breath takes on a “sweet” smell. This is a sign that your dog’s blood sugar levels have risen to high and need to be brought under control.

Shaking

No, we’re not talking about how a dog shakes after they get wet. This is a subtle shaking/shivering that accompanies hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and is very serious. If this symptom appears, take your dog to the veterinarian immediately as it is very serious and your might require an injection of insulin.

Weakness and Tiredness

Your dog may also appear weak and very tired most days. If your normally active dog suddenly develops these symptoms over the course of a few days, have them tested for diabetes.

Loss of Weight

Normally, being overweight can bring on canine diabetes, but sometimes a dog will begin to steadily lose weight instead. Regardless of whether this is from the onset of diabetes or not, you need to get your dog to a veterinarian right away for tests to rule out any other type of serious disease.

Wondering how to begin crate training your puppy or dog, or even whether you should?

Crate training gets a dog so used to being closed into a crate that he or she can safely be left in it for hours at a time, though only when necessary. The method has its pros and cons. If it works for your dog, it gives both you and the dog a wonderful flexibility in many situations.

Crate Training: PRO

Crate training helps tremendously in potty training puppies and adult dogs.

Your dog can be confined when it is necessary, without undue stress on the dog or serious wear and tear on your home.

If your dog ever has to be left at a veterinarian’s office, travel on an airplane, or be evacuated from your home, being in a crate then will be far less stressful if he is already crate-trained.

It’s a nice way to include a puppy in what is going on without your having to tend him constantly, for example, if you are giving a party.

Many dogs will seek out their crates to relax in.

Crate Training: CON

It may take some time to get your dog accustomed to being left in the dog crate, and you will need another way to confine him so you don’t push the crate training too fast.

Some people might leave their dogs in the crates too much. How much is too much? It depends on the dog and situation, but it should only be a few hours at a time.

Crate training isn’t suitable for some dogs. For example, a dog who has spent a lot of time in crates or cages (in a shelter or at a previous owner’s) may become very upset. You may or may not be able to overcome this with patient training.

Dogs with separation anxiety may become more upset in a crate than in a larger space.

A strong, frantic dog can get out of most crates, perhaps hurting himself in the process.

Some people just hate the idea of confining their dogs this way. Learning more about crate training often overcomes this dislike, but if you find that it doesn’t for you, then use alternatives to crates.

A Basic Crate Training Method

First, of course, you need a crate. Select a good location for the crate — or more than one location. In your bedroom is good at night, but when you are home during the day, it’s best to have the crate near where people will be. Either move the crate around, or some people have two crates. Don’t put the crate where sunlight coming in from a window will make the air hot for the dog.

Tie the door open, or even take it off at first. Let the dog notice the crate and examine it if he wishes.

Bit by bit, make it more interesting. Throw toys or treats in. Talk lovingly to him if he goes in. Pet him while he is in the crate.

Begin feeding the dog in the crate. When he is comfortable going in (and this can be anything from an hour to several weeks), then begin closing the door for short periods of time while you are right there.

If he whines to get out, don’t let him out and don’t sweet-talk him until there is a moment when he isn’t whining. Then you can let him out. If you let him out while he is whining, you are teaching him that whining works with you.

With each of the steps, pay attention to what the dog indicates about his feelings. Crate training is most effective when it isn’t rushed. If he is uncomfortable at a particular step, back up to a previous one.

Once he accepts the door closed while you are there, begin going elsewhere in your home and gradually lengthening the time you are gone. Having toys in the crate is useful here.

Then leave the house for a very short time and come back, working up to leaving longer and longer.

Close the dog in at bedtime and let it out first thing in the morning. If you are housetraining a young puppy, you will probably be going outside with it in the middle of the night for a while.

And that — in a nutshell — is how to crate train your puppy or dog.