Archive for January, 2010
Travel With Your Pet In Comfort And Style
Thanks to Hollywood celebutantes like Paris Hilton and many others, it has become commonplace to see dogs carried around with owners to otherwise odd locations such as the mall or the grocery store. And while many of those well known faces carry their furry companions in designer handbags, there is a more feasible option for the more average citizen. Especially if you have a larger dog, or if you’re just uninterested in getting dog hair in your everyday purse, look into the possibility of a dog stroller.
These dog strollers are great options for car or air travel. They provide safe and easy ways for you and your animal to travel. While it used to be commonplace to see dogs riding unsecured in the back of pickup trucks, that practice has slowly been on the way out. People are opting for safer, more secure ways to travel with their dogs. And while some people look down their noses at something like a dog stroller, keep in mind it is also a great option for any dog with a disability. If your dog has been in an accident or he’s somehow lost the use of his legs, you can still enjoy a stroll around the block using one of these handy strollers.
Learning Experience
Right off the top of my head I know my dogs can teach me patience and unconditional love. The horses can teach me absolute awareness, among other things.
Our pets expect nothing from us but to be fed, have a nice place to sleep and attention once in a while.
What could you learn from your pets? Or what lessons have you learned from them?
Doggles time
With the weather turning more towards springtime across the country, now is the time to start thinking of the great car rides you will give your pet.
Most of us have told our kids, don’t hang your head out of the car window or something will get in your eye. Or how about the motorcycle riders, why do you think they wear goggles, glasses or have visors on their helmet?
Doesn’t it make sense that you would protect your pet’s eyes as well? Doogles is the key to that!!
With so many colors and a couple of different styles available, why not? There is a great pair of Doggles with flames on the side. Hmmm…maybe a motorcycle ride instead of a car ride?
Bottom line is that we buy great new dog leashes and collars and sometimes a new comfortable dog bed. But how about when they are out and about on the town?
I know I don’t want to have to spend more money at the vet than is necessary for the health and wellbeing of my dogs. I would rather be out running around with them. Face it, everyone changes their wardrobe as the seasons change so why not make a change for your pet. I think it is a great a wise investment. What do you think?
Keeping Your Dog Off the Couch
With pets, establishing boundaries from an early age is absolutely essential. If you consider a behavior unacceptable, it must be established as such. What constitutes unacceptable behavior, however, varies from family to family. While almost everyone can agree that biting is never allowed, some families are more lenient about chewing personal possessions or letting the dog onto the furniture. This issue of letting a dog on human furniture is a particularly divisive issue.
Some people, after all, are particularly concerned with keeping the house clean. And if that’s the case, you need to teach your dog from the very beginning that getting on the couches or the bed is simply not allowed. These kinds of boundaries should only be imposed, however, if there is an equally comfortable place for the dog to rest. Dogs don’t get on the furniture because they are bad or like to misbehave. They climb on furniture because it’s comfortable! As such, look into any number of dog couches for your pet. These comfortable couches make it much more likely that your dog will heed your commands to stay off your furniture, especially since they will have it all to themselves.
Animal Massage
What activities do you do with your horse?
The deep bonds acquired with your horse can allow each of you to find fun in all that you do. A horse can be a part of your life for many reasons. But no matter what the reason, you have to care for it to maintain that trust and bonding relationship that you have developed.
Since their bodies are made up of huge muscles to the maximize power when exercising they need to be addressed. The muscles can be addressed in a technique called equine massage, regardless of the activity.
As with people massage, equine massage addresses
• Increased circulation
• Eliminate toxins from the body
• Increased flexibility
• Increase Muscle tone
• Increase Range of motion
• Relief of pain due to over use of muscles or trigger points (knots) in the muscles
• Stress relief
The activities of the horse, massage therapy greatly increases the muscle tone for greater strength ability. Massage may also lessen the injury potential in your horse. If your horse is injured, providing massage will assist in the healing process by providing fresh oxygenated blood to the injury area, deeply assisting the healing process.
Look for the next article on Reiki for animals.
Pet Assistance
There comes a time when you may have to assist your pet moving around. This is a difficult time as it usually occurs with age due to arthritis or injury. There are many products out there to help you so you can help your pet. The Bottoms-up leash is one of those products.
Since you will also have to take your pet to the veterinarian or maybe to the park, there is also a product to help lift your pet into the car. You can use any of these products to assist your pet up or down the stairs.
Have you used any of these?
The Glam Pet For 2010
Give them a gift of a New Look!
In 2010, give your pet the gift of glam! A regular grooming regimen will make your pet feel proud, pampered and healthy. After all the pampering of their bath and brushing and teeth cleaning, why not dress them up in a new dog collar and outfit. Or purhaps you will need a new halter for your horse or a lead rope.
What will you do for you pet today?
Did Joe Cool Have a Bed Like This?
It would be hard to come up with a kind of pet bed that isn’t available on the market today. Some of them look great, some of them are very comfortable, and some manage to accomplish both. The ones that impress me the most are the ones that can help a pet actually feel better.
You can even find an orthopedic dog bed to cool and soothe your dog on a hot day, which is beneficial for easily overheated breeds like the pug and bulldog and which can actually treat a dog’s injuries. There are also thermal pet mats and beds available that can provide relief for an arthritic pet or help to relax a grumpy one on a crisp winter day. Check out our great selection!
Is A Halter Better For My Dog?
Many people today want to use the gentlest method possible for controlling and training their dog. Choke collars, pinch collars, and prong collars make many people uncomfortable. Some people prefer to use halters such as the Halti or Gentle Leader for their dogs but there are pros and cons to these head collars. Should you use one for your dog?
A head collar is different from an ordinary collar for dogs. Most regular collars fit around a dog’s neck. Head collars work like a horse halter. They have straps that fit behind your dog’s ears, along the cheeks and over your dog’s nose. It is this nose strap that really controls your dog. There is a D ring on the underside of the head collar where you attach your leash.
It’s important to properly size a head collar to fit your dog. Otherwise the halter won’t be effective at all.
Most dogs don’t like a head collar at first. Some dogs never get used to them. When you put the head collar on your dog you should allow plenty of time for your dog to get used to it. Let your dog wear the head collar in the house a few times before you ever try to take him anywhere wearing the halter. Give him some treats when you put the head collar on. Give treats and take the head collar off. You can do this a few times so that he associates the head collar with something pleasant. You can even put the head collar on before you feed your dog and let him eat while he’s wearing it.
After your dog has gotten used to wearing the halter you can attach your leash and practice walking your dog. You can practice in the house before going in the backyard or on a quiet street.
It’s a good idea to have a standard collar on your dog and an extra leash with you, just in case. It’s always possible that the halter could break and you might need to attach your leash to the back-up collar.
Walk your dog on a loose leash and let him walk in front of you. Head collars are great for controlling boisterous dogs and dogs that aggressively pull. They are often chosen by small people with very large dogs since they help them control the dogs better. Your dog should be walking more quietly for you with the head collar.
You can practice walking 10 to 20 feet, then give your dog a treat. Keep this up for a few days and your dog should be walking quietly for you.
Those are the basics of training your dog to walk with a head collar. It’s not hard to teach your dog but there are pros and cons about using a halter on a dog. Some trainers believe that a head collar is a “quick fix” for a training problem. If your dog pulls when you walk him with an ordinary collar, you haven’t really solved the problem by putting your dog in a head collar. You have only increased your control. If you put your dog back in an ordinary collar your dog will likely still pull.
Other people dislike using the head collar because, with the nose strap around the dog’s muzzle, it looks like your dog is wearing a muzzle. This can give people the impression that you have an aggressive dog which makes many owners uncomfortable.
By far the most serious negative about using the head collar is that there is the potential for soft tissue damage and damage to the spine from using the halter. The head collar works on a dog’s nose instead of the lower neck. If a dog moves out to the end of the leash and yanks or is pulled back, or if you simply don’t see what he’s doing, his head can be whipped to the side at the top of the spine. This is similar to a facemask injury in football, with the head being whipped around to the side and it can cause a lot of physical damage to your dog, especially if it happens repeatedly.
And, as already mentioned, many dogs simply seem to hate the head collars. They don’t seem to like having something placed on their nose, especially so close to their eyes. Although the halter is similar in design to a horse halter, the head of a horse and that of a dog are very different.
Head collars are very effective for dogs that pull a lot, especially for small people trying to control large dogs, but you’ll have to make your own evaluation about the pros and cons and whether you think the good outweighs the bad.
<a href=”http://information.i-love-dogs.com/dog-articles/dog-training/4190-Halter-Better-For-Dog.html”>Is A Halter Better For My Dog?</a> courtesy of <a href=”http://information.i-love-dogs.com/dog-articles/”>Dog Articles</a>