Protecting Our Dogs

People seem to marvel at small dogs wearing clothing. They are just so cute you want to hug them! Not only are they cute but clothing can be functional too! Short haired dogs benefit from sweaters or coats in cold weather. Long haired dogs that live in the house really benefit from a rain slicker in wet weather keeping the wet dog smell down.

Hunting dogs benefit from leather boots to protect their feet from sharp rocks. Rubber boots help protect the feet from tracking mud into the house. Insulated boots help with the frost factor in some of the areas that have lots of freezing weather. Antifreeze chemicals used in deicing streets in cold weather states hurt dogs paws, the animals may start licking them and end up ingesting the toxins. Ingested antifreeze toxins can shut down your dogs kidneys. To prevent this, it is necessary to wash the dogs" paws in warm water immediately.

An Article in the Moscow News

"Dogs need to go for daily walks-and because Moscow's sub-zero temperatures and sidewalks may be covered in ice or harmful chemicals to melt it, warm clothing and even shoes for dogs become not only practical but also humane."

"In temperatures of minus 15 degrees Celsius or below, it is imperative to put coats on dogs." Said Valeria Shishmaryova, a veterinarian at the Movet Clinic in western Moscow. When the weather is not that cold, Shishmaryova said, dog owners should take two factors into account: breed and age.

Because of the companionship, entertainment and unconditional love dogs give us it stands that we humans are willing to care for mans best friend by spending millions to protect, dress and entertain them.

About The Author
Judith K Burns lives on a small horse ranch where she breeds and trains horses. She has three constant companions Libby (Border collie), Red and Wendy (Aussies). Libby is a retired Search and Rescue dog. Judi and three of her horses are certified and active in Mounted Search and Rescue. Judi also sells on-line dog apparel.
www.primpmypet.com

Useful Steps On Deceiving Your Pets To Take Pet Meds

All pets depend on their owners with everything they need. Their owners usually give even the basic things to them. These include foods, shelter and pet medications.

Pet owners who greatly know about pet meds are likely to distinguish the symptoms when something is not right with their pet. In addition, they typically know the best thing to do when such thing arises. Having at least a little knowledge about pet meds can already give calmness to you and your four-legged best friend.

Your choice vet is actually your good source of information when it comes to pet medications. Feel free to ask him or her questions about pet meds. Knowing the correct pet medication can clear up any sore and painful illness so your pet will active again.

There are also pet med home remedies. You can use these home remedies for simple problems such as ear infections or an irritated eyes. In addition, caring your pet's skin is as easy as watching his or her diet.

When it comes to health care for people, precautionary medicine is important. If possible know the pet medications suitable for your pet and please ensure to get them on a habitual manner.

Oral pet medication is also advisable as long as you have it prescribed by your pet's veterinarian. A spoon of sugar may be worthy attempt in making your pet to swallow a required medication, but here is a more effective trick to help the pill go down.

1. Offer your pet a treat without medicines to stimulate his or her desire for food.

2. Think of the following for dog treats, a small piece of hotdog, cheese or peanut butter.

3. Give cats a bunch of butter; offer horses' granule with molasses.

4. Make use of similar treat to cover the pill.

5. Break the medication into tiny parts if possible, and put it completely inside the hotdog, cheese, peanut butter or bunch of butter.

6. Chop up the medicines for your pet horses, and mix it to the granules with many molasses to hold the blend together.

7. Make it sure that the food if big enough to wrap the medicine or the piece of medicine. However do not make treats that are too big because there will be a tendency that your pet might find out about it and drop it out.

However, whether you have fulfilled these steps, it is still important that you and your vet check your pet to make sure medications are doing the right things. If the medicine prescribed by your vet seem not to work at all, have your pet re-examined.

There are vets who do not like to give out prescription script because of the possibility of being drug dependent. It is necessary to talk with your vet about it. Surely, he or she can provide you and your pet with suggestion on what to do when medicines are not functioning well to your pet.

Just follow whatever your vet told you to do and you can be sure that in no less than a week your pet will be healed completely.

In this way, be ready to see you pet as achieve as he/she was before. Lastly, check out your pet's health every now and then to avoid bigger problems.

About The Author
John Rivers is the owner of Pet Meds. All you need to know about pets. You will also learn where where to buy ped meds online. http://www.easypetmeds.info.

Mans Best Freind

Dogs are a major American pet status. Every year billions of dollars are spent on dog items, dog health, comfort, and entertainment. There are even stories out there of owners that have put their health care second to their dog's health care…

In today's world some couples have opted not to have children but have taken on the responsibility of a pet as a surrogate child. A few years ago, pets weren't as important to their owners as they are now, People now think of them as children. They dress them up: celebrate their birthdays; all these things indicate how elevated a place our animals take in our lives.

Older people are living longer and may; have lost their life mate but they have the companionship and entertainment of a dog or cat.

Pets can be quite entertaining as I can attest to. One summer in Montana where we have no TV, we spent untold hours watching our dogs roll a ball that dispensed food. Not lonely was the toy a source of food and entertainment, but exercise. Our dogs were constantly on the move trying to get their goodies.

Dogs are being used for the eyes and ears of their owner and now also for sniffing out cancer. Some dogs are used with law enforcement and go home with the officer to be part of their family. Search and rescue dogs live with their handlers and love going places and having people talk to them and pet them. In some situations, dog owners who take their dogs on the water are opting for wet suits that help keep the dog afloat as well as protecting from hypothermia.

So it stands "Dog is Mans Best Friend" and we humans are willing to spend millions, to protect, dress and entertain them.

About The Author
Judith K Burns lives on a small horse ranch where she breeds and trains horses. She has three constant companions Libby (Border collie), Red and Wendy (Aussies). Libby is a retired Search and Rescue dog. Judi and three of her horses are certified and active in Mounted Search and Rescue. Judi also sells on-line dog apparel.
www.primpmypet.com

Fun Dog Activities

All dog breeds were developed for a purpose. Some breeds were developed to herd sheep, some to hunt game, and some to pull sleds. Dogs, like humans, enjoy having a purpose in life. Dogs like to lead a structured life and be able to associate with their owners in activities and be given the opportunity to please their owner. The following is a short list of fun activities that you may want to consider for your dog.

Dog Agility is a sport in which a handler must control and direct his dog around an obstacle course within a set period of time. Dogs must be controlled off-leash using only voice and body language commands. The handler runs beside the dog and directs the dog through the obstacle course with precision and speed – trying to accumulate the minimum number of faults (both missed obstacles and time faults). Obstacles include: A-frames, elevated dog walks, teeter-totters, tunnels, jumps (such as hurdles and tires), weave poles (like a slalom), pause tables (where the dog must lie down for a fixed time), and other obstacles. In order to be fair, there are usually classes of competition to group dogs of similar size and experience. Therefore there will be several winners at a competition. Dogs and handlers need to be very well trained and seem to enjoy this sport immensely. There are a number of organizations involved in agility performance around the world who sanction clubs to allow them to host agility competitions. In the US, some of these organizations include: the American Kennel Club (AKC), the United Kennel Club (UKC), the United States Dog Agility Association, and the North American Dog Agility Council. Elsewhere in the world: the Kennel Club (in the UK), the Agility Association of Canada and the FCI (World Canine Organization) are all involved.

Obedience is a skill that ranges from mastering everyday commands that all dogs should know to competitive exercises that require significant training and aptitude to excel. You may start out teaching your puppy and young dog the basic obedience commands and find that you and your dog have an aptitude for obedience skills that you would like to take to a higher level. In competitive obedience the dog and handler team must perform prescribed activities off leash and in a carefully defined way. If the dog has the aptitude and training it will gain skills to allow it to advance through the ranks from Novice to Open (intermediate) to Utility (advanced) competitions. At each level the requirements become more difficult and the number of exercises to be performed get longer. Exercises are all done off leash using voice and body language commands and include such activities as: having the dog stay while you walk away; follow the handler in the heel position through complex patterns; come on command; sit and lie down for fixed periods of time while the handler is out of the dog's sight; retrieve items over a high jump; and find a scented object amongst a group of identical non-scented objects. Dogs can earn obedience titles in obedience championships. Purebred dogs can compete in obedience trials sanctioned by the AKC, while the UKC recognizes other purebred dog competitions. As well, there are mixed breed competitions sanctioned by the Mixed Breed Dog Club of America and other organizations. In Canada, the Canadian Kennel Club sanctions obedience trials and awards titles.

Lure coursing is a sport for sighthounds that involves chasing a manually or mechanically operated artificial lure across a field in a "coursing" pattern. The competition is usually restricted to pure-bred sighthounds including: Afghan Hounds, Basenjis, Borzois, Greyhounds, Ibizan Hounds, Irish Wolfhounds, Italian Greyhounds, Pharaoh Hounds, Rhodesian Ridgebacks, Salukis, Scottish Deerhounds, and Whippets. The operator keeps the lure or "prey" just in front of the chasing sighthounds until they have completed the course. The course must have a minimum number of turns and is usually 600 to 1000 yards long. The hounds love to play this sport and puppies can be introduced to the sport through lure coursing practice sessions. Competitions usually consist of two runs for each dog breed for dogs that have been pre-certified or qualified. In the US, the American Sighthound Field Association or the AKC can "certify" that dogs have been trained and are eligible to enter their sanctioned competitions. In Canada, the Canadian Kennel Club sanctions lure coursing but excludes the Italian Greyhound because they consider it a toy dog.

Tracking can be learned by all dog breeds because all dogs use their noses to identify things and explore the world. Training can be started as early as 10 to 12 weeks of age as all puppies love to use their noses to sniff out a trail. As with all training, positive rewards (treats, praise etc,) and re-enforcement work best. The AKC sanctions tracking tests and events in the US. This vigorous non-competitive outdoor sport allows dogs to demonstrate their ability to recognize and follow human scents. In Canada, the CKC sponsors tracking events and you can check their website for a list of nearby events.

Field Trials are regularly held for Basset Hounds, Beagles and Dachshunds to demonstrate their ability to find and track game. Similarily Field Trials and Hunting Trials are held almost every weekend across the country for: the Pointing Breeds, the Retrievers, and Spaniels to allow them to compete and demonstrate their hunting abilities under a strict set of conditions. If you are an owner of a hunting dog puppy, you will want to look into many of the organized activities designed for your dog. Check out the AKC or CKC websites for a list of contacts and field trials in your area.

Other Fun Activites that you might wish to explore include flyball, frisbee, herding and drafting competitions.

About The Author
Mike Mathews is a contributing writer and editor for the popular dog breed site: http://www.dog-breed-facts.com/. He provides informative, real-world advice and tips on dog breeds, dog health, dog grooming and more. As well be sure to check out his free report on Dog Training

Correcting Your Puppy From Chewing

Puppies have a physical need to chew! It all has to do with the teething process. Just like a human baby, puppies have a great need to mouth and chew. This begins around three months of age. During this time, if your puppy doesn't have somthing to chew on, he will look for something. A puppy can entertain himself for hours if he has something to knaw on.

Instead of waiting on a huge problem to start, control your puppy's impulse by doing these:

1. Always know where your pup is and what he is doing. Treat him like a baby.

2. Make sure that all socks, shoes, books, electrical cors, etc. are picked up off the floor. Put valueables away temporarily.

3. If you have to leave him, upt him in his crate.

4. Make sure that what you have in his crate is allowed to be chewed. Use a meat scented nylon bone as his chewie.

5. Put your scent on his chew bone before you leave him alone. He can then smell your scent and be comforted by it.

6. Start preventing him from chewing by grabbing the scruff of his nec and gently shaking him whenever he is chewing a forbidden item. In nature, this is what his mother would do.

7. Make sure your pup gets plenty of exercise. This will help your pup from getting bored and starting destructive behavior.

8. If you have to take an object from your pup, do so gently and praise him when he gives it to you.
Puppies must chew, so keep a close eye on the little fellows and provide them with all their needs. So many times we lose a shoe or a coffee table leg because we have neglected to do the steps above. Just try over and over until he gets it right. Actually, another deterent is to slap a newspaper down beside the puppy when he begins to chew. They hate the noise and will associate it with a no no.

There are so many different ways to cope with your puppy's chewing. Have plenty of patience and provide him with all the neccessary toys he needs to keep him occupied and away from your things.

About The Author
Mary Reid lives in South Carolina. She has done research on all types of dog related supplies and natural dog food diets. At the time of this writing she owns two beautiful Labrador Retrievers, one black and one chocolate. You can find more articles at her webpage http://www.all-natural-pet-and-more.com. She also has a great site on Organic Food, Skincare and Supplements found at http://www.yourorganicchoices.com.

American Paint Horse

The American Paint Horse is a breed of horses which are known for having a percentage of white hair over skin combined with another color. This color pattern is one of the most important characteristics of this breed. The American Paint Horse Association is one of the largest breed register centers in the US.

Every American Paint Horse has white hair combined with some other color found in horses. This includes brown, black, tan, or gray. American Paint horses are related to the American Quarter Horse, and share the same ancestors. The markings on these horses can be anywhere on its body. Like the Quarter Horse, American Paint Horses are known for their speed and athletic qualities.

Strict requirements are necessary in order to register these horses. Both the sire and dam have to be registered in the APHA and the club for Thoroughbreds. At least one of the parents of the horse being registered must be an American Paint Horse. It is also important that the horse being registered have white fur over skin which is another color. These horses have an excellent temperament, and make great pets.

The American Paint Horse should have a body shape which is the same as the American Quarter Horse. They should be heavy but not very tall, and their center of gravity should be low. They should also be very muscular with a powerful back legs. They should also be able to run extremely fast and maneuver quickly. The American Paint Horse is one of the most popular breeds of horses in the United States today.

Despite this, these horses are susceptible to getting lethal white syndrome, a genetic disease. Some foals are born with a pure white color and do not have a functioning colon. As of this writing, no effective treatments have been found for this disease, and the foal usually dies within two weeks. The death is a very painful process, and they are typically put down once symptoms have been found. The coat color alone is not an indicator that a horse has this disease.

This disease has become well known among American Paint Horse breeders, and many of them have encountered this disease first hand. While it was thought at one time that overos carried this disease, recent research has shown that not all overos carry this disorder, and tobianos and quarter horses may carry it also. Despite these conditions, American Paint Horses are highly prized.

About The Author
Michael Colucci is an experienced horse competitor and writes articles for http://www.horsegathering.com - A free site that includes horse articles, horse and tack marketplace, event calendar and a horse discussion forum.