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All you want to know about vaccinating your pets

Blogged by Tamzin on Friday June 26th, 2009 at 3:48 am in Your Home Pet | 0 Comments »

All you want to know about vaccinating your pets

Timely vaccinations are very important part of pet?s health. Different types of vaccine shots are to be given at different times. Some people are against vaccination and some are in favor of vaccination, but the assertion is that there are risks involved with both. A firm statement cannot be passed on a broader level, instead the rules vary from one individual animal to another depending on the needs and tolerance levels of the animal. There are certain factors based on which the decision must be taken.

Young ones which have been separated from their mothers before six weeks and are bottle-fed are at a higher risk of getting diseases. This is because the animals, which feed on their mother?s milk, get maternal antibodies, which protects them until their own immune system has been fully developed. The development of immune system can differ on the basis of amount and type of viruses they are getting exposed to, the potency of the virus and the body?s ability to face the virus attack. Diet and nutrition also plays an important role in preventing diseases.

Animals, which aren?t exposed enough also needs to be vaccinated so as to alter the system and help develop it, without causing illness. The quantity is also important, because a little more virus can actually infest the disease in the animal. The amount can be determined by analyzing whether the animal has a weak or strong resistance to the virus.

Age is also another important factor. Animals, which are older in age, react differently. One of the reasons is that the system will be obviously weaker because of the daily activities, when compared to the younger ones. Sine their immune system would have undergone different conditions; there could be a possibility of deposition of toxins in the body. Sometimes the healthier older animal won?t be requiring vaccination at all if it has received adequate shots before.

Before vaccinating an animal, its history should be checked. The number of times a particular vaccination has been given should be checked against the records. There are breeders who give a weekly dose of vaccination to their animal, which is for sure an over dose. This leads to many problems such as thickening of blood because of the protein complexes released from the immune system. This can also damage other internal organs and might even result in the failure of the immune system. In worst circumstances, it could even lead to the death of the animal.

Pregnant females react differently to the vaccines when compared to their male and female counterparts. The pregnant females should never be injected with live virus vaccines or even exposed to other animals that have recently received them. Animals, which have been injected with dead-virus vaccines, are safe for the childbearing animal.

Animals, which are already suffering from a disease, should be examined more carefully, so that the vaccination doesn?t aggravate the problem. Genetics also plays an important role. If the animal stands a chance of getting a disease because of hereditary reason, vaccinations can create an adverse reaction.

The environment also plays a major role. If the animal is kept in a sanitary and clean place, it is exposed to lesser viruses, which lowers it?s chances of getting diseases. A dirtier environment not only spreads viruses and bacteria but also affects the immune system and other systems adversely as toxins begin to deposit in the body. The vaccination plan should be designed after analyzing the lifestyle of the animal.

Another major reason for difference in the quantity of vaccination is the improvement in the vaccinations itself. They have become safer and more efficient. No tests have proved the affective period of the vaccinations. Every state and country has different regulations about vaccination. Vaccination testing cannot only risk the life of the animal, but as well as that of a human. For example, if a dog, which is being tested for rabies vaccination, bites a human, it can lead to the death of the human, in extreme circumstances. Many states in United States demand vaccination when owners try to get permit for exotic animals. The facility vet decided which vaccines should be given and which should be exempted for the safety of the animal.

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Pet Passport and PETS

Blogged by Tamzin on Saturday June 20th, 2009 at 3:48 am in Your Home Pet | 0 Comments »

Pet Passport and PETS

Pets require a passport when they travel from one country to another. The passport has official information about the animal in picture. Pet Travel Scheme or PETS, is a scheme which allows the easy obtainment of the pet passport with out going through quarantine. The animal can easily travel between member countries. Even the issue of passport is expedited through this scheme. They issue passport for even transport of pets. Some of the member countries are countries of the European Union along with the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom has been famous for rabies control in the past and that is the reason why they require six month quarantine period for imported animals. PETS? scheme was introduced on October 1st, 2001. The scheme has also been rolled out in countries like the United States, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada. Pets travelling to countries other than the member countries require a valid passport and rabies vaccination.

The pet passport has multiple forms which are in a small blur booklet or on pink A4 sheet. The passport contains the tattoo number of the animal or a microchip. A certification too is included, which has information about the rabies vaccination, which is signed by a veterinary surgeon that is officially approved. People usually confuse the passport with a purple colored small folder which is a folder that has records of the pet?s complete vaccination history.

Some countries accept this passport alone and others ask for supporting documentations relating to the procedure that needs to be followed. All the documents are checked at the time of boarding and upon arrival, too. The pet can only be taken as cargo or excess baggage and not as a checked baggage.

There are different requirements for different countries. The rules also differ for import and export of the pets. But there are certain specifications which are common. The pet should have a microchip implant beneath the skin. The chip should be according to the ISOP specification. Also, there should be a rabies vaccination certification. And there should be a proof that the vaccination is working, this can be done by taking a blood serology test, which shows that the pet is presently rabies free.

Some countries demand that the pet should be treated for fleas, tapeworms, and ticks. It should be done within forty eight hours. The government certifications are documents which have information about the export of the animal. A letter should also be taken from the vet from whom they confirm the pet?s fitness for travelling. Each individual carrier also has their set of regulations about the export and import of the animal.

Before travelling, the owner should thoroughly research the regulations of the arrival and departure points. The destination?s government website should be checked out because some countries ask for separate certificates for proof, to see whether the pet meets their requirements or not. The county?s consulate should also be contacted for details about the formal procedures. The travel crate should also be approved prior to the travel. The crate should have the appropriate food and water containers.

The owner can apply for the pet?s passport soon after it gets the vaccination certificate. If the rabies vaccination is out of date, the new vaccination must be given, but this will delay the passport procedure. In some cases, booster vaccination can also be given. While travelling, the pet shouldn?t be sedated, because heights can have an adverse affect on medication. Even most of the carriers do not allow sedated animals. The charges of every carrier vary on the type and size of the animal. Also, animals might not be taken by a particular route because of adverse temperatures as that can risk the health of the animal. The authorized travel route must be taken, in this case.

If the required documents are missing the pet will be refused entry o the owner will be asked to put the pet for at least six months in quarantine.

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How Dogs Communicate?

Blogged by Tamzin on Saturday June 13th, 2009 at 2:22 pm in Your Home Pet | 0 Comments »

How Dogs Communicate?

Dogs are one of the intelligent animals among the domestic pets. They have the ability to communicate with humans, other dogs and even other animals. They do this by using body signs and different vocals. The signs are made with the help of body movement involving eyes, ears, eyebrows, head, mouth and tail. Different vocals include barks, howls, growls, whimpers and whines. Dogs do gestures whose meaning can change depending on the situation. Like if a dog pants, it can mean that the dog is feeling hot or the dog is happy or anxious.

Confident and higher ranked dogs have a high held tail. Dogs have the feeling of submission and dominance in them. This is because the dogs live in packs, in the wild. They have hierarchy within the group. The weaker dogs submit themselves to the stronger dog. That is the reason why dogs lower their tail when they feel insecure. When the dogs fight for dominance, the fur on their tail stands up. They and even other animals, do this to increase their size in front of their enemy.

When the dog is in a confused situation, it wags its tail slowly. They are in a process of figuring out whether they should accept the situation or time or else, they have still not accepted the situation completely, but are in the process. Excited dogs wag their tails very fast. If the hip moves along with the tail, it means the dog is ready for submission to a dog of higher rank.

When the dogs get aggressive they show their fangs. If the teeth are visible, it indicates that the dog is ready to bite or attack. They also show teeth when they smile and this is an indication of submissiveness. Observing the number of teeth on display can differentiate a smile. Smile reveals only the front teeth, but when the dog snarls, all his teeth and gums can be seen. Ears are good indication about the attention levels of the dog. When the ears are erect and forward facing, means the dog is concentrating. But when the dog fears something, it lays down its ears. Some dogs hold the ears in forward and horizontal direction when they are happy.

In majority of the cases, barking is done to scare away stranger and to make the owner aware of an intruder. They also tend to bark while they are playing. They use to even convey emotions such as pleasure, fear, stress and suspicion. When the dog is excited or is playing, the barks are sharp and short. When they are stressed out or anxious, they bark repeatedly in a high pitch tone. They also bark to communicate with other animals such as cat, deer, squirrel, fox and other dogs. But the sound of barking is different.

Growling is done to threaten or to show superiority. Dogs howl when they make long-range communication. A dog yawns when it is bored and needs to be left alone. It also yawns when it is sleepy, stressed out or confused. When the dog pants with a full open mouth, it is happy. When it pants with a slightly open mouth, it needs to be played with. Dogs lift one forelimb up, when it wants to play. It will stamp its front limbs when it is excited. They scratch objects they want. Domestic dogs are trained for handshake, like human beings. They hold out a paw forward and exchange a handshake. If the dog tilts it’s head in a particular direction, it means that it is trying to concentrate and recognize an unfamiliar sound.

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Choosing a Pet Sitter

Blogged by Tamzin on Saturday June 6th, 2009 at 7:39 pm in Your Home Pet | 0 Comments »

Choosing a Pet Sitter

Pet sitters are like baby sitters, who are employed to take care of a pet within the home. Usually, pet owners hire them on a contract basis when they go out on vacations. They can also be employed for a short duration like for an evening. The advantage of hiring a pet sitter is that the pet is taken care of within its environment.

The problem faced by segregating the pet out of its environment is that they become stressed out. In case of travelling before reaching the new owner they can also experience travel trauma. Vaccinations are administered to the pet after studying their lifestyle. Chances are that they can become ill because of exposure to parasites, as that situation wasn?t considered during the time of vaccination.

It is a very good idea to conduct a pet sitter interview, before hiring them for the job. The interview can be arranged on phone or in person. It is better if the interview is taken at home as the ability of the pet sitter can be tested with the pet. The pet sitters should be qualified and must have completed an educational coursework. The coursework should include pet care, nutrition and health along with business and office procedures. It is a bonus if they have taken care of animals similar to the pet you have before because not all pet sitters can take care of all types of pets. Every pet sitter is specialized with certain types of pets. It is very rare that a pet sitter has knowledge about all kinds of pets. They should have good experience in the pet care industry.

The pet sitter should also be insured or bonded in case of accidents. The insurance card and coverage should be checked out for this purpose. They can even be asked for references. The pet owners, whom they have worked with earlier can provide clear picture. The payment terms should also be discussed beforehand.

The pet sitter looks after the food and water needs of the animal. They maintain the normal routine of the animal. They also give medicines to the pet, if it is on medication. Some even provide special services such as injecting insulin; administering subcutaneous fluids, and checking blood pressure and glucose levels. In such cases, the knowledge of the pet sitter should be assessed with the vet of the pet.

Some pet sitters also provide pet walking services. This service is availed by people who are old or are having some kind of disability and are not able to provide the adequate exercise to their pet. They also drive the pet to the vet, groomer or trainer. Pet sitters also pick up pet supplies such as food and medicines. All the additional services are optional and not provided by all pet sitters. They also play with the pet and maintain the litter box.

Pets such as dogs, cats, snakes, rabbits, ferrets, lizards, guinea pig, fish, and hamsters can be having a complete stranger also as a pet sitter. But some of the exotic animals are very fussy and shy. They accept pet sitters whom they are familiar with. In such cases, pet owners must try to develop familiarity between the pet and the pet sitter beforehand, in their presence. The most common method of bonding with the animal is by bottle feeding them. After the initial bond is formed, the pet can be left alone with the baby sitter.

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Operant Conditioning and Pet Training

Blogged by Tamzin on Saturday May 30th, 2009 at 7:53 pm in Your Home Pet | 0 Comments »

Operant Conditioning and Pet Training

The species of the animals, their history, and their upbringing plays a vital role in personality development of the pet. The characteristic of a specific species cannot be generalized, although some habits can be common. It is therefore recommended that the characteristic of the individual animal should be studied before designing the training plan for it. But some basic principles can be applied along with the designed training plan. The training plan can be equipped with training equipments, reference training book, etc.

Operant condition is the most important and basic thing to concentrate upon during training. Operant condition explains the effect of the training technique on the behavior of the animal. For example, the pet will understand that if he uses the litter box properly it will get a treat. And he can avoid a punishment by not jumping on a sleeping person in the middle of the night. A human learns that if he works hard, he will be able to get good grades and if he touches the flame of a burning candle he will burn himself. All these are example of the outcome of operant conditioning.

The categories of operant conditioning are reinforcement and punishment. Reinforcement is the repeated force of behavior out of the animal using something. They are repetitive behavior, which can be positive or negative. Punishment is the consequence of a bad behavior, which shouldn?t be repeated again. Punishments can be either negative or positive, but they help to decrease the repetition of the behavior. They can be further divided as positive reinforcement, positive punishment, negative reinforcement and negative punishment.

Good behaviors are behaviors, which should be repeated again and again. And the result of the good behavior should also be good, which is known as a reward. For example, if the dog does an expected action upon hearing the command, it knows that it will get a treat as a reward in return. If the animal doesn?t pounce on the human and instead pounces on the toy, it should be rewarded with a pat or a hug. All these are known as positive enforcements.

Negative enforcements are repeated behaviors, which will stop something bad or which will help in getting rid of something. This term should not be confused with punishment. For example, if a dog is trained to bark upon sighting a stranger in the house, it will make the intruder run away, this is negative enforcement. The subject does something so as to stop the occurrence of something unpleasant.

Positive punishment is given when the animal does something bad very rarely which results in something undesirable. Since the animal is punished, the animal will learn from it and there will be lesser chance of repetition. For example, if the puppy is sprayed with water when it pounces on the human, this is positive punishment. The puppy will foresee the punishment before pouncing again.

When the animal does something and something good is snatched away from it, this is known as negative punishment. For example if the dog tries to snatch the food right out of the hand of the owner, it will not get any food.

These basic principles depict the learning traits of the animals. Based on these training techniques are developed. The owners can develop unique training programs for each of their pets, individually.

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Animal Languages

Blogged by Tamzin on Monday May 25th, 2009 at 7:53 am in Your Home Pet | 0 Comments »

Animal Languages

Animals to communicate with humans use animal language. The animal language is a modified version of early human language itself only that animals lack complexity and are less expressive. Great ape language is a means to communicate among apes such as bonobos, orangutans, chimpanzees, and gorillas. Humans communicate with these animals using sign language, lexigrams, yerkish and physical tokens. Jacques Vauclair, Francine Patterson and David Premack are well-known researchers in great ape language.

Humans have used sign language since a very long time. One of the important sign language used by humans is American Sign Language. Animals also use signs to express their feelings and for communication sake. Vocabulary words have been taken from American Sign Language to communicate with the apes. Lexigrams are symbols, which represent something. The symbols are laid down on a flat board called the lexigram board. The lexigram board has three panels with three hundred and eighty four keys. These boards are especially used to communicate with chimpanzees and bonobos. Yerkish also involves keyboard with punch keys, which have the lexigram symbols. It is actually an artificial language. Computer keyboards are also used to aid animals as most of them can be easily trained for keyboard operation.

Plastic tokens are also used for communication with apes. The apes select a specific token when they want to communicate something. The animal is given training to select the right token. Tokens have symbols or pictures. Not all the apes learn this method of communication properly. During the training, the animal is made to learn by rewarding them upon an achievement.

Although animals lack vocal cords and speech organs like humans, some animals have vocals of their own. Wild apes are known to talk to each other to make the other aware of a possible danger. Animal language does not have discreteness like human languages. In human languages, discrete units are combined together to make a new word with a meaning. So signs or sounds, in animal language, cannot be combined to form another sign or sound, which means something. But researchers have proved it that the animal language does meet certain requirements. But the validity is still disputed upon by many and that is the reason why animal language hasn’t been given the status of a true language.

People have questioned the practice of great ape language. The researchers try to understand whether the usage of this language aid the animals to solve the problem better. Also, whether the teaching experiences with a primate can be of use when human children are taught. This is because, there is without doubt a difference in the ability of the animal and a human, while they may be similar at some level. Some say that the apes do not actually understand the language, but instead do a clever trick to get a reward. Also some researches say that the signed gesture do not make a grammatically right sentence. The arbitrariness is sometimes missing, that is, there is no clear relationship between the signs or sounds.

Many animals have behaviors, which is similar what we speak. They can understand the language, they can also use it to reflect their thoughts and communicate with a human. Other than primates, animals such as sea lions and dolphins also use sign language and vocals to communicate with human.

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Pets for Seniors and Physically Handicapped

Blogged by Tamzin on Monday May 18th, 2009 at 8:22 am in Your Home Pet | 0 Comments »

Pets for Seniors and Physically Handicapped

As people get too old, they find it difficult to even do daily chores at home. Such people especially, require a helping hand. Animals can be trained to become great domestic help. Along with helping they also can provide great companionship. The most preferable pets are dogs. Cats are kept as pets to provide company to people like senior citizens who are stressed out or are heart patients, blood pressure patients, so as to help them beat stress. Even exotic pets such as capuchin monkeys are trained for this purpose. Not only are they big help for senior citizens but as well as for the physically handicapped such as blind people and quadriplegics.

Service dogs are dogs are specially trained dogs for patients with disabilities. The hearing dog is a special kind of service dog which are trained to help the hearing impaired and deaf people. They help by alerting the disabled when it hears important sounds such as phone rings, doorbells, alarm clocks and smoke alarms. They are of great help not only within the house, but also outdoors. They alert the handler when someone calls out the person?s name, approaching sirens, and forklifts. Hearing dogs can be recognized by the bright orange leash and collar they are made to wear. Sometimes they even wear a jacket or a cape which can be of any color.

Some service dogs are also trained as mobility assistance dog to help a physically handicapped person. They are trained to open and close doors, pick up things, and even turn on and off the switches. Dogs with larger build are also trained to pull patients in wheelchairs. They do this with the help of a special harness which facilitates them to pull objects.

They are also trained as walker dogs, which are also nicknamed as living canes. They help patients with Parkinson?s disease and other disorders. They assist their owners with the help of their gait and also provide balance while walking. Incase the handler falls off, the dog helps to regain position by acting as a brace. All kinds of mobility assistance dogs are allowed in areas where pet aren?t allowed, like in public places and transportations.

Dogs are also trained for assisting people with Type 1 diabetes. They are service dogs trained to smell the odor changes in the body which helps to determine hypoglycemia or low blood glucose. Another type of service dogs is seizure response dog. They help patients with epilepsy or seizure disorder. They help to seek help in case of emergency, block the handler with absence seizures, pull dangerous objects away from the body, and wake up the unconscious patient. They are also trained to use a pre-programmed phone. They also provide physical and emotional support and also carry information about the patient?s medical condition.

Service dogs are also trained to help people with psychiatric disabilities such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, depressive disorder, autism, and post traumatic stress disorder. They alert the handler to take medicines, and also help people having hallucinations, paranoia or alerting behaviors. They also act as a brace and help to retrieve objects. Dogs which help the visually impaired people or blind people are known as guide dogs. They help the handler to walk around obstacles. But the disadvantage here is that dogs are partially color blind. They cannot see red and green color, so they cannot help the blind with traffic signals. They even cannot be trained to interpret street signs. Guide horses are also employed to help people who are blind and who do not prefer guide dogs. The horses are miniature horses. Some people prefer horses because they live longer than the dogs. Some are also allergic or scared of dogs. But the advantage of keeping a guide dog is that they can live within the house, but the horse needs to be kept in a barn. Also horses cannot travel on public transportations like a dog.

Capuchin monkeys are also trained by some organizations. They help the quadriplegics or patients who have paralysis in all their four limbs. Initially they should be brought up with people with no disabilities and then after reaching a certain age; they can be given intense training and then transferred to the home of the quadriplegic. They can perform tasks such as opening bottles, microwaving food and they even wash the face of their owner. They are also very friendly animals and are safe for kids, too.

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Household Pets: Problems faced during Litter Box Training

Blogged by Tamzin on Wednesday May 13th, 2009 at 2:22 am in Your Home Pet | 0 Comments »

Household Pets: Problems faced during Litter Box Training

Not all owners are good trainers, but all of them do put in effort to discipline their pets and face certain challenges. The biggest problem is faced during litter box training. If there is a problem with the pet, it should be handled with care and the habit should be positively reinforced on it. Basically, the point is that the training method should be fun for the owner as well as for the pet.

If the animal excretes outside the box, it meant that the pet has a disliking for the box. The disliking can happen if the litter box is small, unclean and filled with litter most of the times. The box should be cleaned regularly and disinfected; otherwise an unpleasant odor will fill the area. Care must be taken that disinfectant doesn?t have a scented smell. If the smell is too scented or strong, the owners can switch to air fresheners and cleaners that have a mild smell. Another reason for disliking the litter box is because of its texture. Most of the pets like litters boxes not made out of hard clay but made out of a more fine grained, soft material.

Any good pet store will have a wide range of litter box collection. The owners can choose the most suitable one depending on the nature of their pet. If there is adequate place at home, an alternative to the litter box can be found. A particular corner in your lawn can be filled with soil, sand or wood shavings. The wood shavings shouldn?t be of coca husk or cedar as it can be harmful for the animal. Another good option for litter is laying down chicken feed. And if size is a problem with the pet, the owner should obviously get a bigger one. Usually the size preference will develop when the animal is growing big in size.

Some animal have surface issues, that is, they prefer surfaces with a specific texture. The preferable surfaces are clothes, carpet, bed and anything soft along with using the litter box sometimes. Pets which have been declawed can also develop surface issues. For such animals, the litter box can be replaced with a towel. It would be lot better than the animal excreting in beddings and blankets. And if the animal has already soiled places other than the litter box, those places should be cleaned with an intense enzymatic odor remover, because if the animal smells its pee, it will be going to use the object or place again to pass.

Pets can even have location preferences. In this case they won?t care about the surface provided to them. This is a lesser problem, because the pet won?t ignore the litter box and the litter box can be placed in his preferred location. Usually the reason behind this preference is because of the place being too cold or hot, or cut off or too busy but some places are unacceptable, as it can be unhygienic for the other family members and also that place will be filled with odor from the pets excreta. If the pet has a fancy to use a particular room, the owner can keep the door shut for that particular room. It should be denied access to that area. If the area is open, it can be disinfected by a very strong smelling cleaner. Commercial repellants meant especially for the pets are available in the market. Scat mats can also be used to cover up that area.

Pets can be very fussy sometimes. Some won?t like to urinate and excrete in the same litter box. If this is the case, they should be provided with two different boxes. Owners must try to reward the animal with food or toys, when it uses the litter box properly. This gives it more encouragement. Sometimes the animal can even have a urine marking problem. This condition can be successfully treated with the help of medicines. These medicines are used to alter the behavior of the animal. A good vet can be consulted in this regard.

Even after all these efforts, if the pet still insists of using the same location for passing, an acrylic blanket which is easily washable can be sewn with a waterproof material at the other side and can be placed. Disposable housebreaking pads are also available at most of the pet stores. This is even easier as once it gets soiled it can be simply disposed.

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Sports Pet

Blogged by Tamzin on Wednesday May 6th, 2009 at 5:29 am in Your Home Pet | 0 Comments »

Sports Pet

Many animals are adopted and trained for the purpose of participating in sports. The animal can be completely or partially involved in the sport they are trained for. The most popular sports animals are dogs and horses. Some sports called the blood sports also exist which are very harsh and they put the life of the animal at risk. Many organizations are against such kind of cruelty and also it is against the law in many countries.

Animals were first domesticated for the purpose of hunting in the beginning. This necessity later turned into a sport, but the animals were still involved. This sport was meant for the rich people and the royal family, in the medieval period. Hunters rode horses and dogs accompanied them. The sport was sometimes dangerous when lions and other exotic animals were hunted. While the horses chased the animal, the dogs and hounds were trained to actually attack the animal. But now hunting is banned in almost all the countries.

The most common sports involving pets is horse riding. In some events a human rider mounts the horse and in others the horse competes without the human being. This modern sport is a derivative of the chariot race which was held in the Roman and ancient Greek times. Dogsled racing is another racing event involving dogs. It is a timed winter sport, where dogs are tied to sledges, which pull it, while the driver stands on the sledge. They need to run on a marked course and whichever team finishes first is declared as the winner.

Greyhound racing is also another animal sport. Actually, in the 1800s, greyhounds were brought from Europe to the United States to control the increasing hare population. Breeders then thought of involving this animal in racing and hence, this was how greyhound racing started. Also, there are camel races involving camels. But this race is sometimes objected because the riders in such races are small kids. Pigeon racing is a not so popular sport, involving trained racing pigeons. The pigeons are taken away from their loft and then they are made to race. Whoever reaches the home first wins the race. Beatle races are also popular in Asia.

Jousting sport was developed in the fourteen century, where knights ride on the back of the horse and compete with each other. Horses are also trained for the sport polo. There are two teams, which compete with each other. The competitor rides the horse and at the same time hits the ball with the help of mallets. The team, which makes the highest score, is the winning team. As the start of the twentieth century, polo involved elephants and it was considered as a royal sport back then. Pole bending involves a horse and a horse rider. The horse has to run on a serpentine path, which has six poles in one line. If the horse knocks down any of the pole, the rider and the horse are immediately disqualified.

Show jumping also involves horses. The horse has to jump over fences with the jockey on their back. Horse ballet is another sport involving horses. Dogs are given training to participate in sports such as dog agility, and sheepdog trails. Dogs also participate in dog shows. It is a competition where dogs of certain breed compete with each other. Things such as looks, intelligence, grace, etc, of the individual dog are considered. Sports involving animals, which are cruel are bullfighting, camel wrestling, cockfighting, and cow fighting.

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Mellowing down a Wild Pet

Blogged by Tamzin on Wednesday April 29th, 2009 at 11:15 am in Your Home Pet | 0 Comments »

Mellowing down a Wild Pet

Orphaned animals which have been rescued from the wild will have wild natural instincts, no matter what their age is. Even when they play, it?s rough which involves lots of biting and clawing. The same is true with exotic pets. They will have a more wild side when compared to the domestic ones. It would be unfair to generalize this principle for all, but it is true in most of the cases. The biggest challenge faced by the new owner will be limit the usage of teeth and claws by the pet. Teeth are the more dangerous of the two, because wild and exotic pets bite really hard, even while playing, until they aren?t given proper training. Even if the owner tries to pat the pet, it will show its affection by biting. The owner must not consider this act as an aggressive one, but it should be amended in early stages otherwise this habit will turn into a permanent one.

The owner must never consider declawing, defanging as the first resort or even as the last resort. The pet undergoes a lot of pain during and after the surgery. Many owners swear that their pets had undergone total personality change after declawing. They also turn violent as their means of natural defense is lost. And no quantity and quality of training can undo this negativity. Also, it certainly doesn?t mean that the animal will not bite after its canines have been removed. Even after defanging the animal, it can still bite and hurt with its molars.

A very easy and recognized method is slightly tapping on the nose of the pet when it bites really hard. But this won?t apply to all and worst of all it can even encourage the animal to bite even more. They take it as a challenge and make more rough play. It will back off for a while and then sneak attack. But it does work for some pet owners and above all there is no harm in practicing this technique. It should only be practiced till the positive outcome is achieved. If negative results begin to come, the practice should be stopped immediately. Whenever the pet bites, hold that body part still. This will bore the cat and it will treat it like a toy to play with.

When the pet prepares to attack, another easier thing which can be done is raising up the hands. The pet will bounce off and will give up at some time, seeing the disinterest of the person. But it would be a mistake to over react to the situation like making noises, yelling or pushing the pet. The pet will assume that the person is enjoying the play and participating in the act and will increase its enthusiasm even more. Animals play rough games and getting a rough response from the owner makes them assume that they are participating in their rough act. Other tactics like pinning down the pet or grabbing will just aggravate the pet?s wild habits.

Biting can also be stopped by giving a toy to the animal which they can chew upon instead of hurting the family members by pouncing on and biting them. Most of them like toys which are squishy, rubbery, soft and easily chewable. The toy can then be tied to a rope and wiggled and the animal cannot only pounce on it but also chew it. The toy can be carried along all the time and when the pet prepares to attack any family member, the toy can be wiggled at him and he will pounce on the toy instead. But extra care to be taken in this regard is that some animals can tear up the toy and eat it. Those pieces can block up their intestines which can make them ill and sometimes might even lead to death. The animal will sometimes vomit or excrete the foreign objects, but sometimes it will require an expensive surgery. Pets should be constantly supervised when they are playing with toys.

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