My Dog Story
All my life, I have had dogs. Our dog matriarch was Diana; a lovely pure Rottweiler breed that was bought sometime in 1998. Diana was a powerful and faithful dog to the core. I still remember memories of her and how she usually barked to wane off strangers. Diana was posthumously named by my father, after Princess Diana of the British royal family. I don’t know where animals go when they die, but I keep hoping every day that Diana is at peace wherever she is. Well, this story is about Queen, my dog; a super brilliant brindle Boerboel. Queen is named after a dog of ours that died sometime in 2014, and funnily enough, asides from the fact that they are of different breed (the first Queen was a descendant of Diana. She was a Rottweiler breed), they have similar traits and attributes. I want to believe the name aligned in some sort of way. My dog Queen was adopted in September 2020 as a two-month-old puppy. Before then, we did not have dogs for about a year. Her arrival was emotional for us all and we did our best to make her feel at home. Weeks later, I had to travel back to the school from which I did not have plans of staying away for so long, unfortunately, I was away for a whole year! On returning, I became a stranger to Queen. The humiliation and embarrassment were something I did not really foresee, but then again, it was understandable. Dogs do not have as much cognition as humans. Queen was all grown up and kept barking incessantly at me. It was really awkward, and emotionally destabilizing, and pushed me to tears a couple of times. “Queen! Queen! It’s me. Remember?” I’d say while trying to offer her food, but she was not budging enough to even take a glance at me. She did not care that I was being friendly. All she thought – I presume – was that I was a stranger who was not supposed to be in the space as her “owners,” at the time. Did I stop trying? No. I kept coming closer and tried everything possible to pet her into at least, not barking when I passed. A few days later, I was in the kitchen chopping some vegetables when my peripheral vision caught a glimpse of an animal-like structure hanging around the door. I swiftly looked, and to my greatest surprise (read as fright), Queen was standing there. With her hazel eyes, camouflage skin, and stallion build, she gazed at me. I saw her ear move and her countenance got mean like she was ready for an attack. “Mummy!”, I screamed under my breath. I was scared that, if I shouted loudly, she would perceive me as a threat. I kept murmuring “mummy!” until she (Queen) came closer and began to sniff me. I stood still while following her every sniff with my eyes, set to run if things went beyond “sniffing.” Guess what? We became friends that day, and ever since, we have been buddies. Literally, I consider Queen to be my baby And I guess she loves me just as much because she never stays a minute without being close to me, once I’m around. You can imagine my excitement when I realized my baby (Queen) was going to have puppies! Wheeeeeew! She was taken for breeding on the second week of October 2021. It was really stress at the time, to find a male brindle Boerboel to do the job. Well, we finally found one; a slight variation in their tone though. Expectantly, I ensured Queen felt safe and secure during the period, as I kept monitoring her every move. I have been present while our dogs littered. It was not a new experience, but it felt surreal that one more time, I was going to witness our dog litter, let alone it being Queen. Usually, dogs begin to nest about a week before their EDD and even before then, in most cases. Our compound is spacious and has some sandy portions, like the flower pots at strategic corners. We also have a large garden seated pretty in the middle of the compound. Our dogs nested by digging sand, thereby creating shallow holes. They dug as many as six holes, at different corners. Queen did not nest, or maybe she did but I was skeptical to notice. I will tell you why. I had Queen stay indoors for her first six weeks. Later on, I was advised to let her stay outside so she could nest. But it was the Christmas season, and Queen was not having all the banger sound that filled the air. Whenever she heard the sound, she ran to enter inside and stay close to me. Other times, she would run to the guest room and dwell in one of the sofas there. Eight weeks in, we knew her delivery was going to be anytime soon, so we started making preparations. My mother noticed Queen was not nesting, so she helped her nest in the veranda, by placing some neat rags at the edge and luring Queen to stay there. Little did we know Queen had other plans. One faithful evening, people would blow bangers and knockouts in celebration of the Christmas festive. Queen, as usual, was not having it and kept running towards the door, in order to enter inside. But my mother asked we kept the door locked so Queen did not come inside. At this point, there was a mucus secretion from Queen’s vulva. That was a sign of labor. I was really concerned and internally questioned the worst that could happen if Queen was let to come in. So just like Queen, I had plans too. Fortunately for me, my mother went upstairs. Queen was still scuffing at the door when I rushed to open up for her to come in. It literally took less than ten seconds
My love-hate relationship with Kylo
By Jhudiel Ando Among all the animals in the world, dogs are the ones I find the cutest. When I was an 8-year-old kid, I wanted to adopt one. I remember asking my mama for a dog and her response is always, “are you willing to clean a dog’s poop?” or telling us that “You guys are still a baby and dogs have rabies”. My mom got a lot of excuses for everything I say. I can’t blame her because she’s a mother and Mothers don’t want something bad to happen to their kids. She was too protective of us. I remember my sister and I went to a friend’s house, they had a lot of puppies. It was my first time holding a puppy and letting them drink milk. As you can see from the photo, I didn’t hold the puppy as happy as others seem because I felt scared and guilty for my mother too. This photo was uploaded by my sister’s friend on Facebook and my mother has seen it & got mad at it. It was supposed to be a secret that we went out and play with these puppies. I ended up being emotional and defending myself that I was fine after I played with the puppies. I may find dogs cute, but I’m scared of them. Maybe because growing up, I was already told that dogs are scary because they have rabies. I remember I was walking on the street when I was a kid and I’m having a hard passing the neighbor’s gate because a dog was barking loudly. It was kinda embarrassing because kids were laughing at me since I can’t pass to that gate. Even when I go to my friends’ houses, my friends witnessed how terrified I looked when dogs try to lick my feet. I’ll just stay still in the corner and not try to run since I know they’ll chase me. Moving forward, it was May 2019 when Kylo came into our lives. We didn’t adopt a dog, but it was given to us by my sister’s workmate. My family was happy and excited about having him except for me. Everything was unexpected. My mother has no objections about it; probably because she’s not hands-on with us anymore since we’re already old. Kylo is pretty small when we first have him. He is a dachshund. He’s lively and playful. He likes biting, licking, barking, and running. I think my description was funny since most dogs are like that. Anyway, this dog is too energetic that sometimes I can’t match my energy with him. Even though he’s kinda small, he pulled through the small but terrible kind of vibe since seeing big dogs on the street, he will start a fight with them. Even though he’s that small, I wasn’t able to hold him. I don’t know I’m just too scared. I barely go down to the living room because of him. Every time I went out or arrived home, I kept on chatting on the family’s group chat saying, “Hold Kylo pls, let me in.” indicating they need to hold the dog first before I enter the house. This kind of set-up lasts for a year. I was also busy with my school so I don’t have time to get to know him and besides, I’m still afraid of him. However, deep inside I wish to have a good relationship with my dog like what I have seen in the movies. Owners and dogs are clingy with each other. However, there’s a part of me not wanting to be attached to a dog. I have seen Marshmello’s Happier music video and made me cry into tears. I am the type of person who got easily attached and can’t move on quickly. My friend once told me, that my dog doesn’t deserve the small percentage of love & effort I’m giving to him. Dogs don’t have someone else aside from their owner. That slaps me into a realization that why not give me a chance to get to know Kylo more. Fast forward to the lockdown because of the pandemic, I can’t go out so I’m just at home. So I tried to face my fears and started playing with him. At first, I find it uncomfortable when he’s licking my hand haha maybe because I’m not used to it. As months go by, I started caressing and talking to him every morning. There was a time that he barely touches his dog food on the pot, I started feeding him, and he finishes all the food in the bowl. So my father would assign to me in feeding him. Sometimes it pissed me off because he’s getting too used to it and that makes him a spoiled dog. My relationship with my dog is not like the other people’s stories in that they’re very close. I’m hostile towards my dog, but I like it when every time I enter the house, he’s there waiting for us. I used to hate it but I’m loving it now. I can say the pandemic made us closer together. It’s a blessing in disguise indeed. When I’m alone in the living room, I talked and shared my problems with him. I know Kylo won’t give me a piece of advice back. I just enjoy having him there makes me feel I’m not alone. After lockdown, my siblings and I brought Kylo to the park so he could run and play freely there. It was tiring but fun. Hanging out with him in the park feels like I’m still a kid again. Chasing him as if he’s a criminal haha. I also love how he gets thirsty after playing, I find it satisfying seeing him finish the whole cup of water as if he’ll lose his breath. As you can see in the photos, he’s very playful that we can’t get a proper photo together. Looking back to archived Instagram stories that
Potty Training a New Puppy
“Training a puppy is like raising a child. Every single interaction is a training opportunity” — Ian Dunbar. Few things are more exciting in the world now than having a puppy in the house. Puppies have this sweet air of loveliness around them that make them appealing to people. In fact, they have so much caught the public fancy today, and this fancy has earned them the right to proper care and housebreaking. After all, no one is willing to go through the pain of mopping a soiled room in the house simply because their darling puppy went rogue. Hence, it becomes necessary that puppies should be psychologically trained to maintain good hygiene through potty training. A number of factors must be considered to successfully potty train a new puppy: the most important being the understanding of its psychology and behavioural changes. Other factors include the age of the puppy; its environment, exposure, and one’s level of patience. In order to potty-train a new puppy, the puppy has to be understood and listened to; its behaviour must be studied and taught to adapt to changes in its environment. Because puppies are just like babies, sometimes misbehaving and careless, one needs to exercise great patience in handling them. This patience in potty-training requires using the right methods to keep them clean. If they are trained right, they behave right; if they are trained wrongly, they behave wrongly — that is how their hardwired brains work. Some tips to ensure correct training of a puppy include having a consistent training routine, feeding the puppy a proper diet, and also employing tested-and-trusted methods of training — the use of a crate, puppy pads and, above all, one’s emotional intelligence. The idea behind using a crate for potty training is that dogs are clean animals and are driven by stimuli to find a cleared space to defecate when they are pressed. The puppy has two basic behavioural patterns that can be used in potty training: one is a possibility not to defecate or urinate in a small place; the other is to ease itself at special known spots. It is simply teaching a pet puppy to adapt to living in a custom location — like a potty or a cage. No puppy will naturally come to love the crate. They are in fact ‘domestic-wild’ animals, and their natural instinct, when pressed to poo, is to go out into the wild. As a result, they could become claustrophobic, fearing the security, when first introduced to them. The initial discomfort from being kept away can result in increased feelings of security and safety after repeated exposure to the crate. Subsequently, long-term crate security may lead to emotional and behavioural drops over time. However, this is only a necessary phase of adaptation to a new environment, and this strange effect eventually fades after some days. Because dogs are naturally alert, they also begin to relate their behaviours — feeding, irritability, excretion — to the comfort of the crate. It is also important to keep a puppy in only one crate to bring about a change in their psychology as it relates to emptying their bowels. A new puppy that has been kept in a crate, say for about 2-3 months, will learn to treat the crate as a personal haven, and will not want to soil it. This will teach the puppy to learn to use its creativity to call out for attention, either by wincing or hitting its paws on the floor so that it can be helped outside to ease itself. It then becomes important that to make crate training effective, pet keepers must be quick to attend to the needs of the puppy — otherwise, the puppy will be trained to do the reverse of what it is being taught. In addition, the crate size must be moderately large to contain the puppy conveniently. If it is made too big, the puppy might think it would be fine to ease itself at a corner of the crate anytime it feels pressed. The use of disposable pee pads could also be a close substitute for the crate. To keep a puppy comfortable before disposing of its mess, one can employ the use of moisture absorbent pads which are usually laid flat on the ground. The goal behind this method is to create an indoor bathroom for the puppy to ease itself. For new puppies which have little learning history, this will prove to be a Herculean task for petkeepers. If a puppy’s instinct is going to be trained to use an outdoor bathroom, it must first start cultivating this habit indoors, and that is where pee pads come into play. The choice of pee pads is influenced by their texture, flexibility and ability to hold water. One could opt for tissue papers or towels, but store-bought kinds are most suitable since they are easy to wash and dry after use by the puppy. Some types are scented and the foul smell from faeces is easily washed off after laundry. Because puppies are instinctive to smell, pee pads must be washed immediately before a second or third usage. This will prevent them from being drawn to their mess and will train them to use only a clean pad. This will also help take away the urge in some puppies to feast on their own mess. If pad laundry is left unchecked, this method of potty training will prove to be ineffective. Another duty required to enforce this method is to closely monitor a new puppy. Like newborn babies, its creativity is still in the embryonic stage, and so it might not be able to signal clearly when it needs to empty its bowels. After playing, drinking or eating, it is advisable to place it on a pad 15 minutes after in expectation of the puppy easing itself. Above all, consistency is key, and this needs to be repeated till the puppy learns to give signs
THE BEST DOG CARRIERS
Many times, you may want to travel and find it necessary to take your dog with you. In other instances, you may simply want to explore a tricky neighborhood and have the need to carry your dog along. Also, it could be that your infirmed dog needs a visit to the pet. Whatever it is, a dog carrier comes in handy as a useful addition to your canine supplies. You know, something mobile that offers safety and comfortability for your furry friend. There are various dog carriers on the market. Some are wearable dog carriers and front and backpack carriers, while some are wheeled dog carriers. They can be comfortable for the tiniest toy poodles or short-legged dachshunds. Here, we list the best dog carriers you can get on the market. Before making your purchases, ensure you have your dog’s right size and weight. There we go! Petami Premium Dog Backpack This portable, easy on-the-go dog carrier has a soft-sided frame made with polyester material, durable to endure scratching from the dog. More than this, It has mesh openings that allow for ventilation. From the zipped top entry, you can easily reach the dog. There are side pockets where you can store: a leash, snacks, water, treats, and all. This product also offers adjustable straps to lessen the burden on the shoulder and keep the backpack stable. This feature also helps to keep your dog safe. The better news? It is airline-approved and generally great for outdoor experiences. It comes in different sizes and colors. The 4 Sides Expendable Dog Carrier The 4 Sides Expendable Pet Carrier was made with safety, comfort, and stability. Its unique features are numerous. There is a practical lateral entrance for the dog. This expandable carrier has breathable mesh almost on all sides for easy ventilation. It has durable hooks that won’t give easily. It has double zippers and a small zipper window. This expandable, folding dog carrier is suitable for travel or outdoor purposes. It has car seat buckles where you can fasten it to a car seat. There’s a compartment for a big water bottle and three handy pockets that can house a leash, snacks, treats, and trash. It provides comfort for the dog and the dog owner. The carry handle is comfortable, and so is the padded shoulder hold. This super product has a removable and washable pad made of a soft, fluffy exterior. What more? It is airline-approved, and can comfortably sit on a travel suitcase. Astronaut Capsule Dog Carrier This space capsule-styled dog carrier has a transparent window that allows your dog to enjoy the weather and scenery. For ventilation, there are extra 12 big holes and mesh around the bag. It comes with dimensions 13″ LX8″ WX15″ H, which is fit for a 10 pounds dog. This dog carrier is made of high-quality scratch and water-resistant soft leather. There’s extra thick padding for back and shoulder straps to ensure comfort during long walks. The extra chest buckles provide additional support for the carrier. It can be placed at the front or back. The Astronaut Capsule is a total package – breathable, portable and comfortable! Zampa Puppy Pop Up This amazing dog carrier offers a lot of excitement in one product. There’s a portable playpen for the dog. It is spacious and foldable. It’s great for indoor and outdoor experiences. It can be flumped in the garden or taken to campsites. There are two mesh doors and windows on all the sides with a totally mesh roof that is detachable. Also, It comes with a holder for a water bottle and exterior side pockets to keep treaty surprises for your dog. There are guarded seams and reinforced corners to ensure your dog’s safety. There are four metal spikes to give balance for outdoor use. No assembly or set-up is required, and it folds flat for your convenience. The Zampa Puppy Pop Up comes in various colors and sizes. Pet Life Dog Carrier This super-quality carrier is expandable from both sides, opening into a roomy extension. The crafted roof ventilation design ensures that it is breathable and keeps your dog from overheating. This product is ideal for seamless dog transport. The Ruff Life carrier on wheels takes the burden off your shoulder. The removable wheel is 360-degree rotational and allows for a smooth and effortless movement in any direction. It is airline-approved and can fit under the cabin chair or travel suitcase. Other unique features of the Ruff Life Dog Carrier are removable plush bedding, padded shoulder strap, extra storage compartments, and a trolley. This masterfully crafted dog carrier tote is made of high-quality pristine grade nylon material, making it lightweight. The thick wireframe also ensures that it does not sag when expanded. Amazon Basics Two-door Dog Carrier This product is suitable for a small breed dog. Its 23-inch, 2-door model allows pets to be loaded quickly. The Amazon Basics Dog Carrier is durable plastic with a steel-wire front door. The top door has a handle and latches to open to the left or right for convenience. This fantastic design is multipurpose in that it offers strength, security, visibility, and ventilation on both sides, top, and back. Also, it comes with extra screws that are useful in attaching the top and bottom for extra security. It is an amazing buy. Conclusion From history to recent times, dogs are Excellent friends to humans, and this role relationship has not been better emphasized than in this century, where dog love has become a priority for many. Dogs are intelligent and prove to be a very helpful company to be around in many instances and situations. However, Humans also need to provide their pets with the same loyalty by ensuring their care even when traveling. All of the carriers reviewed in this article are among the very best that dog owners can trust for comfort and durability. These bags are very strong, have enough air space for dogs, and are very
The Three Mus’cat’eers
It still amazes me how life is able to turn around and help you find a path when you feel like you’re lost. Lost, is what we felt when our almost ten-year-old Great Dane – Boxer mix was taken from us. Our normally loud and exciting household had fallen silent and sad amidst the palpable lack of doggy barks and things being knocked over by an extremely exuberant tail. But, life decided we needed help being pulled out of that dreariness, and decided to do that by way of a stray, scraggly, and ginger kitten. Meelo (as she would soon be christened) just decided to waltz into our garden and balcony and simply point blank refused to leave. No amount of shooing and chasing did any good as she remained stoic and defiant. She was going nowhere. After several trips to the vet, lots of baths, and several bouts of feeding her, she was practically our new pet. I say practically because to this day, she will randomly get the urge to step outside our home and walk around the neighborhood. But, no matter how long she’s away, or how far she might wander off, she always finds her way back to us. Since her kittenhood, where she spent her days playing with my sister and myself, sleeping in our room, and getting pets and cuddles from us, she has now grown attached to our mum and dad and has effectively made herself, their pet. Wherever in my house my mum maybe, be it cooking, cleaning or even praying, you will be sure to find Meelo, regally by her side. Did we stop there? Did life decide that Meelo was a good enough replacement for our dog Skibo? Of course not. Skibo was massive and had an equally massive heart and presence. So we needed more cats. And these ‘more cats’ came to us in the form of loud mewling from our ceiling. As it turned out, a mother kitty (possibly Meelo’s mum as they have similar colored fur) had somehow made her way into the gap between our roof and ceiling and had littered four tiny kittens. After some rescue work, and one of them managing to fall out of the ceiling, we now had a whole litter full of them. All four were similar in size to small rats and could all easily be carried in one hand. They were immediately christened by me as follows. Soon after being rescued, their biological mother bailed and my sister dutifully took on the role of ‘mum’ and spent the next few weeks feeding them, cleaning them, and making sure they were kept warm. There were moments when each of the kitties had breathing issues and needed extra warmth and special care in their feeding but they all managed to pull through with the unfortunate exception of MooShu. The little guy succumbed to the absence of motherly warmth and nutrition and was unable to make it. This left us with the Spice Sisters and Ash. A mischievous trio in every sense of the word to the point where we realized there were too many of them for us to handle. So we looked to give them up via adoption. Allie gained some interest and she left the trio much to Ash and Cindy’s dismay because, during the span of 6 months, the three of them had gotten quite close. So realizing that we didn’t want to separate the siblings a second time, and promising to make playdates between Ash, Cindy, and Allie, we decided that Ash and Cindy would be taken care of by us. And thus, the previously ‘empty’ house, left petless by Skibo’s passing, now had three new rays of sunshine running (or mostly lounging) about. The Three Mus’cat’eers. Meelo, as usual still keeps herself mostly to herself, preferring my parents’ company to mine or my sister’s, while Ash and Cindy due to their fear of, and lack of exposure to the outside world, prefer to limit themselves to our room. The three of them love each other and have grown very close, spending most evenings chasing each other up and down trees in the garden, swiping at each other’s tails, and playfully rolling over and over each other. Ash and Cindy are especially inseparable being siblings of the same litter and can rarely be seen apart.
Catchi
I received this fluffy kitten as my birthday gift from my sister on 19 April 2016. The age of my cat was 6 months at that time. How I met my cat is a very interesting story. One day when I come back from university my sister told me there is someone in the drawing-room waiting for me and said OK let me get fresh and then I will meet that guest. After getting fresh, I went to the drawing-room and there was no guest I look at my sister and she start laughing and asked me to look under the sofa. I was like where? Guest is hiding under the sofa? And when I look under a sofa, I found a fluffy smoky greyish color cat hiding and said “Meeehioooow”. Since childhood, I kept cats as my pet but all those pets were stray cats who were not allowed to enter the house as they were not vaccinated and had no liter training this cat was wow, I found her so decent. She is such a beautiful punch face Persian cat with big green eyes, big mustaches, triple coat silky smooth grey and white hairs big tail and I named her “catchy” she is proper poppy trained and she was vaccinated when I get her and now at the age of 6 years her record is up to date. If we take a look at the chart of cat and human age my cat is approximately 40 years old in human years. And the difference is pretty clear when catchi was a kitten and junior she was so active and spend most of her time playing with toys and with the passage of time she is getting soberer and spending more of her time doing rest. From little kitten till now catchi loved playing with me, we do Wrestling like we both are in the ring of WWF and she properly responds back without hurting me. To get her in a ninja mood so that she can show some super-fast actions I use a peacock feather. By just looking at the feather of peacock catchi’s eyes gets wide open and she acts like “Play Time” she run after the feather and try to catch it as it tickles her. Another then peacock feather anything tied with rope and dragged on the floor is catchi’s prey and she runs after it. Catchi has a single floor stretching pad where she goes to stretch her body and sharpen her claws as it is a stress realising process for cats. So catchi releases too much of her stress and sharps her claws on every sofa every leather item every luggage bag every carpet and every rug, she is so naughty. Catchi only eats her dry cat food and drinks plenty of water and does not eat any other food items like biscuits, raw or cooked meat, fish, chicken, and egg and if by any chance she eats some part of other food she throws it out of her stomach with vomiting. As I live in a Lahore city where the temperature goes up to 48 degrees Celsius, she likes to sit under an air conditioner but still due to sweating she gets a bath frequently. Catchi is my personal alarm clock she knows when I had to get up for the office and exact on time, she come near to me and start rubbing her paws on my face and keep doing until I got up. But the problem is that catchi just knows the exact time to wake me up so she keeps doing this on weekends as well. When I’m at the office she mostly spends her time taking naps and self-grooming with her tongue. And come to the door minutes before and keep waiting until I enter the home and welcome me with a long meow. Cachi’s loves to be tickled and the most ticklish part of her body is her tummy. She loves it with I rub her tummy and while getting rubbed she stretched her body as a gesture of loving it. She likes to get tapped on the backbone, especially near the tail, and likes her tail to be pressed gently up to its tip. And when I rub her jawline my cats say “that more like it dad more please” and start making a purring sound. The purring sound is actually a low-frequency noise that is good for the health of the human beings. Catchi is now 6 years old. And she is never mated till now which is one of the reasons behind her good health. But now I’m planning to do her matting with a white Persian male cat so they can have even more beautiful kittens.
Teaching a new puppy not to bite
By : Laiba Tariq Puppy care( stop puppy biting): One of the most challenging aspects of puppy ownership involves what to do when your puppy starts biting hands and fingers. It takes time and patience to create a new puppy on your own. One of the most important things to remember is to be patient. Your puppy wanders around all the time, watching everything, how sleepy everything is. But if you are the first pet owner, you must know a few things. Because raising a puppy is not an easy task. They need to be given special care and attention, just like human beings. The owner also has to take sufficient responsibility. So here are some simple tips for you to stop puppy biting and help to reduce puppy biting behavior safely. 1. Before bringing a puppy home, ensure you have everything you need to keep it. Puppies need to buy dog food, collars, leashes, comfortable beds, bowls, toys, and other essentials in proportion to their age and size. 2. Puppies have the same problem as puppies. They are always curious about everything in the house and chewing on furniture, shoes, or other household items. Doing so may result in a sore throat or a sore throat. So make sure that everything that is harmful to your puppy’s health is out of his reach. Give him toys like this so he can chew. Its characteristics depend on the proper care of the puppy. The puppies will continue to grow as you train them daily. Puppy Bite Prevention Training: Method-1 Communicating with other dogs: Method-2 Teach children to prevent bites: Method-3 Do not train your puppy to bite: Method-4 Avoid dangerous situations with your dog: Summary: So now you know a few tips on how to keep your puppy from biting. The first few weeks can be tough with a fixed beater in the house but you will move on to the other side beyond that. A few months from now, this difficult time will be a distant memory. In the meantime, keep your bitten puppy calm, avoid excessive rough play, and focus on redirecting his bite into appropriate toys and activities. Spend some time on the above training exercises. You will not only reduce the bite but also increase your puppy’s confidence to manage and strengthen the bond between you. Also read: http://pupzcorner.com/leash-training-a-new-puppy/
Goat Life!
Wow! Who knew what I was getting into when I decided I “needed” a couple of goats to help with land clearing! Reached out to a friend who had goats on his land, and he suggested that I go to an auction and see what it’s like. We live in a rural area, so the closest auction was only 2 miles away! Sounds good right? Ha! Well, needless to say, I came home with two goats. They were both young, a male and a female. I had no idea what I was doing, and they came home in the back seat of the truck! I had no idea what breed they were or anything, I just saw goats and liked their colors so home they came! Once home with us, Poppy and Corey (that’s their names), became my main focus of the day. I had to read everything I could get my hands on, and boy was it a lot! I knew nothing, such as worming, vaccinations, sick goats, pregnant goats, and the list goes on. I am now a little bit better educated but nowhere near where I need to be. Also, I found out there is such a thing as goat math? What a phenomenon that is! So, if you decide you need 2 goats, you have to have two because they have to be at least in pairs, (another thing I learned). So, then you start thinking, well what if something happens to one and then I will only have one. Must get another one or I will be in trouble. The one I get is bred because I had no idea what I was doing, and she gave birth to 4 babies! Now I have 7! That is goat math! Ha Ha! The goat adventures are ongoing daily, and the little herd is now growing, it has been an exciting time in my life as I have felled in love with the littles. More to come! Also read: http://pupzcorner.com/the-friendly-guinea-pig/
Finding strays and Rescuing New Friends
By: En Ni Hsiao Finding stray Like many pet owners may be some time in their lives say that they will not have another pet after their beloved pet passes away, I ended up having five more cats. How is that possible, though? Well, maybe the love for animals or the compassion one feels towards a poor animal made that possible. After my old cat passed away, the vet offered me to adopt an abandoned kitten outside her clinic. I accepted, and that is where the first cat came from. A little Carey cat, called Han Ah, from the word ‘’Hana’’ in Japanese, which means flower, since its patterns remind me of a flower. At that moment, I was moving, so we scheduled the adoption for two months later. Who knows that during that two months, one day, a stray came in wandering at my family café and stayed. We brought that stray home and called her Kitty. Kitty took a bit of time to adapt to living in an apartment. Until she got spayed, she kept wanting to go out and party. Spaying helped Kitty to calm down and adjust to the new life. Unlike Han Ah, Kitty was already an adult cat by the time it became a part of our family. Kitty took care of Han Ah as a kitten and bonded very quickly. Kitty would let Han Ah sleep by its side, and they ate from the same bowl. About five months later, I met another homeless cat begging for food. I remember it was on a December night. My friends and I were dining at an outdoor restaurant when the cat came close. I fed the cat and noticed that it had an injured eye. I decided to take it to the vet the next day morning. At the clinic, we came up with the surprise that it was a mother who had recently given birth because it was storing milk. It was a hard decision whether to let it go or stay, but I decided to keep it and called it Rengarina. Rengarina is such a sweet girl, and I guess its previous owner abandoned it because you can see that it has no fear of humans. Timid, submissive, and shy is the personality that describes Rengarina. Although its injured eye never recovered, and now she can only see with one eye, that does not stop Rengarina from being a cuddly cat. Its eyeball remained in the eye socket, but the third eyelid was damaged and could not go back to place. After Rengarina, I thought that the next time adopting a cat was very far away, but I was wrong. Only one year later, I encountered another cat with a severe injury. It looked like some dogs had attacked it. Sadly, its back left leg had to be amputated. After its amputation surgery, I thought things would get better for this poor cat, which I called Shinpat. Day by day, Shinpat was getting better, eating more. It even started to wander around and play with the other cats. At some moment, Shinpat began to have a terrible eye allergy. I took it to various doctors and professionals but none of them with a clue about what was the leading main cause. Finally, one doctor managed to help Shinpat, by giving Shinpat an eyelid surgery. The cause of all that discomfort and pain turns out to be something called ‘’entropion’’, which happens when the outer edge of the eyelid turns inwards resulting in the eyelashes, skin, and fur of the outer surface of the eyelid constantly rubbing on the surface of the eye. After its second surgery, it seemed that Shinpat’s personality bloomed and it became more open, willing to socialize with other cats and play hide and seek. The funny thing about all this is that Shinpat was the only male pet at home until Lazlo came. Lazlo is a little black stray kitten I found on the streets. At first, Lazlo was very scared of everything, especially the dogs I own besides the cats. But, about two days later, it started to play alone in the room with its toy and never seemed bothered by anyone or anything. When they got to know each other, at first, the female cats Han Ah, Rengarina, and Kitty did not like Lazlo. Shinpat was the only one willing to play with Lazlo. Nowadays, they even sleep together; Shinpat helps Lazlo to groom. Lazlo is very different from other cats. I don’t know if it is because I found it very little and it grew up with dogs or what. You can’t leave anything at its sight or it will rob it. For me it is somehow related to their natural survival tactics as a stray, you have to rob food to survive. As a pet, Lazlo can now only use those abilities to rob things like rubber bands, socks, and paper balls, no more needing to rob food. In conclusion, I currently own two dogs and five cats. People often ask me how I can live with so many animals in an apartment. I don’t know either, but I somehow manage it. It is true that sometimes when we are sick or tired, we don’t have the same energy to take care of our pets, but after seeing their smiley faces and other signs of them showing affection towards us, it feels like the energy is coming back. Watching them grow from little ugly hair missing stray kittens and others returning to joy after being given a second chance at life makes me feel happy. A vast difference in their life was made. Han Ah will not survive if it has not been found on time by the doctor. Kitty may have died in a car accident since she used to live near a gas station located on a highway. Rengarina might have starved to death if she did not find enough food for
Overcome Your Puppy’s Loss Of Appetite: A Complete Guide
By: Liaba Tariq Nothing makes a pet parent happier than seeing their puppy thriving, happy and healthy. It causes an emotional strain on us when we notice our puppy retreating from food and experiencing a loss of appetite. In most cases, a loss of appetite can be a sign of an underlying health condition so if you’re struggling with this problem, read this blog till the end to learn how to overcome your puppy’s loss of appetite. What Causes A Loss Of Appetite 1. Underlying health problem Dogs refuse food if they are feeling unwell. This can point to dental disease or any other illness. Pushing away food in such circumstances is very detrimental to their health because they won’t have the energy to fight back or keep their immune system strong enough. If you think your dog might be battling a sickness, you should immediately head to a licensed vet and get your puppy a full checkup. 2. Behavior issues Dogs can go through phases that make them picky eaters, refusing to eat the food you put before them. Their picky nature is a strong contender as to why your dog refuses to eat and now that we know the main reasons why your dog won’t eat, let’s get to solutions! How To Overcome A Loss Of Appetite 1. Get them physically active with rewards A way to trigger appetite is to physically exert a dog. When your dog is active, he will become tired and feel hungry so he can gain back all the energy lost. It is very simple to do so. You should plan an hour-long walk before feeding hour or play with them using toys such as the flirt pole. Once your dog successfully engages in such activities and proceeds to eat, you should reward it with some of its favorite dog treats. That helps your dog feel appreciated and encourages such behavior. 2. Change the food brand or type Experimenting with food types and brands can be a good idea if your dog doesn’t like the food being offered. As you do so, avoid food toppers as they cause more harm to your dog’s health than benefit. What you can do is work towards changing the flavor of the food, moving to a portion of better quality food, or alternate between wet food and biscuits. 3. Emphasize on comfort A comfortable environment can make all the difference for your puppy. Animals tend to eat only when they feel safe in their surroundings so if there is another animal or element such as loud noises, it can be a reason why your puppy is not ok with eating in that place. Secondly, you should make sure he has access to clean water and food, with a bowl that he can easily reach into without straining himself in the process. You can experiment with the size of the bowl as well as a quieter location to notice any positive changes. Simultaneously you can try feeding your puppy by hand as it encourages stimulation and some dogs prefer their owner’s intimacy during feeding sessions. Conclusion If you have a puppy who is refusing to eat, we know just how stressful it can become for you. But the good news is that you can get your puppy back on track by using the tips mentioned in this guide!