Forty Winks Pet Beds

Recognizing, Preventing, And Handling Dog Aggression - Part I

Thu 5 Jun 2008 3:46:45 AM GMT

A dog is an instinctively aggressive creature. In the wild, aggression came in very handy: dogs needed aggression to hunt, to defend themselves from other creatures, and to defend resources such as food, a place to sleep, and a mate. Selective breeding over the centuries has minimized and refined this trait significantly, but there’s just no getting around it: dogs are physically capable of inflicting serious harm (just look at those teeth!) because that’s how they’ve survived and evolved. And Mother Nature is pretty wily – it’s hard to counteract the power of instinct!

But that doesn’t mean that we, as dog lovers and owners, are entirely helpless when it comes to handling our dogs. There’s a lot that we can do to prevent aggression from rearing its ugly head in the first place – and even if prevention hasn’t been possible (for whatever reason), there are still steps that we can take to recognize and deal with it efficiently.

- Different aggression types -

There are several different types of canine aggression. The two most common ones are:

- Aggression towards strangers

- Aggression towards family members

You may be wondering why we’re bothering categorizing this stuff: after all, aggression is aggression, and we want to turf it out NOW, not waste time with the details – right?

Well … not quite. These two different types of aggression stem from very different causes, and require different types of treatment.

- Aggression towards strangers -

What is it?

It’s pretty easy to tell when a dog’s nervy around strange people. He’s jumpy and on the alert: either he can’t sit still and is constantly fidgeting, leaping at the smallest sound, and pacing around barking and whining; or he’s veerrrry still indeed, sitting rock-steady in one place, staring hard at the object of his suspicions (a visitor, the mailman, someone approaching him on the street while he’s tied up outside a store.)

Why does it happen?

There’s one major reason why a dog doesn’t like strange people: he’s never had the chance to get used to them. Remember, your dog relies 100% on you to broaden his horizons for him: without being taken on lots of outings to see the world and realize for himself, through consistent and positive experiences, that the unknown doesn’t necessarily equal bad news for him, how can he realistically be expected to relax in an unfamiliar situation?

What can I do about it?

The process of accustoming your dog to the world and all the strange people (and animals) that it contains is called socialization. This is an incredibly important aspect of your dog’s upbringing: in fact, it’s pretty hard to overemphasize just how important it is. Socializing your dog means exposing him from a young age (generally speaking, as soon as he’s had his vaccinations) to a wide variety of new experiences, new people, and new animals.

How does socialization prevent stranger aggression?

When you socialize your dog, you’re getting him to learn through experience that new sights and sounds are fun, not scary.

It’s not enough to expose an adult dog to a crowd of unfamiliar people and tell him to “Settle down, Roxy, it’s OK” – he has to learn that it’s OK for himself. And he needs to do it from puppyhood for the lesson to sink in.

The more types of people and animals he meets (babies, toddlers, teenagers, old people, men, women, people wearing uniforms, people wearing motorcycle helmets, people carrying umbrellas, etc) in a fun and relaxed context, the more at ease and happy – and safe around strangers - he’ll be in general.

How can I socialize my dog so that he doesn’t develop a fear of strangers?

Socializing your dog is pretty easy to do – it’s more of a general effort than a specific training regimen.

First of all, you should take him to puppy preschool. This is a generic term for a series of easy group-training classes for puppies (often performed at the vet clinic, which has the additional benefit of teaching your dog positive associations with the vet!).

In a puppy preschool class, about ten or so puppy owners get together with a qualified trainer (often there’ll be at least two trainers present – the more there are, the better, since it means you get more one-on-one time with a professional) and start teaching their puppies the basic obedience commands: sit, stay, and so on.

Even though the obedience work is very helpful and is a great way to start your puppy on the road to being a trustworthy adult dog, really the best part of puppy preschool is the play sessions: several times throughout the class, the puppies are encouraged to run around off-leash and play amongst themselves.

This is an ideal environment for them to learn good social skills: there’s a whole bunch of unfamiliar dogs present (which teaches them how to interact with strange dogs), there’s a whole bunch of unfamiliar people present (which teaches them that new faces are nothing to be afraid of), and the environment is safe and controlled (there’s at least one certified trainer present to make sure that things don’t get out of hand).

Socialization doesn’t just stop with puppy preschool, though. It’s an ongoing effort throughout the life of your puppy and dog: he needs to be taken to a whole bunch of new places and environments.

Remember not to overwhelm him: start off slow, and build up his tolerance gradually.

- Aggression towards family members -

There are two common reasons why a dog is aggressive towards members of his own human family:

- He’s trying to defend something he thinks of as his from a perceived threat (you).

This is known as resource guarding, and though it may sound innocuous, there’s actually a lot more going on here than your dog simply trying to keep his kibble to himself.

- He’s not comfortable with the treatment/handling he’s getting from you or other members of the family.

Don't forget to read part II of Darrin's informative article. We apologize for having to post in 2 parts, but necessary due to space limitations.

About The Author

Darrin Donaldson
You can visit the SitStayFetch site by clicking on the link below:

Click Here for more information on training your aggressive dog!

Recognizing, Preventing, And Handling Dog Aggression - Part II

Thu 5 Jun 2008 3:40:00 AM GMT

What’s resource guarding?

Resource guarding is pretty common among dogs. The term refers to overly-possessive behavior on behalf of your dog: for instance, snarling at you if you approach him when he’s eating, or giving you “the eye” (a flinty-eyed, direct stare) if you reach your hand out to take a toy away from him.

All dogs can be possessive from time to time – it’s in their natures. Sometimes they’re possessive over things with no conceivable value: inedible trash, balled up pieces of paper or tissue, old socks. More frequently, however, resource-guarding becomes an issue over items with a very real and understandable value: food and toys.

Why does it happen?

It all boils down to the issue of dominance. Let me take a moment to explain this concept: dogs are pack animals. This means that they’re used to a very structured environment: in a dog-pack, each individual animal is ranked in a hierarchy of position and power (or “dominance”) in relation to every other animal. Each animal is aware of the rank of every other animal, which means he knows specifically how to act in any given situation (whether to back down, whether to push the issue, whether to muscle in or not on somebody else’s turf, etc etc).

To your dog, the family environment is no different to the dog-pack environment. Your dog has ranked each member of the family, and has his own perception of where he ranks in that environment as well.

This is where it gets interesting: if your dog perceives himself as higher up on the social totem-pole than other family members, he’s going to get cheeky. If he’s really got an overinflated sense of his own importance, he’ll start to act aggressively.

Why? Because dominance and aggression are the exclusive rights of a superior-ranked animal. No underdog would ever show aggression or act dominantly to a higher-ranked animal (the consequences would be dire, and he knows it!)

Resource guarding is a classic example of dominant behavior: only a higher-ranked dog (a “dominant” dog) would act aggressively in defence of resources.

To put it plainly: if it was clear to your dog that he is not, in fact, the leader of the family, he’d never even dream of trying to prevent you from taking his food or toys – because a lower-ranking dog (him) will always go along with what the higher-ranking dogs (you and your family) say.

So what can I do about it? The best treatment for dominant, aggressive behavior is consistent, frequent obedience work, which will underline your authority over your dog. Just two fifteen-minute sessions a day will make it perfectly clear to your dog that you’re the boss, and that it pays to do what you say.

You can make this fact clear to him by rewarding him (with treats and lavish praise) for obeying a command, and isolating him (putting him in “time-out”, either outside the house or in a room by himself) for misbehaviour.

- If you’re not entirely confident doing this yourself, you may wish to consider enlisting the assistance of a qualified dog-trainer.

- Brush up on your understanding of canine psychology and communication, so that you understand what he’s trying to say – this will help you to nip any dominant behaviors in the bud, and to communicate your own authority more effectively

- Train regularly: keep obedience sessions short and productive (no more than fifteen minutes – maybe two or three of these per day).

Why doesn’t my dog like to be handled?

All dogs have different handling thresholds. Some dogs like lots of cuddles, and are perfectly content to be hugged, kissed, and have arms slung over their shoulders (this is the ultimate “I’m the boss” gesture to a dog, which is why a lot of them won’t tolerate it.) Others – usually the ones not accustomed to a great deal of physical contact from a very young age – aren’t comfortable with too much full-body contact and will get nervy and agitated if someone persists in trying to hug them.

Another common cause of handling-induced aggression is a bad grooming experience: nail-clipping and bathing are the two common culprits.

When you clip a dog’s nails, it’s very easy to “quick” him – that is, cut the blood vessel that runs inside the nail. This is extremely painful to a dog, and is a sure-fire way to cause a long-lasting aversion to those clippers.

Being washed is something that a great many dogs have difficulty dealing with – a lot of owners, when confronted with a wild-eyed, half-washed, upset dog, feel that in order to complete the wash they have to forcibly restrain him. This only adds to the dog’s sense of panic, and reinforces his impression of a wash as something to be avoided at all costs – if necessary, to defend himself from it with a display of teeth and hackles.

Can I “retrain” him to enjoy being handled and groomed?

In a word: yes. It’s a lot easier if you start from a young age – handle your puppy a lot, get him used to being touched and rubbed all over. Young dogs generally enjoy being handled – it’s only older ones who haven’t had a lot of physical contact throughout their lives that sometimes find physical affection difficult to accept.

Practice picking up his paws and touching them with the clipper; practice taking him into the bath (or outside, under the faucet – whatever works for you, but warm water is much more pleasant for a dog than a freezing spray of ice-water!), and augment the process throughout with lots of praise and the occasional small treat.

For an older dog that may already have had several unpleasant handling/grooming experiences, things are a little more difficult. You need to undo the damage already caused by those bad experiences, which you can do by taking things very slowly – with an emphasis on keeping your dog calm.

The instant he starts to show signs of stress, stop immediately and let him relax. Try to make the whole thing into a game: give him lots of praise, pats, and treats.

Take things slowly. Don’t push it too far: if you get nervous, stop.

Dogs show aggression for a reason: they’re warning you to back off, or else! If your dog just can’t seem to accept being groomed, no matter how much practice you put in, it’s best to hand the job over to the professionals.

Your vet will clip his nails for you (make sure you tell him first that he gets aggressive when the clippers come out, so your vet can take the necessary precautions!). As far as washing and brushing goes, the dog-grooming business is a flourishing industry: for a small fee, you can get your dog washed, clipped, brushed, and whatever else you require by experienced professionals (again, make sure you tell them about your dog’s reaction to the experience first!)

For more information on handling aggressive and dominant behaviors, as well as a great deal of detailed information on a host of other common dog behavior problems, check out SitStayFetch.

It’s a complete owner’s guide to owning, rearing, and training your dog, and it deals with all aspects of dog ownership.

To get the inside word on preventing and dealing with problem behaviors like aggression and dominance in your dog, SitStayFetch is well worth a look.

About The Author

Darrin Donaldson
You can visit the SitStayFetch site by clicking on the link below:

Click Here for more information on training your aggressive dog!

Do I Have To Part With My Pet If I Have Pet Allergies?

Wed 20 Feb 2008 12:30:54 PM GMT

Do I Have To Part With My Pet If I Have Pet Allergies?

Submitted By: Larry Chamberlain

Aaaaaaachoo!

Sneezing? Wheezing? Nose runny, eyes itchy? You may be suffering from the common cold. But if the condition has been hanging on for two weeks, or more, you may be suffering from an allergy as opposed to a cold. Your doctor may be the only one who can conclude if you are experiencing an allergic reaction.

There are many types of allergies but being allergic to animals is quite common. What happens if you discover you are susceptible to pet allergies?

Does this mean that your faithful dog, loving cat or beautiful rabbit has to go?

Some people that have allergies can continue to live with their pet. It depends upon the severity of your allergies and whether or not you are prepared to make some changes and live within a few rules. If your allergic reaction to your pet is on the moderate side, you may be able to reduce your suffering by reducing the amount of animal allergens you come in contact with.

Up to 15% of the population are allergic to domestic animals and approximately one third of those continue to live with their pet. For many the pleasure of owning a pet outweighs the burden and discomfort of pet allergies.

If your allergies make life miserable for you, but are non life threatening, you may be able to reduce the symptoms by taking the following actions.

If you suffer from allergies, and share your living space with an animal, it is extremely important to keep dust and dust mites to a minimum in your home. The microscopic skin particles that are cast off by dogs, cats, hamsters and other pets are known as dander, and can quickly spread throughout your home and cause allergic reactions for anyone who has a pet allergy.

Never sleep with your pet. You would be breathing in dander for the whole time that you are asleep. Best make your bedroom a no go area for your pets, keep your bedroom door closed and don't allow your pet in. Although you cannot completely prevent dander from getting into your bedroom, keeping the animal out will greatly reduce the level of pet allergen in that room. Buy a low cost vinyl encasing for your mattress, this will keep down the dander that resides within your bed. Wash blankets, sheets and pillow cases frequently.

Where you can replace your carpets. A non porous flooring such as hardwood, tile, vinyl or linoleum will contain far less allergen than carpeting. Where you do have carpets have them cleaned regularly and vacuum frequently - and use a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) vacuum filter.

Consider replacing fabric furniture covered for leather or vinyl furniture and replacing your curtains with plastic blinds, an expense but doing so will help reduce the effect of your pet allergies.

Bath your pet frequently, at least once a week and you will greatly diminish the amount of dander residing in your pet's fur (by up to 80%). Contrary to popular belief cats can be bathed, get someone to help and ask your veterinarian for advice on how to do this properly.

Damp wipe all surfaces once per week, pet allergens are airborne and will stick to most anything. Don't forget to wipe down your pet's toys they will be harboring allergens.

Washing off or changing the filter in your heating cooling system will help. Consider purchasing a HEPA air cleaner, they can reduce allergens in the home and increase comfort for those who suffer with pet allergies.

Talk to your doctor about your commitment to keeping your pet. If he/she considers that your pet allergy is not life threatening he/she may understand your reluctance to part with your animal companion. Allergy shots (immunotherapy) may be prescribed and may help you, together with the steps above, to continue to enjoy the company of your cat, dog, hamster or rabbit.

About the Author:

If you have a pet related web site and you wish to reproduce the above article you are welcome to do so, provided the article is reproduced in its entirety, including this resource box and live link to http://www.best-cat-art.com Information about your favorite cat breed.

Overweight Pets - How Can We Stop Them Getting Fat?

Fri 4 Jan 2008 3:36:33 PM GMT

by Jackie Bushell

A study published in the American Journal of Veterinary Research reported that 30 per cent of dogs in the US are overweight or obese. Previous studies had found that the same is true for cats.

In the UK, the situation is even worse, with an estimated 30 to 60 per cent of all dogs and cats overweight.

So it seems that obesity in our pets is becoming as big a problem as obesity in humans. Vets advise that pets have a heightened risk of suffering from diabetes, heart and joint problems when they become overweight, just like we do.

Similar to humans, overweight in pets can be blamed partly on genes and partly on the environment. In the case of our pets, though, it seems it is mostly environment. In other words, we pamper our pets too much, feed them the wrong foods, give them snacks and treats they don't need, and fail to exercise them enough. We're killing them with kindness.

Is this really what we want for our pets?

Perhaps the most crucial thing for us to consider is that dogs and cats are carnivores. Their natural diet is mainly meat. If that's not the main constituent of the food you give your dog or cat, and your pet is overweight, then that may be something to bear in mind. Check the ingredients of your pet's tinned food or dry biscuits. If these foods are high in grains instead of meat, stop buying them! If you're not convinced that a high grain diet may be contributing to your pet's obesity, then consider this: grain is given to farm animals to fatten them up for market, not because it is their natural diet but because farmers have long known that it is the cheapest and most effective way to get them fat fast.

Jackie Bushell is passionate about raising awareness of the role of diet and nutrition in good health and helping those who are affected by obesity. Via her website at GoodDietGoodHealth.com, she provides information, support, cookbooks, how-to guides and a newsletter for those wishing to understand more about how to improve their health and achieve a healthy weight in a natural way. Amongst the resources she has developed are a low carb/low GI diet cookbook and a book called 'Why Can't I Lose Weight' offering solutions based on the latest research for common problems such as failing to lose weight on the standard low fat/low calorie diet or becoming stuck on a 'diet plateau'.

Pet Safety During Christmas - What to Watch For

Tue 6 Nov 2007 8:50:20 PM GMT

The upcoming Holiday Season is an exciting time for everyone. Parents are turning into machines, capable of walking for hours without food or water, just to find that perfect gift. Children are turning into angels, rarely talking back or getting into trouble for fear of a giant lump of coal being delivered instead of gifts.

Your pets are also affected as they see things around them change. No more quiet living room for them to lounge in, replaced by a big flashing tree with bright lights, shiny tinsel and boxes covered with ribbons and wrapping paper. Gone are the tasty chew toys that usually litter the floor, replaced with carpet fresheners and cleaners for when guests arrive.

During the holiday season, you'll want to keep an eye on your pets. Suddenly the house will be filled with flashy, shiny, tasty, glittery, pine-smelling, bright, noisy, crackly items, sure to intrigue most pets especially cats and dogs.

Dogs that are already chewers will find the Holiday season full of exciting new things to chew on. There's strings of lights, ornaments on the tree or ones that have fallen down, nice, new, cool smelling boxes with wrapping paper. All these things are hard for a curious dog to pass by.

Cats love Christmas. They especially love ribbons and bows, tinsel and tree ornaments. There is many a story of emergency trips to the vet to remove yards of ribbon from inside a cat. Many cats enjoy the taste of ribbons and quite a few cats love playing with the tinsel, batting it around until they can eat it.

In order to avoid any costly and potentially fatal accidents this Christmas, make sure to take a few precautions before leaving your pet alone near a tree.

Keep most of your presents put away, unless your dog has been trained. Maybe this would be a good year to start that training? Put one fully wrapped present under the tree and see what happens. A couple of sniffs and your dog disregards it? Great. If your dog sees this as another chew toy, then you can step in and sort that out. You want to make sure your dog can resist temptation or else you might find yourself at a Vet, trying to get ribbons and bows and cardboard out of your dog. No easy task I can assure you!

Try and keep tinsel out of the equation if you have cats. We all know it looks great on a tree, but it creates a huge problem when cats ingest it. Try placing it further up on the tree, so that strings don’t hang down to where they can paw at it. If you can do without, even better. Tinsel is easily and readily consumed by cats, the shine and the glitter is hard to resist for any curious kitty.

Make sure to keep an eye out for any other hazards. Ornaments are pretty, but some are made of glass and can shatter into very small pieces when they get broken. Christmas tree bulbs are enjoyed by some dogs, I personally know of a dog that ate almost an entire string of Christmas lights, enjoying the “popping” of the bulbs in his mouth.

Keep an eye out and be diligent. If you see your pet even thinking about chewing on one of these new “toys”, make sure you take that as a chance to train your pet to stay away. Not only will you be able to enjoy your Christmas without coming home and having your tree all over the living room, but you won’t have to make expensive trips to the Vet during holiday season!

Happy Holidays!

Joe Howard
-Proud owner of a dog, two cats and three chickens.
-Check out the Awesome Pets Blog for more tips on Pets.
Awesome Pets Blog
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joe_Howard

Pets & Stress

Tue 23 Oct 2007 10:30:00 PM GMT

My mother used to say "you can always trust a person who has animal hair on them". As a kid, I often pondered what this statement means. Are people who care for animals more trustworthy? Kinder? Gentler?

Well, a recent scientific study says that people who own pets are less stressed. Maybe not more trustworthy, but less stress WOULD indicate greater wellness. An idea worth considering.

The study examined the cardiovascular reactivity when exposed to psychological stress of 240 married couples, half of whom owned a pet. The researchers exposed the people to stressful situations (mental arithmetic problems and stuff like that) in a variety of social support conditions: alone, with pet or friend (friend present for non-pet owners), with spouse, with spouse and pet/friend. They found that the people with the pets had much lower rise in heart rate under such conditions; better than with their spouse or friends.

This evidence the healing help pets provide has been anecdotal for years. Hospitals, retirement homes and other caring facilities have used pets to help promote wellness with a lot of success. So it's no surprise, especially where children are involved.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have conducted my own experiment by observing how the people in my family and visitors to my home relate to my cat and, of course how my cat relates to them.

My cat is a rather funny looking, very playful and affectionate youngish cat named Tony. He is a "hairless" breed, called Sphinx.

Tony has many jobs. One is to help me to write by sitting on my lap and purring loudly. He also reminds me to take breaks by standing up and walking on the computer keyboard! I digress.

One observation that is true for all unknowing participants in my "experiment": everyone that enters my house, friends, family members and even the FedX guy, upon seeing Tony, their face changes and becomes somehow softer. It's as if just seeing the cat makes them less stressed. Even the little girl who is very frightened of cats loves to watch the cat from a distance.

My partner, a high energy executive of a multi-national company, is of particular interest to this study. When he arrives home after work or travel, his body language is "Mr. corporate leader". After greeting and kissing his people family members, he looks a bit more relaxed. But it's after he picks up Tony and strokes him (usually followed by giving him some cat food), that he appears to really relax and turn off from work.

Last week, I had a friend over who says she doesn't like cats. Later I found them on the couch, and my friend said "this cat really feels nice to touch". Her face and Tony's could be best described as "content". Of course the cat had a very special extremely loud purr just for her.

So, the conclusions drawn from my very subjective experiment is that our pets really enrich our lives. It would be safe to speculate that, yes pets reduce stress levels in their owners. If you have a pet yourself, you probably agree!

Try your own experiment.... Ask your friends and coworkers about their pets and soak up the good feelings they radiate. Enjoy.

Source:
Cardiovascular Reactivity and the Presence of Pets, Friends, and Spouses: The Truth About Cats and Dogs.
Karen Allen, PhD, Jim Blascovich, PhD and Wendy B. Mendes, MS
http://www.psychosomaticmedicine.org/cgi/content/abstract/64/5/727

Ainsley Laing, MSc. has been a Fitness Trainer for 25 years and writes exclusively Body for Mind eZine. She holds certifications in Group Exercise, Sports Nutrition and Personal Fitness Training. She is also a professional engineer and mom. To see more articles by Ainsley visit http://www.bodyformind.com or the blog at http://www.bodyformind.blogspot.com