Stuffed Animals

Dominant Behavior of Dogs
★ Demanding
★ Stubbornness
★ Begging
★ Jumping or pouncing
★ Pushiness
★ Biting
★ Overpowering the weak dogs
★ Turning aggressive when eating food
★ Leading the way while taken on a walk or sometimes refusing to walk
★ Disobeying the commands
★ Dominant stance
★ Submissive stance (walking with head and shoulders down)

These are some of the common dog behaviors that are prevalent in different dog breeds. It includes lot of efforts in teaching the dog how to walk as per the owner’s will. Therefore, the temperament and the behavior plays an important role during such training sessions. In case you are the dog owner and want to know how to train a dog to walk beside you, follow these dog walking tips.

Dog Training
Basic training of the dog must begin when it’s just a pup. When a pup goes through obedience training, it begins to understand the various commands and attempts to obey them. Either the owner or a professional dog trainer can plan effective puppy training sessions. Training a dog is a long process and must be pursued very thoroughly. Level of training must change, while the pup is growing up. During the process of growing up, dogs are likely to pick up certain bad habits out of their dominating instincts. It is the time to be more careful, as overload of training can turn the dogs reluctant towards their master. Once the dog begins to obey all the basic commands, teaching the walk would become an easy task for you.

Walk on a Leash
This is the first step towards teaching your dog how to walk when it is taken into different environment. During this time, it would want to explore the new place and tends to lead the master. At times, it may get out of control and even drag the owner or the trainer. When you take your dog on a walk it is likely to encounter other dog breeds too. This might trigger the instinct of overpowering other dogs through barking or running after them. Read the rest of this entry »

Both of these wingless insects have the ability to bite and feed on human blood and blood of other warm-blooded animals. So, what is the difference between fleas and bed bugs? Well, except for the fact that both are small ectoparasites and flightless, there is no distinctive similarity between these nasty critters. Taxonomically, the fleas are not even a distant relative of bed bugs. Following is a brief info for your understanding on how to differentiate fleas from bed bugs.

Fleas vs Bed Bugs: Taxonomy
There are several types of fleas which are grouped according to their respective host organisms (cat fleas, dog fleas and human fleas). All of them are categorized under the taxonomic order Siphonaptera, and the scientific name differs for each type. Regarding bed bugs classification, their taxonomic order is Hemiptera and genus is Cimex. The common name ‘bed bug’ is coined with reference to their commonly inhabited site.

Fleas vs Bed Bugs: Description
Fleas are very small, hardly 3.3 mm in size and dark colored. If you get a chance to observe them with a magnifying glass, you will notice that they have exceptionally long hind legs, an adaptation for jumping over a long distance. On the other hand, adult bed bugs are oval in shape, flat (before sucking blood meal) and reddish brown in color. They are visible to our naked eyes, about 5 mm in length.

Fleas vs Bed Bugs: Hiding Places
Fleas are prevalent in bedding, carpets, pet enclosures and other areas, where they readily get their prospective hosts. Almost similar to fleas, bed bugs are mostly found in dark places, especially in bed frames, cracks of bed (if any), mattresses and places where people usually sleep. Though they are not purely nocturnal, these bugs tend to come out in the dark and bite humans for feeding.

Fleas vs Bed Bugs: Reproduction
Within 1-1½ days after having blood meal, the female fleas lay several number of eggs (about 50). But, egg laying is not possible until and unless they suck blood from the hosts. The eggs hatch to larvae, then pupate and become adult fleas. On the other hand, life cycle of a bed bug consists of 6 stages in total. The whitish colored eggs after hatching undergo 5 molts before they become adults.

Fleas vs Bed Bugs: Feeding
The mouth parts of fleas are adapted is such a way that they can pierce the host’s skin and draw blood. At the time of feeding, fleas introduce saliva to the host through a tube like structure, and suck blood to about 15 times of their body weight. Bed bugs suck blood in the same way as fleas, i.e. by delivering saliva and drawing blood. In a single feeding, they can suck human blood to about 6 times of their own body weight.

Fleas vs Bed Bugs: Bites
You can distinguish flea bites from bed bug bites by examining the skin symptoms. Of course, both bites result in itching, irritation and small raised skin bumps. A flea bites randomly on exposed skin areas, whereas a bed bug bites in a specific manner, mostly in a linear pattern. In flea bites, a punctured spot is found in the middle of the skin bumps, while it is absent in case of bed bug bites. Learn more on flea bites vs bed bug bites. Read the rest of this entry »

Despite the indisputable benefits of having a pet around, prospective pet owners need to consider a number of issues from the animal’s point of view before they commit to a furry friend, particularly a long-lived one like a cat or dog. Many people fail to think about the practical aspects of life with a pet before they take a trip to the pet store or the Humane Society. In some cases, this lack of foresight can result in unhappy pets and unhappy owners if the situation isn’t well suited to both parties. This danger is particularly acute for those who live in apartments.

Many apartment buildings have restrictions on the type or number of pets that tenants are allowed to keep. Most commonly, apartment dwellers can have cage-bound pets such as fish, small reptiles, or small birds, but are forbidden from having cats and dogs. Although this might appear to be a selfish move on the part of the apartment managers, there are other, very sensible reasons for this type of regulation. Not only does it save money on cleaning and repairs when tenants move out, it also prevents serious problems that can arise if pets escape. Because apartment and condos are characterized by a high resident density, an escaped dog can be a real threat to neighboring children or individuals with allergies.

Considering neighbors isn’t the only reason to think twice before inviting a dog or cat into your apartment. Consideration should also be given to the animals themselves. Unfortunately, such inter-species empathy is fairly rare. Many people think about the benefits they themselves will receive from having a pet, never dwelling on how their individual living situations will affect the pet. If you live in an urban area of a large city, you have probably seen apartment-dwellers walking their dogs around the local park. In some unfortunate cases, this could be the only exercise the dog gets, having to spend the rest of its time cooped up in a small apartment where it’s unable to engage in the level of physical activity it needs to stay healthy. Read the rest of this entry »

Deviant behaviors have rarely straightforward causes, and the same logic applies for canine activities at night. Two underlying causes are:

Separation Anxiety
Night anxiety in dogs could be a form of canine separation anxiety. Dogs are highly social beings and their loving and loyal nature makes them very attached to their owners. But an unusual amount of attachment can cause a dog to behave very erratically in the absence of his loved one. While dogs are not as independent or aloof as cats, they can make do on their own, at least for sometime. A dog anxious at separation, cannot stand being left alone. And when the owner returns, an over-abundance of affection is displayed. Separation anxiety can be triggered or created. Some situations like the loss of a familiar figure, new house or neighborhood and change in schedule, where the dog is used to his owners coming home at a time and suddenly the timing changes, are known to cause anxiety problems. Abused dogs, or shelter bred and pet store pooches with a difficult early life, are more susceptible to separation anxiety.

A mental problem it may be, but separation issues result in very physical and rather crazy behavior from a dog. And such behavior patterns can assert themselves at night, when the owner is around, but not with the dog. So the dog is more anxious at the thought of being kept apart from his master. If your dog shows any of the following signs as nocturnal antics, it’s likely he’s suffering from separation issues:
•Scratching and pawing at closed doors or windows to try to get into your room
•Very vocal in distress – whines and pants incessantly, howling loudly
•Pacing throughout the house in a disturbed manner
•Defecating and urinating in random places
•Erratic acts of destruction, like chewing and biting stuff, or emptying dustbins
•Tries to harm itself by biting its tail or scratching at its face with claws out
Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome (CDS)
We share so much in common with our dogs, even diseases and disorders. In older dogs, age can take a toll on mental ability and reasoning. This results in a change in the way a dog behaves. A normally active dog might sleep the whole day away and instead spend nights in a disturbed state. This sort of pattern is described as sundowning, a common symptom among people with Alzheimer’s and dementia. Night anxiety in dogs is the one of the key symptoms of CDS or cognitive dysfunction syndrome. Read the rest of this entry »

The discipline of veterinary medicine involves the use of medical, diagnostic, surgical and dental therapeutic procedures for treatment of animals. Veterinarians are professionals with the know-how of veterinary medicine. History of veterinary medicine reveals interesting facts about how this field of science evolved. Let us understand more about veterinary medicine through following paragraphs.

The desire and need to care for animals led to the development and progress of the science of veterinary medicine. It was in the 19th and 20th century that people realized the importance of veterinary medicine. Educational institutes for specialized training in veterinary medicine were set up. The following sections present information about ancient, middle and modern history of veterinary medicine.

Ancient History
Indians, Egyptians, and Chinese were the ones who first made use of veterinary medicine. Ancient Indian artworks portrayed pictures of people taking care of animals. Asoka, an emperor from India, is also known to have started hospitals for the treatment of animals. Study of Chinese civilization reveals that documentation of different diseases in animals was made by them as early as 2500 B.C.E. History of veterinary medicine in Egypt can be traced back to the period of 3000 B.C.E. The Egyptians cared for animals and the fact that they considered the cat as a sacred animal emphasizes their concern for animals. Their fascination with cats lead to the domestication of this feline species in Egypt. Columella, a Roman scholar first used the term ‘veterinarius’. He wrote books on animal care and related subjects like livestock health and breeding.

Middle Ages and Modern Period
The development of veterinary medicine as a branch of science in Europe took place with the spread of diseases, like plague, originating from animals (rats). In 1600s, the blood circulation theory proposed by William Harvey was published. This know-how of the circulation theory helped in carrying out blood transfusion in dogs. Lyon (France) was the place where the first veterinary school began in 1782. John Hunter, a surgeon from Scotland, is known to have done a lot of research in the field of veterinary medicine.

In the 1800s and 1900s the field of veterinary medicine became much more specialized than that of earlier times. The Victorian Era also witnessed growth in the field of veterinary science. Typhoid, tuberculosis, and cholera were identified and treatment measures for these diseases were developed. Protecting farm animals from these deadly diseases therefore, became possible. Read the rest of this entry »