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Archive for August, 2011

African Grey parrots’ food must not be only seed, however. Such an incomplete, imbalanced diet is likely to cause illness. Seeds are high in fat and carbohydrates, and your African Grey will probably pick out its favorite seeds, making the diet even less balanced.

Most parrot experts agree that an African Grey parrots’ food needs can only be met with a formula diet supplemented with a variety of other foods.

Organic Pellets

What is a formula diet for an African Grey? Organic pellets. I say “organic” pellets because many of the conventional pellets have unhealthy ingredients. Some have even been noted as containing potentially toxic ingredients.

African Grey parrots’ food should never contain menadione. If the pellets you are considering for your African Grey list menadione as an ingredient, read on. The FDA requires a warning on every bag of food that contains it. That warning must read, “Person who handles needs to wear protective outfit, gloves, mask, and glasses.”

Menadione may be added to give your African Grey additional vitamin K. A better option is to provide full spectrum light for your parrot. An African Grey will get vitamin K from the light, just as it would if living outdoors.

Organic pellets also let your African Grey avoid the high quantities of sugar in colored pellets. Most African Grey parrot owners care enough about the bird in which they’ve invested so much money, that they don’t want to give it a diet that is high in sugar.

African Grey parrots’ food that is based on organic pellets will be free of contaminants that might be found in other pellets. In the U.S., government regulations force companies making organic parrot food not to use pesticides or other contaminants.

In addition to a basic, formulated pellet food, African Greys need many of the same food you eat.

1. Fresh vegetables: Offer your African Grey a wide variety of vegetables, raw or cooked. Think bright, deep colors for the most nutrition. Most vegetables that offer high nutrition to you and your family will be good for your parrot as well. Cooked legumes such as beans and lentils are good. Sprouted seeds are also good. Your African Grey will love them. To avoid contaminants such as pesticides, you may want to use organic vegetables for African Grey parrots’ food.

2. Fresh fruits: In the wild, African Greys eat fruit freely. The trick is to keep your parrot from filling up on its favorite food and neglecting pellets and vegetables. As with vegetables, choose bright, rich colors in fruit for the most nutrition. Also, purchase organic if possible.

3. Other supplemental foods: African Grey parrots enjoy cooked eggs and small amounts of yogurt now and then. African Greys are more prone than some parrots to calcium deficiency, so you may leave the egg shell on the hard boiled egg, if you wish. You should not need to give your parrot calcium supplements if you are using a good organic pellet food. You may give a few seeds as a treat, but go easy on them.

No, Thank You

African Grey parrots’ food dishes should never contain avocado, chocolate, or rhubarb. They should not contain any human junk foods or processed meats either. It should go without saying, but your African Grey should never be given anything containing caffeine or alcohol.

Water, Please

Remember, when thinking of your African Grey’s dietary needs, that it should have fresh, clean water in its cage at all times.

Helpful Tip

For healthy African Greys, be sure you clean the food and water dishes every day. If your parrot decides on an impromptu bath, wait until it is done, wash the water dish, and give it a fresh supply of water.

By: Anna Hart

Now that you have your ferret, you will want him stay fit and healthy.  One of the many ways of achieving this is with the correct diet.

When it comes to feeding your pet ferret, you will need to make sure that you are giving him the best ferret diet possible.

After all, you will want to make sure that he stays fit and healthy, and not suffer through a poor diet.  And to achieve this, you will need to make sure that his food is rich in fat, meat-based protein, and vitamins and minerals.

Below are some tips on what, and what not to feed your pet ferret.

1.  Do not feed your ferret on fruits or vegetables, or anything that contains starch or sugar.      Feeding your ferret with the wrong foods can lead to a number of health difficulties, including obesity. The wrong types of food can also shorten a ferrets life span.

2.  Ferrets are classed as “obligate carnivores” which means that they must eat meat.  Most of their nutritional needs are supplied through a meat-based diet.  From a scientific standpoint, they must eat meat because they are “hyper carnivores”.  Ferrets over many centuries have become adapted to a very strict meat-eating diet.

3.  If you intend to feed your ferret on kibble, be sure to moisten it with water first.  Not only is kibble very abrasive, but your ferret will find it difficult to digest if it is not moistened.  This could bring on some very uncomfortable, intestinal related problems.

4.  Some people believe that dry kibble will help to wear down tartar build up on a ferrets teeth.  The truth is though that dry kibble will only wear down your ferrets teeth, it can be that abrasive.

5.  Always avoid feeding your ferret with products that contain corn, or that are made up of frozen fish.

These are just some of things that you should be aware of if you are new to ferret keeping.  To ensure that your ferret lives a long and happy life, just follow the basic guidelines for your ferrets continued good health.

For much more information on a ferrets diet.

Puppies go through the stage of teething, which basically means he will chew almost anything he gets his teeth on whether they are shoes, wicker furniture or items and especially his bed.

chewproof dog bed

Dogs provide a great source of happiness whether you are playing, walking or just relaxing in front of the television and that is why they are the number one choice of pet of families in the US and probably around the world.

Most of us get a dog at a very young age in order to grow with them along the years. One of the first things that we acquire sometimes even before we get the dog, is new pet bed that makes the pet comfortable and happy in his or her new home. When choosing the dog bed, one of the most important features you should consider is buying a chew proof dog crates and here is why.

* Dog Issues

Puppies go through the stage of teething, which basically means he will chew almost anything he gets his teeth on whether they are shoes, wicker furniture or items and especially his bed. This is the main reason why if you have a puppy, the first feature you should look for is a chew proof dog bed. You can also look for vinyl chew proof dog crates. These will work very good for the pup’s until they grow out of their teething and chewing stage. They also make chewproof puppy bed. Either of these will work good.

Chewing at things however is not something that a dog forgets or leaves behind as he grows older. Many times after you thought the chewing period in your dog’s life is over will you find something in shreds; this is when you’ll be very happy if you still have the chew proof dog beds. Fortunately most manufacturers that make items for dogs keep in mind this specific dog habit and make beds chew proof.

chew proof dog beds

* Other Reasons to Get ChewProof Dog Beds

Besides the fact that the bed will be ruined, a good reason to get a chew proof dog bed is if the bed is heated, your dog could get injured if he chews it even if the cords are usually steel wrapped for that reason alone. A chew proof dog bed will also keep your dog area neat and clean while allowing him to nibble his bed without damaging it.

* Shopping for a Suitable Dog Bed

Besides keeping in mind the chew proof feature in the dog bed, you can choose any bed based on the size of your dog, its personality and house d?cor. You will find a huge variety of dog beds, mats, pillows, baskets, donuts, orthopedic and even luxurious pieces of furniture from which you can choose depending on the amount you want to spend.

Visit http://www.doggonegoodbeds.com for more information.

Throughout history the Greyhound has been the darling dog breed of royalty and nobility. From the ancient Egyptians, who often mummified and buried favored dogs with their owners; to the English nobility who enacted a law banning so fine a beast from being owned by mere commoners. Even the Bedouin (who as devout Muslims shun dogs in general for supposedly being unclean) since time immemorial have so revered the Greyhound (or its derivative or ancestor) that not only was contact permitted, they even allowed the consumption of game caught by such dogs.

Fast forward to today and it is hard to believe that this dog breed once held such an esteemed position. Currently over 100,000 Greyhound dogs are destroyed each year worldwide, as a result of the cruel sport of dog racing!

In times long past a messenger carrying both good news and bad always supplied the good news first in order to lessen the effect of the bad news and thereby increase his chances of living to see another day (hence the expression: Don’t shoot the messenger!) So borrowing from that tactful approach, this article shall address the Greyhound’s glorious past first before covering its dismal present:

The Greyhound is a dog that stands apart from the other dog breeds not only for the fact that it happens to be the speed champion of the dog world but also because it holds an unparalleled array of records which include:

1. The fastest dog in the world across short distances: the Greyhound dog can attain speeds in excess of 40 mph (64km/h)

2. It has the longest stride of any dog breed whilst it is in full flight. One Greyhound dog is on record of having covered a distance of 30 feet (9.14m) in a single leap. The Greyhound’s sprint is described as a double flight gait which involves the dog at some point having all of its feet off the ground. When a Greyhound dog is sprinting it propels itself first with its hind legs and then momentarily lands on its front feet before cantilevering off those while reaching forward with its hind feet (at which point for an instant all four feet are off the ground).

This double-flight gait is extremely fast but also very unstable which explains the many injuries that befall racing Greyhounds. The Cheetah which is the fastest mammal on earth has a somewhat similar sprint pattern which also entails the Cheetah’s four limbs being fully off the ground at some point. The Greyhound however is no match for the Cheetah which can attain speeds of 70 mph (114 km/h) and maintain that speed for 3.5 miles!

Though the Greyhound cannot match the Cheetah’s speed, it obviously is no slow coach either and the reason why this dog breed can attain such speeds (other than its obvious aerodynamic-enhanced morphological structure and muscle mass) is because it packs so much hemoglobin in its blood. Those elevated levels of hemoglobin ensure the transfer of more oxygen to the tissues which also bestows the Greyhound dog’s blood with a sludge-like quality (thick blood). If the human heart were to attempt pumping such a thick mixture of blood it would most likely go into failure.

3. The Greyhound boasts the longest documented history of any dog breed. Ancient drawings and records place the Greyhound dog as a distinctive breed over 6000 years ago.

4. The Greyhound is the most expensive dog breed; it is not unusual for champion racing Greyhounds to command a price tag in excess of $70,000!

5. The Greyhound dog is the one breed that has been most favored by royalty and the aristocracy throughout all of dog history. In fact so much so was this dog breed viewed as the epitome of canine excellence that a law was passed in England in 1014—part of the Forest Laws—which categorically forbade commoners to own a Greyhound dog! Those persons other than nobility who were permitted to own a Greyhound, such as Freemen, could only do so, so long as the dog was deliberately maimed if they lived within 10 miles of a royal forest.

Interestingly enough, royal households used to employ select dog-mutilators whose job was to rove around the countryside ensuring that nobody not born of noble birth or titled by the king was in illegal possession of a greyhound dog that was not lamed! However, as the acreage of the great forests dwindled, and with the rising importance of agricultural and domestic livestock food sources, the function of the Greyhound dog declined correspondingly! Even so the Greyhound still remained the favorite dog of the landed gentry especially as the popularity of hare coursing grew. By the 1800s hare coursing had become a favored pastime of the upper classes in England.

Greyhound Dog: Origins & History

The Greyhound dog is evidently a breed of antiquity stretching back thousands of years. There are several references from many ancient cultures citing the Greyhound throughout history. Although many dog books note the Greyhound dog as having originated in Britain this is very unlikely. It would be more accurate to concede that the Greyhound in its modern form most closely resembles the dog that was selectively gene-trait refined according to English standards.

Historical data tends to suggest that the Greyhound evolved from early Sighthounds that existed in ancient Egypt. Paintings, decorations, and other artifacts from early Egyptian culture celebrate a dog very similar in appearance to the Greyhound. Indeed several pharaohs are known to have owned Greyhound-looking dogs. Some of the pharaohs included: Cleopatra (yes the seductive femme fatale), Tutankhamen, Queen Hatshepsut, to name but a few. The Greyhound also so happens to be the only dog breed to be mentioned by name in the Bible (Proverbs 30:29-31, King James Version). Ancient Greek and Roman mythology is rife with tales describing Greyhound-like dogs.

It is not unreasonable to speculate that the ancient Greeks attained their first Greyhound specimens (or at least its progenitor) from Egyptian merchants. In Greek mythology their gods were often portrayed with Greyhounds. The Romans in turn probably first stumbled across the Greyhound via their interaction with the Greeks. However it is equally possible the Romans got their original hounds from the Celts, seeing as the well regarded Roman authors, Ovid and Arrian often referred to the Greyhound as a Celt Hound. However, whatever the Greyhound’s origins, what is known is that since its earliest affiliation with humans, this dog breed has wowed mankind the world over with its speed and agility, most notably through the sport of coursing. Hare coursing is an old sport practiced since the time of the Romans who probably exported it to Britain when they invaded.

Strangely enough it appears that the Romans were much more sporting than their modern dog-racing counterparts, with respect to the welfare of both the dogs and hares involved in the coursing event, as amply illustrated by the following excerpt written by Roman Flavius Arrianus (Arrian) in 124 AD: “The true sportsman does not take out his dogs to destroy the hares, but for the sake of the course and the contest between the dogs and the hares, and is glad if the hare escapes…whoever courses with greyhounds should neither slip them near the hare, nor more than a brace (two) at a time.” Simply put, no more than two dogs were to be used in the chase and they were not to be released too close to the hare!

The Many-Named Dog

Across the breadth of time the Greyhound dog has been designated almost as many names as the number of years for which the breed has existed (okay…I’ll admit that’s a bit of an exaggeration but you get the point). In the English language alone, the Greyhound has had at least 50 names. Unsurprisingly there has been considerable debate concerning the meaning of the various names:

1. Grewhound; the “Grew” portion of the word meaning “Greek.” A similar but variant school of thought postulates that the “Grew” was actually “Graius” which still means Greek; again these old English names tend to lend credence that the Greyhound originated elsewhere other than Britain.

2. Greyhounds are certainly anything but grey so it is highly unlikely that the word ever reflected the breed’s color. Some believe that the “grey” in Greyhound was once “grei” which meant beautiful.

3. Great Hound; another school of thought speculates that the Greyhound was once known as the Greathound (the name evidently reflecting the dog’s exalted status in gentrified society) but as time progressed the term somehow mutated into “greyhound.”

The few examples above are a minuscule sampling of the various names the Greyhound has been called at one time or another during history in some variation of the English language.

The Harsh Unforgiving World Of Greyhound Dog Racing

It truly is hard to imagine how so exalted a dog breed could end up where it is today—slaughtered in the thousands each year. This is all the more shocking when one considers that at some point in Greyhound dog history it was a crime punishable by death to kill one (during the reign of King Canute). However currently each year thousands upon thousands of Greyhounds are destroyed, a good number before they’ve even attained the tender age of 2 years!

The reason for this mass slaughter can be defined in 3 words: Greyhound Dog Racing! Every year the Greyhound dog racing industry breeds several thousand dogs, far more than the number that get to compete. The reason for this over breeding—ambitious Greyhound dog breeders looking for that elusive but ever so lucrative champion dog racer! The dogs that don’t make the cut are typically destroyed or in some cases actually subjected to a fate worse than death!

The Greyhound dog racing industry certainly pulls no punches with respect to the maltreatment of animals. Since the inception of modern dog racing around the 1920s, the Greyhound (and affiliated industry animals that act as live bait) has suffered unimaginable cruelty; in this industry there is no reprieve or second chance and the vast majority of dogs never get to live anywhere near their expected life expectancy! Instead most dogs are befallen by anyone of the following fates:

1. Killed;

2. Experimented upon as a laboratory animal; the Greyhound’s superb physiology makes it a prime lab candidate for cardiovascular research;

3. Shipped abroad to countries such as China where animal cruelty laws are extremely lax (to say the least); and let’s not forget that dogs often end up on the dinner table there; and

4. Used as food fodder in commercial dog feed (euthanized pets are commonly recycled as commercial dog chow).

A very small percentage of lucky dogs eventually make the transition from Shelters/Rescue Home, to permanent adoption! One need only conduct a cursory search through online Greyhound Adoption centers to see just how bad the problem really is. And perhaps the most tragic aspect of this tragedy is that the Greyhound dog truly is a sweet-tempered and loving dog that some have described as the “speediest couch potato!”

Greyhound Dog Breed

Your dog is really lovable, right? But even the most lovable dogs can sometimes have bad behaviors. If that’s true of yours, let’s find out what’s causing it. Then, you can do something about it.

Your dog digs

Some breeds of dogs love to dig holes, and if that’s true of yours, you may be lamenting the loss of your pristinely kept lawn. Why your dog digs holes, though, is going to depend on his breed and other factors. For example, if he’s bored, spend more time with him and give him some exercise. If your dog is a male and is trying to get under the fence to the female next door, have your dog neutered. If your dog just likes to dig and/or bury things, you may not be able to entirely nip this behavior altogether, but dogs are pretty trainable. Give your dog one “special place” all his own that he can dig in, and make it clear that the rest of the area is off limits. If you have to, spray dog repellent around areas you don’t want him to dig.

Your dog barks

Sometimes, dogs bark for a reason, such as when owners come home, when strange noises are heard, when loud voices are heard, and so on. Sometimes, though, your dog may bark for no apparent reason, and this can be an absolute nuisance to both you and your neighbors. Most often, dogs bark in these instances because they’re lonely. If your dog barks all day at night when you’re at work, give him some company. So-called “doggie day care” has sprung up to take care of this need so that your dog doesn’t have to be lonely during the day even if you have to be gone. Or, swap favors with a neighbor who has an alternate schedule to yours and “watch” each other’s dogs when each of you is gone. If you absolutely must keep your dog at home by himself, give him a lot to play with (leave lots of toys about) and leave on the radio or television so that your dog will feel less lonely.

Your dog chews on “everything”

Sometimes, chewing is self-explanatory. If your puppy is teething, for example, getting him some good sturdy chew bones and then training him to use them should take care of the problem. However, if your dog isn’t teething, he may be chewing simply to get your attention. In that case, the answer is pretty simple. Spend more time with him when he is NOT chewing. In other words, don’t make him think, “If I chew on mom’s favorite shoes, she’ll spend more time with me.” If he gets attention from you that’s positive and has nothing to do with negative behavior, he’ll probably stop chewing. In addition, make sure you always leave favorite chew toys around so that he does have something to chew on if he gets the urge.

Your dog jumps on you

Sometimes this is cute, but it can be bad behavior, such as if your dog is muddy or has been out in the wet. The best option for this behavior is not to invite jumping in the first place so that your dog doesn’t get confused, or only to have him jump on your signal. The only answer to keeping your dog from jumping at will is to train him not to. Start discouraging him from jumping (except upon your signal, as appropriate) when he is still a puppy. If you can’t seem to get him to stop jumping, consider putting him in obedience school to get the job done.

Your dog doesn’t obey you

Dogs are really subservient to humans for the most part, so if your dog isn’t obeying you, it may be because you’ve “trained” him not to. In other words, you haven’t been consistent with what you expect from him. So start obedience training early when he’s still a puppy, and be consistent. Reinforce continually and make sure he never “gets away” with any behavior you don’t want him to do without correction. If you can’t seem to get this under control yourself, putting your dog in obedience school (and enrolling yourself along with him so that you learn the proper training techniques) is a great way to take care of this problem.