Cattle

Posts Tagged ‘consult’

Are you fed up with the aggressive ways of your four legged companion? With the right aggressive behavior dog training program this problem could be dramatically reduced. Although aggression is a difficult issue to deal with, there are different ways in which the issue can be resolved.

1 – Consult a Veterinarian – If your dog hasn’t had a history of being aggressive and begins growling, biting or snapping at people, talk about it to your vet. This sudden change in his behavior can be a sign of a medical problem which needs immediate medical attention.

2 – Determine the situations – Determine the situations in which your dog displays aggressive behavior and avoid them. An important part of aggressive behavior dog training is discovering the reason behind the aggression.

3- Make a behavior modification program – This can be achieved with the help of a professional behaviorist. For example, if your dog growls when you or someone else from your family approaches his food bowl then you might be asked to approach an empty food bowl and drop some food in it. This way your dog will understand when someone approaches his food bowl he will get a treat and there is no need for him to be aggressive.

4- Never punish your dog for behaving aggressively– You should never punish your dog for acting aggressively. As they say, aggression breeds aggression. If a dog is punished for being aggressive, it may cause him to show more aggression.

5- Be consistent and patient – If you want to provide proper aggressive behavior dog training than you need to be consistent in your efforts in training him and stay patient, as dog aggression is a problem that cannot be curbed overnight.

6 – Socialize Your Dog – The most common reason for dogs to show aggressive behavior is due to the lack of their socialization when they were young. A dog will find it hard to trust people and other dogs that he doesn’t know, if he did not have lot of chances to interact with them while he was young. So, if you have a puppy socialize him during his early stages of his life and you should never deal with dog aggression problems in future.

As you can see here aggressive behavior dog training can be a difficult and tedious process.  When working with an aggressive dog, a good dog training course can be very useful. You will want to look for the one that includes a free consultation with an experienced dog trainer.

Sometimes a cat will not like the location of his or her litter box.  This can occur for several different reasons:

• Some kind of pain at the location of the box
• Something that has caused the cat to be afraid at the location
• An odor around the location of the box

Where is the best spot to put a litter box?

• Most cats prefer an easily accessible spot, but one with privacy
• Avoid placing the box near a noisy appliance like the washer, dryer or furnace
• Experiment with types of boxes:  some cats like the privacy of closed boxes, and most like large boxes, but some like small ones.

In general, cats usually dislike having to eliminate near where they eat, so avoid putting the food and water bowls near the litter box.

Stress or anxiety as a source of cat litter box location must always be considered, but is not as frequent a cause of house soiling.  It has been said that one cannot have too many litter boxes.  A household of three cats would probably fair much better with four boxes.

Specific kinds of stress such as separation anxiety, previously seen only in dogs, but now believed to occur in cats also, usually occurs when there has been a prolonged absence of the owner, typically 8 hours or more.  The house soiling typically occurs 8 to 12 hours after the owner’s departure.  This behavior can also involve diarrhea and destructive events, and can be treated in much the same way dogs are treated.  Training through graduated departures with a lot of skill, time and patience as well as medications help separation anxiety disorders.

Some owners report cats that are naturally shy or fearful.  This type of personality may not want to come out into the open to go to the litter box.  If there is an identifiable cause such as a certain person, cat dog, object or sound, try to remove or modify it.  You might also try using a litter box in a “safe” location for the shy and fearful type cat.

Overcrowding

Some cats may enjoy the company of 20 other cats, while others are unhappy with just one other cat in the household or any other kind of animal.  It is actually not natural for cats to live in social groups all the time as they spend most of their time in solitary circumstances, getting together for breeding and sometimes raising kittens together.  Cats usually see all living objects, including people in the home as part of the social group.  Adding to the group in any way can be upsetting to a cat.  One way of solving a multiple cat home environment is to provide plenty of nesting spots vertically like cat trees and shelving so as to give each cat a place of its own away from the others.

For new kitten owners, there are a few things you can do to help avoid house soiling problems.  They include:

• Make the litter box location easily accessible, private and in a low traffic area
• Try to provide at least one litter box per cat
• Use finely-grained, non-scented litters
• Do not put food and water beside the litter box
• Scoop the litter box at least daily
• Change clay litters at least once weekly
• Change scoop able litters every 6 to 8 weeks
• Avoid frightening the cat in the litter box, trapping or catching it there
• Never punish a cat for house soiling
• Make changes to the litter box filler or location very gradually
• Call your vet when house soiling occurs to rules out any medical problems that may be causing the problem

Disclaimer:  The information in this article is not meant to diagnose or treat any kind of health problem in your cat.  You should always consult with a trusted veterinarian for all health problems.

Source:  The Winn Feline Foundation Online

You should be thinking about your dogs health with summer approaching. As the summer begins to heat up you probably enjoy playing with them in the sun and taking them for more walks.

By not keeping a dog cool in the summer you are opening the door for heat-related illnesses and injuries to plague him/her.

You may be surprised but dogs are actually able to get a sun burn. If you have a white or lightly colored dog, they are just as likely to suffer from a sunburn as we do when exposed to the sun. If a dog undergoes long-term sun exposure they can suffer from skin damage and possibly skin cancer.

To prevent this from happening you are going to need to limit the amount of time your dog spends in direct sunlight. you need to consult your veterinarian immediately If you notice any type of discoloration or sore. Common areas that are effected are the nose, ears, and eyelids.

If they are exposed to the sun for to long your dog can also suffer from heat injury. Heat injury is when your dog’s body temperature exceeds it’s ability to cool itself. Your dog’s normal body temperature is between 100 and 102.5 degrees Fahrenheit. If your dogs temperature rises above 106 F, it’s normal cooling mechanisms get overwhelmed which causes a heat stroke which will require medical treatment.

Large double-coated breeds are more susceptible to a heat stroke. Huskies and other dog breeds suited for cold climates also have a low tolerance for heat and humidity.

The best way to prevent a heat stroke is to give dogs a summer hair cut. If you go to a good groomer they will be able to cut your dog’s coat down a few inches which will allow them to dissipate the heat better. It is important that you do not get the dogs hair cut all the way down to the skin because this eliminates their protection from sunburn and other injuries.

During the midday heat you should keep your dog indoors in either a well-ventilated area or an air conditioned area. If you are going to take your dog on a walk or play with them you should do it later in the night or earlier in the day when it is less hot outside.

Because it protects them from a heat stroke and from getting sunburned keeing a dog cool is very important. This article should have enlightened you on the two conditions and ways to help keep your dog cool during the summer.

Knowing the correct way of caring for pigs is the secret of becoming a successful pig farmer. When they are cared for properly, pigs will not only provide plenty of cheap meat for your family, but also fertilizer that you can use in your fields.

Caring for pigs begins when you buy them from a breeder. Make sure that the piglets you buy are healthy and have been immunized for the most common swine diseases. One way of knowing a trustworthy breeder is to look at their facilities and breeding stock. If they are not clean or the stock looks sickly, don’t deal with that breeder. Also, consult with a local veterinarian for a vaccination program for your herd.

While many people believe that all you need to feed pigs are table scraps and spoiled vegetables, caring for pigs means ensuring that they stay healthy. Make sure that you also feed them the right powder feed for their current level of development. And your pigs must also have plenty of clean, fresh water to drink, since water is essential to their health. Change their water daily, since they will bathe in it if they are given the chance.

Although pigs have the reputation of being dirty animals, perhaps because they enjoy rolling around in mud to cool off, they are actually very clean creatures. They become dirty only because they are kept in filthy pens. So an important part of caring for pigs is making sure that their living quarters are clean, with plenty of fresh straw for bedding, which should also be changed regularly.

If you raise them in a pasture, or let them out occasionally to root around in the fields and find plants to eat, make sure they are fenced in, particularly if they are already mature, in order to prevent them from wandering away. You might also want to build a water pool for them where they can swim and cool off. Refill the water pool frequently with a hose. Outdoor pigs should also have a small hut where they can have shelter from the hot sun, since they don’t sweat and have no normal way of preventing overheating.

Finally, proper handling is very important in caring for pigs. Pigs are intelligent and affectionate animals that enjoy being played with. So take some time to lavish them with some attention. And, always handle them gently, since rough treatment can frighten them and cause them to die of heart attacks, or can make them aggressive and hard to handle.

Due to constant comparison with their canine counterparts, people have said that cats cannot be trained. True, they may not be trained like a soldier but cats are incredibly intelligent animals that can be trained towards developing good habits if effort is put into work and understanding them.

Most cats that are adopted from a shelter, bought from a breeder or even just rescued from the streets don”t require a lot of instruction or guidance. Cats are quite self-sufficient but can still benefit from some training. Cat training is well worth doing because it will do good for the health and safety of both cat and owner.

There is no standard procedure to follow for cat training but there are a few cardinal rules in doing so. The first is that owners need to favor incentives over deterrents when possible. Cats also have self-interests so owners and trainers would want to leverage those. Using the cat’s natural preferences to induce the cat to the desired goal will prove to be helpful. Second rule is to not let training damage the important bond of trust between owner and cat. Cat training would ideally strengthen the bond between pet and owner during training sessions. The third rule is that owners need to consult with a veterinarian to investigate any possible medical issues for any observed behavior problems. Some cats that exhibit aggression with no previous incident of violence may be showing pain aggression due to an illness or injury. Training the cat during this case is not advisable.

Before starting cat training, it is advisable that a bond be established with the cat. Cats value and look forward to attention and affection that can be gained from training. But cats would only participate when they can determine that they would not be put in any harm by the handler. It would seem that the cat is more dependent due to that aspect of their training. Although cats in the wild tend to work alone, domesticated cats are quite social.

Cats may not be pack animals that carry the instincts to please a leader but due to their curious nature, they respond to learning, playing, eating and relaxing with their human owners. Although the relationship between cat and owner would aid in training, cats still have that independent streak. Any cat owner who opts for cat training must keep their expectations realistic to avoid working under false pretenses while going through the training sessions.