Cattle

Posts Tagged ‘camera’

Who is living in your backyard? You might be surprised. Anyone who has ever hung a bird feeder from a tree branch has experienced the delight of watching our natural neighbors as they make their daily rounds. People who live in high-rise apartments and condos or in areas where a bird feeder is not possible have been missing this simple pleasure… until now.

A few years ago the introduction of inexpensive “web cams” made it possible for those of us with computers to capture video and share the results with others. More recently, miniature video cameras, some packed with features like color, infra-red night vision and audio, are so small that they can be placed inside a bird house. Imagine watching as the eggs hatch and the young chicks start peeping and demanding food. These cameras come equipped with 100 feet of cord that jacks right into your television. You can forget the binoculars.

Hospital patients, those living in nursing homes, even office workers can now experience the sense of freedom that comes from “being outside”, even when they are shut in.

But, if you think “nature cams” are only for bird watchers, think again. As evening approaches and the birds go to roost a new and more exotic group of neighbors moves in. My nature cam, the Gray Fox Cam is the Winner of an EarthCam’s TOP 10 CAMS Award. Go check it out. You will be amazed at what you might see. My nightly visitors include Gray Fox (we have 3 that visit regularly each night), raccoons, opossums, and the rare Ring-tailed cats. As I write this there are two beautiful bright yellow American Finches, a bright red male Cardinal, a Tufted Titmouse, and a couple of sparrows. During the summer months this same nature cam captures the antics of the hummingbirds and other daytime visitors.

As mankind encroaches upon the habitat of our natural neighbors, it becomes increasingly more important that we act as good neighbors ourselves by learning something about them. Watching them is a good place to start. I can assure you that they are watching us!

WARNING!

Nature cams are addictive. Once yours is up and running you will find yourself pausing frequently during your busy work day to glance at the screen. When you do, your heart rate will slow, your breathing will even out, and you will return to your task more relaxed. If you are currently addicted to adrenalin and high pressure situations, this feeling that “all is well with the world” may be uncomfortable at first, but who knows? You may just come to love it!

If you, like many others, decide to set up your own nature cam, please share it with the world. A lot of people who may not be fortunate enough to have a back yard like yours will thank you. On the other hand, if you do not have a place for a nature cam in your yard, feel free to use mine. That’s what it’s there for.

How to stop dogs from barking?

Dog barking is quite normal behaviour, because it’s the only way that a dog can communicate. But sometimes that barking can become quite annoying and can cause some trouble between your neighbours, or anyone in your neighbourhood, and even your local authorities.

And this can become quite a problem. Sometimes your neighbours just won’t understand, especially when the barking is happening in the middle of the night when everyone is trying to sleep. Or maybe your dog is barking when you’re away.

It’s normal to dogs to bark from time to time. It’s exactly the same as when children laugh, and make noise when they play. But your dog has a barking problem if it’s happening for long periods of time. It’s a sign that you should do something right now to solve your dogs barking problem.

First thing you need to do is determined what’s actually making the dog bark? And how long is the dog barking for? Before you do anything, you may have to turn yourself into a detective. Gather as much information as you can, especially if the barking is happening mostly when you’re not at home.

Ask some friends to walk past your house and listen for a while to see if your dog barks. Maybe you can set up a video camera out your window into the backyard, or wherever your dog is, to see if you can catch the dog in the act. You might be surprised what you find.

The dog may be barking because it’s lonely or bored, the dog may be barking because of isolation. Maybe it’s barking for attention. Or maybe it’s barking out of sheer frustration.

So, That brings up the question… how to stop dogs from barking?

Well, If you have a dog is full of energy, particularly a breed that was bred for sports or for herding is properly barking because it’s bored. These types of dogs need a fair bit of attention and room to move. Try some toys in the backyard for the dog to play with maybe that will entertain the dog so that it doesn’t get bored.

Make sure you walk you dog every day. It’s excellent for its physical and mental well-being, a healthy dog is a happy dog.

Keep your dog inside when you are unable to supervise. Maybe something is catching his eye.

Make sure you play with your dog lots, make sure that there’s time with you on a daily basis, playing, exercise, throwing the ball and generally having fun. This way, the dog won’t act up trying to get your attention.

Summary on how to stop dogs from barking – Make sure your dog gets plenty of exercise and attention when your there, and when you not there make sure that there is plenty of toys, or you can keep your dog inside when you’re away.

Look out for the following symptoms of dog cystitis with bladder stones (crystals):

1. The dog may go to the toilet a lot more than it does usually.
2. It may struggle to produce any urine
3. There may be a small amount of blood in the urine that is produced.

Small crystals forming on blood cells and bladder lining cells are what cause bladder stones or urolith in your dog’s bladder. Bladder stones can be caused by either a too high acidic level or a very low one and in some cases they even form irrespective of the pH levels in the dog’s urine. There are six different types of bladder stones that can be formed.

A dog’s urine contains several normal chemicals which form these crystals but these crystals will only form at certain pH levels and they will require something to attach to and grow on.

The lining of the dog’s bladder constantly gets rid of old cells and forms new one this gives the crystals something to attach to and grow on. The crystals can attach to one of these dead cells and continue to grow from being microscopic to the size of a golf ball in cases where they are left untreated.

These crystals, when formed, will have sharp edges causing inflammation and burning of the bladder due to these sharp edges constantly scratching and aggravating the bladder lining.

The bladder contracts due to the aggravation and burning and it makes the dog feel like it needs to urinate but the bladder contains little or no urine. Furthermore, there may be a small amount of blood in the urine due to the ruptured blood vessels caused by the inflamed muscles.

If your dog is a male there are chances that the bladder stones can travel from the bladder down into the urethra. The risk of this is that these stones may become wedged into a cylindrical bone that the urethra travels through and cause severe pain to the dog as it obstructs its urine. If this happens the bladder stones will be too be removed urgently before the bladder bursts or the toxins in the urine kills the dog.

The vet will normally ask for a urine sample when the dog is suspected to have this condition. This urine sample will be tested for blood, acidic levels and glucose.

These samples will help the vet in determining whether inflammation is the problem if blood cells are found in the urine or whether the dog is diabetic has a relatively high level of glucose in its urine making it vulnerable to cystitis since glucose helps the bacteria grow and requires a separate type of treatment. The urine sample will also help the vet determine whether the acidity levels in the urine are enough to fight the bacteria.

After the presence of inflammation and cystitis have been confirmed due to the initial testing the dog can be treated by either the appropriate antibiotics or further tests can be conducted to check for bladder stones. These further tests include ultrasound, x-rays and using a small camera which will be passed through the bladder of the dog.

The vet may be able to determine the type of bladder stones present in the dog by the amount of pH levels in its urine. Another method of checking for the type of bladder stones present in the dog is to remove the larger ones and send them for further testing.

If the bladder stones have moved down to the urethra of the male dog the vet may need to push a need through the abdominal wall and into the dog’s bladder to remove some of the urine and ease the dog’s pain and discomfort. After this, the vet will try to slide the bladder stones back into the bladder by using a catheter and flushing the urethra with water and then later operating on the bladder.

If this procedure fails then the vet may have to resort to a more risky surgery on the urethra itself in order to remove the blockage caused by the bladder stones.

After the surgery has been performed and the dog has been given the appropriate medicine the vet will probably put the dog on a special type of food in order to correct the amount of pH levels in its urine. Furthermore, in accordance with previous test results the vet may also prescribe antibiotics.