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For many new dog owners, housetraining is one of the most challenging parts of introducing a new canine into the family. Until that puppy learns how to go outside, chances are that you’ll be spending quite a bit of time cleaning up messes and dreading the smell when you open your front door.

But many people struggle with understanding the best way to teach their puppy how to go not only where you want but also when you want. After all, having your puppy on a schedule for using the bathroom is almost as important.

The solution in most cases is crate training. This is a relatively easy approach to house training that also provides some other useful benefits puppy owners should appreciate.

Why Crate Train?

First, crate training is intended to take advantage of your dog’s natural impulses. Although dogs have been domesticated, they still have some of those old instincts that helped their ancestors survive and thrive for millions of years. Some of those instincts relate to the concept of having a den.

A den is a safe haven for the animal where he or she can retreat without fear of being harmed. The den was the preferred location for sleeping, rearing young, and other activities. But to keep the den protected, dogs also had to keep it from being too easy to find. Since most predators use their sense of smell pretty well to find prey, the den was not a place for dogs to go to the bathroom. Their urine and feces would attract other animals and would endanger the safety of the den.

Dogs simply don’t go to the bathroom in their den unless out of absolute necessity.

The purpose of the crate is to give your dog a den in the home. This crate becomes his or her sanctuary.

But it also provides you with peace of mind. As long as your puppy is confined to the crate, he or she can’t be out doing damage to the rest of your house or getting into trouble by chewing on electrical cords or eating things that could get lodged in the intestines, for example.

Basically, crate training provides your dog with a safe place to call his or her own. Plus, it keeps him or her safe during the day while also working as an invaluable tool for housebreaking. Now let’s see how you can get started.

Picking the Crate

The first step is to choose the crate you want to use for your pet. Two types are available: the hard plastic models used for airplane travel and the wire types. If you have a big dog, you’ll probably be stuck with the wire type. Otherwise, you can choose whichever you think will be the best choice for your dog.

Keep in mind that the crate should only be big enough for your dog to stand up comfortably, lie down, and turn around. If you give the dog too much room, he or she could use part of the crate for a den and part for a bathroom spot which would defeat the purpose.

To keep costs reasonable, purchase a crate that will be large enough for your full-size dog but use dividers which can also be purchased to restrict the space available to your puppy.

Getting the Puppy Comfortable with the Crate

Next, you have to help your puppy get comfortable inside the crate. Most dogs are not going to immediately love the crate. They won’t like being confined and away from you. But you can make the situation easier by going slowly, using treats and praise to reinforce the desired behavior, and letting the puppy explore the crate on his own.

When you bring home the crate, leave it open so the dog can go into it and sniff it at his leisure. Then you can begin luring your puppy into the crate with treats and praising him for going inside.

After he is doing that well, you can lure him into the crate and close the door. This might cause some crying and whining from your puppy. Let him stay inside the crate for a minute or two then let him out. Do not let him out while he is still crying, however. Otherwise, he will cry every time you try to put him in the crate because he’ll know this behavior will get him released.

Keep expanding the time the puppy is in the crate with the door closed until he begins to feel comfortable. Then you can practice leaving the room, leaving the house, and staying away for longer periods of time. Each time remember to praise your puppy when you release him from the crate but never release him until he has calmed down.

House Breaking & the Crate

To use the crate for house breaking, be sure to give your dog food and water at least an hour before putting her in the crate. Take the puppy to the bathroom, preferably for a walk with a potty break, before she is placed in the crate.

Do not give your puppy food or water in the crate. These things will only make a mess and will cause the puppy to need to urinate or defecate badly.

Keep in mind that young puppies may not be able to “hold it” as long as you would like. For this reason, it’s a good idea to come home at least once during the day to take your puppy to the bathroom. If you can’t, you may want to hire someone to do this for you. Even adult dogs should not be left in crates for longer than 6 to 8 hours a day.

As soon as you let your puppy out of the crate, take him or her to the bathroom immediately. Praise him or her when they do what you want and quickly they will learn the routine.

If an accident does occur in the crate, clean it thoroughly with an enzyme-destroying cleaner so the dog won’t be able to smell the accident and assume that is an appropriate place to use the bathroom. Otherwise you’ll just keep repeating the problem.

Finally, don’t punish your dog for having an accident. You could end up causing them to fear the crate, as well as you.

These are helpful hints to ensure that your cat has a pleasurable and healthy stay with us. Knowing that we take the time and care to get to know each cat can make a difference to the quality of your holiday. Less worry for you means better holiday relaxation!

Fun – They love our treasure hunts for treats to keep them interested and stimulated and even the catnip bubbles!

Love – Perhaps the most important of all. Each cat needs time, love and attention suited to them individually. Some like to play more, others prefer to be cuddled. Our secure, family-sized units, large enough to accomodate 4 cats, ensure that your cat gets the very best attention at all times.

Grooming -This should be done each day not only to collect hairs but for the main reason of bonding with the cat. This, in turn means a more relaxed cat that is more likely to eat!

Vaccinations – Keep a note in your diary as to when your cats vaccination booster is due. This avoids disappointment as we cannot board cats without a current certificate.

Travelling Basket – Get your cat used to this by placing a favourite blanket inside as well as treats. Encourage them to explore it themselves for a few days leading up to boarding.

Meals – When giving a pouch meal to a cat always break it up so that it is easier to eat and it then releases the smells which encourages even the most fussy cat to eat.

Water – It is vital that a cat drinks lots so a variety of drinking vessels should be dotted around. Also some water added to the moist food ensures that the cat gets its much needed water

Routine – Very much needed in a cattery to ensure the cat feels more secure emotionally.

For a viewing of this newest Barnsley Cattery please call 01924 830934 or look online at www.poshcatscattery.co.uk

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.

There are many places you can buy a kitten from but you should research before choosing the breed. Read the tips below for some more practical advice before looking for kittens for sale.

1. First things first, research the different breeds and choose one which is suitable for you, your family and for your lifestyle. Once you have one find out as much information as possible so you are aware of how the kitten should behave. Your local vet should be able to offer advice if you have any questions about your chosen breed. Plan ahead, when you go to buy a pet, especially kittens as it is so easy to fall in love just looking at it and before you know it you’ve bought the pet. Key point; do your research, don’t make just emotional decisions. OK you have decided which breed you want. Now you have to search for a breeder or one for sale. Depending on your location and the breed you chose, you may have to travel to get your chosen breed and possible several hundreds of miles.
2. Once you go to visit the kitten, have a look at the surroundings. Does it have a good sized area to sleep in, does it have toys to keep it entertained and active. Also have a look at the mother; this will give you an insight into how the kitten is likely to behave when it becomes an adult. Watch for any strange or overly aggressive behaviour.
3. Have a play with the kitten; see if you warm to it. There isn’t any reason why the seller wouldn’t allow adults to play with the kitten however possibly not children if it is between vaccinations.
4. Finally ask if the kitten has had its vaccinations and been fully wormed. They should be able to provide proof from the vet.

Following this advice should ensure you buy kitten for sale from a reputable home/breeder that will grow up to live a healthy life without any major surprises and becomes a welcome member of your family.

In response to people’s requests for input concerning Spaying and Neutering Animals, I offer this staggering statistic. In the metro nine county area where I live with less than 300,000 human population, the local shelters publish their intake/adoption/euthanized statistics each month in a periodical filled with photos of adoptable animals. Their monthly average of the animals euthanized in over 72 per cent of the animals brought to them for possible adoptions. Over 72%! Personally, I am a soul on my journey through the material world at this point in Kali Yuga who has rescued cat- and dog-bodied souls, and is steward to two rescue cat-souls who live indoors only.

It behooves those of us with human forms to take responsibility for the world we have created by taking proper care of any other being in our care. I’m not going to get into any scriptural discussion here. Just plain common sense, people. Kali Yuga is a challenging time to live for every soul, in every form of body. So, take care of the animal-bodied souls by getting them Spayed and Neutered as soon as you can. Their sex desire is then finished. (that it should be so easy for human-bodied souls!) And the lives of all concerned will be able to focus on facets of life other than “unwanted” animal offspring. Using our common sense is imperative to most of our actions. Humans often forget that they have Common Sense to utilize.

By the way, these two cat-bodied souls who live with me receive temple prasadam salt added to their cat food, and I always greet and talk with them using the Names of Their Lordships. We also listen to kirtan and dance together every day! And they are very appreciative. So, treat these souls as fellow travelers on their Eternal Journey, just as you would wish for them to treat you, if you were the one in an animal body. You may not desire to have any animal-bodied souls to live with you.

Yet, too many so-called devotees treat these souls with disdain, just because of the body they are in. So, who’s on the bodily concept? I have a feeling that this letter will trigger the ire of many so-called brahminical standard-practicing souls. So be it. Just remember that none of us really knows who any other soul is. Nor do we know how Lord Caitanya is using anyone to spread this Harinama Sankirtana movement. Those with a loving heart will understand what I’m trying to say.