Dogs & Children Activities

Here is some info from Yahoo's pet page about making sure your pet is involved with your life, especially for those with children.


As a member of the family, your dog is certainly loved - but perhaps there is room for improvement in the ways that commitment is expressed. Take some time to reexamine, with your child, the most important gifts that families and dogs can give one another. Here is a list of suggestions for activities:

1. Review with your child his or her dog-related responsibilities. It is understandable that busy schedules interfere with the best intentions, but it does help to make a list and accommodate the dog’s needs to everyone’s busy days. Depending upon age and ability, children can take responsibility for: letting the dog outside or in for bathroom needs; exercising; feeding or grooming. If any of these has presented a problem, now is the time to discuss solutions. Probably the most time-consuming chore is regularly exercising the dog, which can be limited to weekends if the child is interested.


2. Consider a new “extracurricular” dog activity for your child to participate in. This might include an evening or weekend class in obedience training, agility (great fun for children as well as dogs) or breed shows. Take your child to sit in on a local class during this week, or attend a local or regional dog show. Register together and make the commitment to try a new venture that both child and dog can enjoy.


3. Volunteer a few hours at a local animal shelter. Animal shelters provide a wonderful introduction to volunteerism for children, who can assist the staff, help with cleaning kennels or taking homeless dogs for walks.


4. Read a dog-related book or browse the internet together with your child. Learn together about dogs by surfing Purina.com . Tackle a topic that you and your child would like to know more about, such as the history, care or behavior of dogs.


5. Schedule your dog’s annual veterinary exam during this week. Your child can participate in important decisions (Will laboratory tests be needed? Should a heartworm test be performed? Is this a good time to schedule a dental cleaning?). If there is interest, a “behind the scenes” tour may be possible if arranged in advance.

6. Suggest a dog-related project for your child (or ask him or her to come up with some ideas). Some examples: repair or refurbish the dog’s accessories, such as the dog house or fencing; deal with a nagging behavior problem such as jumping up or running away. Challenge your child to come up with some creative solutions - and then help to apply them.
Of course, even a fraction of these activities would easily fill up one week of time, but the payoff - a re-energized bond between child and pet - will last much longer.

Are Pooper Scooper Laws Fair?

http://www.helium.com/tm/499019/asking-pooper-scooper-asking

On another site where I write, there is a continuing debate on whether or not pooper scooper laws are fair. My feeling is that if you are going to get a dog, then you need to expect that a dog will have to "dog his business" and that it is important to scoop it up, especially in public places. Here is the full article I wrote, and you can also click through and see the other sides of the debate if you're interested.

Diabetes Rising in Pets Too

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21755451/
Good article about how the diabetes is rising in pets, just as it is in people. Diabetes now affects as many as one in 50 of the animals, some statistics show, especially pudgy pets.

Veterinarians say that while obesity clearly is linked to diabetes in pets, it appears to contribute to the disease differently in cats and dogs.
Fat cats are prone to diabetes because they develop insulin resistance, meaning their bodies don't effectively use insulin. As a result, the pancreas pumps out more insulin as well as another hormone called amylin.

With dogs, obesity is associated with an increased risk of pancreatitis — an inflammation of the pancreas — which can then lead to diabetes because the body doesn't make enough insulin.


Trackposted to Perri Nelson's Website, Rosemary's Thoughts, Adam's Blog, Right Truth, The World According to Carl, The Bullwinkle Blog, The Amboy Times, Chuck Adkins, and High Desert Wanderer, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

The Pet Allergy Curse

A friend of ours is highly allergic to pets. In fact, just having us near him sometimes enough to triger his allergies since the alergens are in our clothes. Unfortunately, having allergies to pets is a common problem.


Studies show that approximately 15 percent of the population is allergic to dogs or cats. An estimated one-third of Americans who are allergic to cats (about two million people) live with at least one cat in their household anyway. In a study of 341 adults who were allergic to cats or dogs and had been advised by their physicians to give up their pets, only one out of five did. What's more, 122 of them obtained another pet after a previous one had died.


It's clear the benefits of pet companionship outweigh the drawbacks of pet allergies for many owners. Living comfortably with a companion animal despite being allergic to him requires a good understanding of the allergic condition.


The main source of irritation for allergy sufferers are glands in the animal's skin which secrete allergy-triggering proteins, called allergens, that linger in the animal's fur but also float easily in the air. Allergens are present in the animal's saliva and urine, too, and may become airborne when saliva dries on the fur. The severity of reaction to these allergens varies from one person to the next, ranging from mild sniffling and sneezing to life-threatening asthma, and can be complicated by simultaneous allergies to other irritants in the environment.


Since every person reacts differently to the allergens, there is no one thing that will help allergy sufferers. For some people, a simple allergy pill will help, while for others, having an air purifier to keep the home free is enough. A non-pet room in the house, usually a bed-room, could also help, but since the allergens tend to be in the air and can get in the air ducts, having an air purifier is this room will also be beneficial.


And of course, with any medical issues, seeking the care of a health care professional is a safe course of action. For people who don't have pets, it is beneficial to get an allergy test before getting attached to a furry new friend.

Matted Fur Problems

A furry pet with a long coat should be brushed and combed several times a week. Doing so can prevent matting and debris buildup in the dog's coat.

If left unchecked, matting can become a serious condition for your pet. It is much more then purely a cosmetic issue. Mats are formed by intertwining hairs, dirt, grit, leaves, grass and other matter in the coat. Mats can grow large and heavy and eventually pull at a dog's skin. This may cause hot spots or wounds. In extreme cases, insect infestation or infection in the wounds may occur.


If your dog already has mats, you may need to take them to a groomer and have them shaved to remove the mats. The dog make look a bit strange to you, but it's better to have a strange looking pup then one that needs medical attention do to hot spots. Once the mats are gone, you can then brush the coat frequently to avoid the mats from popping up again.

Pet Tips for Thanksgiving

As with any holiday, it's important to keep the pets in mind during this sometimes stressful time. The good people at the Petsitusa blog have posted some great tips that I'd like to share. Check it out http://petsitusa.com/blog/?p=767

The Doggie Cam

The people at photojojo.com have come up with a unique twist on people who want to know what their dog is thinking. Now, you can see life from a dog's perspective.

With their idea, you can put a camera on your dog and view life the way he does everyday.

What's the point of seeing life like a dog does? According to the people at photojojo, with the photo cam we can sympathize with what our dog has to view everyday. I guess if I consider what my dogs see everyday, there would be a lot of pictures of feet, rugs, and food on shelves that is too high to reach.

How does this invention work? Well, you have to buy a "gorillapod" which is sold on their site. This pod supposedly can wrap around your pet (just be careful not to get it too tight or you might cause injury) and then you attach your camera. I have yet to actually try this creation, but if you're interested, here is their site:

http://photojojo.com/content/diy/see-life-from-a-dogs-pov-with-doggiecam/

Also, a search on Youtube.com reveals other people who have tried using a doggie cam.

Dog back home after adventure, neutering

Great story that is all over the AP News today!

DIAMOND, Mo. - The Bowman family has its pooch back. Their dog Happy is back after seven months of adventure, an operation, two intermediate homes and a new name.

Happy, also known as Radar, is the same dog who ran away from a different Joplin household last week to live at veterinarian Steve Walstad's Joplin office, where he was neutered last month.

Misty Bowman, mother of Codey, 14, and Chase, 9, saw Happy's picture Monday in the Joplin Globe with a story about Walstad deciding to keep the dog that he called Radar.
"I was yelling at my husband, saying, `Tell me I'm crazy, tell me that's not Happy,'" Misty said of her reaction reading the newspaper.

The Bowmans say they took the dog they called Happy home from a friend's house when he was 8 weeks old. He stood out to Misty because he was so friendly and not at all aggressive.
Misty's husband, Rob, was especially attached to the dog and named him Happy "because he always looks like he's smiling."

After 2 1/2 years as their family pet, Happy went missing from the Bowmans' 160-acre farm in Diamond seven months ago. Misty said the family drove all over the area, rode four-wheelers around the property, put up lost-dog ads, and went door-to-door asking for information on their pet.

"Eventually we came to the assumption that he was gone, we thought he got run over," Misty said.

But that was not the case. He had been taken in by a family that named Radar for his ability to find his way around.

That talent showed up earlier this month when he came back to Walstad's office, where he had been boarded for several weeks — and neutered — while his adoptive family was out of town.
The family was considering trying to find another home for him anyway, so Walstad decided to keep him as an office pet.

"He was gone for seven months and usually if you don't find the dog in a couple weeks, they're just gone," Misty Bowman said Monday. "What are the chances he'd turn up in the middle of Joplin, and in the newspaper?"

Bowman called Walstad's office Monday and explained the situation, insisting her children didn't know that Happy was still alive and that Walstad could keep him if he wanted. But Walstad said he couldn't be happier with the way things turned out and cheerfully turned over the dog to its rightful owners.

Happy went home Monday afternoon, and Misty Bowman said he started to get excited in the
car as they got close to the house.
"He knew where he was at," she said.