Posts Tagged ‘Several Dogs’

Dog Behavior Problems – Window Jumping and How To Prevent It

When your dog escapes to achieve social interaction in the neighborhood, the owner must establish a very strong leadership role or you’re end up with dog behavior problems.

This tends to fulfill its need for socializing within the confines of its own home, a step necessary for complete correction. This can be accomplished through basic obedience command responses, practiced daily over a 6-week period.

Some problems of this type have been solved by installing frosted glass in the dog’s favorite escape window, eliminating its view of the outside.

However, several dogs have switched to other windows when this has been done, so the owner must be prepared to face this possibility.

The more important adjustment is to eliminate the social gratification formerly sought, such as “bumming around.” If neighbors are feeding or otherwise accommodating the dog, their help must be sought to stop this.

It is always necessary to determine when the dog jumps out of a window. If it occurs shortly after the dog is left alone, the owner must leave the house, sneak back to the premises and apply some strongly distracting stimulus as the dog begins to prepare for the freedom leap.

In every case, a period of initial anxiety behavior, such as whining, pacing or barking, precedes the actual leap.

If the jumping occurs just before the owner arrives home, the owner should arrange to come home earlier than usual to apply the corrections.

Just as in barking cases, the distracting stimuli should not be painful, but should take the dog’s mind off its anxiety.

This may involve a rap on a door some distance from the escape scene, and even stomping on the roof while monitoring the dog behavior problems by listening through an air vent.

If jumping is associated with fear of surroundings, it is necessary to change the area in which the dog is confined (the simplest method) or to switch the dog’s emotional association with the area from fear to contentment.

This may be difficult because the fearful response usually occurs when the pet is alone; conditioning requires the presence of the owner or some other intervening factor.

However, if the dog has been severely punished in the area, especially at homecoming times, it is often practical for the owner to stop the punishment and virtually ignoring the dog behavior problems when arriving home.

Any interaction between the owner and dog at other times should consist of play, training work for command responses and quiet activities, such as just sitting around.

This sort of dog behavior problems correction takes several days to weeks.

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Pet Food Recall: Are These Pet Food Manufacturers Purposely Killing Your Animals?

We all want the best for our beloved dogs, especially when it comes to the foods they eat. We want to give them only the healthiest food available to make sure that they will live a long and healthy life. But what if the so-called “healthy pet foods” that are being sold in the market today are not reliable anymore?

What do we do when we can no longer trust the food manufacturers who is supposed to provide us with safe and healthy foods for our animals?

When The Food Is Killing Your Pets, Something Has To Change

The widespread recall of pet food has created a scare to all dog and cat owners who rely on commercial brands to feed their pets. All over the country, contaminated pet food has caused many dogs to become severely sick, while a large number of them have died.

In March alone of this year, Menu foods, an Ontario based manufacturing company, recalled more than 90 brands of “cuts and gravy” moist foods (both dog food and cat food) after more than 14 animals died from eating them. A few weeks later, the same company added 20 more varieties of their brand to be taken off store shelves.

It was later discovered that wheat gluten, an ingredient found in the said pet foods, was contaminated with rat poison. The risk of Salmonella contamination has also been the cause of a recall for two brands of pig ear dog treats.

Cases of toxic pet foods go back to December of 2005, when several dogs died and dozens fell ill after eating kibble manufactured by Diamond Pet Foods. It was later found out that the food was contaminated with aflatoxin; a naturally occurring chemical produced from fungus and can be found on crops such as wheat, corn, rice, and beans. This chemical is also toxic to domestic animals, livestock, and even humans. Other pet food recalls during this past decade also involve the risk for Salmonella contamination.

Are These Pet Food Companies Breaking The Law?

FDA regulations state that pet foods should be manufactured similar to the way human foods are manufactured. They should be processed under a sanitary environment, do not contain any harmful ingredients, accurately labeled, and safe to eat.

All pet food manufacturers are expected to comply with these regulations to ensure that the food is safe and healthy. However, due to limited resources, the FDA can only inspect pet food issues after consumer complaints are made or if the FDA has a reason to believe that there is a threat to animal health. A recall is then announced by the FDA or the manufacturer if a defective product is found.

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