Dog Blog

Dog bites in America are on the rise. Professional dog trainer, Eric Letendre, says that harsh training methods are one of the main reasons.

Westport, MA (PRWEB) March 30, 2006 — Each year in America there are approximately 4 million dog bites: 800,000 of these bites happen to children 14 years and younger. Dog training expert, Eric Letendre, of Westport, MA says that one of the main causes of aggression in dogs are the training methods used by the majority of dog trainers.

In his new book, “The Amazing Dog Training Man,” Eric tells the story of how a frustrated and confused dog owner learned how to train his dog using positive methods. “The over use of choke chains, prong collars, and shock collars has greatly contributed to the amount of dog bites that occur every year in the United States,” said Letendre. “If we want to lower the number of dog bites, we need to take a completely different approach to the way we interact with our dogs. With an estimated 79 million dog owners in the United States, we need to take steps now more than ever,” added Letendre. In the book, “The Amazing Dog Training Man,” Eric explains that there are five steps everyone who owns a dog can take to become a good dog owner: 1. Start training early; the earlier the better. 2. Socialize young puppies. The more they are exposed to as a puppy, the more stable they will be as an adult. 3. Use positive training methods.

Negative training methods have detrimental side effects which can contribute to aggressive behavior. 4. Become a leader to your dog. Dogs need and respond to leadership. 5. Exercise your dog. Letendre states that 75% of problem behavior can be eliminated by proper exercise. You can read the first three chapters of Eric Letendre’s new book at the website http://www.AmazingDogTrainingMan.com.

There’s virtually no way to say no to wet noses and begging eyes. This mentality is the reason why most pet owners just can’t help giving their pets a little “people food” from time to time. However, owners should be aware that several foods that are safe for humans can, in fact, be harmful to an animal’s health. Apothepet Veterinary Pharmacy has compiled a list of guidelines to educate pet owners on the safety of feeding animals human food.

(PRWEB) April 12, 2006 — Even though Americans spend over $10 billion a year on pet food, people just can‚Äö√Ñ√¥t help indulging their animals with human food as a ‚Äö√Ñ√∫special treat.‚Äö√Ñ√π Those puppy eyes, the floppy ears- there‚Äö√Ñ√¥s really no way to resist giving them just a little taste under the table. But what is safe for a human‚Äö√Ñ√¥s stomach may not be safe for an animal‚Äö√Ñ√¥s. Sharing human food with pets is not good practice for an animal‚Äö√Ñ√¥s diet and can, in some cases, be fatal. Luckily, Apothepet (www.apothepet.com), the specialty veterinary pharmacy that provides nationwide services, offers human food-inspired flavorings for pet medicine to curb those ‚Äö√Ñ√∫people food‚Äö√Ñ√π cravings and help get the medicine down. Furthermore, the company recognizes the importance of educating pet owners on feeding safe human treats to four-legged family members and has issued the following guide of ‚Äö√Ñ√∫people foods‚Äö√Ñ√π to avoid when indulging pets.

Rich foods that are high in fat, such as meats with heavy gravy or sauces, can cause discomfort and stomach pain in pets. During the holidays, veterinarians commonly see an increased number of cases of stomach problems and pancreatitis. The story veterinarians often hear during the holiday season is of a pet sniffing out a juicy turkey or some savory stuffing, overeating and then becoming sick. Classic signs of an irritated or inflamed pancreas include diarrhea, abdominal pain, and vomiting.

Onions and garlic, while safe for humans, contain the toxic ingredient thiosulphate, which can damage red blood cells and cause anemia in cats and dogs. Onions present the highest risk of toxicity to pets, as just a single serving can result in anemia. Garlic, however, is less toxic than onions and it requires a large amount of garlic to cause a dog or cat to become ill. Some studies even show that small amounts of garlic can actually be beneficial to the health of dogs (such as in canine nutritional supplements).

Grapes and raisins are another human food to avoid giving pets. To date, veterinarians have not discovered the exact reasoning why they are so dangerous to animals. Little has been linked to the type, brand or amount consumed, but it has been shown that grapes and raisins can cause kidney failure in pets.

As most pet owners know, chocolate is the biggest no-no for animals. Chocolate contains theobromine, a compound that acts as a cardiac stimulant and a diuretic. Cocoa powder and cooking chocolate are the most toxic forms as they contain ten times the amount of theobromine than milk chocolate. A 22 pound dog can be seriously affected by ingesting just a quarter of a packet of cocoa powder or half a block of cooking chocolate. Giving your pup a piece of chocolate cake or even letting him lick the chocolate icing on the cake could cause him to become ill. Additionally, when a dog or cat is affected by an overdose of chocolate they can become hyperactive. The diuretic affect of chocolate may cause the dog or cat to pass excessive volumes of urine and the animal may be unusually thirsty. Even more dangerous, theobromine can cause a dog or cat’s heart to beat very rapidly or irregularly, which could result in death if the pet is exercising or overly active.

Now owners can indulge their pets with tasty human food flavors such as “Red Angus Beef,” “Grilled Tuna,” “Chicken Pot Pie,” and “Salmon Steak” without worrying about the detriment to their pet’s health. How? Apothepet Veterinary Pharmacy compounds pesky pills into scrumptious, flavored, liquid medicine that will have even the most finicky cats and dogs scampering to their owner’s feet at medicine time. Armed with FLAVORx Veterinary Flavors, the compounding pharmacists at Apothepet can turn almost any pill into a tasty, flavored, liquid medicine that will ease the woes of pet owners who have experienced the difficulty of getting a cat or dog to swallow pills. Apothepet delivers prescriptions locally and mails medications nationwide by UPS. Please visit www.apothepet.com or contact Stephen Gross at 1-866-961-5666.

Seller beware. We’ve all grown up hearing that as buyers we should look out for our own self interest.

Well, now it’s time to turn the tables because when we become the seller we may be setting ourselves up for the newest crop of scams.

In the past few days numerous area sellers report that con artists have set them up for scams.

The common link to all our victims is their attempt to sell items through classified advertising.

The puppy scam:

Local dog breeders advertising their puppies in local and Web based classified listings are contacted via e-mail by puppy-purchasers.

When the price has been agreed, the buyer e-mails the local seller and makes arrangements to send a cashier’s check via express delivery service. The buyer tells the seller that the check will be for several hundred dollars more than the agreed price so that a third-party pet shipping service can be paid for their services. The buyer gives instructions on how to have the seller’s bank wire the extra funds to a special account.

If this sounds like a new version of scams we talked about before, it is. This is the newest twist on our old friend the Nigerian/foreign check scam.

However, by targeting a group of sellers who may not have experience with the scheme, they increase the odds of success.

Read More

One man‚Äö√Ñ√¥s junk yard is another man‚Äö√Ñ√¥s…doggie day care? That‚Äö√Ñ√¥s what professional dog walker David Taylor believes he has found at 280 Salem St. – the perfect site for a dog exercise area, or so he feels.
“I have been looking for a site like this for years,” Taylor said. “This one is ideal, it‚Äö√Ñ√¥s a great area, and it‚Äö√Ñ√¥s not going to bother anyone.”
Taylor came before the Woburn City Council to petition for a special permit to build this extension of his business. Taylor has been running a dog walking business for 11 years, walking about 100 dogs a day, though not all by himself, of course. The purpose of the exercise area is to allow some dogs a chance to run around, release energy and get exercise before going back to their empty houses again.

Taylor promised to keep the hours of operation to a minimum; 9-5 week-days, no weekends. There will be no public utilities or lighting, simply a black chain link fence. A double gate system would be installed to prevent the escaping of any dogs, and no more than 30 dogs, watched by at least two people, would be on the premises at once. The biggest promise Taylor made though, was that the dogs would not bark while there.

Read More

WANTED: 300 dogs that yap, bark, growl and howl.
A British psychology student is looking for canine volunteers for a study on how man’s best friend communicates with sound, London’s Daily Telegraph has reported.

Anna Taylor of the University of Sussex plans to record and analyse doggie noises as part of her thesis work for a doctorate.

Theory suggests that the evolutionary history of humans and dogs is inextricably linked, and it may be that domestic dogs vocalise primarily for their human companions.

Read More