Dog Training Solutions: when Whining isn't Cute
I have to admit
it. I think its cute when my dog whines. Even adorable. Thats because she whines
for only two reasons: 1) When she sees
a dog friend she really likes
and she wants to be allowed to
greet them and
play; and 2) when she sees
a human friend she really likes and she wants to be allowed to greet them and play. This prelude to play is music to my ears,
since I know its
a short - and by all measures, sweet - song that she sings. Of course,
not all dog owners have reason to feel
the same.
Dogs
can whine for many reasons, and dealing with this habit is almost always
a matter of reading
the signs right.
Pain
This cause is the least common but also the most important
one to rule
out first. A dog whose
whining comes
on suddenly and is fairly steady afterward is possibly reacting to pain. Even puppies
can have severe growing
pains or genetic conditions that cause great discomfort, so
you should not rule
out this reason for puppies.
Usually, you can palpate areas of the dogs body, paying close attention to legs and the tail. To check for arthritis,
which often develops first
in the rear hips, you can try this:
1. stand over
your dog with your legs on either side of theyre torso, with the head
facing behind you.
2.
Gently lift their hindquarters up with one arm, and then lift each leg up and out behind them with the other.
3. You should then be
able to release the hand that is supporting their body, and in effect, suspend them by one extended leg at a time. A pain free dog will be able to flex this leg comfortably, even with all their back weight on it. Any hip pain, they will jerk away and youll hear it from them.
Check their ears (a painful ear infection will also bring lots of scratching or head shakes, and a discoloration and / or odor of the ear membrane). Check their mouth. Tooth problems can not only cause pain, but an over-dry mouth can be an indication of extreme discomfort or even fear.
In all cases, if you think your dog is whining from pain, but cant find the source, take a trip to the vet.
Fear
Fear can itself be another cause for whining. Often this behavior is short-lived and the stimulus is likely to be fairly easy to recognize. One tip is
simply not to encourage the
fearful behavior but emphatically comforting your dog when the fear is not warranted. In other words, if you comfort and soothe them in response to a
thunderstorm, this will send the message that the thunder is in fact putting them in some danger and they SHOULD be
afraid of. Instead, you should act
like its no big deal, perhaps even distract your dog with play. Of course, if you
happen to be afraid of thunderstorms as well, then youre out of luck on this one.
Boredom or Loneliness
Two further common causes of whining
are boredom and loneliness. They are treated separately
simply because boredom whining is what a dog does when youre there and loneliness whining is what they do when youre away. The first means that you probably are not giving your dog as
much exercise as they really need, even
though you think it gets out as much as a dog should or as much as you can possibly let it. Enough said.
With lonely whining dogs, youll have to do your best to spend more quality time with them, get them more tired out when you
do, and
consider the possibility that you may have a full-blown case of separation anxiety on your hands. This will require extra patience and training, and there are plenty of
detailed training programs available to address this.
Until then, enjoy the music.
Martin Olliver is a proud
member of the Kingdom of Pets team (
http://www.kingdomofpets.com/). For more great articles on problems with whining and barking dogs, visit:
http://kingdomofpets.com/dogobediencetraining/articles/whining_dog.php
Herbs For Your Dog
Herbology, basically,
is the use
of herbs
in the treatment
of many types
of illness. Herein the emphasis of treatment is
based strongly on the specific use of herbal roots, flowers
and leaves
to stimulate the healing process. Keep
in mind that these herbs are not
a form of drug(as
in man-made forms, such as aspirin) but are strictly natural in content. Practiced for centuries,
herbology is probably
one of the most primitive
and fundamental uses of specific remedies to treat various illnesses, known today.
How, though, does the knowledge of herbal
alternatives tie in with
owning an animal? Think about it for a moment. What do wild animals, or even your pets, typically do when they are not feeling up to par? Most instinctively seek
out appropriate herbs when they are sick. How many
times have you
witnessed your dog eating grasses?
Many man-made drugs are simply
compounds based upon
active principles found in many herbs. One simple example
could be caffeine found in coffee. Herbalists differ from most traditional medicinal
methods at this point however. Herbalists believe in the use of the entire substance- not in simply the use of
one part. They believe the whole is much greater than the sum of one or
more parts.
Basically, herbs work much slower than traditional medicines(t.m.s) though they do many things t.m.s dont- such as detoxify the body, stimulate movement of the bowels or urination,
and add vitamins
and minerals to the patients system
which are already greatly needed.
Herbal remedies have also been used to treat animals over the centuries for such illnesses as arthritis, worms,
diarrhea/constipation, diabetes, epilepsy, mange and cataracts,
among others.
Juliette de Bairacli-Levy is an author who emphasizes the use of herbs in the treatment of many ailments in connection with pets.
She also emphasizes the importance of freshly gathered herbs, natural diet and fasting.
Probably the biggest drawback to herbal therapy would be the amount which must be administered, the
very frequent intervals of administration and the extended
periods of time over which administration must occur. Additionally, many herbs do not
taste good in their natural state and must be disguised in food. Still, if you are willing to carry out a complete program, administering medications at their proper intervals, herbal alternatives are very effective in
treating and curing many types of ailments. For
more information concerning herbs and their uses, contact your nearest
herbalist or herbal store.
Article
written and reprinted with permission of:
http://www.pedigreedpups.com/Purebred Dogs, Puppies and Dog
Breeders - "Your New Best Friend"
Copyright 2005. All
rights reserved.
Debbie Ray, owner of
http://www.pedigreedpups.com and
http://www.total-german-shepherd.com, is a lifelong animal lover and dog enthusiast. Interested in more dog information? Training and health tips? Thinking about getting a
purebred dog? Interested in the German Shepherd Dog in particular? Need to promote your dog related website and get additional in bound links? Check out pedigreedpups.com , total-german-shepherd.com or
http://www.pedigreeddogs.com (purebred dog breed
directory) for more information.
The Law Of Attraction
A man lived by
the side
of the road
and sold hot dogs.
He was hard of hearing so
he had
no radio. He had trouble with
his eyes so he read
no newspaper, nor did he watch TV. But, he sold great hot dogs. He put
a sign up on
the highway telling how great they
were. He stood by the side of the road and cried, Hey, You, want
to buy a great hot dog?
And people came and they bought. So, he increased his meat and bun order. He bought a bigger stove
to take care of his trade. Then one day his son came home from college
to help him. His son said, Dad, havent
you heard the news about the recession?
The economy is really bad. The unemployment situation is terrible. The energy situation is worse.
Whereupon the hot
dog man thought, Well my sons
been to college. He reads the newspapers and listens to the radio, he ought to know. So the father cut down on his meat and bun order. He took down his advertising signs. He no longer bothered to stand by the side of the road and yelled, Wanna buy my hot dogs? And his hot dog sales fell almost over night. Youre right son. The hot dog man said to his boy. We certainly
are in the middle of a bad recession!
This parable is an illustration of these words of Dr. Ernest Holmes in Chapter 18 of the Science of Mind:
As Gods
thought makes worlds, and peoples them with living things, so
our thought makes
our world and peoples it with our experiences. By the activity of our thought, things come into our life and
we are limited only because
we have not known the Truth. We have thought
that outside things controlled us, when all the time we have had
that within which could have
changed everything and given us freedom from bondage.
What is that within us that can give us freedom? The creative Power of God operating through The Law of Attraction, which we bring into Action by our thoughts.
This idea is not new. It has been espoused throughout the ages.
The Buddha told us:
All that we are is the result of what we have thought.
In Proverbs 23:7, we read:
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.
Jesus said:
It is
done unto you, as you believe. And - As
ye sow so shall ye reap.
Aristotle wrote:
What we expect, we find.
The philosopher Virgil said:
They can because they think they can.
William Shakespeare wrote:
Our doubts are our traitors.
Contemporary writer Eknath Easwaran wrote:
We
begin to resemble and actually become whatever we give our attention to.
Abraham-Hicks: When you think a little thought of something you are wanting, by Law of
Attraction that thought grows larger and larger and more and more powerful. When you think a thought of something you are not wanting, that Law of Attraction adds unto it and it grows larger and larger also. So the larger it grows, the more power it draws unto
it, then the more certain you are to receive the experience, you see.
The
interesting thing about these Laws is that they are -- even if you do not understand that they are -- affecting your experience, even in your ignorance of them.
The law of attraction is
definitely not a new concept - but statements of Truth -- Truth that can set us
free -- or hold us in bondage depending on what we do with them!
There is no power in the universe but ourselves that can free us. Someone may help us on the road to
realization, but we must bring ourselves to the place in mind where there is no misfortune, no calamity, no accident, no trouble, no confusion; where there is
nothing but plenty, peace, power, Life and Truth.
At all times we are either drawing things to us or pushing them away. In the average individual, this process goes on without his or her knowing it, but ignorance of the law does not change its results.
Dr. Toni
LaMotta has spoken internationally, authored several books and numerous articles and has served as a consultant, and trainer to a variety of corporations. Her experiences range from being a high school teacher to working with some of the top companies, associations, and organizations in the world. She served as a Catholic nun and pastoral associate for 16 years before
discovering New Thought.
Top Three Death-Causing Toxic Chemicals That Can Be Found In Commercial Dog Foods
As a
dog owner, you should
be always looking
for healthier
dog food with higher quality.
The problem
is that most of
the dog owners like you
are taught to believe that
commercial dog
foods are healthier
choices for
your dogs.
The truth is most of them are NOT.
Read on to
find out why.
Here are the top three death-causing toxic chemicals that can be
found in most commercial dog foods:
1. Sodium pentobarbital
2. BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole), BHT (butylated hydroxytolulene), Ethoxyquin
and Propylene glycol
3. Lead
Their devastating effects
have led them to be banned from human consumption. Read on to find out.
Sodium pentobarbital is the chemical that veterinarians use to put
dogs and cats to sleep. This toxic chemical cannot be removed
completely during food processing. So when your dog
eats those commercial dog foods, it is
possible for this death-causing toxic to accumulate inside their body
system permanently. When it reaches a toxic level, it will kill, if not, cause irreversible damages to your dogs body system eventually causing it to fall ill
easily or result
in organ failure.
BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole), BHT (butylated hydroxytolulene), ethoxyquin and propylene glycol are commonly used as fat stabilizers in dog foods as preservatives. BHA and BHT cause liver and
kidney dysfunction while ethoxyquin is a potential cancer-causing agent.
Hence, many
companies have claimed that they moved away from using
ethoxyquin. Another toxic chemical, propylene glycol, is found in many semi-moist dog foods and causes
red blood cells destruction.
Lead, an extremely toxic heavy metal is also commonly found in pet foods. A research conducted in Massachusetts Institute of Technology
published as "Lead in Animal Foods," presented one shocking discovery A typical 9-pound cat was found to be ingesting, through commercial pet food, far more lead daily than the toxic level for children in their lifetime. Imagine that on your dog. And
here is the worst part heavy metals reside in body
systems permanently. Heavy metals have known to cause
nervous damage to animals when accumulated in their body systems.
This is a very real
fact of commercial dog foods though not all commercial dog companies pumps all these materials into their dog food products.
So if you truly want the
best for your dog, the best way out is to personally prepare food meals for it. At least you know you wont be pumping the food up with any
unnecessary deadly preservatives.
© Dominic Tay, DogFoodSecretsExposed.com
© Dominic Tay, DogFoodSecretsExposed.com
