Animal Attacks On Children: What You Need To Know
Studies show that children
have the best chance of being bitten. Before
a child turns 15, an
animal has
bitten nearly half. The vast majority of attacks happen
to kids less than 9 years of age. By examining canine
tendencies, most bites can
be thwarted. It
is true that most
animals are safe, but some times dogs can have their own agendas. It is imperative that we educate our children to be
on the look out for situations they must avoid.
There is rarely a good
reason for a
dog biting a child, but learning
the mindset, from the animals' point of view, may be helpful in evading aggressive animals. Here are some stats from a well-known university, which were based over a three-year period.
Of all K9 bites on children under four years of age, most were bitten in early May. Sixty percent were bitten on the head, neck and face, 90 percent were bitten in their own home, 40% were attacked by their own dog and 60 percent of the dogs had never bitten before.
Of all K9 bites on children over four years of age but less then 17 years old, most were bitten in early July. Eighteen percent were bitten on the head, neck and face, 38 percent were bitten in their own home, 18% were attacked by their own dog and 50 percent of the dogs had never bitten before.
This poses
many questions...
All dogs are
capable of biting, but the majority wont if you act accordingly.
Be sure to pay attention to the body language of a dog. If a dog has an aggressive demeanor do not approach it. Often you can
tell an aggressive dog but the following signs: Ears are stiff, body is tense, tall is high.
Dogs that have assumed either a defensive
or offensive threat posture frequently have a "critical zone". A child is safe around this zone until entering the
imaginary circle the dog has projected. The problem is that this zone varies between dogs and can even be different for the same dog if the situation changes. So
it's impossible for humans to accurately determine the critical zone. The shy or fearful dog adopts a defensive threat posture. It is hesitant, easily frightened, timid, tends to avoid certain persons or things. Frequently, these traits are not noticed until the dog encounters a new situation. The dog might assume elements of the defensive threat posture when frightened.
How do you stop your child from being attacked?
- Avoid pack dogs
- If confronted, do not run away or scream.
- Always ask an owner if it's okay to pet their dog
- Always let a dog sniff your hand before petting them.
Animals and children are capable of living in harmony, but it's the parents job to teach their children. If you conform to the following information, you and your kids will be safer!
Amber Rose Parodi write various articles on animals and pets. Many of
her articles can be found at
http://www.pet-super-store.com. For more information please
visit their website here: Discount Pet Supplies.
Useful Dog Training & Grooming Tips
Supplies
Supplies you
will need
before you bring
your new puppy home: The first thing
youll need
is a travel crate for your dogs trip home. Youll also need
to buy some high quality puppy food
and bowls for food
and water. Your vet, breeder or shelter personnel
can tell you which brands of food are
the best. Other items youll need
to get in advance of
the new puppys arrival are: an adjustable collar,
a leash, toys
and bedding. Dont forget to make an appointment
with your veterinarian for your puppys first check-up!
No food should ever be fed to
a dog unless that food
is put into some type of
a container. The practice of putting food on newspapers or directly on a cage floor or the ground serves no purpose except to
contaminate the food from the surroundings. This method also contaminates the surroundings from the food, draw flies, increase parasite transmission and soil the dog's coat. The money, time and energy a dog owner thinks he is saving by such feeding practices are completely wiped out by the loss of the dog, the time spent to clean floors and combat insects, or the effort needed to put a food-soiled coat back into show condition.
Crate Training
Crate training is a method by which your dog is taught to stay in a crate within your house for prolonged periods of time. This is an especially
useful technique for dogs that
would otherwise tear up the house when left alone. The best time to start crate training is when your dog is still a puppy. Leave him in the open crate for brief periods of time at first and then begin closing the door behind him.
Make sure that your puppys crate experience is always positive by giving him
treats and rewards whenever he enters the crate. Once he is comfortable, you can leave him in the crate for increasing periods of time - give him his meals
there as well.
Never use the crate as punishment.
You want your dog to feel that his crate is a safe refuge, not a prison. Furthermore, the crate is a place where your dog can go to feel safe and secure
while you and your family are away from home for a few hours. When youre home, your dog should be out of his crate and socializing with his human family.
Obedience
Teaching basic
obedience skills to a dog can be exciting as well as challenging. Having problems on where to begin? Start by doing your homework. A student can only be as good as his trainer, right?
The first lesson in obedience is to get your dog to pay
attention to the commands. You want to start by calling his name and then using a keyword like watch or look afterwards. This way, he
will associate the words to a command. Once youve got his attention, the lessons can begin.
You want your dog to be able to pay attention for a short length of time. Try keeping his attention by doing attention exercises. One example would be to hold a toy or dog treat in near your mouth and then give him the keyword command.
Each time he takes the time to watch, praise him. The more you do this exercise, the more time he should be able to pay attention to you. Try getting him to watch for at least a minute. Let him know that he is doing a good job by rewarding him. Dogs learn best this way.
Because dogs have such short attention spans, they get distracted pretty easily. Choose a place that is free of other
distractions such as other pets, children or
loud noises. Training sessions should only last approximately 30 minutes tops. Usually,
if you go over this time limit, the dog
will get restless and easily distracted.
If your dog isnt learning very quickly, you may become frustrated. Dont take that frustration out on your animal. A few things to remember before starting your obedience lessons:
1) Never cause pain to your dog (this
will cause him to shy away or become aggressive to you.)
2) If he begins to become distracted, change the tone of your voice (this doesnt mean raising it)
3) Consistency can not be stressed enough (animals are like children, if youre not consistent, they will become confused as to what is expected)
Teaching your dog basic obedience commands will make for a more obedient and more
pleasant dog to be around.
The first
command to start off with would be to sit. You must use the
word sit while teaching him so that he can
relate the word with the action. Start by gently pushing his backside
down and saying the word sit. Eventually he will catch on to the concept.
The second command is down. Dogs can become pretty hyper when they get excited. Jumping up on their owners lap is usually how they express their
excitement. If you have a big dog or have other people over, you might not want them pouncing about. When they jump up, tell them down. Do not pet them or act excited to see them while they are on you. Continue to tell them down, and even place their legs down if you have to.
Next is the command of stay. This command is a good one to know especially if you have a rambunctious hyper dog. You can teach him stay, for example, by putting a treat or something desirable on the ground. As he moves toward it, tell him Stay. Another good idea would be to put your hand up while saying the word stay. When he begins to become obedient in this area, you can move
further away from him. This will cause him to become more daring and he will probably take a step forward to see how much he can get away with. When he does this, continue to put your hand out and tell him stay. He has to know that even though you are moving away, you can still see what hes doing and expect him to continue to obey.
After youve mastered the stay command, you will move on to the come command. Once your dog has learned to sit and stay, he will need a command to know when its ok to get up and
approach you. They may be a bit confused at first, but with a change in the tone of your voice, he will soon understand. Put a little excitement in your voice when saying the word come. He will pick up on it. You might also want to pat your leg when you say come.
Stand is the last command to achieve. This is where your dog is allowed to get a little excited but not in a pouncing kind of way. When teaching your dog to stand, pat your hands on your chest and, once again, put a little excitement in your voice, so that he knows hes aloud, under certain circumstances. He will begin to know the difference.
Teaching your dog basic obedience, if possible, should be taught as soon as you and your dog are ready. Remember be
consistent with the commands and dont forget to have fun!
Arild Myklebust runs the free
http://doggroomingtips.ws website. Visit now, to get more useful Dog Tips & Articles and also a Free Email Newsletter. For other topics, check out his
http://freetips.ws website.
The Ancient Fishing Secrets Are Still Here Today
Fishing has been
a part
of our survival for
as long as recorded history
and probably much longer.
Ancient cave paintings from 10,000 years ago depict fishing along
with fish bone remains
and animal bone hooks. Even
ancient stone anchors
are currently being
displayed in museums.
Everywhere on this planet, what ever culture,
each has its own history in fishing and techniques, most of which
are still
used today. In fact, almost
all ancient cultures have used boats, hooks,
nets and spears of some kind.
The ancient Romans used rods and lines, nets and
spears. The ancient
Greeks used rods and woven baskets and woven cages
that stay under
water where caught fish
are kept alive until they are needed.
Some cultures have been more
creative than others and have very interesting techniques
such as the night fishing in Japan.
It is called cormorant fishing. It requires 7
to 8 cormorant
birds that have handlers
to train them. Once trained, they go out at night on a long narrow boat that has a long rod in
front of it with a hanging basket that is in flames, the birds are each on a leash and are trained to dive down and catch fish, which they are experts in. This technique is still being practiced today and if you are for any reason going to Japan, you may want to sign up to see this phenomenon.
In the Columbian basin, ancient
tribal salmon fishers have past down a fishing technique that is still being practiced today. Tribal
families for many generations have
built wooden
scaffolding that is very strong and
stable that spans the river. This enables them to drop the nets that capture many salmon at one time. In the smaller rivers of the basin, dip nets are used because you can
control them better. These nets historically have been made with hemp twine, sinew and tree pitch. These nets have a long pole attached to them and one stands in the water and scoops up the fish.
In medieval
Europe, V shaped structures
were built to
herd fish into waiting nets.
Some cultures have used
poisonous plants to stun fish so that it is easy to catch them. This is a dangerous
practice and has been made illegal to fish this way due to the obvious safety issues. One does not want to risk eating a fish that has been poisoned.
Fishing today is not only for survival but is a huge sport all over the world. But when you
really look at
it, not much has really changed in how we fish. The
major difference really is in the advancements made in hooks and nets.
How ever you fish, may the ones you catch be as big as the ones that got away.
Willie Jones is a freelance
writer, researcher, floral
designer, and artist, for Art Inspires, Inc. Make sure you enroll in the free motivational poster drawing at
http://www.artinspires.com
Your Dog's Dietary Requirements Will Vary With Age
Dogs
need different diets
at different ages. Yes. This is true. For example, the puppy needs milk as the major food item while
an adult dog
may need beef
or chicken in addition to the boiled egg and milk.
So depending on the age factor, the diet schedule varies in reality for the dogs like
any other species.
This makes perfect sense if you think about
it. We as humans have different dietary requirements as we grow older as well. Aging may
require the increased intake
of certain nutrients and the decrease
of some others. Knowing the best diet for your dogs age makes it that much easier for your dog to lead a healthy,
happy life.
Puppies need greater amounts of protein, fat and carbohydrates than an adult dogs. Furthermore, puppies need more frequent
feeding schedules in a day, unlike an adult dog. The movement
based requirements of diet are more in the case of puppies, since they are often more active than the adult dogs.
Elder dogs need
restricted protein but the protein needs to be easily digestible and easily assimilated in the body. The diet schedule should have ample supply of water for them. Feeding aged dogs too much protein may finally lead to over burden to the renal structures and ultimately, the dog may end up damaging filters in the kidney.
This is true especially when the immune system of these dogs is compromised
due to
many factors. Similarly, the elderly dogs need less food only because the movements of the adult dogs are highly restricted and hence, they use a limited amount of energy...a lot less energy than a puppy who's running around your house at a mile a minute.
Female dogs in the pregnancy stage need
not be
fed a full stomach since it may cause some discomforts to the animal. However, the pregnant animal and the nursing animal need special
type of food items that deliver a balanced type of nutrition
with proper supplementation of vitamins and minerals.
The nursing animal with puppies need to be fed with enough amounts of calcium and hence, there will not be
any calcium based deficiency and the bones of the puppies will be strong without any curving.
To Your Dog's Good Health!
Bob Perkins is a writer and
author of two books on dogs, "Boxer Dog Secrets" and "Your Dog's Health". Bob's website is jam-packed with dog tips and techniques. For more great dog info ==>
http://www.1StopDogSupplyShop.com
Did You Know?
German Shepherds were among the first dogs trained
for police work- beginning around 1900
in Ghent, Belgium.
Dogs body cells contain the most pairs
of chromosomes (heredity- carrying structures)
of any mammal- 39 pairs.
There is an old Chinese belief that if a person owns a good
and faithful dog that the dog
will sacrifice itself
to Death when Death demands a
member of its immediate family.
The most decorated
U.S. dog
during World War
II was a German Shepherd/Husky/ Collie mix named
Chips. He also served as a guard dog
in North America
and later earned a
Silver Star
for capturing a machine gun nest during the invasion of Sicily.
Dogs have been used
to determine whether twins are identical or fraternal because identicals have the same
scent, but fraternals do
not, no matter
how much they may look alike.
The Latin
word for faithful is Fido? Could this possibly have any connection with the fact that so many dogs are named this?
If an old or
sick dog does not shake itself after getting up that this is a sign of bad overall health? Each dog shakes itself to
get every muscle
and tendon back into perfect place after waking up.
A dog can survey an area between 200 to 270 degrees, depending on the shape of its skull
and the positioning of its eyes, compared to the average of
100 degrees for a human being.
Due to the popularity of lap dogs in ancient Rome,
Julius Caesar once
mused if Roman women had ceased to have children in lieu of their new four-legged companions.
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.
