Life Lessons Off the Street

There is nothing worse than finding a stray dog with no collar, taking it to the shelter to be scanned for a microchip only to discover there isn't one. This was my Tuesday (last week). The cutest little maltipoo was wandering around outside the school I was teaching at. No collar. Sweetest dog. Fairly well groomed. Obviously someone's pet.

The school was kind enough to hold him for me until I was done teaching. Meanwhile, I was able to use his plight to illustrate to the 5th graders the importance of: collars, ID tags, microchips and keeping your dog inside the house as a family pet. I explained that this little guy was going to the shelter. If he didn't have a microchip, and chances were high that he didn't, he would be held for four days to give his owner a chance to find him. At the end of the hold period, he would go into general population to be up for adoption. Dogs aren't getting much of a chance to find homes at the moment in this economy. Shelters are overcrowded and their time there is limited. Some dogs are getting 72 hours to find a home before they are killed. Despite being a cute, friendly little guy, chances were good this dog was going to die in the shelter because someone was not responsible enough to put a collar and ID tag on him or have him microchipped.

The children were very sad for the dog. They all took notes throughout my presentation. Let me tell you that there is nothing cuter than 5th graders asking you to slow down because they are trying to write information as quickly as they can, knowing it might save their own dog's life. This dog made a difference in the lives of other dogs just by getting out of his yard. This irresponsible owner made a difference in the lives of the children's dogs by not doing what he/she should have done to make sure that their pet always made it back home. Meredith and I believe strongly in what we do. We are making a difference, shaping better adults. The next generation of pet owners are going to be fantastic ones - responsible, caring.

Introducing Your Dog to Your New Baby

Introducing your dog to your new baby needs to be a gradual process. Your pet will need time to adjust to the newest family member. Since your dog was likely your first baby, he is used to being the center of attention. It's completely natural for your dog to feel something like sibling rivalry when you bring your new baby home. You can help your dog accept his new role by taking a few simple steps.

Start by having your pet spayed or neutered if they aren't already. Sterilized pets are calmer and more likely to behave. They also will have fewer health problems associated with their reproductive systems.

Next, you will want to review your dog's obedience training. Knowing commands like ‘down’, ‘stay’ and ‘leave it’ will be immensely helpful when the baby arrives. It's important to be sure he will reliably and consistently behave for you. Ideally, start addressing behavior problems as early into your pregnancy as possible to give yourself enough time to teach your dog some key commands. If your pet exhibits fear and anxiety, now is the time to get help from an animal behavior specialist while your life is still relatively uncomplicated.

The time and energy needed to care for a newborn leaves less time for your dog. When the baby comes home, your dog will no longer be receiving the same amount of attention he was accustomed to. Gradually reduce the amount of time your pet is spending with you. If your pet is particularly bonded to the expectant mother, another family member should start establishing a closer bond with him. Drastically decreasing attention or isolating your pet after the baby is born will only produce stress. Though you will be tired, it is still important to spend special quality time with your pet.

While it's important to maintain your dog's daily schedule, you can gradually adjust his timetable by making changes at least a month or so before the baby arrives. If his exercise routine will change from leash walks to backyard time, it is best to start making the change ahead of time. Put up baby gates so that your dog gets used to the restricted movement. Early and gradual changes in daily routines and physical environment can help make the adjustment easier for your pet once the baby comes home.

Sprinkle baby powder on your skin and/or a baby blanket. Leave the blanket around the house so that your dog becomes familiar with the scent. You can also use a baby doll to get your dog used to baby routines such as bathing and diaper changing. Put the doll in the stroller and take it on walks with you so that your dog gets used to both the stroller and its occupant. Purchase a CD of infants crying and play it at gradually increasing volume to get your dog acclimated to the sound. Make sure to give your dog calm, quiet praise during this time so that he associates all of these new sounds, smells and routines with positive things.

When you return from the hospital, your dog will be eager to greet you. Let someone else take the baby into another room while you give your dog a warm, calm welcome. After you are done with your greeting, you can bring your pet to sit next to the baby. Reward him with treats for appropriate behavior. You want your dog to have only positive experiences with your newest family member. Never force your pet to get near the baby. If you feel comfortable, allow him to sniff tiny feet and hands. Once his curiosity is satisfied, most dogs will ignore the newborn. For the sake of safety, even the most accepting and gentle dog should never be left alone with an infant, whether your baby is awake, sleeping, in a carrier, or on the floor.

For more information on introducing your family pet to your new infant, please visit the following websites:

Introducing Your Pet to a New Baby

Introducing an Infant to a Resident Dog

Introducing Your Pet and New Baby

"Bowser Meets Baby" or How to Introduce Your New Baby to the Family Dog

Introducing a New Baby

Enriching Your Cat's Environment

Cats who spend their lives entirely indoors live much longer than outdoor cats. Keeping your cat inside eliminates their ability to get into trouble, and reduces the likelihood of them being injured. Cats that go outside face a variety of dangers. They can get attacked by dogs, eaten by coyotes, fight with other cats, get lost or stuck in places and/or hit by a car. While being inside keeps your cat safe from most dangers, your indoor cat needs enrichment to remain happy and healthy. Eliciting a cat's natural behaviors with hunting and foraging games can do wonders for their well-being. Even on a limited budget, you can keep your indoor cat stimulated.

Toys
Toys are an easy way to enrich your cats environment. They come in many shapes and sizes, but there are two basic kinds of toys you can use to entertain them: self play and interactive. Self play toys are great for cats who are left home alone a lot. Some self play toys dispense food. Simply fill with dry kibble and treats to encourage your cat to play. Others contain cat nip, which is irresistable to most cats. You can also buy toys that hang from doorframes which will keep your cat occupied when you are too busy to play with them. If you don't have the money to buy toys, you can use things in your house to keep your cat entertained. Some suggestions include: tabs from milk bottles, plastic bottle tops, wadded up paper or foil balls, cardboard inserts from paper towels or toilet paper.

Interactive toys help strengthen the bond between you and your cat. There are numerous products on the market using sticks or wands that will encourage your cat's inner hunter. These allow interaction with your cat as you move the stick/wand around so your cat can stalk and chase the toy. Some cats enjoy chasing a laser light around the house. Others can find entertainment in yarn or shoelaces. It is imperitive that you pick all of these toys up and place them out of your cat's reach before leaving the house for your cat's safety. Cats are capable of eating almost any object, many of which can cause serious problems when ingested. You want to enrich your cat without endangering them.

Perches
Cats love to climb. High places make them feel secure. From a perch, they can watch the world around them - both inside and outside. Multiple perches and cat trees throughout your house or apartment are ideal. Cats feel vulnerable when they sleep and tend to prefer higher areas. Indoor cats need visual stimulation. They will enjoy looking out the window to watch birds, butterflies and other wild life. This can provide hours of entertainment and help your cat feel as though it is outdoors. Cat perches come in many sizes and shapes. They can be expensive, though. If you don't have the money in your budget to purchase one, clearing off the back of a couch or a chair and placing it next to the window can suffice. Adding a bird feeder or bird bath within view of the perch can increase your cat's enjoyment. Just be sure to place it high enough off the ground that the birds are safe from predators.

Scratching Posts
Scratching is a natural behavior for your cat. Cats lose the sheath of their nail by scratching rough surfaces. Scratching also helps your cat release pent up energy or emotional stress. Provide a variety of scratching posts - vertical and horizontal, sisal and cardboard. You will have to experiment a bit to find your cat's preference. Providing scratching posts for your cat to express their natural instinct is important to keep them from scratching inappropriate areas.

Providing your cat with an enriched environment will keep them happy and will also cut down on behavior problems. It is important for their well being that they have plenty of toys, perches, appropriate scratching places and opportunities to play. In addition to proper nutrition and regular vet visits, enrichment plays a necessary role in keeping your cat healthy and happy so they live a long life with you.

How A Microchip Saved A Life

This is Al. Al disappeared from his home on April 19th. Al has been gone before, but has returned after a short period of time. What brought Al home this time wasn't his memory of where he lived. Lisa, Al's mom, got a phone call from a vet hospital on June 25th. They called her because they scanned him for a microchip. Al had one so he was reunited after spending 10 weeks in the mountains. We don't know what adventures Al might have had, but some of them left him injured - too injured to get back home on his own. When Al was found, he was being circled by three juvenile and two adult hawks. His luck was close to running out. A kind stranger discovered him and took him immediately to a vet hospital for help. The vet techs scanned him, his number popped up and Lisa got a phone call she had all but given up hope of receiving. Thanks to his microchip, Lisa was reunited with her beloved cat. Al is lucky - only 3% of lost cats ever return home. Only 3 out of every 100 cats who get lost ever find their way back home.

There is a misconception that cats can always find their way home. Sometimes cats get sick or injured. So what happens when your pet is too injured to make their way home to you? If they end up at a pet hospital or at the shelter, they will be scanned for a microchip. That microchip could mean the difference between life and death for your cat. Even if your cat wears a collar with ID Tags, collars can come off. They can fade over time. In case they aren't wearing their collar when they get lost, make sure that your pet is also microchipped. Every animal that winds up in an animal shelter is scanned for a microchip upon arrival. If chipped, they can immediately contact you so that you can retrieve your pet. Without any way of identifying your pet, the shelter is forced to either adopt your pet to someone else or euthanize it due to overcrowding. Microchipping is simple, safe and relatively inexpensive. The procedure only takes seconds - the chip is implanted between your pet's shoulder blades with a shot and lasts the lifetime of your pet.

Where can you get your pet microchipped? At your next vet appointment, ask your vet to implant one. If you don't want to wait for your next vet appointment, you can get one done at your local shelter for a small fee. Once you call the microchip company and activate the chip, you have peace of mind knowing that your pet will be returned to you if lost.

LISA AND AL REUNITED










AL'S BATTLE SCARS









MORE OF AL'S BATTLE SCARS









Thank you, Lisa, for sharing Al's story with us! And congratulations to Al on making his way home. Thanks also to the kind woman who found him and didn't just leave him there!

The Story of Harvey

This is Harvey. Harvey had until today to be rescued from the shelter he ended up in because his family unceremoniously dumped him at a dog park after nine years. He has known no other family. Now he sleeps on a cold, concrete floor and searches for hope in the faces of people that pass by his kennel run day after day because he is "too old" or "too large" or "looks like pit bull" (he's actually a lab/sharpei mix according to the shelter). He's a great dog who is down on his luck. Harvey is great with people of all ages and other dogs. He tested so well on his temperament test that the staff has been using him to test other dogs. Chances are Harvey reached his deadline tonight without making it out of the noisy, overcrowded shelter into a loving home with a warm bed for his weary, tired bones. Harvey is but one of thousands who ended their days this week in a stressful shelter. It doesn't matter if they are purebred, hybrid or mutts, they all go out the same way and end up in a dumpster behind the shelter. Is it because they are bad dogs? No. Poor dogs like Harvey just had bad owners. Their owners didn't make a lifetime commitment to them. Instead of viewing them as the living, breathing animals they are, they view them as disposable objects. Dogs feel every emotion that we do. Studies have shown that they grieve their owners, even the bad one like Harvey's. They may spend years in the backyard with no attention or years in the house until the baby comes and pushes them out. It doesn't matter. They have the emotional capacity of a toddler. Imagine leaving your two year old at daycare and never coming back for them. That's what your pet feels when you dump them at the shelter and walk away. Many wait hopefully for days and weeks (if they are lucky), desperately searching the faces of people who pass for any sign that their "owners" have come back for them. They never come. Most of them end up being pulled down the long hallway to the room at the end where their lives will end. They struggle and fight on that last walk like they know they won't be making it back out.

When we started our search for a pet, I walked through row after row of these hopeful faces. All these wonderful dogs whose "owners" had failed them miserably. I vividly remember a woman bringing her two small boys in, dragging an older terrier mix behind her. The dog was in need of grooming and desperate for a kind word. She handed the leash to a shelter worker. "This dog is too old," she announced. "Um, okay," was the response because there really isn't any other response for logic like that. She then led her children into the shelter to look at the puppies and they picked one out as their "too old" dog was being pushed into a kennel run just down the row. This was a city shelter so they aren't allowed to say no to any adoption.
I couldn't let her leave without pointing out the message that she was teaching her children. Old means no good. "Don't be surprised," I told her, "when they put you in a home rather than taking care of you because you are too old. Kids learn from their parents." She didn't care. But she will care later in life when she is "too old" and her sons dump her the way she dumped that dog.

Every shelter across the country is overflowing at the moment with dogs like that poor, old terrier mix. Dogs like Harvey who didn't get good owners willing to make a lifetime commitment to them. There seems to be a misconception that their dog will find a home - they're purebred (big deal, that's one in every three dogs), they're well behaved, they're cute. The shelter is full of purebred, well behaved, cute dogs. So are the dumpsters in the back. Then there are the poor dogs whose owners failed them completely. They've lived their entire lives in the backyard with no socialization, no company, no training. These dogs have no hope of ever making it out. People don't want dogs like that. They gravitate towards the friendly, well trained, cute dogs. Even those dogs don't have a very good chance of getting out. Thrust into an unfamiliar environment, some dogs shut down completely, even well trained and well socialized ones. They shake at the back of their kennels and don't come out to see people. Those dogs have lost all hope. After all, the hope they did have left them.

Pets are a lifetime commitment. Moving is not a reason to give them up. We have an American Staffordshire Terrier. This breed is on most ban lists. When we move, we allow months to find a place to live WITH her. Our friends Molly and Anthony have moved several times with their American Pit Bull Terrier without trouble. If we can find rentals with our breeds, no one has an excuse to leave a pet behind. There are so many pet friendly rentals that no one should be dropping their dog or cat off at the shelter because they are "moving." You take the time to find a pet friendly rental and save the money to afford a pet deposit. When you don't, your pet becomes just another statistic like Harvey and so many other good dogs who were unlucky enough to be purchased or adopted by bad owners.

The Truth About Pit Bulls

Whether or not you're interested in adopting a pit bull, there's important information you need to know about these dogs. Irresponsible owners and the media have contributed to grossly inaccurate information about them. We hope the following factual information about breed history and temperament standards will help alleviate the fear and misinformation associated with pit bulls.

'Pit Bull' is a general term used to describe 4 breeds of dogs: the American Pit Bull Terrier (APBT), the American Staffordshire Terrier (AmStaff), the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and the Bull Terrier. All 4 breeds have a common ancestor, the Bull-and-Terrier. The Bull-and-Terrier and its descendants were all originally bred for bull-baiting and dog fighting as entertainment, even though it was illegal. The Staffordshire Bull Terrier and the Bull Terrier were developed first in the British Isles. The Staffordshire Bull Terrier was brought to the US in the late 1800s to fight, and became known as the pit bull terrier. Americans favored a slightly bigger dog than the English, and over time the two diverged. The American Kennel Club (AKC) recognizes the Bull Terrier, the AmStaff, and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. The American Pit Bull Terrier is recognized by the United Kennel Club (UKC). Although technically different breeds, the APBT, the AmStaff and the Staffordshire Bull terrier are essentially the same in both appearance and temperament. The Bull Terrier, however, has a much more distinct egg-shaped head.

Dog aggression and human aggression are two distinctly separate traits and should never be confused. Because of their history as a fighting dog, pit bulls are prone to dog aggression. However, care can and should be taken to modify this tendency since pit bulls can often learn how to be dog tolerant or even dog friendly. It is quite common for a pit bull to be wonderful with people, while at the same time not 100% trustworthy around other dogs. Human aggression, however, is not a normal trait in pit bulls and should not be taken lightly. The official UKC breed temperament standard is the following: "the essential characteristics of the American Pit Bull Terrier are strength, confidence, and zest for life. This breed is eager to please and brimming over with enthusiasm. APBTs make excellent family companions and have always been noted for their love of children. Because most APBTs exhibit some level of dog aggression and because of its powerful physique, the APBT requires an owner who will carefully socialize and obedience train the dog… The APBT is not the best choice for a guard dog since they are extremely friendly, even with strangers. Aggressive behavior toward humans is uncharacteristic of the breed and highly undesirable." If poorly bred, mishandled, abused, or unsocialized then a pit bull, like ANY other breed, can develop behavior problems or aggression that is atypical of the breed.

Due to misinformation and lack of education, certain breeds have been incorrectly labeled "dangerous." Dogs of all breeds can and will mature into well tempered adults if raised properly. A large part of raising any breed properly includes socializing and training them starting at a young age. If you're interested in learning more about whether a pit bull would be right for you, it's important to research the breed. The websites badrap.org and realpitbull.com have large amounts of quality information.

Why Should I Train My Dog?

Obedience training is one of the best things that you can do for yourself and your dog. It is essential to creating a healthy, happy relationship between you and your canine. Unfortunately, many owners don't realize the importance of training and behavior problems are now one of the most common reasons dogs are surrendered to shelters. Dogs aren't mind readers. They don't just instinctively know how their owners want them to act, or what the rules of the house are. Like children, they have to be taught what is appropriate and what is not. Owners who haven't bothered to teach their dogs the rules often find they end up with unruly dogs.

Things that are cute as a puppy, such as mouthing your hands and jumping up to play, are suddenly unacceptable when the dog is full grown. These are issues that could have been easily prevented had the owners taken the time to train their new family member in the first place. Even if you are adopting an adult dog who is past his puppy behaviors, training will help you establish yourself as the leader of your pack. Dogs are pack animals, and therefore social hierarchy is extremely important to them. If it isn't clear who the pack leader is, they will attempt to take charge of the household. This can lead to behavior problems like claiming resources such as the couch or your bed.c Most behavioral issues are often perfectly natural canine activities that are performed at the wrong time on the wrong things, such as chewing your shoes instead of a chew toy or going to the bathroom on your rug instead of outside on the lawn. Training teaches your dog the appropriate ways to exhibit his natural canine behaviors. Using physical dominance to achieve the status of pack leader is unnecessary. Your dog is showing his respect for you when he obeys even a simple command like "sit".

Dogs are a 10-20 year commitment, depending on the breed you choose. Time and effort put into training during the first few years will pay off in dividends later on in life. You can't enjoy being around your dog when you're constantly irritated at him. A well trained dog is fun and easy to live with. They know how to behave in public so they can be taken on more family outings. The dog can be trusted around children, strangers and other animals because he has been taught appropriate behavior. Friends and family will enjoy visiting your home rather than avoiding you because of your dog's rowdy behavior. By taking your dog to obedience training, you are creating a confident, happy dog who will get to live a fuller life. This improves your life as well as that of your pet.

If you can't afford training classes, click here for printable training pages that will teach you how to effectively communicate with your dog and teach him necessary commands. All you need are these training sheets and some treats. You can use turkey hot dogs, cheese, leftover chicken. Just cut it up into bite size pieces and you are ready to go!