Month: April 2010

This week features a story in which students chose what they call an alternative spring break. Spring break used to be synonymous with beer and bikinis. But these days, a large and growing number of college students are spending their precious time off helping abandoned pets, underprivileged kids, disabled veterans, or disaster victims. At the University of Central Florida, the alternative spring break program has grown so much, so fast, that this year three students were turned away for every one accepted. What are the students doing? One wonderful example is Marlon Gutierrez, a 20-year-old UCF junior, who spent last week in San Juan, Puerto Rico, working with homeless dogs at an overwhelmed shelter. As student leader for the trip, he was charged nothing, and other students paid $300 each for the entire week – for which they put in some hard labor. “After the first four hours, we were really tired,” Gutierrez said. “The woman who runs the place – she basically takes care of 200 dogs by herself. There was a lot of work to be done.” Not that he was complaining. The hardest part, he said late last week, was having to leave.

This week we have a truly unique story of a program in PA which matches abused animals with inmates to encourage a mutually beneficial relationships of healing. The dogs live with the inmates in their cells. The inmates are responsible for feeding and caring for the animal at all times. The dogs usually spend between six and 12 weeks behind bars until they’re paroled and hopefully adopted by a forever family. Inside the prison, the dogs and inmates work weekly with a professional trainer. “We’ve adopted out over 90 dogs through the program over the past five years, all of whom are still in their homes and they’re doing really, really well,” McGinley said. “The damage that’s done long term is intense and it takes a long time to reverse it and really teach the animals to trust again,” McGinley said. “And that happens a lot here. You see dogs who come in and are completely broken, who can’t trust any person or any other animal. Every motion that goes by them is terrifying and then you slowly start to see the healing take place. One day you come in and it’s a completely different dog.”

Keeping your kittens and cats indoors all the time is unquestionably the safest choice you can make for their well-being. They avoid being hit by cars, injuries from other animals, parasites, and life-threatening illnesses… the list is almost endless to the hazards indoor pets avoid. Keeping an indoor pet happy is just as important as keeping them safe! A pet’s happiness is an integral part of their staying healthy, just like with people. There are many wonderful ways you can enrich their environment and their lives. Here are a few of our favorite fun ideas for helping keep your feline friends happy, while living safely inside your home.

• Adopt a kitty friend – most cats are so much happier with a cat friend! We’re not just saying that because we’re a pet adoption website either, ask anyone that’s owned two or more cats.  Even if you think your cat doesn’t like other cats, you might try fostering a few different (slightly smaller and opposite sex) cats. Often it’s just a matter of a slow introduction and finding the right personality match. Find a cat or kitten to adopt near your zip code.
• Daily exercise – Cats need to run, jump and chase every day. Wild cats have birds, bugs, and other small animals to chase around, but indoor kitties need you (or a kitty friend) to provide that kind of mental and physical exercise by playing with them EVERY DAY. You may need to try lots of different toys till you find one that gets your cat going.
• Variety is the spice of life – Wild cats wouldn’t be chasing an identical bird day after day either. You can make inexpensive cat toys by attaching almost anything to the end of a fishing line. Try crumpled up paper balls, tin foil, plastic wrap, knots of yarn – of course, never leave these homemade toys out with them unsupervised. My cats are huge fans of the feather on a string and laser toys.
• Climbing & hideouts – Even in a tiny apartment you can get super creative with arranging your furniture like couches and bookshelves to create create climbing steps and high up “hideouts” for your cat! They do not have to be carpet cat trees, check out some great stylish ideas on the moderncat blog here. Also don’t forget window perches, like a bookshelf or chair back infront of a window – cats love to look out even if they can’t go out.

You may ask, why not just build or purchase an outdoor cat enclosure? That’s a great idea too! If you have a balcony, patio or yard, there are endless ways you can create a cat-proof enclosure for your cat to enjoy being outoors safely. But before you invest a lot of time or money in one, you may want to try a less expensive outdoor cat tunnel first…. and if you follow the other tips above, you may find your cat is perfectly happy being an indoor-only cat without ever going outside.

For a comprehensive list of veterinary technician programs in the US, and more information on becoming a vet tech visit Vet Tech

This week we have a story of a local group of folks who used social media tools and word of mouth to save the lives of several animals scheduled for euthanasia. Lewisburg Animal Shelter Adoptions (LASA) was recently “created by local Lewisburg animal lovers wishing to network our community’s homeless dogs,” according to their Facebook page. Eleven dogs were scheduled for euthanasia on Thursday, March 4, but, due to LASA’s efforts, they got a “stay of execution” and many have since been adopted. There are now less than 10 dogs at the shelter that has a capacity of about 25.

In our mutual efforts to help dogs live happier lives, Adopt-a-Pet has been rubbing elbows with a new friend. She writes: “On the All Things Dog Blog, I share tips, tricks and generally helpful knowledge for keeping your family and your dog happy and healthy. My pack-oriented approach comes from owning 3 dogs, a diverse group of mixed and pure breeds, all of whom once were on the brink of homelessness. My Golden Retriever, Tanner, was adopted as the last available male pup from a litter of 12. Tanner’s physical features, such as a knobby head and extra height, are not exactly up to par for his breed, yet his temperament was exactly what I was looking for.

This high-activity, athletic dog matched my personality perfectly, and off we went to prepare for a life of vigorous outdoor fun. My pack of 3 includes 2 additional rescues–Retriever-mix, Xena, and a once-sickly, Papillon cast-off from a pet store–Oliver. Each has brought their own special brand of joy to my family of 5. On my blog, I share many ideas on activities to keep your pups busy, stimulated, and physically-challenged, such as walking and hiking, biking, running, swimming, playing fetch, Frisbee and running agility courses.

The focus of maintaining my 3 dogs’ cohesiveness as a pack, has been in constantly training with discipline, obedience classes, and plenty of socialization. Dog park visits are a regular part of our routine, providing plenty of stimulation, socialization, and the always-welcome opportunity to run off-leash. With this love of dog parks has come a comittedness to protecting these assets. After declaring National Clean Dog Park Awareness Week, I started a website, Adopt a Dog Park, designed to remind owners of their part in maintaining our precious dog parks. I am hopeful that others will catch on to participate in helping to care for their local parks as this website is passed among dog owners. The goal is to register volunteer park caretakers, showing the world that we care about our dog parks. You can adopt your local park by writing to LetsAdoptaDogPark@gmail.com.

All Things Dog Blog’s readers have enjoyed some highlights from Adopt-a-Pet’s Blog, and we are doing our part to support your cause. We will continue to offer Adopt-a-Pet’s search boxes to promote adoption among our readers. In addition, we published another post on April 9, 2010, sharing additional insights on Adopt-a-Pet.

When thinking about my proudest moments in starting and building my website, I suppose there are three that come to mind first:

• Adding an Ask a Vet column, with veterinarian Jacki Bert
• Starting an ASK THE TRAINER column, with trainer Judith Joseph
• Seeing a rescue dog that was once listed on my site, find a forever home and become a notable Frisbee dog. His owner, Chris Engle, has now written a series of articles for my, blog entitled Frisbee Dog 101. I hope you will take an opportunity to enjoy this extremely educational series of 5 posts.

I invite you to visit our site at All Things Dog Blog, and be sure to take advantage of a free subscription to my posts, so you won’t miss a one. The subscription box is in the top right sidebar. I’ll look forward to your visit for a dose of ‘dog doings’, as I continue to share more about happy dogs and their ‘forever families’.”

This week news that MD may ban puppy sales of dogs less than 9 months old. A proposed bill in the Senate would ban the sale of puppies under the age of nine months at Maryland pet stores as a way to combat puppy mills. According to the National Humane Society, a majority of puppies sold through pet shops in Maryland come from puppy mills. The legislation is designed to dry up that demand. In another story students from Pittsburg State University are preparing to take on a project that will not only enhance their construction skills, but also give back to the local pet community. The project, “Habitat For Hounds,” is now in its second year and results in the construction of dog houses for dogs from the Southeast Kansas.

Adopting a companion animal provides a fertile opportunity to teach important values to children. The decision to devote your resources and care to an animal in need sends a very clear message about the identity of a family and its underlying values. It is a great time to explore who you are as a family and what you stand for. It is through this process that a child learns things like, “We are a family with an important choice to make, and we are going to use the power of this choice to save a life.” This teaches kids about personal responsibility and their impact on the greater good as they make choices in life. Children need to feel they can impact their world. We need to give them opportunities to do so in positive, pro-social ways. Adopting and caring for an animal can plant the seeds for that ethic.

Conducting a family meeting to determine if you can meet an animal’s needs, is a good place to start. You should explore issues such as whether a landlord permits animals, how much exercise the animal needs, how to provide for medical care, who will be responsible for feeding, training and walks, who will care for the animal on vacations, whether you have imminent plans to move, etc. Such a conversation conveys the importance of planning for the long term Navigating potential obstacles and committing to get through them– for better or worse– is an important step in conveying to your children, the inherent value of this new family member’s life and well-being.

Answering these initial questions will also help determine what sort of animal would be a good match for your family. Don’t hesitate to enroll the help of a local rescue group in making this decision.

The decision around which animal companion to add to a family can provide for fruitful debates about your family’s values. Perhaps yours is a family who is willing to provide a home to an older pet who has found himself in a shelter due to a move. Or perhaps you are willing to provide for a cat who has lost an eye or even a limb. This conveys that you see past age and physical ‘limitations’ and can appreciate another being’s inherent worth. This teaches about acceptance and offers children a chance to witness the inspiring resilience in all animals.

Perhaps your family is willing to provide a home for a pit bull or other breed disadvantaged by misconceptions and negative stereotypes. This teaches kids about pre-conceptions and difference. It also encourages them to learn for themselves and not buy into a public perception that may be biased or misinformed.

Finally, for kids who are adopted themselves, adopting a pet provides an opportunity to talk about their feelings while also confirming a family’s positive regard for others in need. Similarly, for a child who is hearing impaired, or who has a condition such as diabetes, adopting an animal with a similar condition (provided the resources exist to properly manage it) can be therapeutic and enriching for all involved.

There is no limit to the great lessons that you can teach when you opt to adopt. It benefits all involved and lives on in the growing minds of the children who participate. The ripple effect of this family activity will undoubtedly foster compassion for generations to come!

In Kinship,

Dr. Pia Salk

This article was originally published on Pia’s blog The Daily Wag.

Pia blogs often at The Daily Wag on MarthaStewart.com, the home of episodes from Francesca and Sharkey – Martha Stewart’s two dogs. Dr. Pia Salk is a psychologist, animal welfare advocate, and expert on the human-animal bond. Pia frequently highlights the important role that animals play in our lives and how our societal treatment of animals conveys important messages to our youth. In her own work, Pia often credits the animals as being “the real therapists.”

Dog & child photo courtesy of http://www.sxc.hu/photo/783864