Month: September 2010

If you are unfamiliar with the term “catio,” it is an enclosed patio designed especially for cats. Cats who roam freely outside generally have shorter lives than cats who remain indoors. A catio provides a fully protected outdoor environment for otherwise indoor cats. The wonderful Catio Showcase website showcases the many fabulous catios that people have created for their beloved cats in order to inspire you to create your own. They also feature products that can help you easily create an outdoor space for your cats without extensive construction. And of course, many fabulous photos of incredible catios and other outdoor cat enclosures (like a Catitat) submitted by cat-lovers around the world!

Dog parks can be a great way to socialize your dog — but can also be unsafe if proper measures aren’t taken. The following tips are to help you keep your dog safe and happy at the park.

• Know your dog. Not all dogs enjoy meeting new dogs. Don’t let your dog get overwhelmed by meeting too many dogs at once. If your dog has not interacted regularly with other dogs, find out how he will react. You can perform a test by introducing your dog to a friends’ dog that you know interacts well with other dogs. Testing your dog in a controlled environment is ideal before you go into the dog park.
• Keep your dog healthy. Be sure your dog isn’t vulnerable to picking up infections from other dogs by keeping him up to date on his vaccinations and worming medications.
• Observe. Consider visiting the park without your dog for the first time to familiarize yourself with the park itself and the dogs that play there. Before bringing your dog inside the park, spend a few minutes watching the other dogs and how they interact. If the dogs seem too rough for your dog, come back at another time or try a different dog park. On your next visit you may want to bring your dog and sit quietly with him outside the park. Having your dog with you to observe from outside the park enables you to watch how he reacts to seeing the other dogs.
• Start out slow. The first few visits to the dog park should be short, no longer than 15 minutes. Slowly increase the length of your stays as your dog becomes more comfortable with the dog park atmosphere.

Choose a time that is less busy for your first few visits to the park. Weekday evenings are peak, high-traffic times at dog parks, and weekends and holidays tend to be busy all day long. Acquaint your dog with the dog park when the park isn’t as crowded.

• Closely supervise your dog. Don‘t get distracted while talking to other owners. Keep an eye on your dog at all times to make sure his interactions with other dogs are safe. Watch his body language to help you avoid any trouble before it begins. Watching his actions also enables you to quickly clean up after your pet.
• Let your dog off leash as soon as you enter unleashed areas. Mixing leashed and unleashed dogs can create a hostile situation. Leashed dogs, and their owners, often display body language and behavior that is threatening to the unleashed dogs and may encourage them to be aggressive and defensive in return. A leashed dog cannot make the choice his natural instinct tells him of “fight or flight” — if he cannot take flight, he may have to fight.

Potential hazards. Be aware of potential hazards that may be in the park, such as toxic chemicals, garbage or noxious plants. Be sure to wash any chemicals, such as fertilizer or pesticides, off of your dog’s feet and legs to ensure they aren’t licked and ingested.

• Leave children at home. Don’t bring children with you to the dog park. You will not safely be able to watch your kids and your dog at the same time. Many dogs have not been socialized to children. Both frighten and excite easily — and react differently — creating a dangerous atmosphere. It’s simply too easy for a child to get hurt at a dog park.
• Leave small puppies at home. Puppies less than four months old aren’t fully immunized yet and are at higher risk for contracting diseases. They are also very vulnerable to being traumatized by another dog’s aggressive behavior.
• Do not bring toys or food. Most parks are already littered with balls and toys that other people have brought. Rewarding your dog with treats or giving him toys in front of other dogs can create jealousy and aggression.
• Body language. Educate yourself about dog body language and communication signals so you can tell the difference between fear, play and anger. Your local Bark Busters trainer can help you learn to “read” your dog’s body language.
• Know when to leave. You should remove your dog from the park if he is being threatened or bullied and seems fearful; begins to display aggressive behavior by becoming overexcited or threatening toward other dogs; is panting heavily; or seems overly tired. Keep your dog’s welfare a top priority.
• DO NOT physically intervene in a dog fight. Never reach in to break up fighting dogs. Squirt the dogs in the face with a water bottle or try to distract them by throwing something near them, but never physically intervene.
• Prevent injuries. Be aware of the signs of a possible dog fight before it might happen. Don’t allow a dog’s overexcitement turn into a fight. If your dog injures a person or dog, give your name and phone number to the injured party. Report to law enforcement authorities any handlers who refuse to take liability for damages or injuries and who are endangering the safety of others.

About the Post Author

Liam Crowe is the CEO and grand master dog behavioral therapist of Bark Busters USA (www.BarkBusters.com), the world’s largest dog training company. Since inception, over 500,000 dogs have been trained worldwide using Bark Busters’ dog-friendly, natural methods, which focus on fostering a positive relationship between owner and dog to establish a lasting emotional bond based on respect and trust. Find a dog trainer at Bark Busters.

The new Dog Park Finder Plus iPhone App compiles photos and reviews to provide all the information you would need for a quick trip to the dog park or for a vacation across the country with your pooch. Displaying local dog parks and search results in both map and list pages, Dog Park Finder Plus includes details such as user ratings, fenced and un-fenced markers, on-leash rules, hours and days of operation and many other features. Over 5,000 dog parks are listed as well as dog friendly beaches and hiking trails, and it even includes further information such as restrooms and bench availability in parks!

The people at DogParkUSA.com who developed Dog Park Finder Plus are committed to the promotion of happy and health canine friends by promoting responsibly maintained public dog play areas. But they are also committed to the idea that every dog should be lucky enough to enjoy a day at the park so they are generously donating 15% of their proceeds to Adopt-a-Pet.com to help us in our mission to find a happy home for every pet! Not only is the Dog Park Finder Plus a useful app to have, it also helps support our free service and promote pet adoption! What a great way to help get many more dogs in need into loving homes and into those fun dog parks indeed.

The Dog Park Finder Plus app can be downloaded from the iTunes App Store. Download it today so you can know all about new and old dog parks, and help homeless pets!

People are loving the new MixItUp With Adopt-a-Pet.com iPhone app by iMatte Inc. which allows users to insert a picture their pet into three famous paintings from the 1903 Brown and Bigelow calendar of dogs playing poker! The famous paintings of dogs playing poker remind us that every dog has an individual personality, emotional capacity, and a precious soul. Each dog and cat has their own unique poker face! The people at MixItup know that all animals deserve a chance to be a part of a loving family who cherishes them, so they decided to donate a percentage of proceeds from each app download to Adopt-a-Pet.com!

Our staff cracked up when we saw the app, and we knew our fans and their friends would enjoy it, too. We are thrilled to work together on MixItUp as a way to benefit homeless pets, and we’ve had a blast seeing the photos that have been sent in on our Facebook page. Being able to place your own pet at the poker table with the other dogs is a fun and funny way to show off your furry best friend! The MixItUp with Adopt-a-Pet.com app can be downloaded from the iTunes App Store and additional apps will soon follow so you can immortalize your pet in other spectacular ways!

Support Adopt-a-Pet.com and make yourself smile at the same time – download the MixItUp app today and enjoy!

The new Dog Park Finder Plus iPhone App gives you all the information you need for a quick trip to the dog park or for a vacation across the country with your pooch, and a percentage of the proceeds from each download supports homeless pet adoption.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) September 3, 2010

Release Link: http://www.prweb.com/releases/dog-park-finder-app/2010-09/prweb4463444.htm

 

Powered by DogParkUSA.com, the new Dog Park Finder Plus iPhone App compiles photos and reviews to give you all the information you need for a quick trip to the dog park or for a vacation across the country with your pooch. The Dog Park Finder Plus app displays local dog parks and search results in both map and list pages. Park details include user ratings, fenced and un-fenced markers, on-leash rules, hours and days of operation and many other features.

DogParkUSA.com is committed to the promotion of happy and healthy canine friends by advancing the awareness of responsibly maintained public dog play areas. “With so many dog loving people out there who want to know about new dog parks and news about current parks, we thought we should let people know about all the pets in need at shelters, so we contacted Adopt-a-Pet.com,” said Greg Holsclaw, member of the creative team who designed the app.

DogParkUSA.com is donating 15% of their proceeds to Adopt-a-Pet.com, North America’s largest non-profit homeless pet adoption website, to support them in their mission of helping to find a happy home for every homeless pet. Adopt-a-Pet.com, which displays 155,000 pets for adoption at over 9,200 animal shelters across North America, is sponsored by Purina and Bayer Animal Health.

“When I saw the app and realized it had over 5,000 listings for dog parks, dog friendly beaches and hiking trails, I just thought it was a very useful and fun tool for new pet adopters. We are thrilled that Dog Park Finder Plus will help promote pet adoption and let more people know about our free service, so that we can help get great pets into loving homes.” says Adopt-a-Pet.com President and co-founder, David Meyer.

The Dog Park Finder Plus App can be downloaded from the iTunes App Store. Says Holsclaw, “Through the use of innovative new tools, we hope to broadcast new dog parks and news about current parks to loving pet owners through our improved Dog Park Finder Plus, and we’re very excited to benefit homeless pets while we do so that every dog can be lucky enough to enjoy a day at the park.” There is also a free version of the app, Dog Park Finder that offers half the number of listings and does not include further information such as restrooms and bench availability in the parks.

Whether you are traveling for business or pleasure, it is so much nicer to stay at a hotel with your best furry friend right at your side Hotel Indigo will let you do just that, and you can help earn a dollar for homeless pets right now, just by clicking the  Hotel Indigo’s ‘Like’ button on their Facebook page! Hotel Indigo is an upscale boutique brand that is truly reflective of the local community. It also happens to be run by pet lovers! Not only does this hotel chain deliver a refreshing, inviting, comfortable guest experience that is also environmentally conscious, but their hotels are as pet friendly as can be.

Beyond just being pet lovers, the staff at Hotel Indigo encourages pet adoption and wants every animal to have the chance to be a part of a family, which is why they are pledging their support to Adopt-A-Pet.com and here is how you can help Hotel Indigo is donating $1 per “Like” on their Facebook page and will give as much as $20,000 to help us in our mission to find a home for every homeless pet.

Please support Adopt-a-Pet.com by clicking Hotel Indigo’s ‘Like’ button on their Facebook page. Their donation will even double to $20,000 if the Hotel Indigo Facebook page receives 15,000 “Likes” or more before October 15th! And make sure to tell your friends to do the same! Feel free to share your own pet travel or pet adoption stories in the comments section of Hotel Indigo’s Facebook page!