Recently two Western PA animals shelters announced that they have worked an agreement with a local pet store, and the store will now only carry shelter pets in its inventory only. The entire story can be read at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.com. We really applaud the hard work of both the Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania, and the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society for helping bring shelter pets in front of new pet buyers.
Month: November 2010
House Training: Housetraining Your Dog or Puppy
Want to learn how to house train your pup? House training your new dog or puppy can take patience and time. Read more to learn about how to do it effectively.
Happily, housetraining your new dog or puppy can take patience and time, but it is usually not complicated! We have lots of experience from housetraining many foster dogs and puppies, and helping new adopters to easily and kindly train their new canine family member to take care of ‘business’ in the appropriate potty spot. We prefer the term “housetraining” to “housebreaking” because you really are training your puppy or dog to go where you want – hopefully without having to break any bad habits! Here are the basic steps to housetraining your dog or puppy:
1. SUPERVISE
Keep your dog under constant supervision while inside – if you must take your eyes away even for a second, confine your dog either in a crate (proper crate training is needed), or in a room with a hard-surfaced floor where accidents may be easily cleaned up, or outside in a secure area. With some dogs and in some homes its best to “tether” them to you, keeping them on a leash attached to you at all times. Close doors or block off carpeted rooms and rooms with rugs that can’t be taken up.
2. PICK A SPOT
It is easiest for a dog to learn to go in one specific spot, rather than just outside. Pick a “potty” spot, be it in your yard, a grassy area out front, or a corner of your patio. Most dogs prefer porous surfaces (dirt/grass/gravel/carpet/newspaper) if you have a bit of what the dog has gone on before, you can place it where you want the dog to go.
3. MAKE A ROUTINE
In the beginning, the more often you go to the potty spot, the better you chances of success! Put your dog and yourself on a firm daily schedule of sleeping, feeding and play/exercise, and your dog will start to go to the bathroom on a schedule. And you can make sure he’s at the right spot when the time comes! A typical schedule would include going to the potty spot first thing when you wake up, after breakfast, then at set intervals throughout the day. Two hours apart is great. Longer times will work, it will just take longer for your dog to learn to physically be able to hold it for longer periods.
Take your dog to his potty spot at the times you’ve set and wait (on a leash is often best). Allow the dog to circle and sniff, but don’t encourage him to play…this is serious business time! Be patient and wait for at least five minutes. If he starts to relieve himself, praise quietly until he is finished, then praise him very enthusiastically and reward him with a game or food treat. If he doesn’t go, it’s back to supervision until the next set time. Continue with the routine, and once he’s going when you take him out, gradually increase the time between visits to the potty spot. When you’re down to three times a day and no more accidents inside (anywhere from two to six weeks), you’ve housetrained your dog.
4. LEARN THE COMMAND
A phrase like “Get Busy” or “Go Potty” (or anything else you prefer) can really help your dog to understand when and where to go the bathroom. Use it just like you use any verbal command – like “Sit,” you say it before you want your dog to do it, and then if he does, give him lots of praise and treats. It won’t work to say it too many times in a row (two or three is enough), and should be said in a happy tone of voice, never as a punishment. Also, if you catch your dog in the act of “getting busy” in the correct spot, you can say “Get busy!! Good dog! Get busy! Good good!!” so they associate that phrase with what they are doing.
5. REWARD
If you see your dog about to go, or in the middle of relieving himself indoors, you can say ‘NO’ firmly, but do not raise your voice or yell. Then, immediately take him to your chosen place outside and reward him – praise, treats or play, which ever he most enjoys. Although he has done nothing to be praised for, it is essential that he associate going to that place with reward. If you have caught him in time he will still need to go. If he does go, lots of praise and rewards!
6. PUNISHMENT?
The worst thing you can do is punish your dog for ‘accidents’ that you discover after the fact. Dogs cannot make a connection with punishment for something they did in the past. Some owners will say, “Oh, but he knows he has done wrong because if I show him the mess he looks guilty.” The dog has simply learned that if humans are present and there is a mess on the floor, he is likely to be told off or punished, and yes he will cringe or cower down if you yell. He has not learned not to make the association – and not to make the mess in the first place.
Also… Yelling, making a loud noise with pennies in a can, swatting your dog with a newspaper, pushing your dog’s nose in his mess… aside from being inhumane, they often have the effect of making the dog afraid of you… or afraid of going in front of you. Then, housebreaking will take even longer, or may never happen. This is usually what has happened to dogs that go in the house only when left alone, or in a back room when you aren’t watching. Positive reinforcement is the fastest, easiest way to train. Punishment is the slowest and least-pleasant way to get a dog to do what you want, and often doesn’t work at all, especially for housebreaking!
7. CLEAN
When or if your pooch has an accident inside your home, thoroughly clean by using biological washing powder solution or a specially formulated enzyme product to remove all traces of the smell. If possible, keep your dog away from these areas until the training is complete. If they keep going on the same spot, put a tarp-covered chair or other pee-proof object in front of or on top of that spot – or lock them out of that room until they are solidly housetrained.
These steps do work quickly for most dogs. However, some dogs or puppies, like those from pet stores and puppymills (where they are forced to go to the bathroom in the same tiny space where they sleep and eat) can be more of a challenge. If your dog is more than 8 months old, and after a month of following these steps you are still having accidents, please consult a professional trainer for assistance. Other reasons why your dog has accidents in the house may include: stress and tension in the household, anxiety (for example, about being left alone or changes in routine), illness and submissive urination. Before beginning any training program, a clean bill of health from your dog’s veterinarian is advised.
Sometimes it feels like it’s taking ‘forever’ and some dogs will make progress and then take a few steps back, but this positive-reinforcement housebreaking method has worked time and time again for many dogs around the world, and it can work for yours, too!
PeoplePets.com & Adopt-a-Pet.com: Helping Pets Find Homes Together
It’s working! Our friends at PeoplePets.com have been featuring adoptable pets from Adopt-a-Pet.com, and they’ve been getting adopted! PeoplePets.com just put together a gallery of all this year’s success stories, in honor of October being Adopt-A-Dog Month. You can see all the feel good stories here. Make sure to check out all the wonderful Adopt-a-Pet.com animals that found happy forever homes, and thank you for spreading the word that adoption is truly the best option.
Start a New Thanksgiving Tradition
More and more people are opening up to the wonderful, kind idea that Thanksgiving can be a celebration of family and helping others – no turkey needed! We can’t think of a better way to commemorate the spirit of that day in 1621, when Native Americans feasted with the pilgrims at Plymouth, after helping the pilgrims survive their first year in the New World. In the Adopt-a-Pet.com world, helping “others” definitely includes animals. So we came up with a few new Thanksgiving Traditions we hope you’ll make a part of your annual thankful day.
– Volunteer to help homeless farm animals, like turkeys! You can register as a volunteer on Adopt-a-Pet.com and check “Farm Animals” under the type of animals you’d like to help.
– Search for any type of homeless pet near you on Adopt-a-Pet.com and then click the “share” button to share with your Facebook friends or Twitter followers. You might help a homeless pet near you spend their first year in a new home! Lots of furry pilgrims out there could use your help in being seen, so they can be adopted.
– A traditional Thanksgiving feast already offers a mouth watering array of vegetarian and vegan (or easy to vegan-ize) dishes. Try skipping the turkey this year – we bet you won’t even miss it! Check out the delicious & humane Thanksgiving recipes made by our friends over at Care2 in case you need some inspiration.
– In the spirit of NSAL’s Paws to Give Thanks campaign, remember and give thanks the unconditional love, loyalty and joy your pets bring to your lives everyday by donating to an animal welfare cause.
– And finally, for the safety of your pets in your home, we highly recommend making a tradition of following NSAL’s Thanksgiving safety tips we link to in our our previous blog.
Have a humane & happy Thanksgiving!
Adopt-a-Pet.com's new Pet of the Day widget
Help a New Pet Find a Home Every Day! Here’s an easy way to help pets find homes every day. It’s easy to do just by adding Adopt-a-Pet.com’s new Pet of the Day widget to your website or blog! First, go to http://www.adoptapet.com/public/searchtools/pet-of-the-day. Then you can enter in your zip code, customize the background colors if you wish, or choose one of our stylish preset options. Copy and paste the code into your web site, and we’ll automatically display a different adoptable pet for your visitors every day. Your visitors can click on the pet’s photo or the ‘details’ button to see that pet’s full listing on Adopt-a-Pet.com, with their shelter or rescue’s contact information. And, they can also easily share that pet on their Facebook and Twitter accounts by clicking on the icons under the pet’s photo! With your help, even more potential adopters will see the pets for adoption in your area that are listed on Adopt-a-Pet.com.
Teach Your Dog to Come When Called
Recall is when your dog or puppy comes to you when called. There are two main types of recall. One is a more casual coming to you when called, like when you want your dog to come inside. The second is an emergency recall, which is THE most important thing you can ever teach your dog. Even if your dog obeys nothing else, having them come to you when called can save their life. To teach your dog to come when called in more casual situations using the word “come” see our other Teach your dog to come when called article with its awesome training video! The tips below will help you teach your dog the second kind of recall, the emergency recall.
Step 1: Emergency Recall Word
Decide precisely what one word you’ll use to call your dog in an emergency situation Keep it simple. Everyone in your household should agree on exactly what word will be used. Pick a word that you don’t say very often, shorter is better. Imagine your dog escaped and is running into traffic! Pick a word you don’t say often, maybe “Bacon!!!!” or “Cake!!!” or yes even “Recall!” could work too.
Always say your emergency recall word in a loud happy tone. Imagine if your dog’s leash broke and he is running into traffic: You want word to be heard!
Do not repeatedly say your recall word in a row. Only say it ONCE.
Instead of a word, you could use a whistle sound made with your mouth if everyone who will ever be calling your dog can do the SAME whistle as loud or louder than they can yell a word. Training emergency recall with an actual metal or plastic whistle isn’t recommended as you may not have it handy in an emergency situation. Clapping can work, but only if you never clap to tell a dog not to do something, nor at other times like while you watch sports on TV.
Step 2: Load Your Recall Word
Load your recall word up with lots of “credit”. Imagine your recall word is a debit card. You need to make a deposit before you can use it. You don’t want your dog to ignore you due to “insufficient funds” or a word that has “expired” for lack of practice. How to load your word depends on your dog’s motivation:
A) Foodie Big Payoff. This works for food-motivated dogs and if you’re not free feeding. When does your dog get whole lot of yummy food all at once? Mealtime! Before you put your dog’s food bowl down, with your dog looking at you and the newly-filled food bowl, say your word once and loudly as you put the food bowl down. Repeat every mealtime for a week.
B) Play/Praise/Petting: Similar to above, hide your dogs favorite toy and only take it out twice a day. Or reserve your happiest praise and lots of petting for recall. Stand right next to your dog. Call your recall word then “load” the word by giving your dog the toy/praise/petting for up to 10 seconds. Repeat a few times a day for one week inside where least distracted, and gradually generalize in new locations with more and more distractions.
If your dog isn’t motivated by food, play, praise, or petting seek the help of a professional trainer for recall.
3. Recall Exercises: Teach your dog to come when called
WEEK TWO: After at least one week of “loading” as described above, you can advance to preparing the reward (food/toy/person) and now say your emergency recall word after backing up a few steps, so your dog has to come towards you to get the reward.
WEEK THREE: Advance to generalizing by rewarding in different places around your home, in your yard, and while on leash out on walks. Foodies can switch from getting their meal to huge handful of favorite treats for on leash recall work out on walks. Only practice ONE TIME each new place, You don’t want to desensitize them, i.e. don’t withdraw all your loaded credit! Also for this week, try to pick a time when the dog is not distracted.
WEEK FOUR: Add in touching your dog’s collar too, like you’d have to do if the dog escaped and you needed to attach a leash. Touch the collar as you reward, just for a second. Also you can start advancing to bigger distractions, like if your dog sees a squirrel in a tree or another dog down the block.
OFF-LEASH RECALL: Please be safe! When you’re ready to practice recall off-leash, do so in a fenced-in dog-safe area. Some dogs (like scent or sight hounds) can never be off-leash trained. All dogs take lots of training and lifelong practice to recall around compelling distractions.
ONCE A MONTH, FOREVER: Don’t let your emergency recall word expire. Practice once a month will prevent your emergency recall word from being forgotten. A solid emergency recall may save your dog’s life one day, and allow you and your dog to safely enjoy many more activities and a richer life together.
Photo by Jerry Xu www.jerry–xu.com
Enjoy Playing a Puzzle Game and Help Homeless Pets at the Same Time; The aiAnimals-Puppy Puzzler iPhone App Supports Adopt-a-Pet.com
Enjoy playing a puzzle game and help homeless pets at the same time! A match-3, competition puzzle game for animal lovers, in aiAnimals, you compete against the AI to match titles and score points. For each of the 12 levels you complete, you will unlock a photograph of a cute puppy!
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) November 18, 2010
Release Link: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/11/prweb4798434.htm
aiAnimals, combines the Japanese word for love “ai” and the English word “animals”, to describe those who will like the game the most — people who love animals. The aiAnimals Puppy Puzzler, a puzzle game app for the iPhone, provides the familiar match-3 play in a competitive mode against the computer in three different levels of difficulty — easy, medium, and hard. To stand out from the field, Puppy Puzzler not only has the traditional puzzle mode for a quick game, but also an extended version that allows players to unlock pictures of puppies.
The aiAnimals Puppy Puzzler app was designed by Crunchy Pixel Studios, a virtual studio founded in 2008. “We believe that every niche market contains interesting ideas deserving attention and support and passionate fans who deserve products they can embrace,” says Chad Kime, one of the founders of Crunchy Pixel Studios. Kime explains, “As the many game companies craft epic games with titanic budgets, little game companies must make right-sized games into great games for specific niche markets. We think pet adoption is an important niche market and an even more important cause to support.”
Kime’s middle daughter, an avid animal lover, was the inspiration for aiAnimals Puppy Puzzler and encouraged giving back. Crunchy Pixels Studios is generously donating 50% of aiAnimals Puppy Puzzler revenue 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.
“Pet Playpen is a fun way for kids to learn the basic responsibilities of caring for a pet in a simply fun and interactive game. We couldn’t agree more that all pets need and deserve such love. We are thrilled that Pet Playpen will help promote pet adoption, and we hope the app is wildly popular so that more people know about our free service and more great pets get into loving homes,” says Adopt-a-Pet.com President and co-founder, David Meyer.
“This is such a fun game to play, for kids and adults alike. We are thrilled that aiAnimals Puppy Puzzler will help promote pet adoption and let more people know about our free service, so that in turn we can help more pets end up in happy homes,” says Adopt-a-Pet.com President and co-founder, David Meyer.
We are thrilled that Pet Playpen will help promote pet adoption, and we hope the app is wildly popular so that more people know about our free service and more great pets get into loving homes,” says Adopt-a-Pet.com President and co-founder, David Meyer.
The aiAnimals Puppy Puzzler http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/aianimals-puppy-puzzler-1/id386525987?mt=8 app can be downloaded from the iTunes App Store. Players of aiAnimals- Puppy Puzzler will enjoy the puppy themed graphics, the cute rewards of the puppy pictures and the satisfaction of knowing they supported a good cause!
Why Should You Get Your Pet Spayed Or Neutered?
Keep your pet healthy and control overpopulation. Find out why spaying or neutering is a smart choice for your furry friend and the community.
For those of us who understand the benefits of spaying and neutering our dogs and cats, it can be hard to comprehend why anyone wouldn’t get their their pets fixed. Those in the know can help by sharing knowledge of the benefits, and debunking the all-to-common myths that are still believed by too many pet owners. If you are researching the pros and cons of spaying your dog or cat, or are looking for information to share with a friend or neighbor to educated them, this article will help you with facts so you or they can make a responsible, informed decision as a loving pet owner.
Here are just some of the great reasons to spay or neuter your dog or cat, and myths below that, courtesy of HSUS and the ASPCA:
1. Your pet will be happier. If you care about your pet’s happiness, spaying or neutering is one of the kindest things you can do for them. See below for many of the reasons why.
2. Your pet will be healthier. In females, spaying helps prevent uterine, ovarian, and breast cancer which is fatal in about 50% of dogs and 90% of cats. Females spayed before their first heat (4-5 months old) are the healthiest, but it helps at any age. For males, especially if done before 6 months of age, it prevents testicular cancer and prostate problems.
3. Your pet will live longer. Because they are healthier (see #2), spayed and neutered pets have a significantly longer average lifespan. Also, neutered pets are also less likely to roam or fight (see #4), lengthening their lifespan.
4. Your spayed female won’t go into heat. This means you don’t have to deal with blood staining, yowling, and the more frequent urination – which can be all over your house! Female felines usually go into heat four to five days every three weeks during breeding season. That’s a lot of mess and noise!
5. Your male pet is less likely to roam. An un-neutered male pet is driven by strong hormones to mate, and will often turn into a Houdini escape artist to get out of their home or yard, especially if there is a female in heat close by, or sometimes even miles away!
6. Your male pet will be friendlier. A fixed male is less likely to want to fight with other pets, even females, who may not appreciate his annoying ongoing advances.
7. Your female pet will be friendlier. When a female pet goes into heat, the hormones can make her behavior become erratic. A usually friendly pet who goes into heat can suddenly become aggressive with both people and other pets in the home.
8. Marking & humping will be reduced or eliminated. This true is for both dogs and cats, and especially for males. Also male dogs will be much less likely to ‘hump’ other dogs… or people’s legs or your couch cushions!
9. It will save you money. Fixed pets have fewer health problems so vet bills are lower. They are less likely to bite, avoiding potential costly lawsuits (80% of dog bites to humans are from intact male dogs). They are less likely to try to escape and do damage to your home or yard, or cause a car accident.
10. You are saving pets lives. You may say your pet will never get out or run away, but that’s what almost every pet owner thinks – accidents happen! Pet overpopulation is a problem everywhere. For every human born, 15 dogs and 45 cats are born. There simply aren’t enough homes for all these animals.
SPAY NEUTER EXCUSES & MYTHS vs. FACTS
Here are some of the common myths, with the truths explained:
Excuse: It is more natural to leave my pet unaltered.
Fact: It would also be more natural to live in a cave and not have pets at all. But humans have chosen to domesticate dogs and cats, and with that comes a responsibility to keep them safe, happy and healthy. See above for how spaying and neutering is an integral part of that responsibility.
Myth: My pet’s babies won’t contribute to pet overpopulation.
Fact: Even if your pet is a purebred, and you can find homes for all their babies, those are homes that could have adopted a pet – there are purebreds of almost every single breed in shelters and rescues. And though you might be a lifetime pet owner, can you be sure that all your babies’ homes will never give up their pet to a shelter?
Myth: It will change my pet’s personality.
Fact: A dog’s personality is formed by genetics and environment, not by sex hormones. Ask anyone that has fixed their pet! There are some behaviors that are typically reduced by fixing your pet, but they are undesirable… unless you like a pet that territorially urinates, tries to fight more with other pets, or tries to escape to get out to find a mate!
Myth: My pet will get fat.
Fact: Just like with people, metabolism and food intake is what determines if a pet becomes overweight. Just visit a shelter to see all the overweight unfixed pets! Fixed pets can be calmer, so do sometimes need to eat less.
Excuse: My pet will never escape.
Sit at an animal shelter intake desk for 1 day, and listen to how many owner’s reclaiming their pets say exactly that. Accidents happen. Don’t let the accident be your pet escaping and causing yet one more oops litter.
Here are some more articles about the benefits of spaying and neutering your pet, and the myths and facts:
MyPetHealthGuide.com – November's Featured Pet for Adoption
When you first hear or read the name Pinky von Petersburg, a small lap dog probably comes to mind. But this Pinky, who is November’s featured Adopt-a-Pet.com pet for adoption over at MyPetHealthGuide.com, is a smart and stunning two-year-old female German Shepherd/Malinois who deserves every letter of her regal-sounding title. When she gazes at you with those beautiful dark eyes, you’ll understand. She is available through Westside German Shepherd Rescue and you can view her full Adopt-a-Pet.com listing here.
Your typical Los Angeles native, Pinky is a confident, fun loving and outgoing pup who gets along well with other dogs. She has an even temperament and is very easy to train. Because she loves to learn new things, Pinky picks up commands quickly (after all, there’s a reason this breed is the world’s leading police and military dog!) Walking Pinky on a leash is, well, a walk in the park. She’ll even sit patiently at the corner and wait when you ask her to.
For more information and to meet Pinky von Petersburg, please use the contact information on her listing at http://www.adoptapet.com/pet4533331.html
A Heart Warming Senior Cat Adoption Story from Conscious Cat
This story is brought to us by Conscious Cat, and is about a senior cat who was put up for adoption at the age of 16. A big thanks goes out to the hard working volunteers at the Sacramento Cat Rescue. This story is about Rita, who lived with the same owner for her whole life. Then her owner decided she didn’t want Rita anymore and pulled the rug out from under the senior cat’s world. The cat’s young owner had grown up alongside Rita; she was only 4 years old when the then-kitten came home. But the young woman decided to move in with her boyfriend and his parents, who already had one cat and didn’t want more. She waited until three days before she was moving out and then contacted a Sacramento, CA cat rescue group. She said she would be leaving the now 16-year-old cat behind in an empty trailer. Follow Rita’s journey to a new home at Conscious Cat.