Tuesday, May 29, 2007

 

Young Kennel Club, (YKC)

Back in 1985 an organisation to encourage young people, from 6 to 24 years old, to learn more about training and caring for dogs was formed... it is now know as YKC [the Young Kennel Club].

Members have loads of activities to take part in, from small dog shows right up to huge events like Crufts in Birmingham or Discover Dogs in London. Also members can learn from experts such as vets and dog training instructors, which will enhance their experiences with their pets.

Another benefit of membership is that there are residential courses available with seminars and training. Members can enjoy, in a social atmosphere, learning about agility, obedience, flyball, handling, and heelwork to music [doggy dancing].

For just £10 a year the list of benefits is amazing... do check it out, email ykc@the-kennel-club.org.uk for more information.

Alternatively, visit The Kennel Club website... you'll find a separate section just for YKC members.

It would make a brilliant gift for any youngster!

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In the UK... Beware the power of your local Council!

If you live in the UK don't miss this!

New laws are being stealthily introduced by some of your local Councils. You NEED, as a dog owner, to know about this.

Go to this Kennel Club News Item now. On the resulting page you will find details of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 - which came into force on April 6th, 2007 - amongst a raft of detail remember this item. It states that you should provide your dog with 'the ability to exhibit normal behaviour patterns'.

Dogs like to run free, that's a normal behaviour pattern!

Next we come to the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 which gives an inordinate number of powers to your local Council. Some of the laws pertaining to cleaning up after your dog are only basic common sense, and every responsible dog owner cleans up anyway... but some powers, in regard to dogs being kept on leads, appear to flout the Animal Welfare Act.

Problems could be ahead!

Find out your local Council's policy... you will find a fine selection of information and assistance on the webpage mentioned above... check it out NOW.

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Monday, May 28, 2007

 

Housetraining

Still searching for information on housetraining - potty training - house training your puppy?

I've just added another article to 'Doggy Blog Clips' [see link in margin] on just that very subject!

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Saturday, May 26, 2007

 

Not a training secret, but VITAL! Micro-chipping.

Increasingly thieves target pedigree dogs... so whilst your puppy is young do get it micro-chipped for safety. Of course it could just get out and stray... either way micro-chipping is a vital resource and will help you and your puppy be reunited in the event of him or her becoming lost.

Another tip is to get your puppy to answer to its name and come to you when called. [Don't give out its name to strangers to be on the safe side.]

There is a useful article on getting your dog to answer to its name, which was added today, in our 'Doggy Blog Clips' blog collection [see link in margin]... so if you need any help in that direction, just click over and read the article.

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Tuesday, May 22, 2007

 

Oddments, bits and bobs, and DEFRA

Check out our new post on 'Secrets of Dog Training'... just a collection of oddments, plus details of the DEFRA website, with its info on the new Animal Welfare Law and the PET Travel Scheme.

And don't forget our 'Doggy Blog Clips'! There's always something new there.

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Friday, May 18, 2007

 

Pet Charities UK and International

A brilliant, amusing, and useful website to visit is All about Dogs - don't miss it! This link takes you directly to a list of Dog Charities and Organisations both UK and International - in fact a very comprehensive list!

But, click on any of the other pages which take your fancy, and you'll find lots of doggy facts, plus amusing trivia.

Now a reminder for UK pet owners - that the PDSA PetCheck bus is touring the country in a bid to try to improve the health of the nation's pets.

Dogs are the main focus, but other popular pets are covered too. Dogs get a free health check which will cover general health - they check teeth, eyes, condition of coat, and weight.

Sadly, last year's PetCheck revealed that obesity in dogs had increased to over a fifth of the dogs checked, and dental problems had also increased dramatically.

If you want to find out further information on the PDSA PetCheck initiative see The PDSA Website

[Spread the word if you are able, it will help so many unfit pets!]

There is much interesting and useful information on the PDSA website - the shops, volunteering, fundraising, online shops - what I found most interesting is that they do a PDSA Pet Insurance, and it sounds as if it is really comprehensive. A good way to help the PDSA and your pet.

[This post, in one form or another, is appearing on all our doggy blogs today, to give it as wide an exposure as possible!]

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Thursday, May 17, 2007

 

Natural Health Remedies

PetAlive - Native Remedies

Why have we ordered from PetAlive, and what impressed us enough to try out their products?

I had done quite a large amount of research on Epilepsy/Seizures via more than one Search Engines content [a vast number of sites] - some information was useful, some not so clear or helpful... but none of them came up to the standard of the information which was imparted on the PetAlive website.

No matter what the complaint you look up on the website, you will find a helpful article about it.

If you want to cut to the chase and go straight to the website for more information on any health problems your pet has, here is a quick link... Visit PetAlive.com, by Native Remedies, for 100% Natural and Safe Herbal Remedies for Pets

Otherwise, please bear with me while I explain how the articles are set out, and why I was so impressed!

First they explain the condition itself, what it actually is.

The symptoms are detailed.

Then the possible causes.

Followed by what conventional treatments are available with details, plus you are told when it is vitally necessary to contact your vet [something which no other source had explained in the case of epilepsy]... there are also, throughout the website, recommendations of how to work with your vet.

The full details of the recommended remedy are explained, together with a list of ingredients, with details.

Then there is a section of stories of how it has helped others, in conjunction with veterinarians on many occasions.

Some conditions have quite a number of extra sections over and above the list which I have included above.

Sorry, I forgot to mention that orders to PetAlive are usually fulfilled on the same day as they are received... and you get an e-mail to say the order has been shipped.

As an International buyer I didn't expect delivery THAT quickly... but when I placed an order in the morning on Friday - I received the goods on the following Monday.

To receive goods Internationally in 4 days - [when you include both the day of order AND the day of delivery AND the fact that it was over the weekend] - I thought was amazing service!

[Update - since first using the drops Loki has had one extremely minor fit and it was a week longer between episodes.]




Just an Idea!

If you are as impressed as I am with PetAlive.com and you have a website or blog, why not become an affiliate for them? Here's a useful link to follow... Become a Native Remedies Affiliate and Earn 25% Commissions!


Just a thought... and, after all, if you have a blog about dogs [or cats] yourself, it's a good way to spread the word about natural health remedies and make a little income as well.

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Wednesday, May 16, 2007

 

Updates, advice, and links

I am removing links which are no longer active, adding a link which could be of use if you, yourself, have a blog... and drawing your attention to an extremely useful collection of tips which were posted on our 'Secrets of Dog Training' blog.

So let's be logical and start at the end!

In our Archives in 'Secrets of Dog Training' if you click on March - you will find an article entitled 'Top 10 Tips on Dog Training' - it was posted on Thursday, March 1st, 2007 - you''ll find all the basics of good training there!

The link to the site where you can promote your blog [it's free] is to...
Blog Flux Directory

Inactive links have now been removed... if you find any which don't work... please let me know!

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Monday, May 14, 2007

 

Action for Animals

If you live in America and are interested in 'Taking Action for Animals 2007!' then this is a timely reminder to say that the event is now less than three months away! And this year it will be taking place in Washington, D.C.

The 'Taking Action for Animals' weekend is designed to motivate, inspire, and teach advocates how to be a voice for animals.

If you want to arrange to attend then you'll find there are sessions and training workshops throughout the weekend, and then it is arranged that you will head to Capitol Hill on Monday for Lobby Day, where you will get experience advocating for animal protection legislation with others from your home state.

This year's conference is to have a special focus on taking action for farm animals, but will also cover other timely animal issues such as the pet food recall, and will feature hands-on training in lobbying, media relations, campaigns, and much more.

Visit Taking Action for Animals to find out all the details and for program updates.

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Friday, May 11, 2007

 

Problems... what problems?

If you are having any training problems - do check out the resources offered in our left-hand margin - they should be able to help with any problem.

Plus, there are many health and training issues which aren't dealt with at Puppy Training Secrets, but which you will find covered at our other blogs [Secrets of Dog Training, Flyball Dogs, and Dog Agility Training - links in margin, as above] so please spend some time searching our ever growing archives. It's bound to be productive!

And always remember... and University studies back this up ... dog owners tend to have lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and fewer health problems - both minor and major. Whether it's due to the regular walks or the unconditional love, they don't appear to have any answer as yet!

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Thursday, May 10, 2007

 

Potty Training or House Training your Puppy

If you are having problems, or if you know of anyone who is having problems with house training / potty training their puppy or dog - I have two sources of help to offer.

Both resources can be accessed via our links in the left-hand side margin.

The one is to 'How to Housetrain any Dog' ... the other is a clipping in our 'Doggy Blog Clips' which was clipped yesterday [May 9th] on the subject of potty training.

What wasn't mentioned in the clip was how to remove the smell of the urine! If your pet has an accident and you clean it up... you also need to remove any residual smell, or your pet will assume that it is OK to go in that exact spot on other occasions.

Your puppy's sense of smell is FAR, FAR, superior to yours! So you need to eliminate all of the resultant smell from the area.

Blot up all the wet with paper towels, then clean the area with washing-up liquid and cool water on a cloth. Finally apply a mixture of equal parts of white distilled vinegar and cool water, blot, rinse and allow to dry naturally. [If possible test on a hidden area of carpet to check for any carpet discolouration.]

Creating a temporary puppy exclusion, or obstruction to the area, is advisable as an added precaution.

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Wednesday, May 9, 2007

 

The DeLauro/Durbin Pet and Human Food Safety Act (H.R. 2108/S. 1274)

Worries about the safety of pet foods...

Link to Newsletter

The link above, and at the bottom of this post is to the actual newsletter, from which the quoted information stems!

If you live in America AND you care about the safety of the pet food which is sold for your pets consumption - please click one of the links, and take the advised actions as soon as possible.

Why not do as the email suggests, and take Action for Pet Food Safety? Do it now, whilst you remember? There have been so many scares and alerts in the media over the past months that confidence is ebbing - and not so slowly!

Now for the quote...

"Pets are part of our families, and millions of American families were shocked by the recent pet food recalls. The deaths of pets from tainted pet food tragically demonstrate the need for greater oversight of this industry. Fortunately, Congress is listening, and you can take action here.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) introduced the Pet and Human Food Safety Act on May 1 to provide more oversight and regulation of the food industry. In a remarkable demonstration of how important this issue is, the U.S. Senate approved a Durbin amendment on pet and human food safety on May 2 -- just one day after the bill was introduced -- by a resounding vote of 94 to 0!

You can help make the food supply safer.

TAKE ACTION
Make a short polite phone call to your U.S. Representative and urge support for the DeLauro/Durbin Pet and Human Food Safety Act. Click here to look up your Representative and the phone number.

Making a call is easy. A staff member will take your message and pass it to your legislator. When you call, you can say:

"Hello my name is [your name] and I'm calling from [your town and state] to urge [Representative's name] to support the DeLauro/Durbin Pet and Human Food Safety Act (H.R. 2108/S. 1274). The ongoing pet food recall has revealed that there is very little regulation of the pet food industry. We need to change this to ensure that the food consumers are feeding their pets is wholesome and safe. Thank you."

After you make your call, send a follow up email in support of safer pet food.

Tell your friends how they can help. The more people who contact Congress, the more support this legislation will receive and the better its chances of being quickly passed into law.

Here are some details on what the pet food bill will do:

Help regulate the industry by establishing mandatory processing and ingredient standards and requiring more inspections of pet food processing plants.
Create an early warning system to help identify possible contaminants earlier and penalize companies that don't report possible contamination.
Ensure that any future recalls are conducted quickly by giving the Food and Drug Administration the power to order mandatory recalls of tainted food.
As a Humane Society of the United States supporter, I know I can count on you to take action and help move this important legislation forward. Thank you for all you do on behalf of animals.

Wayne Pacelle
President & CEO
The Humane Society of the United States

P.S. This legislation is an important first step toward a safer pet food supply. But in the meantime, be sure your pets are protected. Check our Pet Food Safety Center for the latest information on recalled pet foods.

Link to Newsletter

[You could also use one of the links in our margin, or check out previous posts in the archives, to find recipes for homemade meals and safe alternative health cures and information... you will find information on this blog... plus other and different information and resources on our other blogs at... first Secrets of Dog Training , then Flyball Dogs, and last, but not least, Dog Agility Training.]

P.S. - *You will find this post on all our 'Doggy Blogs' today, just to give it as much publicity as possible!

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Saturday, May 5, 2007

 

Puppies learn SO well, if trained properly!

Can I recommend that, if you want an inspiring story, you just click over to one of our other blogs?

Puppies can learn SO well - even those who have had a terrible past. Sad to say, puppies as young as four months, are often abandoned, ill-treated, or put out for re-homing.

[Our present dog is a rescue who was ill-treated from four to eleven months of age... before going to the RSPCA for a longish stay, then re-homed, then returned to the RSPCA who contacted Ridgeback Rescue, and a breeder took him in until he could be permanently re-homed. We had him some six weeks later as we were looking to re-home... he was somewhere around two and a half years old by that time!]

The inspiring story is about the dogs from the Dogs Trust who were featured on The UnderDog Show... some of them were mere pups, yet with proper training they learnt so quickly and so well - and became confident, affectionate, happy, and delightful pets.

Another thing I would recommend is the course by Dove Cresswell - her Dog Training Online has a freebie lesson which you must check out. It works so well, our dog picked it up amazingly quickly. Do try it!

I almost forgot the link to... Dog Agility Training where you can read about the inspiring story of Chump the Champ and his canine companions at the UnderDog Show!

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Wednesday, May 2, 2007

 

Save Wolves... after all they are just BIG dogs!

How to help save wolves... after all they are just big dogs!

I am not going to post any Puppy Training Secrets today... I'm going to give this blog over to an e-mail I received today from the Defenders org... please read the quote from their e-mail below and then click over, with the link at the bottom, to their website...

"We have just one week left to prevent the slaughter of hundreds of wolves in the Northern Rockies. Unless we stop them, federal officials could eliminate vital protections for these magnificent animals and spark the biggest wolf massacre in the lower 48 state to occur in decades.

Wolves were eliminated from this area in the last century -- trapped, poisoned, hunted and harassed. Their re-introduction to Yellowstone National Park and Central Idaho in the mid-1990s was a major conservation accomplishment.

Now that achievement is at risk as officials in Idaho and Wyoming gear up to kill hundreds of wolves.

In February, officials in the Bush/Cheney Administration proposed removing gray wolves in the Northern Rockies from the Endangered Species List… and turning over management of wolves to Idaho and Wyoming -- two states more concerned with eliminating wolves than managing them.

Lawmakers and anti-wolf extremists in Idaho and Wyoming have already announced plans to kill hundreds of wolves, putting the gray wolf’s future in the American West at risk.

More than 111,000 Defenders supporters have already taken action. Please help us reach our 200,000 signature goal by May 9th.

Help save wolves.

There are just 8 days remaining in the public comment period on this awful proposal. Please take action now!

PLEASE visit The Defenders Org NOW!

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007

 

Our Rhodesian Ridgeback... Loki


I just thought it was about time there was a photo of Loki added to my blog!

For those who haven't been reading this [or any of my other 'doggy' blogs] for any length of time... he is a Rhodesian Ridgeback, and a rescue dog, from the RRWT [Rhodesian Ridgeback Welfare Trust - if you want further info about this, just let me know via a comment on the blog]... and he had lead a pretty dreadful life before he came to us.


Very sad to say, but, there are pups of 3 to 4 months who come up for re-homing by the RRWT... if you are an experienced owner, do consider these poor little mites... people still take on Ridgebacks who know nothing about them. You need a lot of energy to bring up a pup... I think it is more tiring than the first few months of a baby!

Mind you Loki has had a pretty rough trot since we have had him - in the health stakes. Some of his problems, at least, can be traced back to his past ill-treatment.

Along with a delicate stomach he has had to have treatment for cruciate ligament damage to both back legs, thyroid treatment and daily pills, arthritis too because of the leg problems... we are trying a magnetic collar to help with this. Also occasional epileptic fits... which we are hoping will subside without having to resort to drugs... we are again hoping the magnetic collar will help here, plus we are using some drops from PetAlive.com [see link in left-hand margin AND posts on 22nd and 23rd April, 2007] who are ace suppliers, but, more than that, they give wonderfully detailed explanations of problems, what to look for and when to get in touch with your vet... just brilliantly helpful information!

And you can add to the above list... treatment for teeth; and claws which have to be clipped at the vets, as unlike our previous Ridgeback which we had as a pup, he won't let us clip his claws... and they grow to a point at the front as his elbows are 'out' because he was chained as a pup from 4 to 11 months... before he was given over to the RSPCA.

He had got to the stage that he enjoyed all the attention in the waiting room at the vets... but would clamp himself to the floor as soon as the vet opened the door to the consulting room - it was just as if he were super-glued to the floor.

I had to stand over him and lift him up and walk him into the room still over him and holding him up! Everyone there found it most amusing!

Fingers crossed, at the moment, he is only visiting for claw clipping.

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