Home Alone: Barking
Last week my best friend Bette got the dreaded call. A neighbor confessed she was ready to strangle Bette’s dog for barking, barking, barking. A horrified Bette explained she didn’t know her dog was barking when home alone. Many of us are like Bette.
Barking dogs are serious problems. Not only does your dog suffer, but your neighbors suffer mightily. Worse, there is no “quick fix” for the barking dog. Sorry folks, but that’s the truth.
Home Alone: Back-To-School Transition
If your pets are like mine, they thrive on household hustle and bustle. Over the summer, our bustle index was high—kid and dog visitors, hikes and swims. That’s over. Starting this week, we’re at work and school. Our faithful companions are dozing through Judge Judy and Oprah so they’re fresh as daisies with enough energy to make our homecoming memorable.
The # 1 Cause of Pet Problems?
As my readers know, my house is full of “restless pet” syndrome. I had a chance to get away to Seattle for a day and took it. My father spent the day with my animals. He arrived at 9 am and left at 10 pm watched television and read. He reported, “Your dog did not bark and the birds did not make noise.” I considered the possibility that he had slept through chaos, and then shrugged the animals’ reaction as appropriate to a new person in the house.
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Onyx’s Advice for Backyard Harmony
You: Backyard planting, trimming, adding cool furniture and features.
Your dog: Planning a home-alone assault on your backyard improvements.
You share your back yard with your dog. You may resist this notion, train her to stay out of your heirloom tomatoes and place “scat mats” on that extravagant chaise lounge that you had to have.
The fact is, your dog has nothing to do except break your resistance. And you will break. You will re-think your yard design. As my Doberman said when I delivered her peanut butter treats during a stay-out-of-the-tomatoes training session, “You all crumble, eventually.”
Toilet Train Your Cat
Toilet Train Your Cat? You’re Kidding, Right?
Katie Cline, President of Brothers Cat Products, offers something you might not believe —The “Scoop No More!™ Cat Toilet Training System. I thought this looked like something you’d buy from the shopping channel after too many Martinis. However, I was wrong. (See how to win one at the end of this article.)
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Kitten-Proof Your Home
“The expression, ‘curiosity killed the cat’ has some truth to it,” says Dr. James R. Richards, Director of the Cornell Feline Health Center, Cornell School of Veterinary Medicine. “The little guys, kittens, are like adolescent kids. They don’t have a lot of judgment and experience.” Think like a kitten when you look around the house to detect danger areas, advises Richards.
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Crate Training Your Dog
Why Crate Train?
An overwhelming majority of dog professionals suggest crate training when you first acquire a puppy or adult dog. Most suggest active use of a crate throughout your dog’s life (1) to ease the process of training positive behaviors (2) to restrict or transport when necessary and (3) to prevent formation of bad habits.
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Adopt An Older Pet?
People new to pets don’t know to consider older dogs or cats as an alternative. Puppies, contrary to what most people believe, are not the way most people should get started with pets.
“The ‘awww’ factor makes many people wanting to add a family dog think of adorable puppies,” says Denise Sproul of Cascade Beagle Rescue. The puppy is appealing at first, but the demands of a puppy are often more than the adopters expect and last for much longer than expected. “However, older dogs are usually mellow, housebroken dogs, a whole different type of dog.” These dogs often fit better into the life of a family.
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Kids, Kindness, and Pets
Children learn kindness through contact with animals. With your children, do something special for your pet and discuss the importance of caring for something other than oneself.
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In Case of Accident
If your pet is in an accident, restrain your pet first. Use pressure to stop any bleeding. Call your veterinarian, and say “This is an emergency.” Then ask for advice.
Know your veterinarian’s hours. For “after hours” care, many communities have emergency or after hours clinics, such as Dove Lewis Animal Hospital in Portland.
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