The Content Maker

July 9th, 2008

Bonding 101

Posted by admin in Animal Center, Fun + Enjoyment, Kiddie Stuff

Do not feel bad if your sugar glider does not bond with you immediately. The bonding process can be tedious, but it always prevails. No sugar glider is the same. Sometimes you will find one that is immediately trusting, but other times you will find yourself going weeks trying to make them comfortable. Never give up, because sure enough they will come around.

There are a few steps to help aid in your bonding experience. You can take advantage of your sugar glider’s sweet tooth by putting a little peach syrup on your finger and allowing them to lick it. Who does not like sweets? However, this does not replace the attention and love you must show to your sugar glider either. Just take the bonding steps slow and be persistent. Sugar gliders are used to being in the safe and snug pouch of their mother so, when you bring them out and slowly put them in your palm, make sure you have a snug hold on your sugar glider allowing it to feel secure. While having your sugar glider in your palm, be sure to massage it firmly, still whispering its name. If you can catch your sugar glider sleeping under their blanket, you can slowly reach inside and massage it while it remains under their blanket. This will also help your sugar glider get accustomed to your smell.

Some people say that some sugar gliders grow to trust people and some do not. Do not worry for this is only an urban legend. All sugar gliders eventually come around to trust and love their owner. The main thing is to never get discouraged and never give up. Sugar gliders can live full lives up to 15 years so you/ve got plenty of time. The bonding experience may take a little longer than expected, but the love and affection that results from it lasts a lifetime.

June 3rd, 2008

Caring for Your Pet’s Health

Posted by admin in Animal Center

To many people, pets are like members of the family. For this reason, your pet’s health is a huge priority. If you want to keep your loved one around for a long time, you’ll devote the time and attention needed to ensure that they remain healthy.

The fact that your animal is growing older is inevitable. If your pet has become tired and a bit lazy, it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t need to keep moving and keep his joints active. This is just one way to ensure your pet keeps good health.

Aging is to be anticipated, and it is something you have to deal with. Don’t pretend to yourself that your beloved pets will stay forever young. Just as humans do, they get older. Since aging is inevitable, you need to watch your pet’s health. When your child gets sick, what will be your first action? Of course, you will bring him to the doctor. The same is true for your pet. They need care and attention when they are not in the best of health. Your pets need to have an annual visit to the veterinarian in order to set the tone for a healthier and greater program. You need to provide your dogs the proper nutrition. Although aging is unavoidable, we can prevent our pet’s aging teeth through regular teeth cleanings to prevent gum diseases. Checking ears for dirty wax and odor will prevent the cause of infection.

Regular grooming is also important so that your pet will smell great and look great. Your kids are often the ones that get to play with your dogs, so that makes it especially important to keep them clean. You would hate to spread germs and possibly illness to your children. Buying pet products like pet shampoo is essential for grooming. It rids your pet of flees and other insects that spread illness. Regular bathing should be practiced so that they will stay healthy and clean. Brushing their hair can also be helpful in order to keep the strands healthy and untangled.

When your pet is asleep, make sure that you do not make unnecessary sounds. If you do so, make sure that they are aware that you are in the rooms that they will not be startled. Their hearing and sight may get a little dim so keep it slow so that you will not frighten them. A frightened dog may bite or snap you. The same is true for cats. So when you are entering a room, you can start calling them or talk to them as you enter the room so they will be aware that you are getting near.

Annual vaccination is necessary to a preventive health care. If a dog is older, his immune system may not be as efficient as that of a younger dog which makes older dogs more susceptible to possible diseases. Vaccines are useful in maintaining pet health. Some pet owners will only have their pets vaccinated with the present diseases. You should make sure that your dog has all the allowed vaccination. Taking care of your pet isn’t difficult, but it’s very important and should be treated that way.

Simon Oliver has an interest Recreation & Hobbies related topics. To access more information on pet health or on pet health insurance, please click on the links.
May 18th, 2008

Shelter Dogs - Will You Adopt One As Your Next Pet?

Posted by admin in Animal Center

How will you choose your next family dog? Perhaps look in the newspaper for advertisements from breeders who are selling new puppies, or find breeders via listings on the internet? Hopefully you would avoid purchasing a puppy from a local pet store, as a large proportion of these dogs come from puppy mills. Perhaps the best method, in terms of being helpful to society in general, is to adopt a dog from a local animal shelter.

Adopting a dog brings a new friend into your life, as well as helping to reduce the number of unwanted and homeless dogs in your area. Unless the shelter is a “no kill” facility (and these are sadly few and far between), it will also save a dog’s life. Animal lovers everywhere champion the adoption of dogs from shelters as opposed to any other method of bringing home a new pet for this reason alone, but there are also other reasons to choose the adoption option.

Adopted pets have been examined by a vet and have usually been given a clean bill of health
Shelters can often give impartial information about a dog’s background, and its temperament
Adopting a pet frees space in the shelter for another dog to be saved and adopted out

When you adopt a dog you can be sure that the staff at the shelter has had the dog examined by a vet for diseases and parasites and that the dog has had its shots. This is not always true of dogs acquired by other means such as taking on an older dog from a private advertisement (”Dog Free to Good Home”).

The dogs at a shelter don’t consist only of strays or dogs that have been cruelly abandoned, but are often turned in to the shelter by former owners for various reasons. When this happens, the shelter collects as much information about the dog as possible, including whether it’s good with children, how much it barks, how playful or obedient it is, whether it’s housebroken, and other important details. While it’s true that this information is only as good as the honesty of the former owner, it’s usually reasonably accurate.

Animal shelters provide a valuable service to the community by keeping the streets as free of stray animals as possible. Because many of them do this with little or no public funding or governmental support, they are very limited in the number of dogs they can have in the shelter at any given time. The only way that they can bring in more stray animals is if they remove the ones they currently have. This is done through adoption or euthanasia. Obviously they would prefer to have the dogs adopted rather than put to sleep. Adopting a dog could very well not only save the dog’s life, but it allows the shelter to bring in another dog in its place.

(c) 2005, Brigitte Smith, Healthy Happy Dogs

Brigitte Smith is a dog lover with a special interest in natural dog health and training for dogs. For your special FREE report: “How to Improve Your Dog’s Health Within 30 Days - Maybe Even Lengthen Your Dog’s Life!”, as well as your weekly wellness dog health newsletter, go to: http://www.HealthyHappyDogs.com

May 3rd, 2008

The Cocker Spaniel: Too Popular?

Posted by admin in Animal Center

The history of the Cocker Spaniel as a hunting dog of long standing is pretty well out of the picture as far as the utility of the dog in today’s modern world. The English cocker has retained much more of the qualities of a hunting breed, while the American Cocker, having gained great popularity in the 60s and 70s, has gone the way of many “overbred” dogs, losing in the process some of the instinctive behaviors for which it was bred. Most probably the small size of this dog led to its demise, for it was and is an “easy breeder” and thus a popular dog for commercial breeding purposes, easy to keep and proliferate for producing puppies.

Unfortunately the offspring of dogs who do well as breeding dogs in commercial puppy farms often lose even more than instinctive qualities, they usually lose a certain amount of temperament and good health. More often than not, a commercial breeder is not inclined to spend money on genetic testing for health problems, nor worry overly about the temperament of the animals he is breeding. In some years, the American Cocker Spaniel has even been high on the list of the dogs who are considered aggressive and are the dogs reported as the “biters” in dog aggression incidents.

This is a little dog that needs training like any other dog and needs to recognize who is the alpha figure in the family. He is normally a very happy go lucky little dog, however because of his size it is often overlooked that he can be stubborn and needs to be trained early to accept his place in the household. The Cocker Spaniel is a popular pet. His coat requires care and those folks who purchase a Cocker Spaniel puppy soon learn that it does take regular grooming. The coats of Cockers are long, silky and mat easily. Often the best solution for busy owners is to take the dog to a groomer.

The Cocker Spaniel is a breed that is represented by three separate varieties in the Sporting Group at American Kennel Club shows. The three varieties are the “Parti” (black and white or combinations of two colors ), the “ASCOB” (Any solid Color Other Than black) and “Black” (solid black with tan points allowed). He is the smallest member of the Sporting Group and may be 15 inches at the withers for a male, 14 for a female. The Cocker Spaniel has an expression that is “perpetually a puppy” and is a popular dog when he makes his appearance in the Show Ring. The little dog will fly around the ring with his beautiful long coat brushing the floor and creating a “skirt” around the legs that flows and undulates with his moving. They are indeed a showy dog and the show breeders of today have recognized that they do have to take great care in maintaining and improving upon this little dog, so that it can become what it used to be, a dog with excellent character and spirit, non aggressive and gentle and a wonderful family companion.

Michael Russell - EzineArticles Expert Author

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Dogs