Pet Haven

TIPS FOR ADOPTING A DOG

Well the decision has been made your family is going to adopt a dog. Your children have been pleading with you almost on a daily basis. They want a pet. Here lies your dilemma, when adopting a dog you will need to consider the size of the dog, the age of the dog (a puppy or an older dog) the sex of the dog and of course the breed?

Before making your decision as to the dog, it is important to do your research. Some dogs bode well with families and children while others do not. Beagles for example need attention – so they would be an excellent choice for a family dog.

1. Go to your local library and take out books on choosing a breed. The books are very informative and most will tell you whether or not the breed is suitable for your lifestyle. If you live in an apartment – you wouldn’t necessarily want a large dog.
2. Your local pet store is an excellent source of information.
3. You may decide you are looking for an older dog – one that has been house trained. This is especially recommended if you don’t have the time to train a dog.

Once you have narrowed down the breed of dog – you are going to adopt, it is time to begin your search.

There are several venues where you can adopt a dog: the local pets store, the SPCA or Humane Society or private breeders.

Before bringing your new pet home, it is recommended that you upgrade your homeowners insurance to include pet insurance in case the home is damaged due to an unruly pet. There are some items that are necessary purchases before adopting a dog.

1. A kennel for the dog to sleep in,
2. A food and water dish,
3. Ample amounts of dry and wet food
4. A leash to take the dog for a walk
5. A few chew toys for the dog to chew on instead of your furniture or shoes

Once you have made all of the preparations for your new pet, it is time to bring your pet home.

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How to Spoil Your Cat

No one deserves to be spoiled more than your cat. After all, who works so hard to keep you happy? Please don’t think all your cat does is sleep in the sun all day. It only seems that way because they work so hard while you are at work. They chase after mice and bugs to keep them away from your house. They keep your favorite spot warm on the sofa (for your comfort, of course). Think about all the hair they sacrifice for you. It isn’t easy pulling all that hair out and rubbing it on your clothes, to make your clothes look as pretty as their coat of fur. So, I ask you, who deserves to be spoiled more than your cat. Here are a few things you can do to keep your cat comfortable without the need for pet insurance or spending a whole lot of money.

1. Feed your cat chicken or tuna, fresh, every day. They don’t mind eating from their cat bowl, but if you really want to spoil them at dinner time, just put the food on a plate and put it on the table. Cats do love to lay on the table any chance they can get.

2. They make heated cat beds for your kitty’s pleasure, but they would much rather sleep with you. Let your cat sleep in your bed, next to you, on top of you, where ever they are most comfortable. Remember, your cat loves you as much, or more, that you love your cat.

3. Buy a fish tank. A fish tank is like TV for cats. Let your cat sit on top of the tank or get a table (padded and heated, of course) and put it next to the tank so your cat and be as close as possible to the tank in order to see everything those fish are doing. If he wants to have a snack from the tank, let him. He deserves it.

4. Take your cat with you to the next exciting thing you go to. Why should dogs be the only ones who get walks? And if you are going on something like a treasure hunt, you may be surprised to hear that a cats sense of smell is almost as good as a dogs. As well as having fun, they may be able to help you sniff out the treasure before anyone else.

5. Most importantly, pet your cat every second you can. They need to be the center of attention all the time. If you stop petting, don’t be surprised if he puts his body in front of your hand to help you. Your cat knows how much you need his help.

It is very important for you to spoil your cat as much as possible. They need your attention to show how much you appreciate all they do for you!

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The Shih Tzu: Cute, Elegant and Feisty

If you are an apartment dweller, and/or you have kids, you’re going to need an “inside” dog that can easily be trained. And from my experience, the Shih Tzu meets both criteria. In addition to being very affectionate, the Shih Tzu can remain inside for long periods of time. They can even be trained to use the litter box, if you’re patient enough. They are not expensive to maintain, and there are specialist pet insurance companys that can help cover your pet for very little expense.

In terms of their guarding ability, Shih Tzus are very feisty despite their small stature. While they cannot do much in terms of physical damage, their keen ears can alert you to potential threats. Consider what happened to my grandma. Someone had been trying to break into her house, but they were deterred because of her Shih Tzu’s barking.

There was another time that same Shih Tzu scared the mailman because he kept trying to bite at his feet. Granted, he should’ve been disciplined for that behavior, but it does prove my point that Shih Tzus will act with aggression if they feel threatened.

For this reason, you have to be careful having the Shih Tzu around kids. In fact, throughout my time as a pet owner, all of the bites I’ve received have been from my grandma’s Shih Tzu– not the two Dobermans I owned as an adult! Of course, part of it was my fault, as I played with the dog too rough. But this is not uncommon with young kids, which is why you need to keep an eye on everything.

Also keep in mind that the Shih Tzu requires a lot of grooming. If you don’t regularly comb their fur, it will get matted. When this happens, the fur traps skin and dirt, making the dog very smelly. So, try to prevent these consequences with regular grooming. Specifically, this means combing, bathing and blow-drying the dog’s fur at least once a week. You may also want to consider professional grooming, since professionals know how to get rid of the mats without hurting the dog or its fur. There are also many dog cosmetics online that you can choose from to help with this as well.

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Felix the Feral Cat

Unfortunately, due to irresponsible pet owners not spaying or neutering their cats or the fact that they don’t have proper cat insurance or the money to get this procedure done, there has been a surge in the feral cat population. Many of these cats end up getting euthanized at the pound, while others get adopted out as pets. My very first cat, (Felix), was an example of the latter.

He was one of dozens of feral cats in my grandmother’s neighborhood. He came to know Grandma after she would put out food for the neighborhood cats. A friendship blossomed and Grandma decided to take him in. Over time, we fell in love with the cat too, so Grandma decided she would give him to us as a birthday gift.

Now, in terms of love, Felix was no different than any other house cat. He would rub up against our legs when he wanted to be held and he would get depressed if we were gone for a long period of time. There was even a time when he gave my mom a dead bird, an act that shows love and respect in the feline world, (even though it’s very strange to humans).

Yet, despite his intense love he couldn’t escape his feral roots. He was an alley cat down to the bone. If he wasn’t trying to kill mice, he was begging to go outside. He would purr and violently scratch on the door if we didn’t let him go. So, eventually we had to cave in.

For days at a time, Felix would roam around embarking on all kinds of feline adventures. We don’t exactly know what he did, but it was funny how he returned home with ‘girlfriends’, anxious to share his food with him. He was almost living the movie Lady and the Tramp, except he was a cat and well, this was real life. And, in real life not every story has a happy ending.

This is what happened with Felix, as he eventually got hit by a car, well infact a caravan. My parents had noticed it as we had left our neighborhood. They told my brother and I to close our eyes because they thought it was too traumatic for us to watch. I peeked anyway, and did see a dead cat– but I refused to believe it was Felix. I know that the drivers ran over and offered to make some kind of recompence, when my parrents refused they even tried to explain that they didn’t mind and that their caravan insurance would cover the costs. They weren’t pet owners, they didn’t understand that it had nothing to do with the money.

Well, days turned into months and months turned into years. And to this day, Felix has never returned to that house. So, my parents were probably right– poor Felix lost his life in a car accident.

With that being said, what’s the main lesson pet owners should learn from this story? Basically, you need to be careful if you take a feral cat in as a pet. And, I’m not necessarily talking about pets who are in the pound, because not all of them started off feral. I’m talking about cats like Felix, who lived their whole lives as alley cats. With them, the desire to be free overrides any love they might have for you. So, unless you can afford specialized training, or have another setup where they can safely roam around, you may want to start off with a kitten or a grown cat who has lived a sheltered life all along.

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