Preparation before bringing your puppy first day home- by Pang Si Min

After you have decided on which dog breed, farm/petshop/adoption to search for the dog, it is time to bring home your dog. Most farms/petshop will allows you to collect the puppy after their final vaccination as required by AVA-Singapore. So you have the time to prepare yourself. They should also provide you the papers / certificate when you collect your puppy. If you need, arrange an appointment with the vet for a thorough health checkup.

Before you bring your puppy home, do some preparation to avoid any last minutes rush. You don’t see any parent purchase a baby cot or baby’s stuff on the day the baby go home, do you? Do the same for your puppy, it is still a baby after all.

Find a good location for the puppy enclosure, a place where he could sleep and do his business. It is best that the puppy can see the movement of everyone while they are in their enclosure, so that it would not feel too lonely in a new environment. Place newspaper in the enclosure, if you live in an apartment as it would start his paper-training.

It is advisable, you get ready the puppy necessities, example: drinking & eating bowl, kibbes (dry food), canned food, supplements if any. One thing most people had forgotten to prepare is a first aid kit. You can also get them when you pick up your puppy. Make sure you write what you need in a checklist to avoid any missing items.

Learn the behavior of your dog breed and what to expect from a puppy to prepare you. These are easily available online. If you have children, educate and prepare them before the puppy arrival. Especially the way they should handle the puppy to avoid injuries to the puppy.

On the day when you pick your puppy, make sure you will be with the puppy the whole day. Have a towel with you and wear a old/unwanted T-shirt. Puppy tends to be frighten/nervous when leaving their comfortable zone, (the farm/pet shop or wherever you picking your dog from) they would vomit or pass motion along the journey. Hug the puppy like you would for a baby wrapped in a towel. They would feel love and security on their way to their new home. If you are putting the puppy in a carrier / crate, lay towels in them to make him feel secure, try not having a carrier too big. The puppy is fragile at this point, you don’t want them to get hurt (especially their spinal cords) along the way home.

When the puppy arrived, clean him/she up if necessary and leave them in the enclosure you had prepared. If the puppy did not vomit/pass motion during his trip, he should need to go now. He will recognize in future that this is his territory and where he could do his business. Leave him to explore his environment in his enclosure where you settle yourself. If you have children, educate them; let the puppy settle down before introducing your children to the puppy. Make sure your children leave the puppy alone when it is in his enclosure and play with the puppy only when the puppy is out of it’s enclosure, to avoid pressure and stress to the puppy.

Allow the puppy to explore the house one or two hours while you are with them on their first day. Expand his hours slowly until you can allow it to roam your house when you are around. Once he is paper trained, you can allow it to roam while you are not at home.

Things to take note:

#Enclose the puppy from access to power sockets & cables. Puppy tends to lick power sockets and bite cables out of curiosity and get electric shocks.

#Avoid leaving toys on the floor as they get ruined

#Do not interrupt a puppy when it is sleeping & eating as they might bite.

#Do not hit a puppy, as they don’t understand why and develop fear towards you and human in future. Thus they might start to bite when a friendly hand and may run away.

#Treat a puppy like a friend or a child, not a toy.

#Avoid picking up the puppy as they bones are weak and easily break if you do not know how to handle it. If you drop them, they will break.

#Puppy tends to eat more often than dogs. A small breed puppy needs to eat more frequently than larger breed dogs as they don’t have much fats.

Doggie first aid items

#Antiseptic / soothing cream for itch and minor cuts

#Ear cleaning solution

#Eye cleaning solution

#Cotton wool and bug

#Disposable gloves

#Tweezers

#Protexin Pro-kolin (for digestive upset / diarrhea)

#Rectal thermometer (normal body temperature of dogs and cats is 100.5 to 102.5 F

#Activated charcoal tablets (effective in absorbing many toxics)

#Styptic power (for bleeding nails, or baking flour will work)

This article is for your reference only.

http://www.petcarrierbag.blogspot.com/

The Elderly Dog: Care and Maintenance by: Ron Ayalon

It’s difficult to imagine the first time you are holding that irrepressibly cute little fur-ball that is your new puppy that one day he will be an older dog, a senior, with certain physical and mental needs. He won’t be as a quick as he once was; he might have a harder time hearing you come in the door; or he might take a few more minutes to get up off the floor, but there are special things you can do for your older dog to make his golden years comfortable and happy.

Depending on the size of your dog (larger dogs age faster), by the time he has reached 6 years of age, he will be medically classified as a senior dog. It is not always readily apparent, but his body will have already started to change before your eyes.

Prevention and additional care go a long way to caring for the senior dog and keeping his mind and body in good shape. Here are ten ways to keep your senior dog active and comfortable:

1. Make sure to schedule your veterinarian visits each year. In very geriatric animals, every six months might be appropriate. Just because he doesn’t act sick doesn’t mean he doesn’t need to go. In addition to annual vaccinations, be sure to have a full examination and geriatric blood work panel done. Blood work reveals how well his body is aging and if there is any problems in organs like the kidneys.

2. Keep his teeth very clean with preventative brushing, chew toys, and professional cleanings when necessary. Plaque and tartar buildup allow a breeding ground for bacteria, which can damage organs as they move throughout the body.

3. Keep his body in a good weight and maintain his muscle tone through consistent exercise. He might not be able to go for as long a walk as he once did, but exercise should still be an important part of his daily regimen. Elderly dogs loose muscle mass and strength, so it is important to keep them fit.

4. Many senior dogs benefit from supplemental products like Cosequin or other joint care products with glucosamine and chondroitin. They help lubricate stiff joints, which are ripe for arthritis.

5. Don’t forget to continue giving preventative medications like monthly heartworm pills, but if your dog is very old, sick, or disabled, you might want to ask your vet about giving monthly topical flea and tick preventatives. Many of them are not recommended for these kinds of dogs.

6. Make sure to provide plenty of warm sleeping locations in the home where he will not be disturbed. Older dogs sleep more as they age, so providing them an opportunity without high traffic for quality sleep is a good idea. A thick, soft pet bed provides them with joint support and extra warmth.

7. Don’t forget about his mental health! Sometimes when a dog ages, people forget all about training and working with the dog. Old dogs still like to do their tricks and be active. For example, if you’ve got an old hunting dog, let him do field work for an hour or two before switching off to the younger dog. He will still feel useful and part of the team.

8. Make grooming sessions special times by taking the extra time to brush and massage your dog. Not only does the grooming and massage feel great to the dog, but it also gives an owner a good opportunity to do body inspections: check his ears for odors, check his mouth and gums for growths or changes, and thoroughly inspect and feel his body. Many older dogs develop growths as they age, and some cancers start with just a simple bump.

9. Pay attention to your dog’s personality and routine and take note of any changes. Some dogs are very stoic and don’t show pain or illness easily. If you notice even the slightest change in your dog’s eating, drinking, restroom usage, sleeping, or general personality, go to the vet. Trust your judgment, and if something doesn’t seem right, follow your instincts.

10. Really think it through before getting a new puppy. A lot of people want to get a new puppy when a dog becomes older, but some older dogs might not want to put up with the nuisance of a brand new puppy that only wants to play.

An old dog still has a lot of life in him, and mostly they just ask for a little love and comfort in return for the unconditional companionship. With a little preventative work and extra care, you can keep your senior in great shape for many years to come!

Visit the author's web site at:
http://www.worldwidepups.com
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www.petcarrierbag.blogspot.com

Training Methods to Stop Biting Puppies by: Richard Cussons

How do you stop a puppy developing the bad habit of nipping you or—even if playfully—biting you? When puppies are having mock-fights with each other (an echo of their days as hunting dogs), they use their mouths, so it is not unsurprising if, in the spirit of some doggy fun, they bite you. Although this behavior is done without the slightest idea of aggression nor malice, it might grow into a habit hard to break unless your puppy is trained to go for a better social skill. So what needs to be done is to channel—or to "redirect"--the puppy's energy onto chew toys, to teach the dog to be more gentle with people, and to eventually stop biting puppies.

The two things that need to be done to stop biting puppies is to foster acceptable behavior and to help train the dog away from undesirable behavior. The former can be done by redirecting the puppy's tendency to nip and bite. For starters, give the dog items meant for biting; you will need to bring these along whenever you play games with her. So as you or the child tries to pet her on the head, extend to the puppy the toy with the other hand. Stay consistent with this to help the puppy get accustomed to the ideas that people and petting are wonderful, which at the same time will help her mouth to be occupied when she is being petted. But watch out how long you pet her, since she might get distracted and turn and nip you.

If you want to wean your dog away from negative behavior, demonstrate that nipping leads to results that she dislikes. One strategy here makes her see that if she is nippy or biting, she loses her friends, especially you. Whenever she strikes, look the puppy in the eye and make an abrupt, quick (not long-drawn out), loud noise. Then get up and pretend not to notice her. Leave her in the room if she is that stubborn, but return in a few minutes to check if she is calm already. Then try the petting and chew toy method again.

Here are some last few things to remember before you go grab a chewie and train the puppy. Your still-delicate puppy must not be left alone when she is tethered as she might wrap the leash around herself and get injured.

If you honestly think that all of the methods explained above did not do much, then you can always try yet one more. Get some cotton gloves and apply some bad tasting substance more or less near the spot where the dog bites. Eventually the puppy needs to learn that "hands literally leave a bad taste in the mouth." This method may prove successful on the condition that the puppy gets a bad tasting result every time she tries to chomp on your hand.

Visit the author's web site at:
http://www.bedogsavvy.com

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www.petcarrierbag.blogspot.com

Dog Training - Stopping your Dog From Barking by: Tyler Wiest

Unless you are one of the fortunate, all dog owners have had to deal with a barking problem. The truth is barking is a perfectly natural and all right thing for your dog to do. Think how you would feel if you were never allowed to talk, you would eventually burst out and just say everything on you mind. It is the same with dogs, the trick to stopping barking isn’t stopping it but controlling it.

Dogs will bark for a variety of reasons including, staking their territory, telling you what they want, alerting you of danger, when around other animals, when bored or lonely, when cooped up in a dog cage for long periods of time and when they’ve been encouraged to bark by you (more common then you might think).

The majority of barking problems are because owners will actually reward their dog for barking wether they realize it or not. This can happen when you yell or get angry at the dog and give them the attention they were after. If your dog is outside and starts to bark to be let in and you respond to his wishes, then you are communicating to you dog that all he needs to do is bark and you will give in. Giving any sort of attention to your dog will encourage him to continue barking. Don’t feel bad all of us have done this one time or another. The key to stopping this barking is to ignore your dog, don’t give them what they want and they wont have a reason to bark. This may be hard on your ears and your neighborhood but simply let them bark until they run out of energy. Depending on the bread this may be minutes or it over an hour but as soon as you give in all of your progress has been lost. Try just walking away when your dog starts to bark, go into the other room and do your normal activities. Eventually your dog will understand that his barking isn’t getting him anywhere and will stop.

If you dog is barking when the phone rings then the best thing to do is get him used to the sound of a phone and turn it into something positive. Try calling your house a few dozen times and when your dog beings to bark just ignore him. If that doesn’t work then hold a treat out in front of him and say a phrase like “stop” or “quite” and when your dog is silent give him the treat. Eventually after enough training no treat will be necessary to tell your dog to stop barking.

Another common issue with dog barking it when the mail carrier or guests are at the door. Believe it or not your dog is actually barking out of love for you. He doesn’t know who this person is and naturally thinks they’re dangerous. After your dog has started barking and the mail carrier goes away you dog thinks that he was the one that stopped the intruder, encouraging him to bark. The first way I recommend stopping this is by blocking your dogs view of the street or where ever the mail comes from, this can be difficult based on the lay out of your home but a dog cage can be a useful tool. If that doesn’t work try associating the mail with something positive like a treat it will encourage him to stop. Either try the previously stated way with a phrase or ask your mail carrier or guests if he or she would be willing to give you dog a treat when they come by, your dog will then see new people as a friendly visitor and will await there arrival.

Remember giving any attention to your dog when he barks will encourage the problem to persist. By putting your dog into a dog cage or dog pen during common guest hours your dog won’t even be aware of the guest reducing the frequency of barking.

Looking for where to find a great dog cage? Try my website PuppyHideOut.com where you can find every day low prices on dog cage and dog cage accessories.

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www.petcarrierbag.blogspot.com

Creating an Identity for your pet.

by: Kari Raderstorf

You have a style, a sense of Identity, a signature that you want others to remember. Doesn’t your pet deserve the same? Of course he does. Creating that style for your pet is somewhat simple and does not have to be overwhelming. Below is an outline of several elements that will make an impression and create an identity for your pet.

1. Dog Collars and Leashes: Dog Collars are the most critical style element as they are the constant identifier. Collars come in many shapes and forms. Some are solid colors, some are multi-colored. Some are thin and some are thick. Some are fabric and some are leather. Some are for training purposes and some are for aesthetic. Picking the right dog collar is important and is an obvious signature that will always be with your pet. Not forgetting the Dog carrier.

2. Dog Clothes : There are various types of clothing for your dog. There is the t-shirt, the rain slicker, the sweater, the parka, the swimsuit…. So many to look into… but the main ideas to consider are quality of construction, the price and the ease of use. For most dogs, wearing an article of clothing takes getting used to, but after a wear or two, you’ll see a personality change in your dog (he’ll either be completely proud of his new attire or extremely bothered) regardless of his like or dislike, this will form an impression and an identity that will not be forgotten.

3. Accessories and Jewels : Whether your pup be glitzy or glamour-less, your pup will be remembered for his attempt to glamorize.

4. Spritzers and cologne’s : This is the scent your pup will leave behind. Do you want your pup to be known for his ‘just taken a bath’ scent or his ‘I need a bath scent’. Whatever the choice, he will be remembered. There are many great spritzers on the market to ‘freshen’ your pup up.

Although there are many forms of creating an identity for your pet, the four listed above are the evident in identifying his sense of style. There is not a right or wrong in creating his identity. The idea is to have fun, stick within your budget and read your pups signs on whether he embraces the style or might prefer another.

Dog flying as passager on Pet Airways-New York.

Another big step forward for our fur-kids!!

Dogs and cats flying as airline passagers in the main cabin no longer a dream! Currently, they are flights between 5 cities, and hopes to fly to 25 locations in the next three years. The existing 5 cities-New York, Washington, Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles.

Check out the full articles extracted from Singapore Newspaper "Today".

Take your small pets everywhere.

Learn how easy it is to take them whether its around the corner, to around the world....

Click here Now!

PETS ALLOW ON FLIGHTS TO SINGAPORE

For those who did not know about it. Yes, it is true, you can now travel with your pets on flight via air canada and Jazz Flights to Singapore. Before this annoucement, pets are not allow to travel with their owner into Singapore on commercial flights.


However, upon arrival, pets still required to undergo a veterinary inspection and quarantine before the owner can have them home.


Still, it is still a big step for pet's owner. In time, we hope that the Singapore airlines would allow pets to travel out of Singapore. That would be a dream comes true for most frequent traveling pet's owner. One more reason why you should get a carrier for your pets.


I've attached the newspaper cutting from "Today" dated 24 June 2009 for your reference.

You will need to contact the airlines for more details & regulation. Don't forget to check from your departure country if they allow on their airports and ava regulation upon arrival.

Cherrs!


Amanda Pang
24-June-2009