I heard They say That a dog is a man’s best friend and pet lovers usually treat Them as part of the family. Taking care of our dogs does not only include feeding Them Them for or taking a walk. Dogs needs to play too and so giving quality time to play can help develop a better communication, understanding, and respect with your dog. Playing games involves communication and working together.

Playing is an important factor in building up social relationship as dogs are social creatures too. Playing games is a basic way of imitating real life. Obedience can be taught to your dog through games and following basic instructions can be fun.

There are games that came from pet owners and these are testimonies on how games can be both fun and educational. Below are some of the games that you might want to try to your dogs.

Follow the Leader
If you have more than 1 dog, this game can be played by setting up obstacles and you as the owner can be the leader. This can also be good for puppies.

Find the Treat
In this game all you need is your dog’s favorite treat. Start by telling your dog to “stay” or you can put her/him on a leash. Then start hiding your dog’s favorite treats and when you are done hiding it release your dog or just say “GO” and your dog will have a lot of fun looking for the treats.

Hide and Seek
This game teaches your dog to wait until you call his/her name. Since your dog can not count, put him on a sit or lay down position. Find a place to hide and then call his/her name. You will have a lot of fun with this game as sometimes you will see your dog peeking!

Go Find
This is an off-shoot of the game “Find the Treat” but instead of treats, use a ball. This will start as a game of fetch the ball. Then add a separate command of “stay”. Drop the ball and make your dog stay. If he takes the ball, ignore him and turn away for a few minutes. But if he stays introduce the clicker word “Yes”. Try to increase the distance of the ball every time you do this game. Just make sure you toss the ball gently so that your dog will not get excited. You can also try variations on this game. Instead of throwing the ball, walk ten to fifteen paces leaving your dog behind and drop the ball. When you say “yes”, that’s the only time your dog will get the ball.

Fun with Toys
Toys can be very helpful not only in playing games and be a form of exercise but it can also be utilized in treating boredom and other behavioral problems. It also improves your relationship with your dog. In a separate article, we will discuss these benefits and will include reviews on the different kinds of toys.

I absolutely love my cats. And to return the favor, they absolutely love to have serious medical problems that result in insanely huge vet bills. I’ve had three different cats that had three completely different problems crop up, each ending rather differently. Here are my stories of the sick cats in my life.

Death is inevitable with pets. No matter how strong they are, they all eventually pass away. My first cat ever, a strong black cat named Alex, proved day-in and day-out that he was capable of fighting bears if one ever found itself unlucky enough to lumber through our living room. Alex, however, had a habit of sneaking out of the house when we weren’t looking, and one such occasion he got into some antifreeze one of our less-friendly neighbors left on her porch.

The result is exactly what you can imagine. A few weeks before Christmas we discovered that Alex’s kidneys are shutting down and that there’s nothing we can do to help him. Despite all our prayers, Alex still passed away after a long and painful struggle.

This would not be the same end that our next cats would face. Alan and Max were adopted shortly after Alex’s passing and both found themselves to be quite adept at making trouble, with Max leading the way for new levels of naughty. Yet even though Max was always in trouble, Alan was the one who got sick the most. After having his weight fluctuate wildly and needing a feeding tube off and on again, we learned that Alan had both a thyroid problem and was diabetic. He’s still leading a perfectly healthy life right now, but he has to get insulin shots every day and refuses to use his back legs like normal, opting instead to walk around like a bunny.

Max, however, would prove to be the most unique of the bunch. He decided one day to grow a softball-sized tumor in his digestive system, mostly because he knew we were saving up for a trip to Disney Land and were just about to leave. He went into the vet and we sacrificed our vacation to save our stupid cat, only to be told that he had six months to a year left to live.

We were sad then, but we’re smiling now as Max is still going some eight years later. Eight years! How often do cancer cats bounce back to the point that our vet is convinced we’re trying to trick him with different cats?

I’m just happy for the time I have with my cats since they’ve proven t be worth the trouble and the money, even if it means no trip to Disney Land for another year or so. I just hope you don’t have to go through the hard times like that with your pets.

The advantage of selecting Clavamox for cats and dogs over other antibacterial medicines is its ability to treat a much broader range of bacteria.

Additionally, it is now being adopted by many kennels, human societies, and pet rescue services for its effectiveness, affordability, and limited number of side effects.

Clavamox is a combination of the two powerful bacterial killing drugs; amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium.

Amoxicillin is a broad-spectrum form of penicillin that for years was the go to treatment for both bacteria that requires air to flourish (gram negative aerobes) and bacteria that was able to flourish without air (gram-negative anaerobes). While impressive amoxicillin does have a couple of weakness with one being it is not effective against bacteria that produce beta-lactamase. Also, in recent years it is becoming more and more apparent that certain strains of bacteria are becoming resistant to amoxicillin increasing the chances of unsuccessful treatment resulting in chronic or infections or even worse.

Clavulanate (clavulanic acid) inhibits beta-lactamase production increasing the effectiveness of amoxicillin and subsequently broadening the number of strains of bacteria it can be used against.

But while selecting Clavamox for cats, dogs, and other pets has many advantages there are some negatives as well.

For example it is not considered to be an effective against bacterial such as staphylococci which are resistant to penicillinase-resistant penicillin varieties such as oxicillin. The drug also fails to be effective against pseudomonas and enterobacter bacteria varieties.

Another negative is the possibility of side effects. While most veterinarians (including my own) consider choosing Clavamox for cats, dogs, and other animals to be safer than other types of bacteria killing antibiotics it is after all still a drug, and with chemical compounds comes the risk for side effects.

As with other antibiotics Clavamox destroys friendly bacteria in the digestive tract. While seemingly a small price to pay, the lack of friendly bacteria weakens the body’s natural defenses against urinary tract infection. There are also more noticeable side effects including loss of appetite, vomiting, and loose stools/diarrhea.

Make sure to complete the treatment plan

Bacterial is notorious for reoccurring especially in cases involving the urinary tract. This can easily happen if the wrong antibiotic is used, the dosage is insufficient, or if the full course of antibiotics aren’t given as directed.

If the dosage is stopped early a few things will have happened. First, you will have eliminated much of your pets natural defense against urinary tract infection and second you will have made your cat’s infection resistant to the drug. The result will be a chronic/recurring infection that could possibly require a lifetime of antibiotic treatment.

While a depressing possibility there are a four things you can do to prevent this for happening. First, simply use the medication as directed. Second, add a few drops of cranberry/blueberry/raspberry juice your pet’s water. Third, implement a probiotic to restore bacteria balance in the digestive tract. Fourth, consider a homeopathic UTI tonic to bolster the efficacy of Clavamox and provide an extra level of protection against possible reoccurrence in the future.

Other notable side effect for Clavamox for cats, dogs, and other pets: skin rash, an anaphylactic reaction, changes in blood count, fever, enlarged lymph nodes, respiratory difficulties, increased heart rate, and neurotoxicities.

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Agility is a sport where both the owner and the pet benefit. This is a very special time for both the dog and the owner. It is one of the very few times when both, the pet and the owner, rely on each other to complete a course, under time and with as few errors as possible. It consists of a course, laid out with Agility obstacles.

Agility obstacles are in the form of an A-frame, dog walk, weave poles, Agility Jumps, a table, teeter, tire and tunnels. This can be done in competition or in your own backyard. It is a very good form of exercise, which it is aerobic (from running) and mentally because of the thought of how best to perform the course with the least possible errors. It also is a good way to train your dog to listen to you and to get them to socialize.

The Agility obstacles are a challenge. When performing an A-Frame, the dog must approach it straight on, climb the apex and manage to walk all the way down without ‘flying off’ (jumping prior the yellow painted area at the bottom, called contacts) on the opposite side.

The dog walk is similar to the A-frame, because you climb up and down two sides (with the yellow painted area, contacts), but with this Agility Obstacle the dog must walk along a plank that connects the two ends. Agility jumps take many forms, from a spread jump which can be from 4″ to 24″ long to single bar agility jumps that are from 4″ to 24″ in height( some venues may jump longer or higher.)

Agility obstacles can also be in the form of double bar and triple bar jumps which, for lack of a better way to put it, combine both the spread and single bar type agility jumps.The weave poles are made up of 6 to 12 poles which your dog must weave in and out of each pole. This is the hardest obstacle for some dogs to master. The teeter is an Agility obstacle that is similar to a human teeter-totter, except the dog walks across the teeter from a downed end and as it is walking to the middle causes the teeter to go down on the opposite end. This also has the yellow Contacts at the end. The Agility Tunnel, is much like a child’s play tunnel, except that they are made of sturdier material so that the dog does not break through the agility Obstacle while running through the course.

The tire, is another form of agility jump, where the dog jumps through a tire, instead of over a jump. This also is raised or lowered to the height for the dog. The table is the one time on an Agility Obstacle course in which the dog comes to a stop. These tables are generally referred to as a pause table.

The name is derived from the use, the dog is to pause on the table prior to moving on to the next obstacle. It is also used for stopping the time at the end of a run.

My border collie dog, Skye, runs in agility trials. We began classes for her when she was about four years old, she will be eight in September, 2011. There are some agility obstacles that have been more trouble than others.

Skye is very fast and in the early days had a bad habit of attempting all agility obstacles as if they were merely there to slow her down. Skye had flying off the A-Frame and dog walk to a science, but after a lot of hard work and hours of practice, she now completes these agility obstacles with precision. Agility Jumps are another story, When we first started out she had no trouble with jumps, completing them like a champion hurdler. As she ages Agility Jumps have become more of a challenge. She still maintains her speed, but she was having difficulty completing jumps without knocking the bars down. To assist her, we changed her status from regular to veteran (Canine Performance Events (CPE), the venue in which she participates), which enables her to jump at 12″ instead of her 16″ height requirement. This has helped her out a great deal. The bonding experience with her is one that will not be forgotten, it is our time alone.

Dog agility is a sport in which both the owner and pet participate in Agility Obstacle Courses. This can be beneficial to your relationship with your pet, but both of you will get exercise and time to form a wonderful bond over Agility obstacles and an Agility course. Enjoy your time with your pet, whether it is on an agility course, a walk in the park or just sharing a quiet time together.

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Excessive shedding is one of the most common complaints of animal guardians, especially during certain times of year. Regular grooming and shampooing with natural shampoos such as 1800PetMeds Oatmeal & Aloe Shampoo and Conditioner can help remove dander, allergens and loose hair. I have found nutritional supplements work better than topically applied products to help with shedding.

The most important consideration is whether an animal is on a good diet. To help reduce shedding, I recommend a natural diet made with whole meats or meat meals and preserved naturally without any by-products or artificial additives or preservatives. Pet food diets such as Halo and Nature’s Variety are examples of excellent brands. Interested to see how your pet food compares to other brands? Check out the PetMeds Pet Food Comparison Chart.

For pet owners interested in making homemade diets for their pet, I would refer to the book Dr. Pitcairn’s Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats by Richard Pitcairn, DVM, PhD for the ingredient proportions of his healthy powder, which can dramatically help reduce shedding and enhance coat quality. The main ingredients of the healthy powder include kelp powder, lecithin granules, powdered vitamin C, bone meal and nutritional torula yeast. These can all be combined and added as a single supplement to a natural diet to help cut down on shedding. In addition, digestive tract enzymes and probiotics such as NaturVet Enzymes, as well as Omega 3 fatty acids such as Super Pure Omega 3 and Nordic Naturals also make great supplements that can help reduce shedding and enhance health and well-being.

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I am an animal lover, any type of animal I still like it because his fellow creatures of god. I therefore invite all the visitors of this personal blog to begin to love animals. SAA alone can convey more or less thanks

From

PET MEDICATIONS CENTER

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