Dog Anxiety – Fear of Thunderstorms, and Other Dog Fears
Dog Anxiety - Fear of Thunderstorms, and Other Dog Fears
How to Deal With Anxiety in Your DogAnxiety in dogs can be caused by any number of things - illness, travel, thunderstorms, death in the family, separation, or they may develop unexplained phobic or neurotic behaviour, or barking or other antisocial behaviour.If you can identify the cause of the anxiety, then the best solution to the problem is to remove the cause.This is not always possible, though. If your dog is experiencing separation anxiety every time you leave the house, and you work full time outside the home, you've got a problem! I suppose you could give up work and stay home with your dog, but sometimes we need to be a little realistic!For this particular problem there are a number of things you can do to alleviate your dog's anxiety when you leave - many people have found that playing soothing music while they're out works wonders.Mozart? - that certainly used to calm my hyperactive son down a little, so Mozart would be my personal first choice, but there are many soothing classical and new age, or even some light rock or jazz music might work - try out whatever you have in your CD collection for starters.Another wonderful idea I read about recently is making a tape recording of your own voice and playing that on a continuous play while you're gone.And there are certain homeopathic and herbal remedies which really do calm your dog. So those may well assist with your dog's separation anxiety.But what about dogs who are afraid of loud noises - my dog Kara has an irrational fear of thunderstorms, and fear of fireworks, and, well, actually, she's scared of just about any loud noises. Many dogs are like this.One New Year's Eve when I was away, Kara dug her way under the house and escaped (due to being terrified of the fireworks which were going off). My neighbours had to pick her up from the pound the following morning. Apparently the dog catchers are out in force on New Year's Eve because they round up many dogs and impound them! A nice little revenue booster for the local authorities. From memory it cost about $100 to get her back.Anyway, I've found that peppermint oil applied to the pads of her paws has some calming effect. And a natural stress remedy also works very nicely.Some years ago, before I became interested in natural remedies for dogs - actually it was following the fireworks incident - Kara became quite determined to continue escaping, for some reason. Once she realised she could get out, she just kept on trying. She was even destroying part of my house in her determination to try to get through the thick wooden boards I had put up to prevent further escapes. So I took her to the vet, as I was at a complete loss to know what to do with her. She was prescribed an anti-anxiety medication. This made Kara quite dopey, and seemed to take some of her personality away somehow. In other words, I suppose she appeared drugged. I didn't like it at all.Now I know that there are much more pleasant, all natural anxiety treatments for dogs, which have no nasty side effects. And they really do work just as well.For more information on Stress Remedies for Dogs, Click Here: http://www.StressRemedies.BrigitteRecommends.com(c) 2005, Brigitte Smith, Healthy Happy DogsBrigitte Smith is a dog lover with a special interest in holistic dog health. Her site, Healthy Happy Dogs, has pages and pages of information on improving your dog's health naturally. Brigitte is the author of several reports, articles, and the Healthy Happy Dogs newsletter.For your special FREE report - "How to Improve Your Dog's Health Within 30 Days - Maybe Even Lengthen Your Dog's Life!", Click Here: http://www.HealthyHappyDogs.com
Dealing with a Dog Food Allergy?
Dealing with a Dog Food Allergy?
Just as humans allergies can show up as a sneeze or rash, your dog's allergies can manifest as itchiness -- or even ear infections. In fact, if your dog's allergic to his food, it can cause him to scratch himself constantly, even with no obvious parasite problem.Dog allergies rarely get solved with medicine, so the best we can do for our four-footed friends is focus on prevention. Providing the right type of food is essential to stopping your dog's scratching habit.Many people like to share their food with their dogs or let them help "clean up" the kitchen after a meal. Little do they know, their dogs just may not be able to take the tasty food we love so much, and some breeds (like the greyhound) are extremely sensitive. Even common foods like cheese, beef sausage and tuna may cause allergic reactions in some dogs. So it's best to let dogs enjoy dog food and not human food, even though they clearly adore and want what we're eating!Narrowing Down the ProblemTo determine the exact ingredients your dog is allergic to, try an elimination diet. Although powerful, it also requires patience. In fact, the elimination diet can call for eliminating specific food for up to 12 weeks before you'll notice the effects. And if you still haven't found the right (and wrong) ingredients, you'll have to repeat the process all over again.So is there an alternative to the lengthy elimination diet? Yes -- give your dog a brand or type of food he's never eaten before. But simply changing to a new brand of dog food might not be enough to eliminate his food allergies, since many brands contain similar ingredients. Instead, study the existing ingredients your dog is eating to determine which types of protein source he hasn't been exposed to. Then, hunt for a dog food that doesn't contain any of the ingredients you saw listed. For example, there are many brands of dog food that contains unusual protein sources such as rabbit or venison -- great for testing allergic reactions to other, more common proteins.Perhaps the best way for you to get control of dog's allergies is to whip up your own dog food. That way, you'll know exactly what he's getting and what he isn't -- something that's extremely hard to tell from reading the back of a dog food bag. Making your own food is especially helpful in elimination diets. To start, combine a portion of rice with baby food and lamb -- so long as your dog isn't already eating lamb and possibly displaying a reaction to it.Dog food allergies are a special condition that can be frustrating and take patience to solve. Since allergic reactions don't disappear overnight, you'll need lots of time and thoughtfulness to help your dog overcome this problem -- but his goofy smile and those scratch-free days ahead will probably make it all worth it.About the AuthorBlake Kritzberg is proprietor of Poodle-oo: Fashion for Toy Dogs. Stop by for toy dog couture and home decor, free dog postcards and the Toy Dog Blog.http://www.poodle-oo.com/
Herding and the German Shepherd Dog
Herding and the German Shepherd Dog
Once other animals such as cattle, sheep and goats became domesticated, man
became aware of the dogs herding ability. Tactics used by hunting wolves,
witnessed by humans, such as driving and separating one animal from the flock, were further exploited and bred into these dogs. As in other dogs, the animals possessing the best inherent herding abilities were further developed to assist human shepherds in their daily duties.As you know, German Shepherds fall into the Herding Category of dog breeds- the
breed was derived in the late 1800's from several different types of herding stock.
As the breed gained popularity, it also gained new "jobs" and duties as varied as can
be possibly imagined- from work in the wars, search-and-rescue, tracking, police
work, protection, to guide dog, companion dog and more. Still, some
animals(GSD's) are used today actively as herding dogs.Exactly what is involved in the process of herding? First, a willingness to work and to
cooperate with others. In the wild wolves or wild dogs work as a unit when hunting
prey and each animal may have a particular "job" to fulfill in order to bring down the
intended victim. Some may be following the prey while others attempt to head it off.
Still, another may be the pack leader who in essence coordinates the events of the
hunt. Herding dogs now work essentially with a human as pack leader in attempting
to control herds of livestock.Herding dogs may have natural abilities and fall in one of two basic categories-
either that of gatherer or driver. Drivers generally move the stock away from the
handler while still grouped, while gatherers tend to head off stock, keep them
grouped and move them toward the handler. Generally speaking, gatherers are
more versatile than drivers and it is much easier to cross train a gatherer to drive
than it is to cross train a driver to gather.Overall, principles of herding are based on the dogs natural instincts though other
training methods abound. First dogs must obey the handler and follow commands.
This, along with mutual trust and respect, are the most important aspects of the
working relationship between the dog(s) and the handler. After being introduced to
stock, the animals are taught to position themselves in relation to the handler and
stock based on their "job" and the direction in which the herd is to be moved. It is
the handlers job to give the dog guidance in working the stock.Later in training directional commands are learned by the animal in training. Most
commands are in the form of verbal cues or whistles although visual commands
may sometimes be involved as well. Possible commands may include "easy" or
"steady" (move slowly), "stop", "down", or flanking commands such as move
counterclockwise or clockwise around the herd. Once the dog masters the basic
gathering commands it is taught to drive the herd and as it learns each lesson, it is
taught other more difficult commands.Qualities a good herding dog must possess are obedience, trainability,
adaptiveness, good health, responsiveness and, most importantly, being able to use
its own judgment. "Standing up" to uncooperative stock or being gentle with
cooperative stock are other qualities of utmost importance in an actual working
herding dog.Article written and reprinted with permission of: http://www.pedigreedpups.com/
Purebred Dogs, Puppies and Dog Breeders - "Your New Best Friend"Copyright 2005. All rights reserved.Debbie Ray, owner of: http://www.pedigreedpups.com is a lifetime dog lover and
owner and breeder of german shepherd dogs for over 15 years.