April: 2009

Pets.ca – Monthly pet newsletter – April 2009

Dear Petlover,

Hi there it’s Marko, one of the owners/administrators on Pets.ca and this is our first spring newsletter of 2009 so Happy Spring; it’s been a long cold winter for many …

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NOTICE SPECIFIC TO ALL DOCUMENTS AND/OR IMAGES AVAILABLE ON THIS WEBSITE

The PETS.CA web site and all documents and images contained herein are protected by COPYRIGHT. The WRITTEN PERMISSION of the Owners MUST BE OBTAINED PRIOR TO ANY USE OF …

Dog Tails – Why Dogs Wag their Tails

“….In some ways, tail-wagging serves the same functions as our human smile, polite greeting, or nod of recognition. Smiles are social signals, and human beings seem to reserve most of their smiles for social situations, where somebody is around to see them. Sometimes, vicarious social situations, as when watching television or occasionally when thinking about somebody special, can trigger a smile. For dogs, the tail wag seems to have the same properties. A dog will wag its tail for a person or another dog. It may wag its tail for a cat, horse, mouse, or perhaps even a butterfly. But when the dog is by itself, it will not wag its tail to any lifeless thing. If you put a bowl of food down, the dog will wag its tail to express its gratitude to you. In contrast, when the dog walks into a room and finds its bowl full, it will approach and eat the food just as happily, but with no tail-wagging other than perhaps a slight excitement tremor. This is one indication that tail-wagging is meant as communication or language. In the same way that we don’t talk to walls, dogs don’t wag their tails to things that are not apparently alive and socially responsive.

A dog’s tail speaks volumes about his mental state, his social position, and his intentions. How the tail came to be a communication device is an interesting story.

Helping a Wild Bird

Beth McMaster of Wildbird Recovery in Middlesex offers these guidelines for what to do with a wild bird that appears to need help:

To catch and pick up an injured bird, throw a pillowcase or towel over it and gently …

Canine Rivalry – Dogs fights – Pet tip 100

When we have more than one dog in our household we can sometimes see rivalry or fighting between the two dogs which is fairly normal. Dogs are pack animals that live in a social group, each member has its status …

Tip – 34 – Dog training – Desensitizing dogs

PROBLEM – AFRAID OF, OR DOESN’T LIKE, BEING TOUCHED:

The secret, is to desensitize the dog to reacting to being touched, especially when cleaning paws. Start by touching casually WITHOUT making eye contact since eye contact is always seen as …

Pit Bull Information

By the Positive Pitbull Awareness Society

NOTE: Throughout discussions of the Pit Bull breed, you will notice two words repeated over and over again: Responsible Ownership. With media hysteria and BSL (Breed specific legislation), we good owners, find ourselves endlessly …

Pet Budgies

Budgerigars or Budgies for short, are one of the most popular pet birds in North America, and it isn’t hard to see why. These friendly birds are extremely intelligent, and can even be taught to speak. They are also relatively …

Cat Socialization – Pet tip 225

In order for cats to become great trouble-free pets, one of the key elements is socialization.
Socialization is a huge topic when it comes to dogs, but is often (and unfortunately) sadly neglected when it comes to cats. When we …

Deaf Cats – Pet tip 227

As cat owners, we of course want our pets to be as healthy as possible and live as long as possible. Sometimes though, certain diseases or problems become evident only after we have brought the cat or kitten into our …