THE DOG'S PRAYER

Treat me kindly, my beloved master, for no heart in all the world is more grateful for kindness than the loving heart of me.

Do not break my spirit with a stick, for though I should lick your hand between the blows, your patience and understanding will more quickly teach me the things you would have me do.

Speak to me often, for your voice is the world’s sweetest music, as you must know by the fierce wagging of my tail when your footsteps falls upon my waiting ear.

When it is cold and wet, please take me inside, for I am now a domesticated animal, no longer used to bitter elements. And I ask no greater glory than the privilege of sitting at your feet beside the hearth. Though had you no home, I would rather follow you through ice and snow than rest upon the softest pillow in the warmest home in all the land, for you are my god and I am your devoted worshiper.

Keep my pan filled with fresh water, for although I should not reproach you were it dry, I cannot tell you when I suffer thirst. Feed me clean food, that I may stay well, to romp and play and do your bidding, to walk by your side, and stand ready, willing and able to protect you with my life should your life be in danger.

And, beloved master, should the great Master see fit to deprive me of my health or sight, do not turn me away from you. Rather hold me gently in your arms as skilled hands grant me the merciful boon of eternal rest - and I will leave you knowing with the last breath I drew, my fate was ever safest in your hands.

WHY 3 SPECIES GO EXTINCT EVERY HOUR

This is not somthing new but simply a reiteration or reminder that something needs to be done about climate change. This ultimately means one thing, that the Earth's biodiversity is getting smaller and smaller. Three species, be it animal or plant, go extinct EVERY HOUR! This situation is not okay. There are many things that each of us can do and spreading information on what to do can help. Ultimately, however, it is up to individuals to change some aspect of their daily lives in consideration for the environment.

Quote:
"We are indeed experiencing the greatest wave of extinctions since the disappearance of the dinosaurs," said Ahmed Djoghlaf, head of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.

The main human cause being the burning of fossil fuels has mainly contributed to habitat loss and the amount of species that existed in those habitats. Ultimately the threat of climate change may dry out forests, the ice caps melting, or desertification (a process of land degradation that China and other countries are experiencing now).

"Extinction rates are rising by a factor of up to 1,000 above natural rates. Every hour, three species disappear. Every day, up to 150 species are lost. Every year, between 18,000 and 55,000 species become extinct," he said. "The cause: human activities."
We cant let these polar bears or any other species become another statistic. Lets try and change by being more eco-minded.

INTERPRETING BARKS

Noisy barks, Dr. Feddersen-Petersen explains, relate to "defensive and offensive threats, social insecurity, physical distress." Harmonic barks, however, are used as a signal for social play, in active and passive submission to another dog or person and when making social contact.

Dr. Feddersen-Petersen made recordings for her work while the dogs were engaged in normal behavior, so she was able over repeated sessions to observe how dogs were barking in specific situations. After a while, she says, she began to be able to tell what a dog was doing by its bark.

Dr. Feddersen-Petersen also recorded mixed play barking among German shepherds, poodles and Weimaraners that had noisy and harmonic components, and a "noisy play bark" among American Staffordshire terriers and bull terriers that indicated a turn on the part of the dogs from play to more aggressive behavior.
Like many canid vocalizations, these barks are often associated with physical cues, like a wrinkling of the brow, staring, raised hackles, pinned-back ears, an upright or lowered tail and other submissive or threatening postures, Dr. Feddersen-Petersen says. But, she notes, in a wide range of breeds physical expression is limited because of the lack of a tail, floppy ears and other physical characteristics.

A few breeds, like the poodle and the American Staffordshire terrier, appear limited in their vocal repertory, she added, although none as severely as the barkless Basenji. In fact, Dr. Feddersen-Petersen recorded as many as a dozen variations of some types of barking among several of the breeds she tested, including the German shepherd and Alaskan Malamute. She says the often-subtle variations corresponded to "dialects" and were used by dogs in identical situations at different times, for reasons not yet clear.

WHY DOG BARK

The popular understanding of dog barking is almost like a silly riddle: Why do dogs bark? Because they can.
But a small band of researchers around the world, trying to separate fact from speculation, are finding that dogs almost always bark for a reason, even if that reason isn't apparent to humans.
The barks has evolved into a complicated means of communication between dogs and, potentially, between dogs and people, say a group of animal behaviorists, or ethnologists, that includes Dorit Feddersen-Petersen at Christian-Albrechts-University in Kiel, Germany.
Most wild canids including wolves, dogs' nearest relatives bark as a form of close-range communication, researchers say. The wolf's bark one of a number of basic vocal sounds, including hauntingly harmonic howls is short, low-pitched and gruff, often described as "noisy" because it lacks harmonic or tonal qualities identified with more musical vocalizations. The bark is usually associated with defense of den or pups, a warning to back off, a protest, threat or an actual attack, Dr. Feddersen-Petersen said in an e-mail interview.
By comparison, dogs are virtuoso barkers, capable of flights of sonic fancy. Dog barks can be noisy, harmonic or a combination of the two, depending on their context and purpose, says Dr. Feddersen-Petersen. Last year in The Archives of Animal Breeding, an international journal, she published the results of a study comparing vocalizations in 11 European wolves and 84 dogs from nine breeds, including poodles, Weimaraners, American Staffordshire terriers, German shepherds, Alaskan malamutes, bull terriers and Kleiner Muensterlaenders.
The results, she reported, graphically portray how different barks express different emotions, including loneliness, fear, distress, stress and pleasure, as well as a need for care among puppies and serve to alert other dogs, people or animals to changing external circumstances.
"This work on barking is extremely careful and extremely important because it calls attention to the complex social life of dogs that we have barely begun to comprehend," says Marc Bekoff, an ethologist at the University of Colorado who studies canids and cognition in animals.

A PUZZLING FAILURE TO BREED

HOW BEARS COMMUNICATES

Yesterday after work, i picked up a movie which has to do with polar bears and it was so fascinating how they communicated all through the movie and i really wanted to know if they could really communicate or it is one of those hollywood trick again. Well, it worked!

Bears communicate by seeing, touching, vocalizing and smelling. Their communication help keep cubs and mothers together, find mate and relieve social tensions. Bears speak a language of dominance or submission, of aggression or solicitation. They react to people in thesame way. they would react to another bear. Paying attention to their reaction is a good way of staying out their trouble.

Bears threaten one another. Though bears are large and very powerful capable of causing injury to one another and people, they prefer the use of threats displays as an alternative to actual fighting. These also applies to their reaction to humans.

COMMUNICATION AMONG ANIMALS

Communication is the transfer of information. Animals often communicate among their own species. Sometimes they even try to communicate with other species. Most communication is done through body language. Sounds and odors are also means to communicate. Humans can learn from how animals communicate among each other, since the same methods apply in a subtle manner among humans.

Questions you may have include:
How do animals use body language?
How do animals communicate with sounds and odors?
What can humans learn from animals ?

Body language
The most obvious body language you see between animals are threatening postures. Dogs will show their teeth and cats will arch their back to make themselves appear bigger. Each species has postures that warn others in their species that the animal is ready to fight. Other species also recognize these signs.
A pack of wolves will communicate among each other about the tactics they are using when surrounding a prey. Some scientists claim they are only using their instincts, but to a careful observer, it is obvious that there communication and teamwork going on.
When young animals play, they use various postures and body language to let the other youngsters know it is play.
Sounds and odors
Animals also communicate through sounds and odors.
Sounds
Elephants trumpet in a very low tone that humans cannot hear but can feel. They are letting their presence known to other elephants up to 5 miles or 7.5 kilometers away. They might let others know of a nearby watering spot.
Spider monkeys have certain calls to indicate a predator is in the area. Sometimes a young monkey will make such a call, to the discernment of the elders.
A beaver will loudly slap its tail when danger approaches, warning the other beavers to seek safety.
Odors
Animals often mark their territories with smelly urine. Odors also indicate when a female is sexually receptive.
Humans can learn
Although humans do most of their communication through the use of words and obvious gestures, much can be learned from observing the subtle communications of animals.
Body language, the tone of a person's voice and body odors can provide considerable amount of information about the person's intentions, mood and even health. Often people react to these subtle forms of communication without realizing that there has been some transfer of information.

HOW TO TALK WITH YOUR CAT

Hi! I find this topic so fascinating and important that is why I still want to talk more. It's a continuation of the last article i had written.

Step 4
Use key words. Your cat may not be able to understand every single word that you say, but they are very intelligent and will learn key words fast. Repeat words and show them objects constantly. "Food" will likely be their first fully understood word. After awhile they will recognize more and be very understanding of what you have to say.
Step 5
Constantly be vocal with your cat! This is very important. You may notice after awhile that the silent kitty you once had has become quite vocal themselves. This is communication paying off! You can talk to your cat about anything whether it be your day or just how much you love them. Cats love the attention and will start to talk back in their own way!
Step 6
Involve them in everything in your life. The more you are around your cat, the more they will express themselves to you.
Step 7
Always listen to your cat. If they want something, let them know that you understand what it is they need, or at least attempt to. If a cat sees you trying to understand them, they may be more willing to understand you. This is sweet!!! don't you think so?

TIPS ON HOW TO TALK WITH YOUR CAT

People don't realize this, that cats can develop a greater understanding of expressions than dogs. Cats have the ability to also vocalize themselves more than most animals. Communication is a huge part of being a pet owner and can be very rewarding to both parties involved. Here you will find a few tips that will help you better communicate and talk to your pet cat.
1. First you will have to take note of how your cat interacts with you. Ask yourself a couple of questions first. Does your cat seem to listen to you in a content way when you talk to it? Does it simply ignore you? Or does your cat only seem to be aware of your presence when food is involved? The key here is to get your cat to communicate with you without involving food.
2. Step 2
Talk to your cat in a friendly tone at first. Cats enjoy higher pitched, friendly tones. Praise them with nice brushing or petting while telling them how beautiful they are. After awhile your cat will comprehend that you are talking to them in a good way.
3. Step 3
Move on to other tones. After awhile your cat will know the different tones that you use mean different things. If you are angry at your cat for doing something they shouldn't be doing, they will learn that your tone will change to a harsher, louder sound.

SAFETY TIPS TO PREVENT DOGS FROM ATTACKING NEWLY BORN BABIES

There is a modus operandi for dealing with dogs and newborn babies. It starts with never allowing any dog to be unattended around your baby. Not even for 5 seconds. In addition the dog is never allowed in the baby’s room. Not ever! If you don't own a dog crate it's time to buy one. Your goal is to teach the dog that the baby is your baby and has nothing to do with the dog. The baby should not to be smelled or touched. The dog needs to learn that the baby is a higher ranking member of the family pack and that you (as the pack leader) enforce the babies rank. This is no different than a mother wolf who does not allow other pack members near her newborn pups. The way to set this training up is to take items that have the babies smell on them; baby cloths, baby sheets, dirty diapers etc. Lay them in your living area where the dog is allowed to be. The dog is never to be allowed to go near these items. They can't play with them, or even go over and smell them, they can't go near them. The dog needs to learn that there is a bubble around the smell of a baby that they are not allowed to enter. If they do go to smell them they are corrected. Don't kid yourself that the dog can't smell these items from a across the room and that's as close as they are allowed. When you set up this training the dog should already be on a long line - one of our 20 foot cotton line's that is cut down will work or you can make one. We also sell very nice leather drag lines that are meant for this work. They are 5 feet long. If the dog walks over to smell the diaper he gets a verbal no. If he does not turn and immediately (instantly) leave he gets a serious level 5 correction. If he ignores that correction you immediately correct to level 8 or 9. The goal is to teach the dog that the smell of the baby if Out Of Bounds!!

DOGS AND BABIES....

There is about 100 times more chance of a child being killed by a parent or relative rather than a dog. The unfortunate fact is that the news media sensationalizes the death of a child as a result of a pet attack. These same people call for additional laws on breed bans and additional laws controlling our pets. Well, I like to tell people that dog training is not missile science. Training a dog is pretty much common sense.
Here are few things to think about when bringing a new baby home:
1 - Make sure the dog is fully obedience trained. If you have questions on this you should refer to my training video titled Basic Dog Obedience. The dog should be trained well enough that you can tell it to go lay down on his rug, or in his crate. This means that the dog will go and stay there.
I believe that this kind of training should be done motivationally. In other words, teach the dog to do it for a food or a toy reward. But once the dog understands the command it needs to be reinforced with a prong collar correction if the dog does not mind. I call prong collars “power steering on dogs.” They allow small people to control good-sized dogs.
2 - Get a dog crate and crate train the dog. The crate should NEVER be in the bedroom. If the dog becomes overly excited when the baby cries it can be put in the crate. Give it a bone or a rubber Kong with a little cream cheese or peanut butter in middle to keep him interested and busy.
3 - Never allow the dog in the baby’s bedroom - not even when you are present. The bedrooms (including your own) should always be off limits. This is especially true of the baby’s room.
4 - The dog should NEVER be allowed to be near the baby when it is not being supervised - not even for one minute.
5- Once the baby is born they will bring a blanket with the baby scent home (or a dirty baby diaper) to wrap a doll in. When this is laid on the floor the dog is corrected for going near it. It cannot even go and smell it.
6- When you bring the baby home make it a quiet introduction. Mom should first meet the dog without the baby.
7- Homecoming should not be a loud party. When the baby is brought in, the dog should be placed in a “down-stay” several feet from where mom and baby are sitting. The dog IS NOT ALLOWED to smell the baby. Dogs have an excellent sense of smell. There is no reason to allow the dog to come up and smell the baby as soon as it gets home from the hospital. The dog can smell the baby from across the room without any problem.
If there is any concern about the obedience and control of the dog at any time the baby is present, it should either be on leash or in a dog crate.
6 - Get the dog a selection of new dog toys before the baby comes home. Some people will keep the toys available in a basket in the living room. Others prefer to allow the dog to know that there are new toys but they control when the dog gets access to them. They don't get bored with the toys.

DOG AND PREVENTING DOG BITES.

Like many kinds of pets, no matter how small or cute they are, dogs need to be respected as animals that, under certain conditions, could hurt you. You can respect a dog by giving it space and following certain rules. These rules not only keep the dog happier, they can protect you from getting bitten.
Millions of dog bites happen every year in the United States and Nigeria off course. Of those, close to a million require medical treatment, like a trip to the doctor. No one wants a dog bite, but how do you prevent one?

Use Your Dog Manners
When we say to use your "dog manners," we don't mean you should eat off the floor or pee in the yard! We mean you should follow certain rules when you meet or spend time with dogs — especially ones you don't know.
If you meet someone new, maybe your mom or dad showed you how to shake hands and say, "Nice to meet you." Well, you can also have some equally good dog manners. That means taking certain steps every time you meet a dog or spend time with one. Dogs will love that you're so polite and, best of all, they will be less likely to bite you!

How to Offer Bland Food to a Vomiting Dog

I saw this article while surfing the net nd i thought it would be very useful for dog lovers.

When offering food, Dr. Levine recommends a gentle, bland food that will be easy on the stomach, like boiled skinless chicken or boiled hamburger (with the fat strained away) served with plain white rice or cottage cheese.
“When you first offer food, you need to offer just a little – only a bite or two. Once four hours has passed with no vomiting, a little bit more can be offered. Repeat this process until the dog is eating one-third of his usual meal size, served three times a day for three full days. Then, gradually phase in the dog’s normal food over the course of three or four days, as a sudden food switch may trigger a relapse,” Dr. Levine recommends.
Over-the-counter medications like Pepto Bismol can also be helpful in some instances. Always check with your vet before giving over-the-counter medications to your pet, as certain drugs cannot be given to certain patients, particularly if a dog is already on another medication.
For dogs that experience chronic stomach upset and vomiting, prescription bland foods, like Hill’s Prescription I/D Food, may be recommended.
In many cases, vomiting can be successfully treated at home with some simple measures, but it’s also key for dog owners to know when it’s time to visit the vet. Warning signs that indicate a serious problem include vomiting blood, projectile vomiting, a distended, tender abdomen, pale gums, an inability to hold down fluids or repeated vomiting with no improvement within 18-24 hours.

HOW TO TREAT NAUSEA IN YOUR DOG

Nausea is something that each and every dog owner will have to deal with at some point or another. Understanding how to treat this common ailment at home with unique feeding procedures and supportive care can often mean the difference between a quick recovery for a vomiting dog or an extended stretch of illness that leads to the vet’s office.
“Dogs are notorious for eating what they’re not supposed to, whether it’s an unfamiliar food, your shoes, a rock, or your child’s dinner, so vomiting is among the most common ailments you’ll see as a vet,” explained Dr. Michael Levine, DVM.
Gastritis or inflammation of the stomach lining is a leading cause of vomiting in dogs. Gastritis can be triggered by an unfamiliar food item, a non-food item or by a virus.
“The first step to treating a vomiting dog involves allowing the stomach to rest – food and large amounts of fluid are only going to worsen the inflammation that’s causing the upset,” explained Dr. Levine.
In the case of a dog with a more minor stomach upset, food should be withheld for twelve hours. If the dog's vomiting continues, an additional twelve hours of fasting is often necessary to allow the stomach to recover