Responsibility for a Child's Pet

The child is the one that asked for the pet. The child is the one that picked out the exact pet that was brought home. And the child is the reason that the dog shakes his head in shame when he has to respond to Squidword as his name. But, that dog or the cat or any other pet that manages to make it into your home is not just the sole responsibility of the child, is it? Like it or not, they become part of the family and as such, are the responsibility of everybody, at least partially. Despite protesting against it, you find yourself feeding the cat or walking the dog from time to time, but does that necessarily mean that your child is shirking his duties? Not really, if one child needed a drink of water, would you really make him wait for it?

Before you even allow a pet to come into your door, sit down with your child lay down the rules and obligations that will be expected of him. Make sure he knows how much food the pet will need, and how often. Make a clear chart with pictures for younger children, or clearly worded directions for older kids. Include rewards and punishments for failing to meet any obligations, for example, if the child does not walk the dog on their day, then that child loses TV time. Teaching your child to meet obligations and duties is important to turning out responsible adults.

Remember though, that children will actually forget certain things in pet care, no matter how much they love their furry friend. There might be times when your child is sick, or too busy with schoolwork or extracurricular activities to fulfill all of his obligations. On those occasions, it will be up to you to step in and help the child out. Ultimately, as head of the family, all of the members are your responsibility and that means the feline, canine or miscellaneous additions as well. If you are completely unwilling to step in and take over any aspect of pet care for any length of time, you may want to reconsider allowing a pet at that time.

No matter how well the child does take care of his pet, you must also understand that the financial burden will most likely be on you. You will have to maintain his diet, his vet bills and the other costs of pet ownership, unless you are planning on sending your child out to find a job!
Lol.

Blueberry Coming Along Nicely

Our newly adopted kitten that my children have named Blueberry is making inroads with his other
cat mates. They still occasionally hiss, spit , swipe and the like but they also play quite a bit , share food
bowls and favored perches in a general environment of togetherness . More to come.

Blueberry moving into the fold

Blueberry our new kitten has been with us now for about three weeks. He's making a relatively

smooth transition to the household. He and our two other cats Simba and Oliver are interacting

more and more with less hissing and spitting. He's about four months old and we expect to have

him neutered in the near future. We'll keep you up to date on further developments.

Blueberry has been added to the household

Blueberry a kitten we've adopted, was taken in off the street. He was part of a litter of a

feral cat my children refer to as Cheese fondue. We already have two cats that we adopted from

an animal shelter on Long Island. The interaction between the kitten and our two resident cats

is intriguing . We are limiting the contact the three are having to several moments at a time.

There's been some hissing, spitting and vying for position but nothing to arouse alarm.

As long as we keep these initial forays brief we can effectively monitor the getting to know

you process. I'll keep you posted in the days ahead and let you know how things are coming

along.

Advantages of Training Your Cat

Advantages of Training Your Cat

Despite all of the stereotypes, kitties are not completely self-sufficient creatures. They still need their human families to feed and water them, and to protect them from the elements. And, despite all of their protests against it, kitties need their humans to love them. Adopting a cat can be a very rewarding feeling, as well as a major challenge at times. We want our family life to be calm and warm, not frantic and frustrating, so we need all of the members, including the furry ones, to be at their best behavior. Training your cat can ensure that you have a gentle, loving pet that does not eat your furniture and pee in your houseplants. Training your cat does not only protect it from potential dangers, but keeps your belongings safe from destruction as well.

Cats claw, scratch, bite and chew for many reasons. If they are doing these things to food items or their cat toys, that is great, but many times they will find something else. Cats that chew on the new divan or the electrical cords are not only destroying property, they are also potentially put their own lives in danger. Young cats will mouth or chew on things for the same reasons that puppies and human babies do- they are exploring their world, as well as teething. Give them substitutes and reward them for chewing on the right items. If an older cat has suddenly developed a urge to gnaw on things other than food or usual toys, then consider whether he is bored, or if it is possible that he has a nutritional deficiency.

Poorly trained kitties will often start using the entire house as their personal litter box. If you have ever walked in the house when the litter box needs to be changed, you know how disgusting that can truly be. If your cat is using items like your bed or favorite chair to potty on, he might be sending you a message. Does he loathe the new litter you bought? Did you move his litter box? Or, have you started spending too much time with that guy in 2A that stomps his feet at kitty when you are not in the room? Although most cats will train well to the box and never have issues, some are more stubborn and this behavior can often be the deal breaker for many families.

A well-trained cat will charm and amuse your guests when they come to your home. He will make your days seem warmer and brighter. Because he knows what is expected of him, he will not have as much anxiety, leading to a calmer more easily controlled cat. Calmer cats are more affectionate because they are not nervous or high-strung. Training your cat allows him to focus on good behaviors and the things that make a cat's life a good one; napping, eating and stalking dust motes in the sunny patch by the window.

What Dog Breed Fits Your Lifestyle?

What Dog Breed Fits Your Lifestyle?

If you are a hands-on, sporty type person, then a dainty lap dog might not be the right choice for you. Likewise, a rambunctious, energetic hound dog is not going to be a happy pup just sitting quietly at your feet while you knit. Finding the right dog breed for your lifestyle will not only ensure your own happiness, but the dog's as well. He will become part of your family, after all, and you want him to be the right fit.
Dog Training

All puppies are cute; little roly-poly creatures that fall over themselves and snuggle with you when they are tired. But, just like your babies grew up to be defiant, mouthy teens, a puppy will grow to be a poorly trained adolescent dogs if they are not dealt with properly. Although good training is necessary, it is not the only consideration. Moving a mastiff into a two-bedroom bungalow is not going to work out, for you or for the dog, and a teacup poodle may feel overwhelmed in a large, expansive mansion. Keep in mind what size your puppy your dog will grow up to be, and by pass the ones that are not realistic for your home, no matter how cute the big sweeties can be.

Consider your family make up and lifestyle before you start looking at pets. If you have a newborn child, it might not be the best time to consider getting a new puppy- you are busy enough and might not have the right amount of time to properly train your four-legged addition. An improperly trained puppy may turn into a poorly behaved, bigger dog, so wait until you have more time to devote to him and the energy to keep up with it. The fallacy that the dog and baby should grow up together is a very dangerous one to buy into. Do you want a gentle dog that is sturdy enough to be handled by inquisitive little hands without knocking your toddler down? Consider a pug, one of the gentlest and most forgiving of the dog breeds. But, for safety sake, never trust the loving nature of any dog over your own vigilance.

Dog Training

Need a jogging or walking partner? Consider an upbeat, energetic breed like the small, Jack Russell terrier or the larger labs. Want a cuddle buddy instead? Then a sweet natured, compact Scotty is a good choice for the small dog lover and the golden retriever is the star standard for those who prefer the big dogs to love. (Goldens are also great all around for being gentle with children, and walking partners. As long as you call them sweetie pie or big wuvvie, a golden will do just about anything you ask.) Choose wisely, a dog will be part of your family for a very long time and a part of your heart for even longer.

Most Popular Dog Breeds

Most Popular Dog Breeds

A listing of the most popular dog breeds can bring about ardent debates over which dogs do and do not belong. Let a list include the breed that bit you when you were a small child and you are outraged, or worse, let the list snub your current wubsie and that does it, you want to write an angry letter. To be fair, you must consider the source of the list, and what the criteria were for it. For instance, the AKC kennel association shows its top one hundred dog breed listing based on the number of each breed that is registered with them. They do not declare one breed better than others for the sake of this list; they simply list how many of the breeds are accounted for.

Dog Training

If you search the words "most popular dog breeds" on the web, you will find a large number of listings- from the different categories of dogs and the breeds within them, to the most popular dog breeds for families with children. Narrow down what exactly you are looking for and that should help quite a bit. Perhaps you want to know what the most popular toy dog breeds are, or the most popular hunting dog breeds. Either way, you will be able to pull up the right list and see exactly where your favorite dog breed places.

Everyone has their favorite and least favorite dog breed. It does not matter how or why they came to their conclusions, they just have and that's that. For them, there is no convincing them that the husky is a perfectly fine dog, if it is handled properly, or that the Yorkie can sometimes be more trouble than they are really worth. Some people will dismiss entire breeds of dogs simply based on what they know about one representative of the club, a practice that is not fair, by the way. Dog breeds gain and lose popularity based on many things, including movies that feature them, or which breed is winning at the major dog shows. But, regardless of all of that, there are some dog breeds that make it to the tops of nearly every list, the diehard favorites that people flock to, year after year. Those breeds include: the Labrador retriever, the Golden Retriever, the Beagle, the Yorkshire Terrier, and the Poodle.
Dog Training

Of course there are the so-called designer dogs- the mixed breed dogs that hopefully get the best of both worlds. Popular mixes are: the Puggle, a mix of the ever--popular Pug and the Beagle, the Labradoodle, a mix of a Lab and a Poodle and the Cockapoo, a mix of a Cocker Spaniel and a Poodle. These dogs are not registered, but still very popular, as evidenced by their steadily growing numbers.

Cat Training Classes

Cat Training Classes

When people say they are taking their pet to obedience training classes, others will assume that they mean their dog. More and more people are taking their cats to these classes as well. Cats are great pets. They are less time consuming than a dog, more affectionate than a bowl of goldfish, and definitely less creepy than a spider, but they can also be a huge mental challenge. Cats are experts at doing things when there are no witnesses, and that makes training them just a little trickier. The first thing that a feline owner must understand is that reprimands do not work with a cat at all.

Cat training classes are more about training the human owners than about training the cats themselves, because it takes some real patience and understanding to deal with the behavior of even the best kitty, and let's face it, those are not the cats that are getting dragged to behavior classes, are they? Behavior classes are usually filled with harried owners at the last step before dropping their psycho pet off at the local shelter. Some cats are just nuts, and that is putting it mildly, so what is the kitty owner to do?

First, you have to make the decision of what behaviors will and will not be tolerated in your home. The first thing to accomplish should be the litter box, and then other skills can be introduced and perfected afterward. Do not allow your cat to get away with a bad behavior even once or he will be bound to repeat it, and remember although your cat will do several things that are similar to dogs, they are not the same and must be handled differently.

The cat training class will show you the proper methods of disciplining your cat, as well as the best reward system to use. Some cats are pure gluttons and will turn themselves into pure idiots for the treats, while others would rather starve to death rather than comply with such frivolity as rules. You have to know your own cats mindset that can help you figure out how best to approach him. Regardless of the method, make sure that the rules are adhered to consistently by all family members or you might find manipulative monsieur le chat playing his hairless wards like a game of chess. Remember, you are the boss, this is your house! Let the cat get the upper, er, paw and all might very well be lost!