How many people have you chatted with that comment that their dogs become afraid during a storm - or even when a storm is expected? Chances are, a lot. I know that I have. After writing a piece for AnnArbor.com on helping dogs with noise or storm phobias , there was an interesting dialogue with folks about their dogs' behavior. One thing in particular seemed to be a common theme: Dogs who camp out in the bathroom to cope - either wedged between the toilet and the wall, up against the tub or the sink, or inside the tub/shower. Flickr photo courtesy of Alicia Nijdam This might seem like an odd thing, but a theory that Dr. Nicholas Dodman, Professor and Head of Animal Behavior at Tufts University has regarding the behavior is quite interesting. Dodman writes in his book, " Puppy's First Steps " and " The Dog Who Loved Too Much ", that it's common to find a dog pressed against one of the aforementioned surfaces, and for good reason - dogs b...
Upon meeting with a family of a happy Labrador mix a few weeks ago, the busy mom of two toddlers sheepishly mused, "I don't walk her as much as I should. I don't seem to have as much time these days, with the kids and all..." "No need to apologize," I responded. "You have this ginormous fenced backyard, she's occupied with playing fetch and squirrel-chasing. Let's not neglect the fact that she can run around free." The truth is, walking said pooch is not all that fun. And by her human's admission, she's right—some of it has to do with poor skills on the part of the dog. But in my experience with her, outings are often fraught with challenges because of stuff going on in their neighborhood. The former could be remedied, but I know all too well how much work it is to try and smooth out. And for a busy young family, the bandwidth isn't there. And even if they could manage the training, there's the external stimuli a...
Having lots of hands-on experience with exotic birds, I can tell you they're not only a lot of fun to spend time with, but require a lot of your time and diligence, just like any other pet. Whether you're talking about parrots, cockatoos, macaws – even parakeets – being able to keep track of how they're feeling and cleaning up after them easily is a must. (Yes, they're all messier than you'd think!) As a caregiver, this is especially important. Having that well in hand enables me to spend more time with them doing equally important things, like creating foraging toys for them, preparing fresh meals and interacting. Enclosures vary from bird to bird, and that has a lot to do with affordability, and the size of the animal. One thing that they all have in common is that there is some sort of tray on the bottom to catch droppings and of course the food that invariably makes its way down, which is covered with some sort of substrate. There are many cho...
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