Animals Unfolded

There is one scenario that presents itself regularly in my daily adventures with dogs, and it can vary anywhere between being benign, disgusting or downright dangerous: I need to retrieve an item from the animals's possession — their mouth, more precisely — and typically in fast order. I could be on a walk with a charge and they discover a dead animal, a prescription pill enveloped in a yummy treat could inadvertently drops on the floor as I am preparing to dole it out to another pet in the family, or I might to need to get a prized chew toy away from a furry pal before they devour it whole. Ideally, a pet has been taught to "leave it" — one of the most valuable skills that a dog can have in their repertoire in my opinion —but quite honestly, the item that they have in their mouth might be of really high value to them, they might not be as reliable as we would like in giving it up (especially if there is another dog close by). In any case, grabbing the item might p...

During the cold or soggy months I joke that I feel like a kindergarten teacher because I spend much of my time bent over putting on dog booties or drying off wet paws, or putting on or removing a charge's fleece jackets. I get a few laughs from saying that, but in truth it can be a very dangerous situation for me: my face is level to a dog's body, and more easily within reach of my charge's teeth. You get the picture. The fact is, just like you, I spend a lot of time in physical contact with the dogs in my care all year whether it's putting on a collar, harness or leash, checking them over for ticks or burrs after an adventure or tending to a minor (or goodness forbid) a more serious injury. Though I am confident that my charges by and large are behaviorally safe around their bonded humans (including myself), there are times that my touching them might become uncomfortable for some reason — or be downright painful, and as you know, canines often try to hide their...

One of the most common tasks that I need to ensure gets done when caring for my charges is giving any medication. Though a few meds are dispensed as a suspension, as a transdermal gel or even by injection (something that I had to begin recently with both of my pets), pills or capsules are the most common mode of delivery. This doesn't make most animals feel especially cooperative, as many a pet owner can attest -- especially when it comes to the latter. Their size and shape can make things a bit more challenging. There's a bit of an art to making the task of taking meds stress-free for dogs and cats, and as a caregiver to many four-legged charges, I've figured out a couple of tricks to facilitate this. Dogs can be pretty easygoing when it comes to administering pills, as they are food motivated and believe me — I take full advantage of that. For most dogs, pill pockets work well, though some dogs get wise to the tactic so mixing things up a bit and employing a steal...

Exotic birds are interesting, intelligent creatures and are no different than other species of captive pets in that they gain pleasure from eating. It's not hard to get them to eat by and large, though some birds not exposed to a varied diet from a tender age can be quite fussy. Much like their exotic mammalian counterparts, they have preferences when it comes to food, and care needs the taken with their diet to ensure that it's balanced. Too much of one thing and not enough of another (including exercise) can lead to dietary deficiencies and obesity, which in turn can lead to illnesses like heart disease . Fresh vegetables and fruit, nuts and some seeds are beneficial to maintain not only physical health, but when they are offered in ways that enable birds to forage, they gain the benefits derived from that activity. ( Click here for more on creating edible foraging toys for birds.) Omelets are a great way to include a bird's favorite grains, legumes, seeds, fruit...

No one likes to hear negative things about their dog's behavior, not to mention their own when it comes to engaging with their pet. When our pets behave in a way that is less-than-ideal in a social setting (namely with other dogs), it usually doesn't slip through our radar to some degree, though we hope that it has in the eyes of others. Some social offenses are negligible, even funny. Others are, well, quite telling with regard to how our ongoing training is going. But let's face it: some of us share life with dogs that just never get the hang of navigating some social situations, so it's understood that we need to pick our battles, right? Picking our battles is something we can easily do when in the midst of other folks and their dogs, too. I find that just as with everything else, there's no shortage of opinions when it comes to how a canine should behave or how their said human ought to handle a situation, and often it doesn't seem to matter how muc...

The act of walking a dog is as unpredictable as most anything that I can think of. I have charges in my care that are effortless on leash no matter what we encounter on an adventure, while others can be reactive if they even see another dog. That said, there are plenty of dogs that fall somewhere in between when it comes to being able to handle themselves when out and about. Then of course, there are other dogs that are allowed to make an unwelcome approach. Try as I might, I realize that there are things that are out of my control . Nonetheless, I have the responsibility to ensure that not only my clients, but everyone else, stay safe. I employ a considerable amount of mindfulness when it has comes to choosing the gear that I use when walking a dog, no matter the breed or age. What I find works best for me and my canine pals is their flat or martingale collar that includes their identification tag, an Easy Walker harness, a long lead (more on that is available by clicking h...

A few months ago I was chatting with a client about one of their dogs, and they noted that their furry friend seemed to be fascinated by what was on the computer screen. "I wonder what Woody is thinking when he watches the screen?" he noted. "Rusty doesn't seem nearly as interested." We all know dogs seem to show great interest in TV shows, and react to what they see. Others most definitely respond when they see or hear another animal on the screen. Some dogs are completely nonplussed by the TV. One of the really interesting things that piqued my interest in the conversation was the notion of the "refresh rate" of TV and computer screens, it got me wondering about how that aspect of viewing them differs between a human, a dog — or even other animals. It seems that I found a few answers after finding an article on the topic. Let's first back up with a little background on canine vision: we know that a dog's eyes contrast from humans...