What are ticks?

Ticks are members of the acarid family, like spiders and they’re second only to mosquitoes in transmitting infectious disease to humans and animals. Continue Reading »

Housetraining Your Puppy: Advice From The Experts – House training is perhaps the most obvious example of why it’s a good idea to train puppies. Nobody wants stains on the carpet or the smell of pee and poop permeating the house. Yet house training is often overlooked or undertaken in a haphazard manner when it should instead be the cornerstone of the training process. Starting early is key, especially with toy breeds, which often have a reputation for being difficult to house train. Continue Reading »

Quite possibly one of the most fearful experiences a dog owner could have is discovering an unusual lump or bump on their dog. Although this is always worthy of further investigation, (always by a vet) it does not always mean that your dog has been struck down with cancer. In fact, in more cases than not, the discovery of a lump on the dog leads not to cancer, but will turn out to be a wart, cyst or some other unwelcome growth. This does not mean that all growths are not cancerous, but that panicking and worrying is sometimes undue, at least until further investigation is complete. Continue Reading »

Trying to determine if your dog is experiencing anger, love, or any other “human” emotion is difficult. To date, no one has been able to provide convincing scientific evidence that we can distinguish one emotion from another by what our brains or hormones do. Continue Reading »

Dogs & Cats: How To Make Your Dog & Cat Become Friends In Just A Few Hours:  The secret to starting and maintaining a loving relationship between your dog and a new cat (or vice versa) lies within how carefully you introduce them to each other. You have already made the decision to bring a different species into the house so invest as much time and care as you can in order to ensure that both of your animals start off with a positive experience with one another. Continue Reading »

Dogs & Cats: How To Judge Whether Or Not Your Dog Will Like The New Cat: When you first introduce a dog and cat together, 9 times out of 10 the cat will be the one that is fearful and the first to bolt away. There are of course rare exceptions, especially for smaller dogs that are poorly socialized. I remember one of my Chihuahuas who would never go near a cat again after the very first one he came close to hissed and swatted at his little nose, tearing a big gash across it! Continue Reading »

Dog Basics: 2 Basic Needs A New Dog Owner Must Get Used To: Exercise & Grooming: All dogs need exercise, especially young puppies. And it is very unlikely for your dog to get the sufficient amount of exercise he needs just by sitting around the house, which is what most dogs do when they are left alone for many hours at a time.

If you are planning on getting two or more puppies, they will move and play around with one another. But a puppy by himself won’t do much more than make an occasional tour around the house, check the area, and then lie down.

You have to include a daily exercise routine if you want a dog to stay fit. Puppies, in particular, need exercise for their muscular development and as part of their socialization process. A physically fit puppy will grow up to be a physically fit dog that is healthier, happier, and able to live his life to the fullest. Continue Reading »