10 things to avoid when feeding your cat

1. A vegetarian diet. Cats are carnivores, they need nutrients that can only be found in meat.
2. Milk and other dairy products. Cats are lactose intolerant, so a lot of milk can create a lot of discomfort.
3. An excess of food. Keeping the food bowl full can lead to overeating and obesity.
4. All dry kibble. They have a very low thirst drive so a moist diet can prevent urinary and kidney disorders.
5. Too much liver in their diet can cause a vitamin A toxicity.
6. Though most cats really like it, canned tuna can cause mercury poisoning.
7. Onions, garlic and chives can break down a cat’s red blood cells, leading to anemia.
8. Grapes and raisins cause kidney failure in cats.
9. Caffeine and chocolate can be lethal to a cat.
10. Foods containing xylitol and other artificial sweeteners can cause blood sugar to drop and liver failure.

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Counter Surfing

Counter surfing is an undesirable and dangerous habit that some dogs are very good at. A variation of the regular “leave it” command works well for this. Begin with really tasty treats in your pocket and a lesser treat up on the counter. When your dog looks at the counter say “leave it” in your normal training voice, the dog is not in trouble. When he looks away or towards you say “yes” and feed him a delicious treat from your pocket. Slowly move the treat closer to the edge of the counter as you step farther away from it. Every time your dog looks away, reward him. Continue until you can step into the next room and have him leave it. Then increase the value of the “leave it”. Go from a dry cookie up to something delicious like ham, that can hang over the edge. If you want to really test the dog, set up a walkie talkie on the counter next to the “leave it”, then leave the house and spy on the dog. Say “leave it” into the walkie talkie, if the dog moves away then rush back in and reward the pup.

Once you are comfortable with things up on the counter, start the same process for lower surfaces like coffee and end tables.

If you are still having trouble with your pup surfing, then you can call us in for a home consultation

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Dachshund

Dachshunds originated in Germany a few hundred years ago, they were bread to hunt badger. Dachs means badger and hund means dog in German.

Despite its small size, Dachshunds dare to go into burrows after martens and weasels. In the early 1900’s a smaller “mini” dachshund was bread to hunt for smaller hares. They have a cheerful nature and are widely popular as a companion, a watchdog and a family dog.

Dachshunds received the nick name “sausage dog”, “weiner dog” or “hotdog” after a cartoon by an American in the early 1900’s depicted this dog inside a hotdog bun.

They are classified into 2 sizes, the standard (15 to 30lbs and 8 to 11 inches tall) and the miniature (less than 12lbs and 6 to 9 inches tall). The dachshund has a body twice as long as its height. They are very low to the ground and have a very long body. This long body can lead to severe back issues. Their front paws are usually large and paddle-shaped, for extreme digging. They have a long pointy face with long pendant ears.

The coat comes in 3  variations: smooth, long and wire haired. They have a wide variety of colors and patterns. They can be single-colored, single-colored with spots "dappled", and single-colored with tan points plus any pattern. Dachshunds also come in piebald (a white pattern is imposed upon the base color) and brindle. The dominant color is red, the most common along with black and tan. The smooth- haired Dachshund is easy to take care of with occasional baths and brushing, the long-haired need to be brushed daily, while wire-haired need to be professionally groomed. They need no special exercise, but mustn’t be allowed to jump off any high surfaces such as beds or chairs in order to avoid damaging their long back and short legs. 

They are fairly trainable with patience and consistency but will always have a loud “voice” that makes them great guard dogs. Because of their personality and use as hunters of small animals there is some argument as to whether they should be a part of the terrier or hound group.  Either way they are quite courageous and humorous, they are natural burrowers, they like to dig and chase, have lots of stamina and determination.

         Jumping             

Jumping up on people is just your dog’s way of saying “howdy”. In most cases we want to greet them too but we just wish it could all happen without ruining your new white pants. Jumping is your dog’s way of getting your attention and up to now it has probably worked. What we mean by this is: you walk through the door, your dog jumps and then you push him off with your hands, swat and say, “Off! Off!” Now you may think you are punishing the dog for jumping when in fact you are rewarding in 3 different ways: you are looking at the dog, touching him and talking to him. So all that attention he was looking for, he got. We know it’s hard to ignore a dog jumping on you, specially if you are wearing new pants, but you need to find a way to stop rewarding him.

As with many other unwanted behaviors, the best technique is to prevent the behavior all together. Begin on a day when you have spent a few hours relaxing with your dog. Walk out the front door with treats in your pocket, shut the door behind you, immediately come back in and say “hello”. Hopefully your dog will look at you like you are crazy since you were right there a second ago. Toss him a treat and tell him he is a very good boy. Try it again a few minutes later but wait outside for about a minute. Come back in and treat your good dog for calm behavior. Slowly start adding time outside, take a magazine. As you come back in ask your dog to sit and give him a treat, then pet him and tell him he’s awesome. Have your entire family practice this and soon your pup will be greeting you with a sit instead of knocking you off your feet. If at any point your dog is too excited and starts jumping just walk out again until he is calm, then walk back in.

If sitting is too hard for your dog you can start working with all four paws on the ground and work up to a sit. What we are looking for is prevention of the jumping by rewarding a great behavior as well as preventing the jumping by ignoring it when it happens.

cat exercise

Cat Exercise

Exercise is important for your cat. It helps maintain a healthy body weight, tone, strong muscles and an alert mind. Exercising can be fun and it also gives you the opportunity to bond with your cat.

You should spend at least 10 to 15 minutes a day trying to engage your cat in play. Young cats and kittens will usually be easily amused, but older cats will take more effort  to engage in activity. 

Activities that stimulate hunting instincts such as: a furry mouse toy tied to the end of a string, feathers on the end of a stick, or laser pointers may peak your cat’s interest. 

Other things around your home that may engage your cat are crumpled paper, paper bags, empty toilet paper rolls and small stuffed toys. And of course who can forget the all time favorite cat entertainment system... The cardboard box.

The most important thing to remember is to take the time to play with your cat. A healthy, happy cat is a well behaved cat. 

Chewing

Chewing is a normal behavior in dogs that is not only fun but also a tool for them to stay healthy. For a lot of dogs chewing is like therapy or a pacifier. Chewing on appropriate things will keep your dog occupied, his teeth and gums healthy and your home in order. As part of preparing for a new dog in our lives it is important to provide several different things to chew on. These should vary from hard chew bones (natural marrow bones or synthetic ones like “nylabones”), to softer ones that a dog may sink their teeth into such as a stuffed animal or a rope toy, to interactive toys like a “kong” that you stuff with your dog’s treats. Never give your dog personal items like an old shoe or socks unless you are willing to have the new shoes or new socks chewed on as well. If you have children in your home make sure your children’s toys and your dog’s toys are kept separately and are not too similar.

In some cases providing the right things to chew on may not be enough to deter our dogs from chewing on other things. We usually divide chewing into 3 different groups.

1. Chewing on large objects like furniture or walls, things you can’t move out of your puppy’s reach. For this behavior we use a combination of behavior modification techniques. First, the dog is not allowed near the object or room in which he is chewing the object without supervision. This means you may need puppy gates to block off certain areas of your home. When you are in these areas accompanied by your pup you must reward the dog for the correct behaviors. I like to keep them on a leash at first so i can see their every move. If the puppy approaches, lets say the couch, and doesn’t try to start chewing on it I say “good dog” and maybe even give him a treat or provide one of those fabulous things we mentioned above to chew on. Like this our pups learn that they can be in the same room and behave appropriately.

As you are able to trust that your dog won’t start to chew on things he can earn a little more freedom, still with supervision until he can just hang out in any room of your home.

2. Chewing on things that can be moved like shoes and socks. The very worst thing you can do with this one is to chase after the dog since this will turn into a super fun game for the dog. Instead of that we can do an exchange, so dog gives you the shoe and you give him a piece of ham. This I only do when the object in the dog’s mouth is either very special to you or harmful to the dog, good examples of this are $500 designer shoes and a box of rat poison.

If whatever is in the dogs mouth is just a dirty sock then try some of these other techniques. a) Ignore the dog completely, a lot of our dogs tend to grab inappropriate objects as a way of getting our attention. When instead of chasing after them we ignore them then the object is not fun anymore. b) Grab one of your dog’s toys and play with it yourself, start throwing it in the air and pretending its a very special and fun game. When your dog comes over thinking “hey, this sock is not that fun, mine is not squealing!!!”, continue to play and ignore the dog a bit until you see them release whatever is in their mouth and then allow them to play with the toy while you pick up the inappropriate object from the floor.

3. Chewing on humans is what we call nipping. There are many reasons for dogs to nip at humans. A lot of our dogs nip as a way to interact with us like they would with other dogs. Some dogs have also realized that nipping on you will get you up and noticing them. Then you have the ones who utilize nipping as a way to control your movements this is herding and while very useful out in a field with sheep it may be quite annoying if you are just trying to get around your home. One of the reasons we tend to forget is when they nip as their means to tell you that what you are doing is not ok with them. This last one is very important to consider, is my dog nipping because something hurts (like a nail trim or a certain painful part in their bodies), is my dog teething and therefore finds it hard to resist someone touching his face? a) Depending on the dog this first technique may be very useful or not at all, you will know the very first time you try it. When the dog grabs a hold of your hand or any other body part, let out a loud scream. If the dog backs up immediately and looks worried, then this will probably work very well for this dog. If

however, when you scream the dog backs up and then pounces ready for play, don’t try this again and just move on to one of our other suggestions. b) Exchanging your arm for an appropriate thing to chew on is a great technique but make sure you continue to hold on to the toy so it’s still interesting for a bit longer. c) For dogs that are herding you, sometimes just stopping can teach them that they won’t be able to control your movement. d) When nipping just won’t stop using the above methods then it is time for a time out. Time Out is in a place where our dog is safe, it can be a small bathroom or their crate. Somewhere where they can’t get into trouble but are away from you or whoever they were nipping on. The dog is not being punished, we are merely giving them a chance to settle down. The dog will go in for 5 minutes, at the end of those 5 minutes you let the dog back out and give them a chance to hang out, if they go back to the same behavior then they go back in for 10 minutes and the 15 if necessary. If after 15 minutes of time out your dog is still trying to chew on you then this dog has too much pent up energy and they need to move to get it out. At this point you will put a leash on the dog and go for a very brisk walk. No sniffing around the block or a chatting with the neighbor kind of stroll, but a short leash, moving fast to get all the energy out kind of walk.

Keep in mind that all dogs are different and that we are trying to help them through what may be a difficult time for them. If these techniques are not working for you then please contact us to get a more personalized analysis of the situation.