There are so many cat breeds. How can you decide which breed is right for you and your family? Follow this handy guide to select the perfect cat breed. The first thing you should consider is whether you will be able to handle having a vocal cat. Some cat breeds can actually be quite noisy.…
Are you interested in finding a purebred cat? As you shop for your cat, you may notice the initials CFA in some advertisements. What exactly does this mean? CFA stands for the Cat Fancier’s Association, the largest purebred cat registry in the world. The CFA was created to maintain breed standards and register litters of…
So,you’ve decided that you want to have a pet cat. However, before you shop for your kitten, you may need to consider a few important things. After all, finding out that a cat is not for you after you’ve already grown attached can be heart breaking. The main reason that people have to find their…
Tastes among humans differ, but one thing is constant: your dog will eat just about anything off the table you give it. That may be fine when it’s just you and the family. But when you have guests over, it can be embarrassing. Here are some tips for how to get pooch to stay away…
The word ‘vital’ has its roots in the Latin word for life. That gives us a clue to why dog training is so important, both for owner and dog – it enhances the quality of life for each. Though dogs have been domesticated for thousands of years, they still have much of the wild in…
Most dog owners sincerely want to train their dog well. But an almost equal number will underestimate the time and effort it takes to do so. The result is frequently a common set of mistakes that can be, with more or less effort, avoided. Dogs are not furry children. Though the average mature dog has…
The variety of dog species is so great that sometimes it’s better not to think of them all as part of the same species at all. Biologists do because they can interbreed. Dog owners have different purposes, so it can be better to emphasize the differences over the similarities. A Jack Russell terrier looks, thinks…
You’ve undoubtedly noticed that your dog is much smaller than a horse. (Well, most are anyway.) Nevertheless, most horses are much more frightened of dogs than the reverse. That creates unique problems – for dog, horse and the person who has to govern both. In this case, unlike other animal training areas, it helps very…
According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control), dogs bite more than 4.7 million people per year. Law suits, medical bills and sometimes dog euthanasia are common results from this unwanted – and often avoidable – behavior. As with any dog training issue, how easy or difficult it is to train a dog not to…
Training styles differ, but some traditional techniques have proven their worth. Training styles are sometimes divided into those that use both positive and negative reinforcement, or rewards and punishment and those that rely solely on rewards. Using the word ‘punishment’ naturally turns off many who want to treat their companion with care. Substitute the word…