Understanding Dog Separation Anxiety

Dogs are pack animals. They want to be with other dogs, lead by their owner or alpha dog, and they feel safe and secure with their pack around. So when you leave every day to go to work, to the movies, or even a quick trip to the store, your dog will get anxious in your absence, as being alone makes them feel uncomfortable.

Your dog’s anxiety works like a clock. Each minute you are absent, a little bit more anxiety starts to build. Depending on your breed of dog, this anxiety builds faster or slower, but all dogs feel it. Some dogs can last an entire day without experiencing too much anxiety, while others – especially the very loyal and friendly breeds – can become incredibly nervous and jittery in as little as a few hour or less.

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Ad watchdog Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld 2 complaints against Iams. Iams is the pet food division of Proctor & Gamble, a large multinational firm based in Ohio (US). The complaint was filed by competitor Hills Pet Nutrition (Colgate-Palmolive Co).

ASA is an organization set up by the advertising industry. It’s task is to make sure that advertising meets the advertising codes and advertising remains decent, honest and truthful. The strength of the self-regulatory system lies in their independence and the commitment of the advertising industry. Anyone who thinks something is wrong with an advertisement can log a complaint with ASA. ASA resolves thousands of complaints each year.

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Highland Canine Training will be offering “Agility for Fun” classes for dogs and their owners at our Matthews, NC location. The classes will begin on June 21st 2008 at 10:00 a.m. and run for six weeks. Registration and free evaluations will take place on June 21st. Agility is great exercise and mental stimulation for any dog and owner who would like do do something for fun with their dogs. Linda Taylor will be instructing the classes that will each last about an hour. Watch Linda in action with Arie the German Shepherd in this short agility video. Space is limited, so if you wish to attend, please call Linda at 704.500.6810 or email her.

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The Purina Pet Comedy Challenge has just kicked off the voting stage of its second annual search to find the comedian with the funniest pet-related humor.

It kicked off in February with a 4-city tour where comedians performed their best family-friendly pet jokes. The first and second place comedians from each city won a spot in the Finals. However, the
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IFAW has a very fun and cute site called My Animal Island. What you do is create or join an island, and you also pick an animal (it looks like everyone is a seal right now). You can also invite your friends to join your island, and then you get to learn about different facts. It’s really a fun way to learn more about animals and animal welfare. It’s free to use.

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People want to feel protected in their homes and many feel that they can achieve this peace of mind by acquiring a dog that has been bred to guard. The truth is that any dog with a bark loud enough to scare away a stranger or alert you to the presence of an intruder makes a good guard dog; and, for the average homeowner who is seeking a four-legged “early warning system”, just about any breed will do. Every dog is territorial to some degree and will know who does and doesn’t belong on his territory.

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Today I recieved an email from Jane, and had to share right away. Jane is part of a great non-profit that helps save shelter animals.

“I work with a 501c3 non-profit rescue group called Saving Shelter Pets. We are a small, Internet-based group, with members and supporters all over the country (and a few international supporters too!). Our work addresses a number of domestic companion animal welfare issues. We are not a licensed rescue ourselves, but we facilitate rescues of dogs and cats in high-kill shelters, get them vetted and into boarding for quarantine, then send them to pre-screened no-kill rescues where they can be adopted into a loving, forever home. We also have an active Spay/Neuter program.We are working with one county in a rural area of Georgia to provide certificates for low-cost spay/neuter surgeries for pets belonging to low-income families. Also, we just recently helped sponsor a mobile spay/neuter unit at a humane society in a rural area of Ohio, where over 80 animals were fixed in a single weekend! We have a program called Puppy Promises that keeps unwanted puppies from being turned into a shelter and offers them a rescue instead - PLUS it spays the mother dog (which we pay for) so she can’t have any other litters.”

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The dog may reveal the signs related to the affections in the respiratory system. As a dog owner, you should know dog first aid therapy. For example, when the dog bleeds, immediately take a sterilized cloth or cotton and make some pressure at the point of bleeding injury. This simple dog first aid will arrest the bleeding in no time.

The ice cubes may be kept in the area to cause the constriction of the local blood vessels and finally this may help to arrest the bleeding from the injury. Then you can take your dog to the nearby veterinarian for the intensified therapy.

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An overview of the European Commission shows that in the last week of July, multiple alerts of melamine contaminated feed have been reported. The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) found contaminated rice protein in France, Greece, Spain and the UK - all imported from China.

The Commission publishes a weekly overview of alert and information notifications:

Company names and trade names are not mentioned so as to keep a balance between openness and the protection of commercial information.Country names are mentioned as origin of the product. However, this is by no means proof that the identified hazard originated in the specified country.

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This is such a fun book, and I have a copy to giveaway to a lucky reader! Want to win? Visit the author’s website, DernGoodBooks.com and then leave a comment on this post telling me why you would like to win the book. Comment on this post before midnight (MST) March 5th, 2008, and please only comment once, as duplicates will be removed. Be sure to fill in the email field so you can be contacted if you win.

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