Barking Up The Wrong Tree

Feeling hot, hot, hot

As the weather hots up this summer, the ice-cream vans are out in force. But before we run out and order that 99 with a flake, it’s really important to make sure that our dogs are kept hydrated.

It’s all very well us humans going out and enjoying the weather, but spare a thought for your four legged friend whilst you’re out sunning yourself.

There have been a few dog deaths recently as a result of careless people leaving them in cars. And it has even been reported that two police dogs have died after being left in a hot vehicle outside the force headquarters.

Lessons must be learnt from this. So before you run off to that ice-cream van, just make sure that your furry friend is in a cool, comfortable place, with plenty of water. Then you can sit back, relax and enjoy that 99…perhaps even with an extra flake!

Shocking dog thefts

Dog thieves have stolen dogs worth £5000 from a yard in Ballymoney, Northern Ireland.

The incident occurred overnight last Friday. And the thieves took five dogs but dropped one of the puppies as they fled the scene.

A two year old black Pug worth £1000, a Chihuahua, worth £800 and four Chihuahua puppies valued at £800 each were taken by the thieves.

One of the Chihuahua puppies was dropped by the thieves and was later spotted and returned to its owner.

The theft happened on Finvoy Road in Ballymoney between the hours of 9:30pm on Friday and 6:30am on Saturday. Police have made an appeal for any information.

That guilty look

You walk into the room, only to find your dog’s head buried in the rubbish bin. And what follows is what can only be described as a look of guilt.

At least, I thought it was guilt. But researchers at a New York college think otherwise. Barnard College carried out an experiment where they tricked owners into thinking innocent pets had misbehaved.

Most of the owners claimed they could see that guilty look even when dogs had really done nothing wrong.

The study found that there was no link between the owner’s claim of reading a guilty look and whether the dog had misbehaved.

Well no matter what the scientists say, I still believe that dogs can display their emotions. After all, when their head has been buried in the rubbish bin, they’re right to look guilty.

Dog Crates Have Many Purposes

We got our Siberian Husky when he was six months old.  At the time we bought him a dog crate which was fairly large.  Now he’s a year old and far too big for the old crate so we’ve bought him another one.  It’s massive!

Dog crates are meant to be a safe haven for your dog with some training methods advising that you put your puppy/dog in them for long periods of time.  I don’t really believe in this, though I the dog crate did come in handy.

Max used to be a nightmare whenever I cooked; jumping up, licking the side board and often steeling food.  I then started putting him in the cage whenever I cooked, at first he made a fuss and lots of noise, but very soon he got used to chilling out while I cooked in peace.  We’ve now gotten rid of the dog crate as it was quite space consuming however, Max now knows to behave and leave me to cook in peace.

Another great use for dog crates is to put puppies in at night.  According to friends it speeds up the process of teaching your puppy toilet manners.  Dogs are unlikely to go to the toilet in what they perceive as their bed and therefore hold it until you get up in the morning.  Leaving you to get up with no nasty mess to deal with!

Energy Certificate and Pet Dog equals Misconception

Recently, the government announced that it is now the law for each home to have/obtain Energy Performance Certificates. Probably 90% of the people out there have no idea what these are or what they are used for. Basically, it’s a rating from A to G where A implies your home is very energy efficient and G being not very efficient.

Now, talking about these energy certificates, you might be wondering what on Earth do these have to do with Dogs. Well, this is the misconception…

Lots and lots of people are under the misconception that owning a pet cat or dog will decrease the rating on your energy certificate.

Well, you may be pleased to know that this is not the case for most. Maybe, and just maybe if you own ten or more cats and dogs, then this may potentially affect your energy rating if you are not well set-up, but I personally think this is not the case.

So what’s your opinion on this? Do you think that by owning a pet dog, the government should decrease the energy certificate rating for your home and business?

Many would not like this but I’m sure there are a few out there who would like to see a decrease?

What do you say to this?

Office and dogs don’t go together

This point really needs to be stressed in this day and age.

Lots of people don’t really realise the fact that lots and lots of office workers out there do not like the fact of having any sort of pets in the office, except if it’s fish as these don’t get in the way of anyone working in the office.

It’s not that people don’t like pets in the office; it’s just that when the pets, cats and dogs start to raid the office furniture, this is when it stops people from working. This is the major point. Staff find it difficult to work, especially when they have deadlines and meeting to meet and attend.

This goes to all the office bosses and managers out there. Bringing animals and pets to the office can really bring down and destroy the morale of the people.

Some people also have a really strong phobia with dogs and cats. When they come within a 100 meter’s of one, they begin to feel funny quite dodgy.

Basically, my point is that in the end of the day, the best action to take is not to bring an animal which could potentially cause anyone even a little bit on uneasiness to the office. An office is a place to work, not to relax!

Don’t Delay Your Mortgage Further By Owning a Dog

Lots and lots of people in the UK have a mortgage and in these times of difficulty, are having a very difficult time trying to pay this off and are forced to increase the period of repayment due to the current economic crises and recession.

By interest rates increasing and self cert mortgages being very common, times are becoming tough for many out there.

For those who own pet dogs, one further option is available. For many, this is the last option you would like to take but there may be no choice. This option is to say good buy to your pet dog.

What this would allow you to do is to use that amount you used to spend on your pet dog/dogs towards your mortgage.

I understand some people would be offended by this but it does not mean the end of the world. You can always have your pet dog returned or you can find another pet dog once the recession and crises faced by the economy is no more.

Many will agree with me and many won’t. Please leave your comments and please give your reasons for you support or non support as it would be good to read the thoughts of both sides.

The importance of Service Lifts

People are generally negligent when it comes to looking after their pets - especially dogs - and don’t go that extra bit to look after their pet dog from every angle.

Many people think this is not even needed as dogs are only animals. This, of course is wrong and every step should be taken to ensure your pets and well looked after and nothing day in day out should be and object of harm from any aspect of the animal.

One area where many people lack are in large corporate buildings where dogs are not allowed in the service lifts and so, make them run up and down 30 floors many times in one day.

Some may argue (just to get away with it) it’s good exercise but we know this is not the case.

My main point today is that it’s against the law and against animal rights that your pet is not looked after too well.

One way to solve this issue it to install service lifts that are specially made and designed for dogs and other similar animals. By doing so, you will not only follow the law and make animal rights people happy, you will also look after the being of your pet.

Keep you dog warm for the winter

There are many instances of stories and situations where many pets have been known to have died.

From amongst these, there are two instances which appear frequently:

1. Pets and Animals are left in a vehicle in the hot summer months for a couple of hours. As the heat continues to increase, it becomes a bit too much for the Animal by which it takes their life.
2. In the cold winter months, home animals and pets are left out the house or in a very cold room where, as above, becomes a bit too cold for their beings to handle and thus, they face the same fate as above.

Toby nominated for award

Toby is a West Highland terrier who has been nominated for the doggie version of the People’s Pride of Britain awards, also known as the prestigious national Dogs Trust Honours awards, in the ‘doggie devotion’ category.

Toby is 15 years old and has lived with his owner, Fiona, for almost all Read the rest of this entry »