Pet owners are surrending their family pets  to shelters at a rate never seen before.

This is just another example of how this recession is affecting the U.S. household. A home is more than just parents and 1.2 children, but also includes the family pet.

ASPCA’s are seeing this on a daily basis, individuals coming in, having to make a decision that they feel is no longer in their control. Many times they feel the pressure and anxiety of household debt looming over their heads. This is an adverse consequence of our recient times.

Examples of families making the decision of settling their debt, or taking care of a precious member of the family have been popping up all over our nation. From households  turning in their dogs and cats in order to pay for medical bills, to pet owners  putting down their pets so they can afford to keep current on credit card bills and stay afloat. The economic collapse is making it more and more tricky for some pet owners  to justify putting down as much as a thousand dollars annually or more on the vet care and food for their pets.

The population expansion at animal shelters around the U.S. shows how the feeble economy is also reducing the pool of likley adopters.
The back lash has been population explosion of shelters resulting in a faster rate of euthanization, and quite a few shelters turning away families looking to surrender cats.  Of the estimated 6 million to 8 million dogs and cats sent to animal shelters every year, over half are euthanized what is left is placed.

Having no choice but to give up a family pet can inflict deep emotional scars on a family unit, even more on the children who do not realize the economic issues. We cannot expect them to grasp the immense choice their parents have to make, giving up their dog or cat to make sure after they pay their bills and debt they can be fed and clothed.

The only other option for many people other than leaving their dog is to dig themselves out of debt. Debt settlement can help families lower their monthly house hold expenses eliminating their need to make the difficult decision to allow their pet to be killed. The more people understand that there are options; the less stress will be put on the local shelters trying to deal with this issue on a daily basis.

Another suggestion is to find a person or family member willing to temporarily adopt your dog or cat. This would allow you to rest easy knowing they are well taken care of and loved. This would allow you to take time and create a debt relief plan putting them in a position to once again make their cat a part of the household again.

Housebreaking a dog or puppy is often the most stressful aspect of owning a pet. However, the process can be less challenging if you have a few tips to help you out. This article will give you pointers on dog potty training based around the concept of accident prevention rather than punishment.

Most dogs are housebroken as puppies, so let’s start with talking about potty training a new puppy. First, it is important to know that puppies do have limited bladder control, so accidents are going to happen. The first thing you need to do is introduce your puppy to a crate, a place that is his own and where he can be confined when you are unable to watch him. This is one of the best ways to prevent your puppy from soiling areas around the house. There are housebreaking pads available at pet stores that you can place in your puppy’s crate for him to go on while you are away.

One of the best things you can do for your puppy (and your sanity!) is to develop a regular routine as soon as you can. Try to feed him, take him outside, and put him down for bed around the same time every day. This will get his “body clock” set to the routine and he will eventually learn to rely upon this, as long as you follow through on your part and keep the routine as constant as possible, at least until your pup gets a bit older and develops more bladder control and adaptability.

Hitting your puppy when he has an accident is not correcting the problem. This can, in fact, make your puppy develop a nervous tendency in which he loses control of his bladder any time he feels he has upset you. Try your very best to take him out about 15 – 20 minutes after meal time, as puppies have very small stomachs and will be ready for the potty soon after eating. Try to keep your eye on your pup, so that if he does have an accident, you can correct him during the act and he will quickly understand the link between the word “No!” and going potty inside.

Though it requires dedication and patience on your part, training your dog by keeping to a routine to avoid messes in the first place is much more effective than trying to teach him through punishment. Now that you have succeeded in dog potty training, you can move on to teaching him to bring you the remote! Or for the little or arthritic dog, train him to use dog stairs! Even if your dog is perfectly healthy, pet steps can greatly reduce the amount of impact your dog’s joints receive.

This article will discuss pet feeding and how to properly feed your pet to ensure they receive all the nutrition they need to live a long and healthy life. Most pet owners purchase their pet food from pet stores or supermarkets. However, more and more pet owners are resorting to make meals for their pets of feeding their pet raw food instead.

An article by Shirley Lipschutz-Robinson sings the praises of a raw food diet for all pets. Her argument revolves around the feeding habits of animals in the wild. She states that domestic pet diets lack the necessary nutrients to keep our animals healthy and active. Veterinarians report an increase in multiple diseases resulting from that lack of raw meat in both dogs and cats, according to the author.

Most pet owners, however, prefer to purchase foods produced specifically for pets. Pet food varies greatly in terms of quality. Certain brands (Science Diet dog food, Purina Puppy Chow) are more expensive and believed to contain more nutrients and therefore, to be better for pet feeding. Be sure you have fresh water available for your pet at all times.

The different types and brands of dog food are vast, and it can take a lot of research to find the right one for your dog. Most commercial brands of dog food offer moist canned dog food, dry food, and semi-moist food. Veterinarians usually do not recommend that you feed your dog semi-moist food on a regular basis, as there can be additives and chemicals in them to help them last longer. If you decide that you want to keep your dog on a more natural diet, there are all natural dog food available. A dog’s diet is half made up of carbohydrates, usually in the form of grains. When feeding a dog, the general rule is that puppy feeding should be done frequently throughout the day, and adult dogs should be fed once or twice a day.

Never feed your dog chocolate, onions or garlic in any form (fresh, powder, flakes), persimmons, plant leaves (potato, tomato, rhubarb), mushrooms, grapes / raisins, or macadamia nuts. Also, do not let your dog chew on dryer sheets or eat human vitamins. The chemicals are harmful to them.

Cats also have a variety of food to choose from, ranging from dry, to semi-moist, to canned (wet). As with semi-moist dog food, veterinarians do not recommend it due to the preservative chemicals it contains. Cats require a high moisture content in their food, therefore it may be a good idea to stock up on canned food, which has a terrific balance of moisture.

Cats should never be fed yeast dough, mushrooms, onions or garlic an any form, plant leaves, salt, sugary foods, raw eggs, persimmons, grapes / raisins or macadamia nuts. Milk is not good for a cat’s digestive system, even though kittens are able to tolerate a small amount.

The exact origin of the breed of dog known as the beagle is unknown but it is thought that this sturdy breed descended from a blend of various English hunting dogs. Beagles are pack animals to the extreme and view a human family as their pack. Beagles come in various colors (and all are accepted in competition by the AKC) but they are most often represented in the tri-colored shades of black/white/tan. A yearly bath and occasional dry shampoo is enough to keep these small dogs clean. Grooming is a way to care for your beagle’s appearance and maintain his overall health.

After all, cats are known for being quite cleanly and for constantly preening themselves, right? With the help of a simple grooming routine, you can bond with your kitten while also preparing it for the future. Some dogs are fearless and will ferociously defend their owners by sacrificing their own lives if you apply the right pet grooming tips. Eye discharge is a sign of respiratory infection, which is actually quite common in kittens. If your kitten spends any time outdoors, you should also be sure to check its eyes or injuries. A number of different disease can affect its ears and can cause problems with hearing. In addition, if your kitten’s ears are excessively dirty looking, it may have ear mites.

With the working class increasing in strength with each passing decade and fewer family members staying in a joint family environment, there is lesser scope for pet-care to really stay the way it was in earlier times. If dog-owners take a little time out to check out the facilities of a few local doggy daycare centers on their own, following the advice of their vet or the recommendations of the local SPCA chapter, they are sure to get to the best places for day-boarding for doggies that are a better option any day than simply leaving the poor dears chained up at home while the owners are at work. Not only is it ugly, but it can become very uncomfortable for your pet causing him to pinch and pull at it. There are several things which can cause matting, but the most common cause is lack of grooming. Check and treat your pet for fleas regularly. Some cats and dogs have 2 coats of fur which shed and need to be brushed out. So how do you de-matt your pet’s fur? Well, let’s get this one out of the way first.

All of the above can be stressful for the sensitive silky terrier dog and as a concerned owner of this breed of pet dogs, you have to understand the implications of keeping your pet in conditions that may not be conducive to your pet’s health, treating him unlike you would a toy. Brushing your Golden Retriever regularly will help prevent shedding (especially important if you have allergies) and matting of his fur. Grooming your Golden Retriever is a time-consuming process.

When planning a chick house construction, dimensions are always the first to be settled. You must determine the number of chickens you will produce at one time and will possibly add in the future. This is very important as you do not want the chicks to be held in a crowded coop. When the chicks are jam-packed together in a small space, they can spread illnesses much quicker. Chicks, like any baby animal, require nourishing and are more open to illnesses than full grown chickens. With ample space, you will have greater chances of being successful with raising your chicks and chickens.

You will likewise need to add a space for incubation when you program on increasing your chicks the eggs produced. So include this in the dimensions. The incubation system must be isolated from the rest of the coop where the older chicks are. You might as well desire to have a different door for the incubator space so that you do not disturb the other chicks while in the hatching phase. This space must also be large enough to accommodate the equipment and you should have space to move around easily so that you do not get cramped while following the hatching process. 

You will likewise need to consider a run for the older chicks when designing your chick coop dimensions. When the chicks are small, they will have down feathers which be replaced with full feather if the chicks turn six to eight weeks old. With this, you can let the chicks stay outside of the coop to get some air. You desire to have a run that will be comfortable for the chicks you have. One caution is to keep the run safe as the chicks are helpless from other animals. By burying your run’s chicken wire under the ground, you will deter the predators from crawling underneath and getting your chicks.

After the chicks have passed a few months of age, they can then be moved to the main hen coop or sold. This will give room for more of the hatchlings. Once you have finalized the exact chick coop dimensions that are proper for you, you can finally start with the actual chick coop building.

Check out more information at mychickenhouseplans.org for Chicken House Plans and designs.

For related topics to this posts, take a look at how to Build Chicken Coop lens for more reference. Also see Chicken Coop Designs for related articles.

Getting a new puppy can be a great addition to the family. They are cute and cuddly and everybody loves them. Before bringing that new little furry bundle home, it is important to remember that they are only babies and will require a lot of puppy care.

In many ways puppies are just like babies. They are dependent on you for their existence. They need your help to feed them and teach them the things they need to know since they are the newest member of the family. They love attention so you should be prepared to give them lots of it. You will be rewarded, usually with a clean face.

Feeding your puppy is very important part of puppy care since he is developing bones and muscle as he grows. Feed your puppy food that is formulated for puppies and not adults. Remember that you can’t depend on your puppy to quit eating when he is full. Some will but others will eat until they get sick. Growing puppies should probably eat twice a day but do not let them “graze” all day.

A very important part of puppy training to you is the house breaking. This requires patience, and usually lots of it. Many puppies will need to go just after they eat so this is a good time to take them out. At other times they will give you some kind of sign, sometimes they sniff around, sometimes they turn around and around before they find their spot. Watching for their sign can tell you when you need to hit the door running with them in tow. They will eventually get the message but not until they have had a few accidents. The key is to not give up and don’t get mad at the puppy.

Puppy Care and Puppy Safety

Puppies and children are usually great together but it is never wise to leave small children and puppies together unsupervised. Puppies could get hurt and children could get bit. It is also very important that your new puppy gets all of his shots. Shots are a necessary part of dog training and will help keep you both healthy. Along with shots comes the check for worms, which is something most puppies get but fortunately it is easily treated.

As your new puppy grows you will need to discuss with your vet the best option for flea protection and also heart worm protection. Heart worms are deadly and treatment is expensive and dangerous for the dog.

Puppies grow up to be dogs and many times the care they received as a puppy will determine the temperament they have when they are adults.