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Author: Marion Herbertson
Choosing a suitable Dog? Large or small - active or couch potato - longhaired or short - with the myriad of options out there, how in the world do you pick the right dog?
Will a large dog be best - or a small one? Do you have children? Do you have other pets? Choosing a suitable dog raises so many questions, but choosing the perfect family dog is one of life's big bonuses. Dogs make brilliant companions and wonderful family pets - if you get the maths right! Making the wrong decision results in heartbreak for yourself and your family - and yet another unhappy or abandoned dog.
Choosing a suitable dog for your family is a major decision and there are ALL SORTS of things to consider. Will a dog fit your lifestyle? Will you have the patience to cope with a puppy ? Or would re-homing a mature dog be best for your family? If you do decided to go the puppy route - are you prepared for sleepless nights, puddles in the most unexpected places, not forgetting chewed up family heirlooms?
However, with a little bit of help, picking the perfect family dog can be a breeze if you do your research and remember the following basic points -
What TYPE of Dog will suite your lifestyle?
Simply put, the type of dog that will fit your lifestyle largely depends on the type of lifestyle you have.
Are you an active, outdoors type of person? You will probably enjoy a medium to large, active dog which needs regular exercise and can join in all your fun. If, however you lead a more sedate lifestyle, a smaller, calmer dog would be suitable and more appreciative of your calm lifestyle.
Space is also an important consideration. Some large dogs need plenty of space whilst small dogs do quite well in flats and apartments.
What BREED of Dog will suite your lifestyle?
Once you've decided what "type" of dog will best suit you, you can now work out the breeds which fit the bill. Dog breeds differ from each other as much as night does from day - this is why research is an absolute must.
Do take time to check out the breed AND the breeder thoroughly. Your dog's temperament is decided primarily by his breed and breeding and only then by human conditioning and training. However, when he is under pressure or provoked, it is almost always your dog's breed and breeding that will win - do bear this important fact in mind.
Other Factors to Consider
When choosing a suitable dog, don’t forget to take into account the cost of looking after a dog. Consider, for example, a dog's grooming needs - ie: shorthaired or longhaired? If you go for a longer haired breed, you need to factor in the additional cost of time and/or professional grooming.
In addition to the usual expenses such as food, vet bills, annual vaccinations and insurance you also need to consider the care of your pet while you're on holiday . Believe me, this can be expensive! More dogs than you care to imagine end up in a dog shelter or worse still on doggy death row simply because their owner had not considered these cost implications.
Last by not least, what type are you?
Well ...... choosing a suitable dog largely depends on your own personality. After all, it's no point picking a dog which is the life and soul of the party if you're the retiring type. Nor is it much fun choosing a dog which matures early and becomes all "dignified" - when what you thrive on is regular rough-and-tumble sessions! Yet another reason for you to do your research thoroughly.
So, do your research at this stage - there is a lot to be considered when choosing a suitable dog. Read as much as you can - and take your time. You'll find a dog which settles into your lifestyle so comfortably, you wont remember a day when he wasn't there - and even if you do, you’ll wonder how in the world you managed without him!
Article Source: http://www.myarticlepub.com
With years of experience in breeding, training and handling dogs, Marion Herbertson is first and foremost a dog lover. Visit www.advice-on-pet-care-and-pet-product-supplies-online.com/Choosing-A-Suitable-Dog.html- for more of her practical, sometimes humourous advice on pet care.
Author: Ken Charnley
Just like humans, cats feel miserable when they are sick. As a pet owner, it is your primary responsibility to keep your feline friends healthy and happy.
With proper care and nutrition you will have a friend for life in the form of your pet cat.
Here are some tips on how you can properly care for your cat's health:
1. Feed them properly.
Every cat has a preference when it comes to food. There are several types of cat food available in the market. Try each one until you find out which variety your cat prefers.
However, you can still try to mix the variety of cat food you prepare so that your pet will have a nutritious and balanced diet.
Commercial cat foods have been well-researched so you do not need to worry about the nutritional value of what you are feeding your pet.
Also, supply your pet with a lot of clean water to drink. Having an ample supply of drinking water will lead to a healthier animal.
It does not matter if you serve dry, canned or moist cat food. Just make sure that you preserve the freshness of the food that they eat.
You would also want to opt for a healthy and natural cat food. Remember that it should be made of quality ingredients.
2. Remember that even domestic cats are natural hunters.
Mice can serve two purposes in your cat's life: prey and dinner. Hunting for mice would preserve their natural abilities to hunt and seek prey.
If you decide that you do not like the idea of your cat regularly "hunting" for dinner, make sure that you provide them with a proper diet. This will result to your cat ending up just chasing and running after their prey for satisfying their natural hunting urges.
3. Watch out for unusual behavior.
If your pet is exhibiting unusual behavior, then the cat might not be at its best condition.
Try to look out for the following symptoms:
- being lethargic or less active than usual- shedding of the fur or coat- it has waxy ears- looks poor and unhealthy
If you see these symptoms, you might want to change the food that you are serving your cat.
Better yet, consult a professional if you see your pet being less active than usual. Your pet might have a sickness or disease, and as a pet owner and cat lover, you would not want that to happen.
Ken Charnley is a personal finance enthusiast with www.online-loans-pro.com/dedicated to quality information on online loans. For all your online loan needs visit and Apply For Loans Online Article Submission done by: www.articles-submit.comCourtesy of:Articleteller.com
If you want something new for your house, think about fish and aquariums… big aquariums, because they go with these times’ fashion.
The little golden fish wondering alone around his bowl seems to be long forgotten.
Instead of the little bowl, there are now huge aquariums, mounted on the walls or even enclosed in them, containing lots of colored fish, sand, lights, little stones and aquatic vegetation. Optionally you can choose a little castle of house to make the décor unique and fantasy-lie.
This idea has been adopted from restaurants, clubs or other public locations, but now it applies to homes of animal lovers, fish lovers especially.
You have decided to adopt fish because you like them or because you heard they bring prosperity and well-living to your life. Either way, you have to know how to take care of them because they are not just a decorative object; they are living beings that can’t take care of themselves.
They are going to need your full attention and care, they will totally depend on you. Here is some general advice, general because each species act differently and has different needs:
What do we need?We need an aquarium, a thermometer, a heating system, a water filter, and plants to oxygenate the water, sand and little stones, and a source of light for the plants.
How do we actually do it?Before placing the fish in the aquarium, the water needs to be left alone 24 hours and its temperature has to be of a minimum of 22-23 Celsius (it can differ for some species). The water is not changed all at the same time, it needs to be changes in several stages, 20% on each stage.
How do we feed fish?Twice a day, we give them the dried food, the life food or the frozen one, depending on the species.
How do we treat sick fish?The most common illness encountered amongst fish has as an exterior effect the apparition of some white pits on the flippers of the fish. In such situations, treatments are administrated in the aquarium to prevent the illness from spreading to the other fish too. For the right treatment, you have to go to a fish heath shop.Another rule in fish illnesses of any type is to just raise the temperature of the water in the aquarium and to dissolve some salt in it.
Ken Charnley is a personal finance enthusiast with www.online-loans-pro.com/dedicated to quality information on online loans. For all your online loan needs visit and Apply For Loans OnlineArticle Submission done by: www.articles-submit.comCourtesy of:Articleteller.com
Firstly, birds will be attracted by the geographic location of your garden.
To find out which birds are at the moment in the geographic area, you will have to consult the specialty magazines and documentations. Maybe even the whether guy can provide some information regarding this aspect although this is not always true.
Libraries and book stores have books based on migration, on the roads that some bird species take to get to their summer or winter residence. Also, taking pictures of bird you see around you and confronting them with informative materials that you already have or searching for information related to them can be an option to find out if these bird are going to make a stop in the area you live in.
Birds need water. This is highly important. A bath or a pool, no matter the size or the material, would instantly attract many bird families, even wild ducks and gooses.
If you could also arrange a place where they could find some food, bird seeds, bread or anything else they might like, that would increase the chances they made an escapade in your garden. You can try, for instance with corn. Seeds of any type also hold an answer to the question related to attracting birds towards your garden. The seeds that almost all birds prefer are sun-flower seeds, extremely easy to find, and cheep also. Anyway, before buying the seeds, you should make a list with all the birds that are in the area and with every bird’s food preferences to assure you can provide food for many types of birds present.
These are the first steps that you have to make to attract birds in your garden. The second step is keeping away from the garden all the things that might scare or disturb birds. Animals from the next garden, neighbor’s dogs can scare the birds. Try and ask the neighbors to keep the dogs chained or in the house, because they are mostly scared by dogs.
Also, you must know that some birds do not agree with each other, so that a certain species might avoid your garden because there is another species in it. Some can also stay away because of the fact you have children and the noise is too loud, and others can stay away because the place doesn’t look natural enough. So, knowing their nature and customs can be a decisive factor in bringing them in our backyard.
by Brigitte Smith
Did you know that most food that is fed to dogs today hasextremely low nutritional content? If you feed your dogcommercial dog food, you may be slowly killing your dog.Perhaps you think this is a little dramatic? Think again. Ifhumans are fed a diet of unhealthy foods, they probably won'tshow any adverse signs for quite some time. But fed over manyyears, people will become sluggish, sick, and eventually diefrom degenerative diseases much earlier than they wouldotherwise pass from this life.
The same goes for dogs.
All commercial dog food which is extruded (cooked) at very hightemperatures cannot be anything but bad for our dogs, whosenatural diet in the wild is mainly fresh, raw meat. Even afterdogs became domesticated, and then kept as pets, for decadesthey were fed home cooked food and table scraps, before anyonethought of commercialising dog food and selling cans of mush,or pieces of highly questionable biscuit-looking food called"kibble".
Dogs used to live longer than they do now.
Examine baked and kibbled foods for the presence of burnedspots on the biscuits. The presence of large numbers of burnedbiscuits indicates that the food has been cooked at such hightemperatures that the nutritients are likely to be almostnon-existent.
On the other hand, if dry products are damp, soft or stale, itmeans that they have been improperly processed, become damp intransit, become damp during storage, or that they are old.
Dry products that become damp quickly deteriorate from theaction of mold and eventually bacteria. Sometimes the onlyindication that mold is beginning to attack a dry food is themusty odor smelled when a bag is opened. At other times it maybe seen as a white, hairy beard or a bluish-green or blackvelvety coating over the food. Any food found to be moldyshould be destroyed immediately and never fed to dogs.
Does any of this sound like food you would eat yourself???
If not, then even though it's labelled as "dog food" and couldpossibly have some form of nutritional content (if you'relucky), why feed such substandard rubbish to your dog? Itreally can be harmful over the long term. Why else do you thinkso many dogs suffer from degenerative diseases like heartdisease, cancer, kidney failure, and more? These diseases werepreviously unknown in companion animals. Now they'recommonplace. And the increase in incidence of thesedegenerative diseases in dogs and other animals has occurred indirect proportion to the practise of giving pets raw food ortable scraps, to giving them commercial pet food.
The answer?
Feed your dog a raw, or primarily raw, fresh food diet. Thelarge part of the food should, of course, be meat. If you'renot a fan of raw food, then by all means give your dog homecooked food, made from premium ingredients which you would usefor your own food. Of course, you can give your dog all the fatand offcuts from the meat that you don't want. Dogs need somefat (unlike us!)
And if you really need the convenience of a pre-prepared dogfood, then go for a top quality dog food - NOT one of thecommercial brands found on your supermarket, or even pet storeshelves. Even many vets have no idea about correct animalnutrition, believe it or not, and promote commercial dog foodsthat are peddled to them as "premium" food, when they'renothing of the kind.
How do you know what a superior quality dog food is? Check forboth the ingredients and the method of cooking. The ingredientsshould be primarily meat - not meat byproducts, a smallproportion only of grains of all types, and preferably somefresh vegetables, fruit or herbs. As for the cooking method -the lower the heat, the better. Don't go for anything that hasbeen extruded (which is most kibble), or canned at hightemperatures. If the method of cooking is not stated, then makefurther enquiries of the manufacturer, or go for one that doesstate the cooking method - freeze dried or baked areacceptable.
About The Author: Brigitte Smith is a dog lover with a specialinterest in natural health for dogs. For more information onwhat's really in commercial dog food -http://www.HealthyHappyDogs.com/DogFoodFor information on ahealthy alternative -http://www.HealthyHappyDogs.com/LifesAbundanceFor your freedog health report - http://www.HealthyHappyDogs.com
Of course we all want to take care of our beloved pets but isit possible that parasites are endangering their lives?Although dogs and cats are generally considered to be ratherdisease free, they are both susceptible to parasites such ashook worms. Otherwise known as Dipylidium Caninum, the “hookworm” is a particularly nasty parasite that can and willshorten the life of your pet unless properly treated.
Parasites like the hook worm actually have teeth that they useto attach to the small intestine of your dog or cat (actually,these parasites are also a danger to humans too!). Now theseare rather simple parasites with three basic body parts: thehead, neck, and tail. Every hook worm has only one head andneck, but they may have several tail segments.
The tail segment is very important to parasites like the hookworm because this is how they breed. Every tail section has thereproductive organs for the hook worm. Sections of tail breakoff all the time and are passed with other solid waste (in theanimal’s feces). Fleas, who lay their eggs in feces, eat thetail segments and are thus infected with hook worm.
The parasites are passed on to the animal when the flea bitesit. It is also possible for animals to become infested withthese parasites by eating the fleas themselves. Therefore, thebest prevention for hook worms is to rid your home and yard offleas. Then, make sure the animal is free of the parasites bytaking it to your veterinarian. If infected, the animal will beorally given a mild poison that will cleanse its system of thehook worms.
Hook worms may not seem like very dangerous parasites but theireffect upon animals is cumulative. After prolonged periods ofinfestation, animals will appear emaciated as they will havebeen deprived of essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients bythe parasites clinging to their intestinal walls. In time, theimmune system will weaken and the animal will become prone todisease. If left untreated, hook worms are indeed parasitesthat can and will kill your pets.
It is usually possible to determine if your animal has hookworms by inspecting its stool for the parasites. Plus, if thestool is often too wet or runny, it is likely your pet has hookworms. Pets suspected of having the parasites need to be takento the vet immediately as the risk of spreading hook worms tohumans is very real. After the animal has been rid of theworms, be sure to destroy any flea populations in the area orthe risk of re-infection is very high.
About The Author: Parasites Info is an information site thatcontains links, a directory and other Parasites Information. Itcan be found at: http://www.parasitesinfo.com
Good saltwater aquarium care means taking care of the fish andwater quality in your tank but it also means taking care ofyour aquarium plants. Not only do your aquarium plants createan interesting home and shelter for your fish, they are alsoessential for the health of your fish, water quality and thetank as a whole. Proper, saltwater aquarium care, therefore,must always take into account the health of your marine plants.
Some marine plants are hardy and easy to care for while othersneed quite a bit of practice and experience. If you are anovice aquarist it is a good idea to start with hardy plants,as these are easier to care for. Once you have a bit morepractice in correct saltwater aquarium care you can move on tofussier varieties.
The first thing to do is to decide what you want to achievewith your marine plants. You should do this even before you buyyour tank. If you want big, healthy plants make sure you knowwhat equipment you need, what sort of saltwater aquarium careis required and how much time it will take you to achieve theseresults.
If you are more concerned with the fish in your tank than plantlife then it might be a good idea to invest in one or twoplastic plants instead. Responsible saltwater aquarium caremeans knowing what you want and getting the balance right.
While most marine plants do grow into lush, healthy plants theyall need good lighting. This is so that they have enough energyfor making their own food by means of photosynthesis. Withoutsufficient light for photosynthetic activity your plants willremain stunted or die. So part of correct saltwater aquariumcare involves making sure that your aquarium providessufficient lighting for plant growth.
To make sure that your plants are getting enough light keep thefollowing rule of thumb in mind: For each gallon of water in atank you will require 3 to 5 watts of light. Most aquariumlighting systems are below that level, however so you may needto shop around to find adequate lighting to make sure you areproviding the proper saltwater aquarium care for your plants.
In the natural aquarium the fish and plant populations areperfectly balanced and compliment each other. Marine plantscreate shelter, shade, and even food for your fish! Plants thatare well lit will give off oxygen and this creates a goodenvironment for your fish. So proper saltwater aquarium caremakes your tank healthy and provides optimum conditions forplants and fish alike.
The fish will, in turn, feed off the carbon dioxide released bythe fish. Plants also feed off the waste that fish produce. Thishelps to absorb some of the waste that might become toxic toyour fish. So as you can see proper saltwater aquarium caremeans maintaining a healthy balance for all the life in yourtank.
To provide proper saltwater aquarium care for your plants andfish you need to make sure that conditions in your tank areoptimal. Plant growth needs water which is at the correct phlevels. It also needs the water to be at the correcttemperature for growth and survival.
Unfortunately this might not fit in with the temperaturerequirements of the fish species you want to keep. So you mighthave to decide between plants and fish in some cases. Again,good saltwater aquarium care is always about finding the happymedium.
Fish also eat or tear away sections of plants and this mightactually ruin the aesthetic appeal of your tank. Plants may beuprooted by the foraging activity of your fish. So plant carecan be a bit tricky and does require some patience. One of themost frustrating aspects of saltwater aquarium care is theoccurrence of marine algae.
Algae can really be a problem for the marine aquarist.Sometimes despite the best saltwater aquarium care – lights,substrate additives, fertilizers and CO2 systems – instead oflush plant growth you are confronted with algal growth. Algaecan be very difficult to get rid of once it has taken root andit can really limit the growth of other plants.
Usually the aquarist employs various methods of saltwateraquarium care for combating this scourge. These might includeusing algicides, bleach dips, antibiotics (for cyanobacteria),manual removal or fish or invertebrates that feed on algae.
During an algal attack the amount of food and light isdecreased and different amounts of fertilizer are tried –sometimes with success. Correct saltwater aquarium care resultsin some sort of balance being reached.
The best form of saltwater aquarium care and algae treatment isto provide the tank with a water change. In fact if you couldchange the tank water daily it would be ideal but this isobviously not very practical. You should change 25% of thewater at least twice weekly, however. If you can stick to thisschedule the amount of algae in the tank will be reduced andyour fish and plants will be healthier. A water change shouldform a part of routine saltwater aquarium care whether you havean algal problem or not.
So what kinds of plants can you grow in a saltwater aquarium? Avariety of plants are suitable for a saltwater aquarium. Choosefrom grape algae (Caulerpa racemosa), Halimeda Halimeda sp,shaving brush algae (Penicillus capitus), fan algae (Udoteaflabellum), corralline bush algae (Galaxaura sp.), sea grass,red gracilaria (which your fish can eat) and many others.Proper saltwater aquarium care means making sure that yourplants and fish co-exist in perfect harmony.
Proper saltwater aquarium care means really getting to knowyour marine tank. Do as much research as possible to ensurethat your marine plants and fish have everything they need togrow, stay healthy and be happy. If you get it right, youraquarium will provide you with many hours of entertainment, funand pleasure. Good luck and enjoy your aquarium!
About The Author: Finally, All The Information You Will EverNeed To Begin A Wonderful Love Affair With Fly Fishing! Visithttp://www.flyfishingdomination.com
If you breed pets, whether they be dogs, cats, birds, fish or other then the Petsguide Breeders directory is your ideal online resource! To list your service simply create a 'Breeders Account' and enter your details. If you are a breeder, you will need to create a standard account should you wish to list a pet for sale.