Dogs and cats bite for a variety of reasons. Cats bite when they are playing and it’s not meant to harm you. Or they may bite when they are agitated or not feeling well. If it becomes persistent, you might want to have your cat checked by a vet to make sure they are in good health.

Like cats, one reason a dog may start biting people is because they don’t feel well and should be checked by a vet. But unlike cats, dogs are “pack” animals. That is, they need to have a leader of the pack or they will become that leader. They show their dominance by biting people. That can easily be rectified with proper training. I had a dog named Brutus. While I was living at home, Brutus never bit anyone in the house. When I moved out, my mother told me that the dog had to stay with them. After a while, he started biting the people in my family one by one. He never bit me though. One day when I went over there, it looked as though he was going to bite me. I looked him square in the eye and raised my fist in the air and shook it in a controlled manner at him while saying his name. I NEVER HIT HIM!!!! He knew I was boss because that was how I use to let him know he was doing something that I didn’t like. A few years later after he passed away I saw a program on why dogs bite. It was based on the fact that dogs need to have a pack leader. I realized then, that I was Brutus’ pack leader and when I left the house he took over. It was stressed that with proper training, the dog will stop biting. I saw it first hand for myself and I didn’t even realize that I had established my own training technique with Brutus. NEVER hit your dog or cat or any animal for that matter! That is not proper training. It only means that the person who hits their animal, needs anger management classes for themselves.

There has been a recent outbreak for Dogs in NYC, this was passed onto to me from a friends breeder.  I wouldn’t doubt that this may be happening in other areas as well so please be mindful of what is going on with your pet.

Please watch your dog carefully for the following symptoms:
Coughing/Hacking/Gagging (which MAY produce a foamy mucus)
Running nose or discharge from the nares
Excessive Sneezing
Runny/Goopy/Watery Eyes
Crusty Eyes
Loss of appetite
Lethargic
Possible Fever

If you have a young puppy under the age of 9 months, a senior dog, a  dog who is recouping from illness, dog in recovery or a dog who has a  weakened immune system you must be extremely careful.

If you notice any of the above please get your dog to a vet, ASAP!

Like humans, pets are also susceptible to secondary sinus and chest  infections. Your pet’s immune system will be placed under stress by the  virus that is causing the cold and therefore it’s easier for  infection-causing bacteria to establish themselves.  The greenish,  yellow discharge from the eyes and nose that develops during the course of  a cold is usually a sign of a secondary bacterial infection.

In addition to whatever your vet may or may not supply here are some  idea for helping your dog(s).
* Humidifiers can be of great help. If using homeopathic remedies do  not use menthol or other very aromatic substances. Simply having your  animal in the bathroom when you shower can help you decide if humidifiers  are helpful.
* Use a harness on dogs that have Kennel Cough and keep  the collar off when the dog is inside.
* Offer heated areas (heating  pads) or cooled areas (a fan, tile floors) so the animal can choose which  makes them feel better.

Where will you contract such illness:
ANYWHERE!
Dog Parks, Vets, Doggie Day Care, Boarding, Grooming, Walking down  the street, Parks, Dog Parks, etc., etc.

About 2 weeks ago I noticed that Neko had a few very tiny bald spots on the top of his head.  Having a new pet is hard to distinguish what is normal for them and what isn’t.  As the days past it got worse, but they started to look less like bald spots and more like a very short “crew” cut.  Well what I have learned is that there is a common allergy in American Bull Dogs, and that is the grass allergy.  I don’t use any pesticides in my yard so we knew for sure it wasn’t that.  We did some research and got in touch with the vet and found out that indeed its just an allergy.  There’s nothing much we can do except keep him from rolling in the grass, but since this allergy isn’t bothersome to him, we’re OK to let him enjoy the running around.

Training your pet is a lot harder than some may realize.  Just think of your pet as a child, if you have had children or you know the “rules” of raising them, its pretty much a “training” process.  But in the human worl we don’t train our children we teach them.  We need to realize that pets need to be taught right from wrong, the do’s and don’ts and so on.  Even as adults we are always learning new things and conditioning the old.  If you are lucky enough to send your pet to training class, you’re one step ahead.  But what we don’t always realize is that you MUST continue that training.  Pets forget, and its more than obvious that we do to.  In bringing in a new pet to our family we have learned that it is so important to learn what their past training experience was and how we can continue that training experience now.  When we first adopted Neko, he wouldn’t dare jump on the couch, or on people.  Little by little, Neko started to test his boundaries.  It started with a head on the couch, looking so cute and innocent.  We’d pet his head for a while and think nothing of it.  Then the next thing was his paw, no harm right?  So we let him be.  Well to state the obvious he has started to slowly “climb” the couch to sit with you.  I hate to be a stickler, I really do, but in my adult life I have realized that this is not appropriate.  Why? because when you have visitors not everyone is comfortable snuggling on the counch with a 95 pound dog.  And its not always fun to sit in a pool of slobber either.  We have a great pillow bed for him and that’s where he needs to realize that this is his special place.

OK back to basics, when a child does something wrong we don’t let them do it over and over again.  We first try to correct it by tell them they can’t do that and direct them in the right place.  But if they continue to do it over and over still, we then need to tackle this in a way that they won’t want to do it again.  And that way is usually in timeout.  They sit, they think about why they are there and then hopefully we won’t need to do it again.

So I hope we are all following this, timeout for the pup.  Redirect him, tell him no in a stern voice and let him know you’re not happy.  NEVER NEVER NEVER strike your dog!

Recently our family decided to adopt a new pet.  Our family currently consists of an itty bitty dog, boo boo, a kitty cat named meow meow, 2 little girls, Paige and Rylan, my hubby Kyle and me, Liz.  So you’re probably shocked to see that we decided to add to our family.  This was a decision we had spoken about often, we wanted a BIG dog, but we wanted to be sure every family member could get along with the new pet.

After looking online and visiting shelters we came across a family who was in need of a family they could trust to adopt their pup.  When my husband told me it was a 16 month old American Bull Dog, I was quite nervous.  The American Bull Dog is part of the Pit Bull family and we all know the bad rap they are given.  Well when we went to visit the family I fell in love and so did the girls.  We then had them come to our home to see how the other pets would react, and lo and behold they got along perfect! It is now 3 weeks into our adoption and it feels like Neko has always been a part of our family.  He’s sweet, lovable and gentle and even thinks he is a lap dog!!!  With this said, make sure before adopting that your family is ready for the new addition and be sure to have the pet visit your home and see how they react to their new surroundings.

Oh, and another little mention, the pit bull is one of the most loyal breeds of dogs you will ever meet.  It is a shame they are given such a bad name.  Remember a good pet has a good owner and lots and lots of training.  Pit Bulls are the most misunderstood creatures, many are raised to fight other dogs because of their strength and muscle tone it has nothing to do with who they are.

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