Petsmu

If you are anything like me, the joys of having a dog far outweigh the sometimes time consuming tasks that go along with having a four legged friend. As an owner of 3 wonderful golden retrievers, I also know the absolute importance of training your dogs to behave. Training has to start from the moment you bring your dog home and should continue throughout their lives. Now realistically how many of us can afford to hire a professional trainer or appear on the Dog Whisperer to have your training issues solved? My guess is not too many. There are literally thousands of sites out there devoted to dog training and you could spend years reading all the information that has been put out on the net. However, most people are not able to translate just text on a page into action.

This myriad of information has created a great opportunity for dog lovers everywhere. There has been a cottage industry that has sprung up that provides online training courses for how to train your dog. I have literally spent hours researching multiple training packages out on the web to help you sort through which ones are really worth investing in. The leading edge training packages utilize videos to assist you with training your dog. Please make no mistake that any course that you read or watch will provide you with little to no help unless you translate what you have learned into actions. Dogs by instinct want to please you. However as their partner you are entrusted with ensuring their education, much like with a child. If you neglect to train your dog ultimately you will have to deal with the issues for a long period of time. Sometimes the training of a dog can seem like the impossible, but with focus and repetition literally any problem that you are running into with your four legged friend can be solved. Continue Reading »

Although there are a large number of pet owners in the United States, most do not see a reason to have pet insurance - remarkable when you consider that these same people would argue vehemently that their pets are part of the family. Health insurance is generally considered to be very high on the population’s list of priorities, so why that level of concern would not also be extended to our pets does make the mind boggle. The following article deals with the costs of pet insurance and why when all things are considered, it may not be as high as you think.

Many pet owners do not consider insurance to be an important matter but they soon learn how costly things can get if their pets require treatment. The problem lies in the fact that domestic animals are often more liable to be involved in an accident or become sick, than say a human is; and when this happens, the cost of treatment may cause financial strain.

When you find yourself in the predicament of having to treat an injured or sick animal, a decision will have to be made and the last thing you will want to deal with is the stress over the expense of saving your animal.

I remember a few years ago when the vet told me that it would cost at least 1,000 dollars to save my dog. Although he is a part of my family, I did wonder at the time (I feel ashamed now), if the cost was worth it. To make matters worse, there is always the chance that even after the expense of surgery that your pet won’t survive; operations on animals can go sometimes go wrong. Continue Reading »

Fatter cats may be cuddlier, but they don’t live as long as average weight cats. Sad but true. Fat cats are twice as likely to die in middle age. They are also 4.5 times more likely to develop diabetes, seven times more likely to become lame from arthritis and three times more likely to have skin problems.

About 20%-30% of domestic cats are obese, particularly older females.

It is important to recognize if your cat has a weight problem. To do this you need to be prepared to admit that you have played a role in this, however unwittingly. Nobody sets out to make their cat overweight…it can just sneak up on you.

How to tell if your cat is overweight
Cats at a healthy weight have a waist. If you have difficulty feeling your cat’s ribs when applying a small amount of pressure, you have a problem. When you look down at your cat, if you see a bulge around his stomach, he is overweight. An average weight cat’s sides will look pretty straight. Continue Reading »