What is the most important thing about bathing your dog, besides getting him to cooperate by getting into the tub?  Of course you want to use a shampoo product that will get him clean, leave his coat soft and shiny, and make him smell fresh.  But if you’re committed to using eco-friendly products for yourself, you will also want to extend this idea to caring for your dog.

So when it’s bath time for Fido, you can’t just use any old shampoo that’s labeled “dog shampoo”.  It has to be friendly to the environment, as well as friendly to your dog.

Here are some tips to help you find just the right products that will make your dog look and smell clean.  And they will be safe for him and the environment.

Look for natural ingredients like natural oils and vitamins.  Just like with human products, stay away from products loaded with ingredients whose names are so long and complex that you can’t read them, much less pronounce them.

Look for ingredients identified as certified organic.  What does certified organic mean? It means the ingredients advertised on the label meet some very tough requirements.  These can include insuring that the ingredients were grown without the use of synthetic fertilizers; that the production process was environmentally friendly; and that there are periodic inspections of the manufacturing plants to make sure these standards are maintained.

Look for products that are biodegradable. This means that the residue that washes down the drain will break down naturally.  It won’t pollute the water supply or harm plants, fish or wildlife.  Or your newly clean dog.

Look for products which are pH balanced.  This means the product is manufactured to match the natural acid balance of your dog’s skin as closely as possible.  When you use a shampoo that is pH balanced, there is much less chance of skin irritation or allergic reaction.

If your dog has a history of allergic reactions or sensitive skin, you will also need to find the right combination of ingredients for your dog.  Look for products that also include the term “hypo allergenic”.  These products are usually extremely mild, and can be tolerated even by dogs with highly sensitive skin.

If you can’t find products with these characteristics at your local pet store, or your groomer doesn’t carry them, you may need to shop online.  Do a search for natural dog shampoo or organic dog shampoo and you should be able to find many sources to choose from. You’ll be making your dog and the environment very happy.

There will be times when you might need to consider putting your cat in a cattery. If you are going on an overseas holiday or even a local holiday for a period of time and you are unable to find somebody to care for your cat at your own home, then the safest solution would be to take your cat to a cat boarding home.

If you know that this is something that will be required in the future then you should take the time to do some research and find out how well these cat boarding homes are run. You should talk to people who you know and trust who have already put their cat in a boarding home, and ask them how they felt their cat handled the stay and how it behaved when they brought it back home. Also, you should ask them if they saw any change in the condition of their cat after coming home from the cattery.

Once you have done a bit of research and found recommendations from other people it is worthwhile taking the time to visit these boarding homes to see how they are run, and to look at the conditions that your cat will be living in for the period that it will be staying there.

Try to get a boarding home that is close to your house so there is less travel to and from the boarding home for your cat, which will relieve some of its stress. Also, make sure that your cat will not come into contact with other animals that could result in health problems. If your cat is on any special diet or medication, talk to the staff at the boarding home to make sure that they are happy to give your cat the specific diet that it requires, or the medication that it needs to remain healthy.

If you do your research well, your cat will enjoy its holiday as much as you enjoy yours.

Dogs, especially puppies, should be taught where the right place for relieving themselves is when they come to live with you. Unfortunately, just like babies, they don’t come already housebroken. That will be your delightful job. Here are a few tips to help your potty training efforts go more smoothly.

Now, we have all heard terrible stories about the perils of housebreaking a puppy. Sure, you may get frustrated every once in a while but do your best not to let it get in the way of your primary goal – keeping puppy from pooing and peeing all over the house. When it comes to being consistent, this is where many dog owners have troubles.

What exactly does this mean? Well, when you take puppy outside to do his business, take the same route, use the same commands and praise him when he starts to go and when he finishes. Some owners like to stand indoors, especially when it is raining or very cold. The problem with that method is that a puppy might associate going to the bathroom with being left outside alone. This can set you up to find smelly “presents” all over the house. Your dog will either use the bathroom in his crate or elsewhere so he doesn’t have to go outdoors.

Experts give a little formula for trying to housebreak your puppy. The number of hours that a puppy should be able to go without using the bathroom is equal to their age (in months) plus one. A three-month old puppy should be able to last four hours at a stretch.

Take puppy outdoors to use the bathroom: when he wakes, every hour or so throughout the day and at night. Keep him on the leash so you won’t have to chase him if he gets distracted by any activity outside. Choose a command word that will mean “it is time to go to the bathroom.” When puppy chooses his spot, use that command in a gentle voice until he begins to urinate. Some dogs will poop afterwards so keep repeating the command until he is done with that too. Then, praise him for his great work.

There will be accidents, but use them as teaching tools to teach puppy what not to do. Catch him in the act if you can. Disciplining a puppy when you find their “package” will confuse them. They will think that they are in trouble for whatever they are doing at the moment instead of something they did twenty minutes ago.

If you catch puppy in the act, your voice command will usually stop him in the middle. If you can catch him urinating, you’ll avoid getting a bigger mess. Pick him up and take him out to the bathroom spot. Use the bathroom command to hopefully get him to finish his business. Then, praise him like normal.

Housebreaking can be both rewarding and nerve-wracking. But, once puppy gets the hang of things you can breathe a bit easier.

The best way to train a cat is by letting it imitate you as though you were its mother. This is easier done when it is a kitten as older cats become a lot more difficult to teach.
We all know how cats have a mind of their own and are very independent animals. This only becomes more so as they age.

You need to get your cat to trust you and shouting and growling at it is not the right approach to do this. Speak softly and encourage and reward it when it does the right thing as this is the fastest way to get your cat to do what you want.

Cats love praise, and teaching them that they will get more from doing something that you want them to do, will ensure that they will be more inclined to obey you for the reward. If you do have to reprimand your cat don’t use its name when doing so as you don’t want it to associate its name with something that might upset it.

When you are training a cat you have to remain consistent at all times and be very diligent until you get the desired results. Expect it to take considerably longer than if you were teaching a dog but don’t believe that you can’t teach a cat to do many things very well.

If there are other members in your family, they can help by always ensuring that the same commands that you give to the cat are also given by them. With the help of other people doing this you will have a better chance of training your cat a lot faster.

Cats can be a lot of trouble, and that’s part of the reason why we will love them so much, but there will be times when you will need to reprimand your cat and stop bad habits. This can be done by flicking a bit of water at it or by giving it a small fright by making a bit of noise when it does something wrong. A trained cat is a lot more fun and as we have them for many years it is well worth the time and effort.

What’s the difference between seasoned dog owners and new ones? They can bond with their dogs on a deeper level. They have learned the dog language. It is mostly body language of course, but is important to know if you want a healthy long relationship with your dog.

So, how can your dog speak to you without saying a word? Unless you are Dr. Doolittle, the barks are just noise, but how he moves when he barks is the clue.

• Wagging the tail – When your dog is happily wagging his tail and his tongue, he is in a playful mood. He may even lower the front of his body to the floor and raise his little hind end in the air. He is probably full of energy and ready for play time.

• Ears standing up – Something has caught his attention. He may stop wagging his tail and even lean his head to the side to pay closer attention to whatever is catching his eye. This is not necessarily a call to alarm, but that he has found something new.

• Bearing his teeth – This is considered a show of aggression. He may do this with strangers or when confronting an animal that he feels threatened by or that may be threatening you.

• Lying on the ground with tail down when he greets you – This is a way of greeting you that shows loyalty also. When you walk into the house, your canine companion may lower himself on the ground. This pose is also referred to as an “active submission.” He doesn’t feel threatened or fearful. It is an act of friendship, realizing that you are the boss and a friend.

Now, your dog makes other noises besides barking. Barking can have many meanings in itself, so we are going to talk about other sounds that your dog may make that you kind of want to be aware of.

• Growling – Your dog shouldn’t be growling at you, but he may growl at strangers. It could also be in response to his sensing that you are uncomfortable with someone. If your dog does growl at you when you take something away from him, it could be a play for the alpha position.

• Whining – This is such a cute gesture. Unfortunately it can also be annoying if you are trying to get him to do something that he doesn’t particularly want to do, like go to the vet. In these times, ignoring the whine lets him know that it won’t get him out of doing his duty. Whining can also accompany their show of loyalty and greeting.

Are any of these gestures and sounds familiar? If they are, now you can communicate with your dog more effectively. You can “speak” his language.

There are several foods that you should never feed your cat, as they will not only make it feel unwell but in some instances can be extremely detrimental to its health and well-being.

One of the biggest problems people have is when there is a dog in the house and the cat eats the dog food. Dog food is nutritionally undervalued for cat’s requirements, as it does not contain enough protein or taurine to meet the cat’s nutritional needs. If the cat eats dog food on a regular basis it will become unwell.

Many people will also feed their cat the scraps from their own dinner and once again the food that we eat is not of the correct nutritional balance that is sufficient to ensure that the cat has optimal health.

Just as chocolate is toxic to dogs, the same applies to cats and you should ensure that you never give your cat chocolate to eat otherwise it could become very ill and even die.

Don’t give your cat bones as they can splinter and get caught in their throat and intestinal track. This can cause a lot of damage or serious injury.

It is well worth investing your money in your cat’s health by giving it a recommended and nutritionally balanced diet that will have the right proportions of protein and other vitamins and minerals that are required for it to stay healthy.

There should always be a supply of fresh water available for your cat to drink, particularly if you are feeding it dry food where most of the moisture has been taken out. Cats will need fresh water to replace this moisture after having eaten dry food.

Clicker training is a technique that is highly successful for training dogs. The trainer uses a simple clicker that can be purchased from most pet stores and the dog is trained to respond to the sound of the clicker.

The dog will quickly learn that the sound of the clicker is followed by a reward and they will respond to commands when the clicker is used knowing that a reward is to follow. It is a great technique for home training of dogs as it is a simple technique that the owner can use to get fast results.

Some other dog training techniques can be a little difficult to master and unless the trainer has a good understanding of the training process it can become quite frustrating when the results don’t come as fast as expected. Clicker training generally gets results relatively fast and the owner and the dog can have a lot of fun during the training with both parties getting what they want out of the training sessions.

Clicker training leaves the dog with no doubt what it needs to do to get the reward. Clicker training doesn’t involve any forms of punishment if the dog doesn’t do as it is told, because it will know that it will not get the reward.

Punishment training can lead to confusion where the dog does not know what it has done wrong and this confusion can lead to an unhappy dog. There is no such problem with Clicker training. It is actually a form of positive reinforcement for the dog and this will help it bond and build a better relationship with it’s owner. Dogs have also been shown to learn a lot faster when positive reinforcement is used rather than any form of punishment. It is much better to let them know when they have done something well rather than bad and this process can also be used to eliminate bad behavior.

If you need to travel with your cat it will be necessary to do a little bit of preparation work beforehand to ensure that the trip is comfortable for your pet.

A cat can become quite excited the first time it travels in a vehicle and you need to do all that is possible to help it remain calm time as they will react differently when they become excited.

If it is a kitten or a younger cat then it might be necessary to put it inside a cage to stop it from running about the vehicle while it is traveling. It might be wise to take a litter box with you as sometimes when cats get excited they need to go to the toilet and if there is nothing available for it to use it is likely to hold on and feel sick or go somewhere that you don’t want it to go to the toilet.

Always carry water with you and stop regularly to see if it needs a drink, particularly in hot weather. It is preferable the first few times it goes for a trip in a vehicle to have eaten nothing beforehand as food can sometimes make cats feel sick.

If the cat seems calm then it is possible to let it out of the cage provided it sits quietly on a seat. Don’t leave any windows open where it might be able to get out and particularly when you stop the vehicle make sure it doesn’t jump out the door and go somewhere where it could be endangered.

If you do have windows down make sure there are no drafts that could be affecting your cat and don’t let it sit up in the back window of vehicles in direct sunlight where it might get overheated and become ill.

Generally if the cat has been in a vehicle as a kitten it won’t mind travel all that much and it will generally only become frightened if it associates travel with some unpleasant event.

They can find comfort in having a favorite blanket or bed in the vehicle with them and also a comforting hand from the owner beside them. Consider their feelings and treat them as you would a young child and you shouldn’t have too many problems.

Dog health insurance is something more and more people are considering to cover them in the event that their dog might get involved in an attack that could lead to legal action.

This might seem strange that people should need dog health insurance, particularly as we all think our own dogs are little angels but anything can happen even with the best of us.

It is our duty to keep our dogs well fenced and away from possible danger where they might attack or bite a child or the postie but these things happen.

Maybe a child has just been annoying your dog and it decided to give the child a small nip, completely out of character of course but these things do happen.

Or your dog might get a little over excited when you take it for a walk in a crowded park.

Many of the more intelligent breeds of dogs are very protective of their property and owners and it is not uncommon for these dogs to take a nip at someone.

It is up to you to decide whether your dog is a potential risk but if it is, dog health insurance might just be what you need to save a whole lot of money in legal expenses.

There are several options that you can take and it is always best to get quotes before deciding which insurance company to use, but you can expect to pay a higher premium for certain dog breeds that are more potential for risk of a dog attack.

If you have a dog that falls into these categories then it might be wise to consider dog health insurance before it’s too late.

Before we consider a dog treadmill, let me ask you a question. Is your dog getting depressed? It is not uncommon for dogs to get depressed. They can become bored very easily and when they are bored for extended periods of time this can lead to depression.

The more intelligent the dog the more likely it is to get depressed as they need more stimulation in the form of work or activities that can keep their mind active.

This is one of the reasons why dog training is so important, because a dog that is trained well will get a lot more out of life by pleasing its owner and it will also have a leader that is can look to for security and confidence.

Often the weather in the area we live can be the biggest problem when trying to keep a dog active with the colder winter months and shorter daylight hours making it difficult to exercise the dog.

There are alternatives for dogs just as there are for humans in these conditions and many people are unaware that it is possible to get a dog treadmill for their dog so they can still be exercised no matter what the conditions outside are like.

This can also be ideal for people who live in apartments or those who are unable to take their dog out for a walk at night due to reasons of safety.

For the convenience of ensuring that your dog remains fit and healthy and doesn’t become depressed and need medication, a dog treadmill might just be the answer that you are looking for.