I see many cute puppies and kittens around this time of year. They are so adorable! Yes, it's the season for puppies and kittens.

Well, guess what? This is also a baby bird season!

Around this time every year, my dog finds wild baby birds (usually songbirds) on the ground when we walk around the neighborhood. I used to pick up these baby birds without a second thought and bring them back home. Ignorance is bliss.

And thanks to the power of the Internet, I learned a lot about what to do if you find a wild baby bird on the ground. Here are some tips...

First, it's illegal to keep wild birds. It's important to ask for a professional's help (such as a wildlife rehabilitation center in your area) if you want to rescue birds you find in the wild. Until you reach such help, what you can do at home is put the bird in a quiet place, keep it warm and feed soaked cat food or dog food (if it is a dry food, mash it with some warm water) temporarily. Never give water directly to the baby bird. Water will drown the bird. Moisture in food is enough. Feeding a baby bird is an all-day job, so be prepared (feeding every 20 minutes to an hour!).

Another thing I learned is if you find a baby bird, you don't have to pick it up out of pity. Even if you can't see them, there are usually parents around watching over it. If the baby bird's parents don't show up for a certain amount of time, then you should probably take action, but maybe the baby bird is big enough to survive by itself.

To make a long story short, Nature is often wiser than we think.

If you need more information on wild baby birds, you can visit these sites:

For the Birds

Caring for Baby Birds

In general, I'd say I'm more interested in the health care of dogs than training them.

But I do train my dog.

After all, I don't want her to have an upper hand (even if she is a small dog)! I have my own pride as the "alpha dog" in our family.

I read a dog training book that says one of the most effective commands you can use to make your dog submissive is the "Down" command. (Not rolling over, showing the belly, but lowering the body to put the belly on the ground). The position puts your dog in a vulnerable situation. It's hard for the dog to get up and take swift actions. Dogs seem to be naturally reluctant to follow this "Down" command.

Anyway, when my dog was still a puppy, of all the commands I taught her, the "Down" command was the only command she didn't want to obey - no matter what!

3 months passed and my stubborn dog still didn't want to do it. I don't know how many times I wanted to give up.

The day finally came when my dog followed my "Down" command. It was unbelievable! I was so happy I remember screaming and running around with joy. I will never forget the day. It was the day I won!

Now that my dog mastered the command "Down", teaching her all the other commands has become a lot easier. The training book was right: my dog became very submissive to me.

If your dog thinks he is the alpha dog, give him "Down" commands many many times, until he thinks YOU are the alpha dog. It's an idea you may want to try.

I'm health-conscious. Or, at least, I try to be.

I try to eat simple and natural foods. I drink filtered water. When I clean the house, I try to keep the use of chemical cleansers to a minimum.

But it's very hard to live a 100% natural and chemical-free life. Many things that surround us daily -- whether it is food or environment -- have been engineered by human hands over the decades with the development of modern technology.

The life of pets is certainly influenced by the human world.

I do my best to give my dog and cat the best pet food possible; something that is nutritionally balanced and doesn't contain chemical preservatives. I also try to give them as little chemically-treated surroundings as possible.

But again, it's very hard to give my pets a 100% natural and chemical-free life. Once they step outside, they are surrounded by car exhaust gas, pesticides, herbicides and so on.

All I can do is raise my consciousness about a healthy lifestyle for my pets (and for humans, too), and help my dog and cat build strong immune systems to combat harmful substances around them.

I'm big on oral care in general, and that includes my pets.

Recently, I bought new toothpaste (actually a gel) for my dog and cat. My veterinarian suggested using the product when we were talking about dental care of pets. I went to the company's site and read that this product is effective in reducing tartar, plaque and a bad breath of your pets in a noticeable way.

The toothpaste company offers two products - a spray and a gel. I bought the gel, although many customers of the company seem to use a spray in the morning and a gel (for brushing) in the evening for the best results. I bought the gel because I wanted to give it a try first to see how effective this product was. According to the company, the ingredients are 100% natural. The main ingredient is grapefruit seed extract which has many health benefits. When sprayed or brushed on pets' teeth, the ingredients mix with saliva, which coats the teeth of the pets. This process loosens plaque and tartar, and kills harmful bacteria.

It has been only a few days since I started using the product for my pets. I'll wait for a month or so to see the effect. I'll be very happy if it works, especially for my cat who doesn't like being touched in his mouth.

I'm excited about this new teeth cleaning product that is natural and safe to use for my precious pets!

Holistic veterinarians are different from conventional veterinarians in many ways. If you are new to the concept of "holistic" approach, please read one of my articles about this topic.

I love holistic approaches toward the health and well-being of pets (and all the living things on this earth). I feel connected to the balanced and harmonious ways of living with Mother Nature that our ancestors had for thousands and thousands of years.

Ideally, it would be best if your veterinarian practices both conventional and holistic medicine. Conventional medicine certainly has advantages (such as surgery, X-rays, and all the modern treatments for acute and severe symptoms) that holistic medicine doesn't provide.

I would definitely go for both holistic and conventional for the benefits of my dog and cat.

For a long time, I didn't know anything about holistic pet food. I always thought that all pet foods were the same, only manufactured by different pet food companies.

I like reading books about pets, and I remember some authors mentioning "holistic" pet foods. But I still didn't give it much thought for a while -- I just didn't know how pets could benefit from eating holistic pet foods, and couldn't imagine what kind of positive impacts these foods might have on dogs and cats.

One day, I was talking to my neighbor who owned a pug. Noticing that his dog's coat was a lot shinier than that of my dog, I asked him what he did. He told me that he gave his pet a premium dog food. That was when I started my search for high-quality pet foods.

Gradually, I learned the importance of feeding natural foods to my pets to keep them healthy. Funny, though I'd always been somewhat health-conscious myself, I didn't apply this thinking to my pets.

Today, the coat of my dog is shiny and people ask me what I do. It's a great feeling.

I grew up having many cats in Japan. These cats were usually left outside because my parents didn't want them to scratch the floors in their house. (The floors of traditional Japanese houses are usually covered mats made out of straw, called "tatami". If you know martial arts, you may know what I am talking about.)

My cats used to hunt many small animals such as sparrows, frogs, snakes, lizards, and insects. They brought them back to show me these trophies proudly. It was thrilling to watch the cats crawl slowly toward prey and dash at it like a cheetah.

Looking back on those days, I now know that I lived with cats who enjoyed their instincts to the fullest. They were very agile, and the way they gazed at prey and swiftly pounced at them was certainly a sight to see.

Now I'm a grown-up. I live in the Unites States with my husband. We have a cat who stays all day inside the house. He is a beautiful and elegant black cat and we love him. Our cat doesn't hunt for food. We provide him with natural cat food and a good shelter throughout the year.

But I often miss watching the instincts that nature gave these elegant animals.