My dog has been afraid of thunder lately, although it is not severe. I thought it's time to take some action on my part before her fear gets worse.

The Dumb Friends League (the largest animal welfare organization in the Rocky Mountain region) provides some useful information on what can be done to help your dogs with fear of thunder and other startling noises.

• Create a safe place (A safe location from your dog's perspective, not yours. Allow your dog to have access to the place.)
  
• Distract your dog (Encourage her to engage in any activity that captures her attention and distracts her from behaving fearfully).
  
• Behavior Modification (These techniques are called "desensitization" and "counter-conditioning" This approach must be done very gradually).
  
• Consult your veterinarian (Medication may be available for a temporary period. Do NOT attempt to give any medicine without consulting your vet first!).

The above only briefly summarizes the information. If your dog has fear of thunder, please click here and learn in detail about what you can do to help your dog safely cope with thunderstorms. The information also provides "what not to do" -- which dog owners also should know.

I bought a CD that has a collection of thunderstorms (nothing but thunderstorms. No background music), and play it regularly for my dog for "desensitization" purpose. (I'm finding, though, that using only a CD is not enough for my dog. Somehow she knows it is a CD. Real thunderstorms are more than just sounds. They also come with dark clouds, strong winds, lightening and the change of atmospheric pressure, etc. It seems like my dog is reacting to all of them combined together. I realize the need of multiple training methods for my dog.). At the same time, I took her to my veterinarian to make sure that she doesn't have any underlying medical condition that could make her particularly fearful of loud noises.

The following website articles also provide useful infomation.
Fear of Thunder, Sounds or Noises
Thunderphobia in Canines

Yesterday (April 22nd) was Earth Day. Millions of people celebrate this date every year as a way to appreciate and raise awareness of our precious environment called the Earth.

Since I started living in the United States, I noticed that many expressive Americans try to inspire environmental awareness among people. As I observed such people, I've learned the importance of protecting our living environments. My decision to buy pet food (and other natural products) with no chemical preservatives was made because of such influences. If I can live my life without chemicals, then I'd rather not use any unless I don't have a choice. I want to be that way with my pets, too. I don't want to advocate chemical overloads in our foods and other products. They are not healthy for our bodies, and they are not healthy for the earth, our living environments.

I hope I will be living a more environment-friendly lifestyle by the next Earth Day.

Please click here to learn about things you can do to protect the environment.

Labels: Environment

There was a time I was only focused on the very first ingredient (or maybe the second, too) of every pet food label I could look at. But I've been trying to look at the ingredients from a different angle lately. I know the pet food ingredients are listed according to the quantity of each ingredient, but I've realized that there is no way of telling the first couple of dominant ingredients can be the "only" factor to determine the animals' health -- although it is still important (you don't want questionable sources of protein as a first ingredient, for example). This realization helps me understand more about what makes holistic pet foods truly "holistic" regarding animals' health. The concept of holistic is, after all, "whole-istic".

The following are some of the things my mind quickly goes through when I think about wholesome pet food:

• How balanced and wholesome is the meal? (The body needs a variety of good ingredients to absorb nutrients. Every nutrient works together to create one healthy body.)


• How fresh is the food? (Do you know when your pet food was bagged and shipped? Stale foods are not appealing...)


• Are the ingredients highly digestible? (Does the protein come from a good source?)


• What is the quality control level of the pet food manufacturer? (Nobody wants to eat contaminated foods and get sick!)


• Is the food natural? (You want to avoid chemicals in the food if you're health-conscious, right?)


• Is the food cooked in a way that keeps nutrients as intact as possible? (You'd rather hire a cook with good skills)

As far as "wholesome" is concerned, pet supplements may be viewed in the same way as pet foods. Good pet supplements, in my opinion, are usually formulated in a holistic way, which means that not only are there active ingredients (glucosamine, for example), but also various supportive ingredients (chondroitin, various herbs and vitamins, etc to aid glucosamine's work) so that the active ingredients will work better in the body.

Considering the wholesomeness and the balanced formulation of a quality pet food, I believe that the 10th ingredient on the list can be as important as the first ingredient (a good pet food formulator wouldn't put an ingredient into his/her food for no reason, anyway). If possible, I'd like to avoid a situation where I "cannot see the wood for the trees."

Many years ago when I was younger, new neighbors moved in next to my house. The family had a dog - a Golden Retriever. The dog was tied to a chain outside at the front door every day and night. Nobody in the family seemed to pay attention to the dog. As months passed, my family and I started to talk about the poor neglected dog more often, but didn't know what to do. One day, the dog somehow escaped from the chain and walked into our property. The poor dog's coat was matted and dirty. We let the dog owner know the dog was with us. Soon the neighbor came to pick up the dog. Without saying anything to us, she grabbed the dog by the collar and dragged her back to the chain again. Watching her walk away with her poor dog, my family and I stood there with our mouths open, speechless. Later I was told that the dog's owner was a school teacher and I remember being surprised, wondering how a teacher like her could possibly tell children about compassion towards living things.

I stood still for a while, wondering if this behavior was typical of pet owners. On a daily basis, I don't come across dog and cat owners openly abusing or neglecting their animals. But considering all the news and articles on animal cruelty and neglect, it seems very common and may actually happen more often behind closed doors than out in the public eye. Just like the number of domestic violence is hard to grasp, so may be the instances of animal cruelty.

Looking back, I feel like I could've taken some action about this next-door neighbor's behavior toward her dog. But back then in my native country, I don't remember ever hearing about "animal rights" (I was also young)... I only remember a feeling of helplessness and sympathy toward the poor dog.

It's a good thing more and more people are growing aware of proper pet care and animal rights these days, and at the same time animal cruelty cases have been reported more often. I myself try to make a contribution to the well-being of animals by buying animal cruelty-free products regularly.

The following is some useful information on animal cruelty.
ASPCA
Pet-Abuse.com
American Anti-Vivisection Society

When you consider getting a puppy or a kitten that is in good physical condition -- for now and also for the future -- one of the things you should do is check the health of the animal's parents. Genetics is an important point to consider. Another thing you can easily check (and shouldn't miss) is whether the parents have been fed good foods with superb nutrition so that they can give birth to healthy puppies and kittens.

I read that in some old tribes women were not allowed to marry until they finished a special diet period. They had to go through six months of special nutrition before marriage. In these tribes, people somehow knew that children would be more susceptible to physical problems if their parents were not in excellent physical condition and nourishment.

It's important to know how conscious your breeder is about his/her dog or cat's health. Simply ask what kind of food he/she feeds their dogs and cats. Responsible breeders will be happy to talk about nutrition as an important aspect of breeding healthy puppies and kittens.

If you adopt a puppy or a kitten, you probably won't know what their parents are like. That may certainly be a disadvantage, but you still can do your best to keep your adopted pet as healthy as possible by feeding the appropriate diet that suits your pet's physical needs.