Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Dog-aggression:-there-is-a-lot-you-can-do-to-handle-it

By: Rosana Hart

No matter where you live, you may run into dog aggression, and it may be caused by your dog. Sometimes it is between two dogs, whether neighbors or dogs in the same household. Sometimes it involves a dog attacking or biting a human, all too often a child. This article will give you three things you can do if you are dealing with an aggressive dog in your family. It will also provide you with a link to a resource that has much more information on this stressful situation.

The first thing to do if you have an aggressive dog is to manage his living arrangements. You need to create a situation where everyone is protected from further harm: you, your family, the dog, and any other people or dogs who come in contact with your dog.

You can do this partly by crating the dog at times. If he is not used to being put into a crate, you will have to coax him in with treats and monitor his being in the crate to be sure he doesn't hurt himself (or the crate) trying to get out. Never leave a dog in a crate for an extremely long time.

If you don't have a crate or as an adjunct to it, you may be able to confine the dog to a room in your home, such as a laundry room, a spare room, or something of the sort. If you are dealing with dog-dog aggression, be sure that at least one door, and preferably two, is between the two dogs all the time.

The second step is to have a good veterinary exam for your dog. It may be that your dog is in pain or has some other physical condition that led to his bad temper. If so, once you get it solved, the aggressiveness itself may cease. If your veterinarian finds nothing, then you know that anyway.

Third, keep a log of what incidents and near-misses occur. It is very easy for details to get jumbled in our memories, particularly around stressful matters like this. A small notebook, or just a paper and pencil kept handy, will come in very useful as you move into longer-term management and training routines.

Longer-term planning is the next step, or actually several steps. It may not be easy, but there have been studies done which show that when people who have an aggressive dog are diligent about care and training, the future is much rosier for the dog and all around him.

Article Source: http://www.acmearticles.com


Visit Rosana Hart's longer page on aggressive dogs, Nine Tips If Your Dog Becomes Aggressive. You can also visit the category in her blog on dog aggression for more.

The-brazilian-mastiff-dog-breed


By: Jim Moore

The Fila Brasileiro (or Brazilian Mastiff) is a large working breed of dog developed in Brazil. The leg and spine joints of this breed of Mastiff demonstrate perfectly what made this dog such a great tracking dog. At one point in the history of the breed and the country, the dog was used to track and capture runaway slaves.

The Fila Brasileiro is believed to have been developed from a number of breeds, predominantly the Mastiff, the Bulldog, and the Bloodhound (the last contributing to breed's loose skin).

Not surprisingly, the ancestors of this dog included Bloodhounds, Mastiffs and Bulldogs of European origin. The result of this breeding is a dog that possesses the incredible scenting ability of the Bloodhound and the amazing fearless power of a mastiff. Like his cousins, the English Mastiff and others, he is a large dog. Their extremely powerful loose joints allowed them to change direction or stop on a dime in a fraction of a second.

The Brazilian Mastiff can be a ferocious guard dog, bred to actually distrust and dislike stranger. This combination made this dog suited to the defence of the cattle ranches of the Minas Gerais region.

The male Brazilian Mastiff weighs between 160 and 230 pounds and stands in the region of 30 inches tall. Whereas the female weighs approximately 90 pounds, with a height that ranges between 24 to nearly 28 inches.

This breed of Mastiff can be prone to health problems, such as obesity, bone cancer, and hip dysphasia.

If tyou have taken to the Brazilian Mastiff and you are considering owning one. Then all I can say is beware. Because they are known for their self-assured, but fiery temperament and at times can be uncontrolable.

Brazilian Mastiffs are not suitable for city life or for busy households where non-family members come and go as they please. These dogs are very courageous and require firm training in order to prevent excessive aggression and to promote calm and obedient behaviour.

This breed of Mastiff can be extremely loyal and affectionate with family members and instinctively (and ferociously) protects his family from all strangers. This makes them one of the top ten guard dogs of all time.

They are a very intelligent animal and at times they give you the impression that they have a docile temperament. They have a tendency to bark very infrequently, but surprisngly they are aware of everything going on around them.

Article Source: http://www.acmearticles.com


If you have decided to own a Brazilian Mastiff you can get more comprehensive information on The Brazilian Mastiff in our book, The Noble Mastiff - Everything You Need to Know About Buying, Raising and Caring for a Mastiff.

Frontline-plus-is-the-best-flea-medication-for-dogs-and-cats

By: Rebecca Foxton

Frontline Plus Flea & Tick Control is the first choice of the vets in North America for treating canine and feline pets. 100% of the fleas are killed in the first 24 hours, and all ticks are killed within 48 hours when you use Frontline flea medication.

Frontline Plus flea killer ranks first as it works effectively for one month, that is, double the duration than that provided by its next competitor. Many owners of active dogs choose Frontline due to its waterproof properties.

Many flea medications can be very harmful to kittens, puppies and nursing mothers, but not Front Line which can kill the parasites quickly while being gentle to the animal.

It works by applying directly onto the coat. Usually a dot of the liquid onto the back of the neck is preferred. Translocation is the process that the flea medication will be dispersed over the whole coat.

It is normally advised that you keep your pet dry for a minimum of 24 hours to help this process happen in an effective manner. It is usually unnecessary to re-apply medication once it is translocated, as the medication will remain on the coat for 4 weeks.

Frontline Plus flea treatment actually breaks the flea's breeding cycle because of an added ingredient. Frontline Plus flea is a medication that has been added very recently to the products of the Frontline family. Frontline knocks fleas dead in 18 hours, before the fleas have the 24-36 hours of time they require to reproduce.

It is possible that you will notice more fleas during the 18-hour period as the product induces hyper-agitation in the parasites and brings them to the top of the coat before their death.

Two of the biggest competitors are Advantage and Frontline flea control. Among the two, Frontline flea prevention is the most popular. In trials lasting for 28 days, Frontline Plus flea protection killed a higher percentage of fleas.

Organic flea treatments and many other types of flea spray for dogs and other pet flea medications are available. However, Frontline is proven to be the most useful and effective flea preventative. Frontline comes highly recommended by veterinarians since it has almost no side effects, few individuals are allergic and there is no expiry date.

Frontline flea & tick killer is not effective in the treatment of heartworms, but the answer to this problem is the use of Revolution Flea control, which also kills heartworm, ear mites and sarcoptic mange as well as fleas and ticks.

Frontline flea medication is the leading commercially available flea product. Hookworm and heartworms and other kinds of parasites should be destroyed using a product designed specially for the purpose.

Article Source: http://www.acmearticles.com


Author: Rebecca Foxton can help you give your pet brilliant health with Frontline Plus. For an comprehensive source of tips for dog owners, visit her popular site about dogs.

Fortiflora-probiotics-for-dogs-and-cats-by-purina

By: Rebecca Foxton

Probiotic: (pro-bi-o-tik) " Living microorganisms that, given in proper portions, can prove beneficial to ones health.

Probiotics have been found to provide beneficial bacteria essential for good nutrition and health. The growth of "bad bacteria" is minimized by the presence of certain pH-lowering microorganisms in the gut.

Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium are the two most frequently used strains for humans, which add to healthy gut flora, which in turn maintain the immune system to allow the body to fight disease and balance bacteria present in the digestive system.

Now that this is clear, you may want to nurture your own health with probiotic, but what about the gut flora of your dog or cat?

It is apparent that we should not administer a product meant for human beings to an animal, however, factors such as pet food heavyweight Purina and probiotics have led to the manufacture of a few excellent products. The products include FortiFlora Feline and FortiFlora Canine in this regard.

Not sure what FortiFlora is? FortiFlora is a mixture of the Enterococcus Probiotic with protein, vitamins, and minerals. A box of 30 packets of 1 gram contains 1x108 CFU/g of Enterococuss Faecium SF68.

What is the purpose of FortiFlora? Adding FortiFlora to your pet's food will boost your dog or cat's ability to combat disease.

Probiotics perform in the same manner, that is boost the immune system and act as a preventive agent against the contraction of any disease. After the use of antibiotics, try probiotics as they can rebalance the intestinal system as well as help with diarrhea, acute enteritis and poor fecal quality.

How do I use probiotics for my pet? Simply stir the probiotic powder into your pet's food, so that your cat or dog will gain the extra daily nutrients. The taste of the food will remain the same, and your pet will eat normally, and you will know that you have done a good thing to help ensure his good health.

The best part is that Forti Flora is very affordable, even to those on a budget. You can give your favorite canine or feline these health benefits for less than the cost of your daily cup of coffee, typically about one dollar.

A little regular nurture costs much less than paying expensive bills at the vet, and your pet will feel better too. Let FortiFlora start improving your pet's health today!

Article Source: http://www.acmearticles.com


Author: Rebecca Foxton will help you give your pet better health with feline FortiFlora. For an excellent source of tips for people with dogs and cats visit her popular site about dogs.

Protection-work-training-in-dogs

By: Pavel

The dog's ability to defend it's owner has always been considered one of the most important dog's merits if not the most important one. Since olden times, people needed such dogs that will defend them and their possession against any intruder including not only strange people but also wild beasts.
The more modern human society is, the more it restricts aggression in dogs and so it often happens, that many dogs are unobservant and literally unable to defend their owners. But why is it so?
The first reason for this is the modern way of dog training. Dogs are mainly using their prey drive and not the fighting one, they use to bite protective sleeves only and not body bite suits, they use to only train at a training area and not in natural environment like the possession that they guard, town streets, train or buss and similarly.
I have seen dogs that were performing on the bite sleeve very well, but as soon as the helper put the sleeve down, they began to be friendly toward him and were not able to bite him even if he tried to tease them.
I have been training dogs since 10 years and I have many experiences. I was also doing a night police work and other activities on this field. And I tell you that the modern sporting dog training is no sufficient way to make the dog a real defender. So if you need to have one, what should you do?
As a golden rule says it, every proper defender must consider every stranger a possible danger to it's master. That is why the protection work training must be performed using strange people, which the dog does not know. It is a mistake to have only one or two helpers, whom the dog knows well.
You should alternate training areas, your dog should bite not only normal protective sleeve but also hidden sleeve and hidden body bite suit, it should be confrontated with many offenders (helpers), both male and female, dressed in normal clothes to make the situation look naturally and regularly do such a training in any environment - both at home, on the garden, on the street, in the buss etc.
It is however expensive to pay more professional helpers, so the majority of people will do with a couple of friends or strangers who will, now and then, tease the dog, when it will be muzzled and on the leash. But who wants to really have a good defender, he has to train it on hidden body bite suit and in every possible enviroment with a lot of helpers which alternate.

Article Source: http://www.acmearticles.com


I am author of free inspirational books about dogs, martial arts and religion. Please visit my web sites www.free-ebooks.net.ru/ and www.pavelbooks.net.ru/.

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