In this series, we have been talking about dogs and their extra-sensory-abilities. In the previous three articles (Sensible Dogs Part 1, Part 2 and Dog Sense Part 1) we had looked at how dogs can sense: your intentions, fear and sudden change in your priority. Let’s continue with the last article of this series.

But before I continue, I want to clarify that some parts of this article are based on mere observation and may/may not be backed with appropriate statistical data to come to a concrete conclusion. Reader’s discretion is of utmost importance.

Many of you had asked me, as to why I forgot to include this part in my previous articles, but I knew it only too well that readers would have expected this part to be the first in my list to write about. Hence, I kept this for the last article of this series.

They can sense your grief

I’m sure each one of us has had this experience when we were almost broken down to pieces (shattered to the core), you feel like crying but you can’t, you feel suffocated, as if someone is trying to strangulate by your throat, you feel heavy from inside as if a ton’s weight has been dumped on you. Your pet is sitting in a corner of the room, keeping a close eye on even your slightest movements. He gets up, comes to you and looks at you with his deep infinite eyes. Then he climbs up your lap and sits, resting his head on your hand.

And just as he settles himself, you feel relieved, as if all your problems have vanished in thin air.

But how does he do that? I’m not talking about the ‘relief’ part (we’ll look at that in a different article). I’m referring to the part where he understood that you are in grief.

‘Animal cognition’, a study, found out that dogs tend to approach weeping, crying or sobbing people, in comparison to ones talking, or involved in other activities. But in the above example, the person did not weep or cry, but still the dog approached him. This is because dogs do sense your grief. If that is not enough, they also try to placate, pacify or calm the person. In doing so, some dogs will even try to lick away the owner’s tears.

If you feel proud that your dog did so, my next statement might turn your pride into rubble. Scientists feel that any dog, will approach any person who weeps and it is not at all necessary that it needs to be his owner. (Warning: Please don’t try to act as if you are crying, and that too in front of a stray dog, he might as well make you cry for real!)

The above mentioned paragraphs do not imply that dogs are empathetic. But it surely is found that dogs can sense your sadness as a distinct emotion.

The next part is a ‘must-read’ for all first-time pet parents. And also for those who don’t have a clue on what went wrong in their dog-training.

The can sense if you are a pushover

The first and the most significant reason why, at times, training dog can be very difficult lies in the way your dog perceives you. Dogs, especially larger breeds will always try and test their boundaries. Some dogs become violent if their owners are lenient.

Dogs do not know what they are allowed to do and what they are not. They get to know if they are doing the right thing when they receive a gift and they know that they are doing the wrong thing when you give punish them. They are completely dependent on social structures and hierarchies of the society to determine what is considered to be right and which is not. If you want your dog to understand how to behave, then you need to be his coach and mentor. To assert your position you might, at times, even resort to strict punishments. I know how it feels, when you scold or reprimand your dog, but always think that it is for his greater good that you are doing this.

Your take-home message from this part, is to always be your dog’s leader, and to not let your dog perceive you as a ‘push-over’. You might want to ask: “You mentioned the word ‘push-over’ what does it actually mean? How do I know if I’m one?”

Answering the first part of your question, Push-over, is what your dog will think of you when you fail to lead him. In simple, words, your dog will take you for granted. I would like to list out a few points by which you can understand if you are a pushover or not:

• Your dog walks faster than you in his walking trips.
• Your dog enter the every door/entrance first.
• You serve your dog his food before you have yours.
• Your emotions stop you from punishing your dog
• You always advise strangers to stay away from your dog as he’s dangerous
• Your dog has the liberty to do all that he wants (including the things that you dislike)

If you agreed to atleast3 of the above mentioned points, then you are just about to be tagged as a ‘push-over’. If you strongly agreed to more than 3 of the above mentioned points, then your dog has already been treating you as a ‘push-over’.

By saying all this, my intention is to just make you understand what could have gone wrong in your training. You can as well treat this part as an answer to the frequently asked question: “I just can’t train my dog. I really do not know what is going wrong.” The larger the breed is, more is the need for a disciplinarian reign.

The post Dog Sense – Part 2 appeared first on Pet Attack.

I intended this article to be in continuation of my previous series ‘ Sensible Dogs’ but due to some practical difficulties, what i intended, couldn’t happen.

So here’s another standalone article series on dogs and the owners’ generosity, some sneaky-peaky habits of your dog and the last part being – dogs understanding your dislike/fear.

But before I continue, I want to clarify that some parts of this article are a mere observation and may/may not be backed with appropriate statistical data to come to a concrete conclusion. Reader’s discretion is of utmost importance.

They can sense your generosity

Did you ever observe your dog when you did something generous? Do observe him the next time. I will not tell you how he might react, observe it for yourself and comment.

How do we humans form opinions about our fellow humans? What, according to general standards, would be a sign of a good human being? A good human is expected to have: high regards to morality, sympathy, empathy, compassion, kindness and fairness. So if you were to test a person on all the above mentioned aspects, by a single deed, which deed would it be? Ofcourse – a deed of generosity. According to common accepted values, a generous person is expected to be a good person, because sympathy is the basis of justice.

As mentioned in the first article of the series ‘Sensible Dogs’, dogs have a high sense of justice. They find generous human beings as just and fair. If you are generous to your fellow humans, they think that you would be generous with them too.

University of Milan conducted a study in which a group of people were asked to share food with a poor homeless man. Another set of people were asked to reprimand the poor homeless man. Both these groups were observed by a set of dogs. When the people from both the groups called the dogs (at the same time), almost all the dogs responded to the generous group. As it is widely said “generosity is as much about justice as it is about kindness”.

So, your dog also knows when you are generous and when you are snub. The reason why they are such extraordinary pets, is that they are highly susceptible to morality and other emotions.

They know when you are not looking

After reading the title of this part you might say: “Genius! Ofcourse my dog knows when I’m not looking. He has got eyes you see? *stare*”

Ofcourse your dog has got eyes, but the point I’m trying to make is: even if dogs think of themselves as gatekeepers of morality, they also know how to get away with small risks.

Consider yourself as participating in a study, where you have kept a delicious looking cake on a table. This table is accessible to your dog and your dog is very well capable of eating that cake.

When you are looking at them, they would not even consider the idea of stealing that cake but when you are out of sight, or even when you are not looking at them, they find the cake hard to resist. And in an opportune moment, they usurp the cake in seconds.

For dogs, food is one the very limited sources of unlimited pleasure. This has less to do with taste or quantity and has more to do with ease of access. They do not have as easy an access to food as we do. And that makes it a rare commodity.

This part is easily misunderstood by people, but even the most loyal humans are vulnerable to things that are hard to achieve. I do not intend to say that your dog is capable of much more serious in-obedience, but your dog is not as morally right as it expects you to be.

They can sense if you do not like someone/something

This is similar to that of fear. When you are afraid, your body secretes adrenaline that initiate a series of chain reactions in your body. The only difference here is that when you look at someone/something that you like, your body secretes serotonin and dopamine that makes you feel joyous, ecstatic and cheerful. In a same way, your body secrets another set of hormones that trigger hate, disgust, anger and distrust.

Here’s an example. If you see someone (you do not like) approaching you, you inadvertently communicate this to your dog. If he can smell a teaspoon of sugar in million gallons of water (remember?), then he can smell the subtle chemical changes occurring in your body through your odour too.   Your dog will then howl or growl or bark or plunge at the person approaching you.

More often than not, serious injuries take place because of such impulsive reactions of dogs. To avoid such situations, it is always advisable to keep yourself in control since you are the triggering factor for your dogs. (I know it is next to impossible but one can atleast try!) And if you cannot keep yourself in control, then try and keep your dog in your control. You might think: “Aha! That should be easy!” But it is not at all an easy task to control a dog (especially big ones like Labrador, and other Mastiffs).

A person who cannot practice self-control or self-discipline, cannot bring his dog to listen to him. Now you might understand the reason why so many pet parents find it difficult to train their pets. Please keep in mind that your reaction (however subtle it is) is the basis of your dog’s reaction. Your behaviour can play a major role in keeping your dog at ease, but it is also capable of inducing negative reactions to your dog thus increasing the chances of confrontation that might lead to grievous injuries to you, your pet or to the other person.

The next article in this series would talk about some other emotions/feelings/attitude that dogs comprehend and react to.

The post Dog sense – Part 1 appeared first on Pet Attack.

In this series, we have been talking about dogs and their extra-sensory-abilities. In the previous article (Sensible Dogs Part 1) we had looked at how dogs can sense: your intentions, fear and sudden change in your priority. Let’s continue with this article.

But before I continue, I want to clarify that some parts of this article are mere observation and may/may not be backed with appropriate statistical data to come to a concrete conclusion. Reader’s discretion is of utmost importance.

They can sense your illness

Even you might have heard stories of pet dogs’ helping their pet parents diagnose any illness by displaying weird behaviour. You might have also heard of stories where hospitals pet dogs, who patrol around the hospital, roaming about wards and other rooms and spending time with patients.

But how is it possible especially in an aspect where even the most sophisticated instruments and most experienced doctors feel helpless? Again this is due to their keen sense of smell. Here’s the fact: Dogs can sense VOCs that are given out by our body through sweat. Now what are VOCs? VOC is a term used for Volatile Organic Compounds. These include various chemicals that are even toxic, but are an important part of our metabolism.

How do only dogs smell VOCs? Not that only dogs smell them, even we can smell them too. The only difference is that they can smell a very large variety of VOCs while we can smell merely a dozen odd ones.

Dogs, depending on their breed, can have 10,000 to 1, 00,000 times stronger sense of smell. If I give you an example, you will understand the magnitude. A dog can smell a teaspoon of sugar in million gallons of water. This might seem unreal or fake to you but if trained properly, certain breeds, can sharpen their skills so-much-so- that they could even warn an epilepsy patient of an attack in the near future. Foreign countries have set up centres that train dogs to sense subtle changes occurring in human body that reflect the presence of a disease.

The next part is for pet parents that house 2 or more dogs at home.

They can sense when you are unfair with them

You wouldn’t believe that dogs do have a sense of justice. In an Austrian study, when two dogs performed an activity and only one of the two was rewarded, even when both of them did it correctly, the un-rewarded dog was seen to be agitated at the sight of the other dog. Their classic reaction was to lick their paws and scratch their ears in impatience.

Dogs have inherited their sense of justice from their ancestors- wolfs. Wolfs lived, ate, hunted and migrated in packs and they had some very strict rules. The one who failed to perform his duty was punished. He was refused of any rewards that the pack would get. Not just wolfs, chimps too worked in the same way.

But here, in case of the study, the dog which did perform his duty was denied reward and that triggered agitation.

Interestingly, if you could not manage to get two equal gifts, then that’s not a problem at all. For example if the first dog gets a dog-cookie and the second one gets an ordinary dog-biscuit, you would be surprised that both of them were equally happy with their respective prizes. I have already mentioned this in the previous article: Dogs are as intelligent as a 2 year old human kid. That is the reason why they cannot differentiate between a big/small or costly/cheap reward.

I can relate the next part of this article with my life. Angel has been living in my house since six years now, and she always knows when I am angry. She has a habit of tearing newspapers, books, or any paper; into pieces, when I’m away from home for long periods of time. When I come home, I see her drowning in a pile of paper bits

They can sense your anger

If you have spent some years with your pet now, then you will agree with me. Experienced pets know when their pet-parents are angry. Experienced pet-parents need not utter a single word to make their pet understand that they do not appreciate his behaviour.

Often, when you find your dog guilty of something, a simple gesture is enough to get him down on his knees, trembling and whining. (Here the intention is not to torture your pet but to send a strong signal that you won’t approve of such behaviour). You just need to keep your hands on your hip and give him a narrow-eyed stare.

But do not praise yourself for fixing the blame on him just because he shows signs of guilt. More often than not, dogs display signs of guilt just because you are angry. They do not know if you are angry because of them or because of something else. Since the source is unclear, dogs have no choice but to be guilty and blame themselves for your anger.

This can be disastrous, in some situations. When you are not sure if he’s guilty and you punish him (by anger), and if this happens repeatedly, your dog is bound to get undisciplined and frustrated. Your inconsistent behaviour can create an impression in the dog’s mind that you are unfair to him. (I have already talked about the sense of justice in the previous part of this article).

A sincere request all pet-parents: Please do not reprimand your pets before you are absolutely sure that your dog is guilty. This can plague your relationship with him and lead to various behavioural problems, ultimately leaving you with no choice but to abandon your pet. Please do not let this happen to you pet.

The next article in this series would talk about some other emotions/feelings/attitude that dogs comprehend and react to.

The post Sensible Dogs – Part 2 appeared first on Pet Attack.

We pet owners have a habit of boasting about our dogs’ extra-sensory-abilities, or, in simple words- sixth sense. Now, please don’t think that this article is a revamp, extension or revised edition of onr of my previous articles: ‘Sixth Sense or Non-sense’.

The reason for attributing their extra-sensory-abilities to the so called sixth sense is unknown, but we know one thing for sure – dogs have an uncanny understanding of human emotions. In the world when we humans complain that our fellow humans fail to understand our feelings, it is quite surprising that dogs can, not just interpret complex and intense human emotions, but react to them accordingly. This ability can be attributed to the lifestyle of their ancestors. Erstwhile dogs were highly social, lived and travelled in pack and shared very strong emotional bond with other dogs. Surprisingly, they even had rituals that helped them bond and many such social structures that seem to correspond to human social interactions. This is the reason why we humans consider dogs to be our best ‘animal’ friend – if I may say so. The same set of abilities that helped dogs establish emotional connect in a pack, is inherited by the 21^st century dogs due to which we still pet them.

Food for thought: Even as monkeys, apes, chimpanzees, gorillas etc are more related to humans than dogs or any other species, we still connect better with dogs, why?

In this article series, we will look at some of the various emotions/feelings/attitude that dogs comprehend and react to.

Before I continue, I want to clarify that some parts of this article are mere observation and may/may not be backed with appropriate statistical data to come to a concrete conclusion. Reader’s discretion is of utmost importance.

1. They can sense your intentions

Ever wondered how your dog knows you are going to bathe him even before you search for his towel or switch on the heater?

The moment you decide to bathe him, and stand up to make your move, he’ll run for his life and hide. This was a negative response to a positive stimulus.

On the other hand, when he is hurt and you try to attend to him or nurse him, you might unintentionally hurt him but he knows that your intentions are clean and you want to help him. This is a positive response.

But the million dollar question is: “How does the dog understand your intentions even before you implement them? And more importantly, how do they react accordingly?”

One study shows that dogs do this by observing your body language. “Learning & Behaviour”, a study published in 2011 found that pet dogs are as intelligent as a 2-year-old human. Amazing isn’t it? This implies that your pet-friend can potentially understand the meaning of approximately 160 odd words. Not just this, they can also sense changes in your body language and react to these changes.

For dogs, your tell-tale signs are eye-contact, and hand gestures. Let us come back to the ‘bath’ example, when you think of bathing him, you inadvertently glance at the bathroom or his bathtub, this visual queue is enough for him to ring bells in his mind. These bells tell him that you are eager enough to clean his skunk-like fur odour that he is proud of.

2. They can sense your fear

Have you ever been afraid of darkness and at that instant, your dog leaps onto your lap and licks you as if to say: “I’m here, do not worry!”? I would not be surprised if I get mixed responses for this question because, in such situations, smaller dogs seek for your lead while larger ones will come to your rescue.

They do this with the help of their sharp olfactory sense (nasal sense).  They can smell the change in concentration of adrenaline in your sweat and they associate it with fear.

How do they know what fear is?

Fear is an emotion/feeling that is shared and experienced by almost all cognitively-able animals. In fact, it is one of the basis of their survival. We are well aware of the three Fs induced by fear: Fright, Flight, or Fight. Imagine an animal that has no fear, it would face all other animals, be it mightier or meeker in comparison to it. This would amount to underestimating the opponent, and if the foe is stronger, then the fearless animal is at its own peril.

Dogs can smell fear and can intuitively recognize our body language associated with it.

They too have a template reaction to fear. Some of the template reactions which both humans and dogs share are: Goosebumps, dilated pupils, change in stance or posture, and curling of lips etc. They can associate their fear and ours, and hence understand what our reaction to it looks like. In combination with their ‘smell’ sense, you’ll have no doubt that they can sense your fear.

3. They can sense shift in your priority (and feel jealous about it too)

Take a look at this conversation and you will understand what I’m trying to imply.

Pet parent: “My dog has been acting weird all of a sudden. I do not know what to do!”

Me: “Has he been like this before?”

Pet parent: “No, he has started behaving like this only after I have bought a new gadget.”

Me: “Aha! There’s your problem. Your dog sensed a sudden shift in your priority after you purchased a new gadget and he might as well feel jealous about it.”

If your dog has been acting weird after you have joined a new job/ brought home a new pet/ bought a new gadget/ anything that could shift your focus from him to the new thing; then it is a classic case of jealousy!

Jealousy is one part and being left out all alone is totally another, It is a sincere request to all pet parents, please do not neglect your pet. The most important thing in your pet’s life is you.

The only remedy to a jealous dog is to give his ‘me time’ back to him. Try and spend more and more time with your dog and make it a point that you use positive assertions/adjectives to make him feel better. Praise and reward him often so that you win his confidence and trust back.

The next article in this series would talk about some other emotions/feelings/attitude that dogs comprehend and react to.  

The post Sensible Dogs – Part 1 appeared first on Pet Attack.

We pet-parents have always been welcomed invariably; by malls, restaurants, parks, gardens, beaches and all other places that are openly accessible; by a sign board that says “Pets Not Allowed!” This has been a bone of contention for almost all the pet-parents. Somewhere or the other, there is a bit of a hesitation in allowing pets into public places due to various reasons. One of the most cited reason is hygiene, disturbance and most importantly space crunch. For the ones, like me, who tried to sneak our pets into a restaurant or even a garden, have always been reminded of our pets being “animals”. While at home, we pet-parents have always made sure that our pets get the same treatment that any of our family members do; it becomes heart-wrenching when somebody, in a very crude manner, points it out that your pet is “after all, an animal”. Let alone being welcomed whole heartedly, our pets do not even get the basic respect or compassion that each living being deserves. Some cafes, who claim themselves to be pet-friendly, have an outdoor area where we need to seat our pets. But, for obvious reasons you could always tell that your pet is not being welcomed whole heartedly. There are countries which feature fine dining restaurants that allow customers to bring their pets along. But that is a far cry as far as our country is concerned. So one has no choice but to leave his pet alone at home.

It might as well be a dream come true for many pet-parents who have been yearning to go out and have a dinner with their pets. I have had such experiences too. I had to leave Angel (my 6 year old Daschund) at home and go for a dinner. Not that she didn’t have anything to eat, she had her favourite food in her platter. But as soon as I came back home, I could see her being sad and that her platter is untouched. It would always make me feel guilty, for I might have had a sumptuous meal and Angel here, would have starved herself. This would not have happened if I could take her along.

Veterinary doctors claim that this separation can lead to ‘behavioural issues’. According to them, the pets that are frequently brought outdoors and made to socialise with other pets and humans are the happiest pets of all. But how many of us get to do that? On a weekday, each one of us has his own livelihood to work for and on a weekend, we always have to leave our pets at home when we have to go out for a dinner or a party. Is there no work-around for this?

Yes, there is. This article is all about the places, for Mumbaikars, where they could enjoy dining, not only with their loved ones (humans) but also with their pets.

Gostana is one of the first places in Mumbai that whole heartedly welcomed our pets. A café that is famous for its healthy salads and burgers, is also a heaven for pet-parents and their pets. The homely set up and a cozy atmosphere, makes it the right place to spend time with your pet. Located in Bandra, it offers home cooked healthy pet meals too. The only thing you need to do is to inform them that you are going to bring your pet so that your pet too enjoys a sumptuous meal while you dive into their yummy burgers. Not just for this, Gostana is also famous for Apple! Now, here neither am I talking about the famous tech biggy company not about the fruit. Apple is a very adorable Labrador. She would be the first one to welcome you in. There are people who come to Gostana just to spend time with Apple. These are the ones who cannot or are compelled not to have pets.

Alibaba is a restaurant in Apollo Bunder. It allows dogs in its outdoor porch. You can walk your pet near the Getaway of India and make the moment memorable by having a delicious meal at Alibaba. In this café, which is located in Colaba, you can as well place an order for your pet and the same will served to him.

The Bagel Shop is your destination if a cozy, comfortable and peaceful place is your preference. As in case of Alibaba, here too pets are only allowed in the outdoor seating area. But you need not worry as the area is well covered, thus making it -and I quote them here -“the perfect place for you and your pet to lounge with ease.”

Mutt Hutt Café is a pop-up restaurant. Pop-up, meaning the establishment is not permanent and that it keeps shifting from place to place. The major reason for such an arrangement is that the licensing rule for any permanent eatery prohibits cooking for pets and humans under a single roof. This is one of the places where the pets and their pet-parents can dine together. And mind you, not just dine but take part in other fun activities as well. This arrangement is a clever one, because on one hand it gives its customers a delightful experience with their pets and on the other hand it also gauges market’s response to such a pet café. The Mutt Hutt Café keeps popping up at various locations in and around Mumbai. It is an ideal pet café, though a temporary one.

Undoubtedly, the above mentioned places are worth visiting. Such pet-friendly efforts are commendable. But nothing makes your pet happier than you spending time with him. The amount of time spent with him is also secondary, what is of most importance is the quality of the time spent.

The post Pet Café: Even Humans are allowed appeared first on Pet Attack.

An average Indian spends around three to four hours a day, watching TV. Ever wondered why we humans need TV? The reason given by experts is “We watch TV for relaxation and stimulation”. Agreed. If it is so for humans, then is this the case with our pets too?  Do they need TV for relaxation and stimulation? Wouldn’t it be convenient for all working-pet parents to switch on the TV and leave their pets at home without being worried about separation anxiety?  Surely it would be a boon-But only if you could plant your pet in-front of the TV!

Since 2004, many TV channels like ‘The Pet Network’, ‘DOG TV’ etc., have started broadcasting 24×7 programs exclusively for the dogs at home. Interestingly, the idea for such ‘Dog’ programs came from a cat! All of us hate to see our pets looking sad and sulky when we leave the house to go to work every morning. Same was the case with Ron Levi’s (a radio and a TV host) cat. This inspired him to create ‘DOG TV’.

How different are these channels from the ones we watch all-the-time? The regular channels are considered to be inappropriate for dogs. Why? Because it involves frequent disturbances (animations, camera zooms/swooshes), loud music (noise for dogs), angry/sad/shouting human voices etc.  According to a research, dogs that watch mellower pet-friendly programs, tend to be happier and calmer than the rest.

Does that mean you can put to rest your dog’s separation anxiety by shelling out a few bucks a month? Yes. But it might not as well work for your dog! Let’s have a small test for your dog. Your goal: You need to plant him in-front of the TV. Seems easy? Do try this at home! Your dog would not even look at the TV screen for more than 30 seconds. How do you make him glued to the TV–set?

According to Animal behaviorists, one reason why dogs seldom care about the TV is that it doesn’t look like a TV to them. Instead, it appears like a dim-lit slideshow. A slideshow? Yes. And that too with individual frames and pitch-black screens (in-between the transition to the next frame) being played at a very slow speed.

Dogs, as compared to humans, visualize this world with a faster ‘flicker fusion rate’ (F.F.R) of 70-80 Hz. While we do the same at 50-60 Hz. Moreover, since dogs have an uncanny motion-sensitivity, the optical illusion which makes the frames appear fluid on TV fails to fool them. Most importantly, your dog might not be able to ‘smell’ what he sees in TV. Since the TV doesn’t charm the dog’s olfactory (smell) senses, it doesn’t look real to him.

For convenience, let’s keep the ‘smell-appeal’ aside and talk about the F.F.R a bit more.

‘Pet channels’ claim that the above said ‘slideshow’ argument might go down well with older tube TV’s and CRT TV’s but with LCD, LED and ULED TV’s on the row, the F.F.R displayed is 100 Hz. What does that mean? In simple words, your dog would be able to watch TV as you do if you have an LCD/LED/ULED TV.

Now, the technology is set, next comes the willingness to sit in-front of the TV and watch. Even if your dog could watch the TV like you do, he might react to it exactly as you would, when somebody calls you in the middle-of-the-night just to say “Hi”. Many Professors of animal behavior say, your dog, instead of wanting to watch TV, wants to sleep when you are away!

He might wake-up every 20-25 minutes, look for you around, scratch his itch, drink some water and go back to sleep.  ‘Pet Channels’ claim to have foreseen this issue too and have scheduled the programs according to a dog’s daily routine.  These channels might have an afternoon slot for ‘Sleeping Dogs’ where they show various other dogs sleeping.

Problem Solved! Isn’t it? I bet you forgot the ‘smell sense’. Many dogs, even in their most ecstatic point of the day, do not react to these channels. The reason being ‘lack-of-concurrent-odors’.

The dog gets disappointed when he hears you on the phone but he isn’t being able to either see you or more importantly, smell you.

They prefer it this way ‘Smell first, vision next’ and we prefer it the other way around. It might as well suffice to quote Jon Franklin, author of ‘The wolf in the Parlor’:

“Even a dog appearing on the screen, or barking out of a speaker, failed to impress. His two humans might be dumb enough to project their imaginations into the big square-eye thing, but the dog innately understood that it was pure nonsense. The television emitted no odor: Ipso facto, it was not real.”

So if the so-called ‘Pet-friendly’ channels are of no help in mollifying your pets, then is there anything else you can do about it? Yes, you can. It is way more simple and time-tested. In case you have no other choice but to leave your pet home-alone, take him for a long-walk. This would gently push him into his bed-time. You might also want to create an ambience of a safe and soothing place around your pet. This is achieved best with dim lights, soft music and enough food-water at his reach.

The post TV for furry couch potatoes? appeared first on Pet Attack.

I have always felt proud to have better knowledge about pets, especially my Angel, but my pride was hammered to pieces when I stumbled upon the images of what I thought was a ‘Dachshund’, but digging a little deeper, proved me wrong. In fact, I was looking at a ‘crossbreed’ between a Dachshund and a Rottweiler. All these years I assumed Angel to be a pure-line dachshund since I brought her home from the kennel trusting the owners’ words. The excitement of welcoming a pet into my life blinded me off from doing any background check. For a true pet-lover, it might not even matter if their dogs/cats were purebred or mix-breed, but for the exorbitant amount we shell out while buying our pets the research is worth every penny.   

Purebred dog (or a Pedigree) refers to a dog (from a modern dog breed) with a registered/documented ‘pedigree’. For Example Golden retriever, German shepherd, Rottweiler etc. are considered purebred. ‘Primitive Man’, in his quest to find help in his daily chores, understood that dogs are easily domestic-able. Some types of work needed certain inherent traits that helped dogs accomplish the work due to high energy, aggression, chasing, digging, barking and independent thinking. This helped the ‘Primitive Man’ decide which traits he wanted in a dog breed. Then he started breeding them selectively. Selective Breeding simply means that dogs with the ‘desired’ traits like herding, hunting and guarding were bred extensively. This kind of selective breeding is done even in the case of cows, buffalos, goat, sheep, pig, poultry, horses, donkeys, elephants, camels etc.

And what is a crossbreed dog? It is an intentionally bred dog of two or more documented breeds and a resultant of mankind’s ever persistent desire to own something a little different, a little fancy or in short supply.

A huge group of purebred dog breeders and dog clubs are adamantly against the creation of ‘designer dogs’ due to their assumption that, in the long run, such dogs are a danger to the whole ‘dog breeding world’. And almost all pro-cross-breeders believe that their practice of cross-breeding adds to the vigor (that got reduced due to in-breeding for several generations) to the existing genetic make-up of purebred dogs. As in case of Angel’s litter (a male puppy), he is a pure cross-bred pup. His mother, Angel, is a Dachshund (again a cross-breed of Dachshund and Rottweiler) while his father, Joy, is a pure-line Shih-tzu.

Choosing which stance is ’correct’ is not my priority here. My priority is to give potential pet-parents a fair picture of both the stances.

Negative aspects first:

Size: Pet-size is a very important factor for all the pet-parents concerned. Cross-bred dogs have, at times, unpredictable sizes. If both the parents are of comparable sizes, you may expect the puppy to be of a similar size. But you can never be sure of the ultimate size.

Litter-count: The litter count is very low in case of crossbreeding. It is approximately one-thirds as compared to pure-breeding. And the survival of the litter is even lesser, being one-fourths. In simple words, pure-breeding might fetch you 9 puppies while cross breeding would only produce 3 puppies. And for every 4 puppies born (in case of cross-breeding), only 1 puppy survives.

Congenital health issues: Since the mating process naturally leaves out the defective genes, a mixed-breed puppy is usually on the advantageous side of standing a much lower chance of being born with congenital diseases. However, many congenital issues, such as eye diseases, kidney problems, hip dysplasia, and epilepsy are found across crossbred dogs. This happens when both the parents are carriers (or victims) of one or more of the same genetic disorders.

Temperament: As discussed before, purebred dogs have been reared for different purposes, and their temperaments correspond to the purposes accurately. For example, Rottweilers are rather bold and \ aggressive because they have been bred to be watch-dogs and guard-dogs. Poodles, on the other hand, were bred to hunt and be wonderful companions. It is almost impossible to predict the temperament of a crossbred puppy, which these two dogs might produce.

Risky deliveries: A very high level of risk is involved in cross-bred pregnancies. Breeding dogs of different sizes (essentially breeds) can sometimes lead to complicated pregnancies and deliveries.

Positive aspects:

Undeniably unique looks: Most of us would prefer a dog that doesn’t resemble any other breed, and cross breeding can effectively produce such a ‘designer dog’. On combining two different breeds, it’s a coin toss as to how the genetics will combine. This means that each puppy in a litter, may look different from its littermates, and this, in-turn, can give us a very interesting-looking litter.

Future pure-breed: Many of today’s purebred dogs are successive crosses of different breeds, and have been refined through selective breeding, thus displaying their consistent characteristics today. Similarly, we can expect some of today’s crosses to potentially evolve into future pure breeds. The Cockapoo is one such potential future pure breed. Cockapoo is a designer breed resultant of an American/ English Cocker Spaniel and a Poodle.

Money matters: While the average purebred puppy often fetches breeders a mediocre $300 to $500 some cross breeds go for more than $1,000.

While there are advocates for and against pure breeds and cross breeds, we pet owners are spoilt with the abundant choice available! Probably, a day may not be far away, where in you go to the nearest kennel house/pet shop, and fill up an order form as to what combination of breed, colour, trait, temperament, height and size of pet you wish to have.

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Reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s works has always been an enjoyable past-time for me. In one such novel named “The hound of Baskervilles”, we are introduced to a character ‘Dr. James Mortimer’ who has a pet spaniel. The illustration of the pet spaniel intrigued me. I recognized it to be an ‘English Water Spaniel’.

On digging a little deeper, the even more interesting fact came to light. The ‘English Water Spaniel’ had long been extinct by the early 20^th century. The fact that the current dog breeds which we pet, have replaced some of the older dog breeds (in terms of evolution) has since been itching my curiosity. How many more dogs can we never get to pet again? The answer lies in the following paragraphs.

Let’s start with the ‘The English Water Spaniel’.

It was very popular in hunting waterfowl and for being able to dive like a duck. It resembles a cross between a Poodle and a Springer Spaniel or a Collie with curly fur and typically in a white and liver/tan pattern. It pre-dates the Irish Water Spaniel and has found place in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Breeds like Field Spaniel, Curly Coated Retrieve rand American Water Spaniel are said to have been genetically influenced by the English Water Spaniel.

‘The English White Terrier’.

This breed was invented in the early 1860s by a few breeders who were anxious to see a new breed from a prick-eared version of the small-white-working-terriers. This lead to the development of the Rat terrier, the Sealyham terrier, the Fox terrier, the Boston Terrier and the Jack Russell terrier.

The English white terrier breed lived for about 30 years before vanishing from this world. The ‘Bull Terrier’ is considered to be the descendent of the English White Terrier-and-English Bulldog cross. The growing unpopularity among the public due to the dog’s genetic problems lead to the unfortunate declaration the English white terrier as a mere ‘distinction without a difference’ by the Kennel Club Hierarchy.

A small note on the Kennel Club before we move onto the next breed.

It aims at preserving and protecting the dog breeds of British and Irish origin. In 2003, they started the compilation of the ‘Vulnerable Breed List’. Terrier Group has found the largest number of dogs in this list. The most drastic decline in popularity of a dog breed is seen in case of the Sealyham terrier. Alfred Hitchcock, a Hollywood director, was fond of Sealyham terrier. Approximately 1084 Sealyhams registered at the time of the registration of his first Sealyham terrier in 1938. But the annual registration amounts to a meagre average of 60 dogs.

Next comes the ‘The Otter-hound’.

It was a heart-throb for centuries when they were kept in packs at the time of Henry VIII. The British ban on otter hunting was the death sentence to this breed.

A worldwide census of Otter-hounds indicated the existence of fewer than a thousand dogs. According to the interpretation of ‘The British and Irish a Dog Breeds Preservation Trust’, the census count had made the Otter-hound “twice as rare as the Giant Panda”.

 ‘The Toy Trawler Spaniel’.

‘The Toy Trawler Spaniel’ resembled the ‘King Charles’ Spaniel’ of the 16th century. It is considered to be a descendent of the original ‘King Charles’ Spaniel’, and an older variety of ‘Sussex spaniel’.

Originally used as a sporting dog, it later became popular as a toy dog and show-dog. It was  considered extinct by early 1920’s.

‘The Paisley Terrier’

It was an extinct terrier breed from Paisley, Great Britain. Being the progenitor of today’s Yorkshire terrier, the Paisley Terrier was bred primarily as a pet and a show-dog version of the Skye terrier. It was also called the ‘Clydesdale Terrier’, named after another breeding location in the Clyde Valley.

‘The Moscow Water Dog’

The Moscow Water Dog was produced only by a state operated organization called ‘the Red Star Kennel’ which aimed at providing working dogs for the armed services.

It is also known as the Moscow Retriever, Moscow Diver, or Moskovsky Vodolaz, is a not-so-popular dog breed. This extinct dog breed is a descendent of the East European Shepherd, Newfoundland and Caucasian Ovcharka (Caucasian Shepherd).

‘The Pembroke Corgi’

Although not extinct, but this famous dog breed is one the verge of extinction. Being Queen Elizabeth II’s favorite dog, Corgis have lived with the Royal family ever since George VI saw “Dookie” and brought her home. She was entitled ‘the matriarch of the canine dynasty’ which resides in the Buckingham palace ever since. Interestingly, the Queen has been a proud owner of more than 30 Corgis excluding the current ones “Willow” and “Holly”.

We are bound to expect that the affinity of Queen towards ‘the Pembroke Corgi’ would guarantee the popularity of Corgis. Yet it is noteworthy that being a part of the royal family does not suffice to assure the sustainability of a dog breed. The Pembroke Corgi is now on the ‘vulnerability list’ of the British Kennel Club due to a scanty 241 registrations in the year 2013.

‘The Sealyham Terrier’

Similar to the case of Corgis, the Sealyham terrier was a very famous breed whose popularity dropped drastically over time. Alfred Hitchcock, a Hollywood movie director was very fond of them.

In 1938, when Alfred had brought home his first Sealyham terrier, there were about 1084 registrations per year, but now, the registrations average to about 60 dogs a year.

We pet parents often overlook the fact that dog breeds come and go as trends and needs change. Along with the above mentioned dogs, the Spanish pointer, the Long-haired Greyhound, the Turnspit dog and the European water spaniel, are all extinct. Some of the ‘vulnerable’ breeds wait at ‘the point of no return’ and may never give us an opportunity to pet them again.

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December 25, 2004.

Joanne’s family is highly ecstatic. It’s their first Christmas in the newly acquired sea-facing house in Ramanathapuram (costal village in Tamilnadu).  The house is filled with frenzied activity. Why only the house, the entire island was engaged in the week long preparations for Christmas and New Year. The smell of sweetmeats overpowered the smell of sea. Joanne was happy, but tired, because she hadn’t slept for nights together. She was yawning her head off. At least tonight, she was expecting to get some sound sleep.

Now three year old stray dog, was just a puppy when he had wandered into Joanne’s plot which was under construction. Joanne and her son Jason, had come to supervise the construction work and from nowhere this stray pup clung onto Jason.  He immediately lifted him and held him tight to his bosom. He named him “Josiah”. A cleanliness freak Joanne, still couldn’t say no to her son Jason holding a dirty little stray pup. As time passed by, she started to have an affinity towards Josiah. Josiah was a dog who found extreme pleasure in discovering leftovers of chicken that goes into the dustbin. Sophistication was never a part of him.

He was never cranky but a no-nonsense and happy-go-lucky pet. Yet, his behavior has been very unusual from today morning. He refused to eat anything. Even his most favorite dishes failed to tempt him. He seemed to be frightened with the sound of sea and would go nowhere near it. This was so not Josiah. Why was he avoiding water? Has he got rabies? This very thought, sent shockwaves down Joanne’s spine. Evening brought no relief too. He kept moaning and made curious noises. His disturbed movements assured her that something was surely wrong with him.

Approximately 1300 nautical-miles apart, on December 25, 2004, Max (a six year old golden retriever) also behaved peculiar. His moaning was gut-wrenching. His cries reminded Sukarno (his pet-parent) of the day he could never forget.

November 2, 2002

The whole Sumatra Island was shattered by a massive earthquake of 7.3 magnitude. It was followed by an equally devastating tsunami which washed away 994 buildings, killing 3 and injuring several people. Sukarno’s house couldn’t make it through the earthquake. Many of his relatives were injured and some went missing too. Max behaved in a remarkably similar manner, exactly on the day before the calamity rocked the island. The memory is still fresh and the wounds deep. Sukarno never wanted to see the furious revenge of nature again but he was not lucky and his wildest fears came true.

December 26, 2004,

Planet Earth witnessed one of the deadliest natural disasters. It was the third largest earthquake with a magnitude of Mw 9.1–9.3. The entire planet vibrated as much as 1 centimeter which triggered other earthquakes even as far as Alaska. Tsunamis in Sumatra are relatively rare despite frequent earthquakes. The ‘2002 Sumatra earthquake’ is said to be a foreshock, pre-dating the main calamity by over two years. Only if Sukarno had taken Max’s instincts seriously, he would have had a chance to survive which was not to be. Sukarno, along with his fellow islanders, were not there to see the next day and Max was orphaned.

Joanne could no more see Josiah’s quandary. But on a holiday season, the vets were in no mood to work. Joanne had no choice but to immediately pack off Jason and Josiah’s essentials to travel to Paramakudi (20km away from Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu), where her cousin practiced as a vet. Joanne didn’t regret her decision as she could celebrate Christmas with her cousin and Josiah too, was getting back to his normal self.

The next morning, when Joanne switched on her TV, she was shocked to know that the entire island where she lived, in Ramanathapuram, fell prey to nature’s wrath and none survived. Is it her concern for Josiah’s health or is it Josiah’s sixth sense that made them escape the impending danger?

Most of the pets and wild animals escaped the December 26, 2004 earthquake and tsunami. Well before the giant waves struck, elephants, dogs, horses, cats and birds (most of them being pets) moved to higher grounds in Sri Lanka and Sumatra; the same happened in Thailand. Apparently, dogs and cats ran up the hill tops, and at Galle in Sri Lanka, pet-parents were puzzled when their animals refused to go for their usual morning stroll at the seashore.

Another prominent incident happened in Haicheng (a city in China) on February 4, 1975, where the officials evacuated the residents shortly before an earthquake of 7.3-magnitude hit the city. The decision to evacuate was basically due to the fact that almost all inhabitants had observed ‘’progressively unusual activity’’ among animals like dogs, horses, cats, pigs, and cows, as early as two months prior to the quake.

The mankind which boasts of possessing sixth-sense, spends millions in scientific research, yet neither has it been able to predict accurately nor could it act swiftly wherein the ordinary animals who possess only 5 senses, foresee such disastrous calamities coming. Perhaps they are so attuned to nature that they pick up subtle vibrations or sounds in the earth, and may even respond to subterranean gases released just before the earthquakes, or respond to fluctuations in the Earth’s electrical field.

Even though there have been documented cases of unusual animal behavior prior to ‘acts of god’, many scientists are skeptical and dismiss these as ‘non-sense’ that people share, after any disaster occurs.

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It was one of my routine visits to our adored vet, Dr. Shivaji.H.Talekar, for Angel’s vaccination. It’s been five years, and we almost always meet Rio, a six year old female Rottweiler. While we pet-parents have become so familiar with each other, that we discuss anything under the sun; Angel and Rio keep themselves and the onlookers busy with their favorite entertainment, a game of ’Tug-of-war’. It was very unusual that for the past 4-5 visits Rio was not to be seen. Out of habit, Angel searched for Rio in every nook and corner of the clinic. I couldn’t control myself from asking Dr. Talekar about Rio.  That’s when he broke the news, that Rio had some hip problems for some time now, and had probably fallen prey to ‘Hip Dysplasia’. In some dogs, genetic factors which are aggravated by environmental factors, is the cause for painful arthritis which induces ‘lameness’ of joints.  It is common in most of the animals and in humans, but it is very specific to dog breeds, especially, Molossers (also known as Mastiffs).

In their enthusiasm to keep Rio happy, she was always well fed, even if she was not hungry. Since Mr. & Mrs. Dudhat were hard pressed for time due to their successful careers, they hardly had the time to see if Rio is burning all the calories that they were contributing out of love.Dr. Talekar has been advising Rio’s pet-parents, Mr. & Mrs. Dudhat, to control Rio’s weight and prescribing non-steroidal painkillers. But now, she has reached a stage where Hip replacement Surgery was the only option.

I was shocked! I immediately picked up the phone to speak to Mr. Dudhat. He did not sound his usual self. I know what is eating him up. For a parent, the offspring should always be healthy and energetic, be it humans or pets. I didn’t want to add to his distress by asking for too many details. He was devastated by Rio’s ill-health and was concerned about the surgery-its results and the costs involved. I assured him that Dr. Talekar is an expert who would take care of the first two aspects and for the costs? I had an answer!!!

Mr. Dudhat in his worries, had completely forgotten that I as a sensible pet parent had not only suggested him to take a pet insurance, but had also ensured that he took the right cover because he has given an ECS (Electronic Clearing Services) facility to deduct his insurance premiums and the amounts were too small for anyone to notice. It is no surprise that he has almost forgotten about the insurance policy.Now what is Pet insurance?

For a small premium, pet insurance fills the void in your pocket (upto some extent) that arise out of the medical costs, if your pet falls ill or is injured in an accident.  The majority of insurance policies, however, do not cover the expenses incurred by routine and/or preventive treatment. The main purpose is to meet the risk of huge medical expenses incurred while treating ill/accident-injured pets. The insurance covers death due to diseases or accidents occurred during the policy period subject to conditions, and usual terms exclusions of the policy. All the exclusions are similar to that of ‘Cattle Insurance’ except for PTD (Permanent Total Disability) because there is loss of income due to disability of cattle.

So without waiting further, Mr. Dudhat fixed up an appointment for Rio’s Hip replacement Surgery.

The surgery was successful and she was put into a strict exercise restriction for twelve weeks (post-op). And at the end of the sixth week, Rio was back with Angel, playing ‘Tug-of-war’. It was very nice to see a relieved Mr. Dudhat. He was all praises for the insurance claim which was sanctioned within 10 days of submission of hospital reports and surgery details.

Not all Pets are as lucky as Rio, who has a loving, caring and affluent pet parent.  Crystal, a mischievous 2 year old male Pug (was orphaned because of his skin infection), nearly died in a road accident but for the support of an NGO who found him at the roadside.

He was severely injured and was profusely bleeding. If left unattended, he would not have seen the next day. His right hind limb was crushed and could not be reconstructed. The surgeon had to amputate it. It took a long time to fit in the prosthetic leg. Surgery expenses, post-operative care, and the prosthetic limbs had to be sponsored by the NGO who brought him from the accident site.

For Crystal, even if there was an insurance policy, insurance claims wouldn’t have been of much help, because, prosthetics and other mobility devices are not covered under the policy.

Pet insurance has to evolve from its nascent stages in our country and exclusions like this deter the pet-parents from insuring their pets. In many instances, the once pampered pet, after being diagnosed with a severe illness, is mercilessly abandoned by some pet-parents. Let alone treating them, these pet-parents do not even allow the unfortunate pets to stay in their house and have a morsel of food. As the pets are fed from time-to-time and are habituated to all the comforts of a household, life becomes hell when they are shown the streets and left to fend for themselves.

Rio is fortunate enough to bounce back to normalcy and to meet the hopes of her pet-parents who knew the benefits of insurance and Crystal too is lucky enough to be spotted by an NGO who took complete care of him. Since prosthetics are not aesthetics, but are essentials, insurance companies should come up with more humane exclusions.

If this happens, it would provide a scope for pet-parents to avoid being in a situation of abandoning their pets. If demand for pet insurance increases, insurance companies would have a scope to come with a wider range of products. Thus, insurance is hope for some and scope for many. Now, have you got a pet insurance ?

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