Obesity today can be found everywhere around us! Most of the people in today’s time are overweight. As we discussed in the previous article about how to track your dog’s weight because being overweight can be a huge problem and a risk to pet’s life, here is a tab about how to cure obesity! Though many of us are conscious about our eating habits, but some are just so busy and stressed with life that they cannot take out time to shed their increasing weight, which causes danger to their pets too. Just the way our eating habits are the pets also adopt the same as they are told by us to accept the way they are being fed! So if a person is lazy or has very low level of physical activity, it might be possible that his/her pet will also be a little overweight! Therefore let’s take a look at the six super easy ways to prevent obesity or overweight problems in your pet dogs!

1.Determining the Intake
Determining or calculating the intake of the calories & fats of your dog will help you the most! Keep a regular check on how much fattening food your dog is having every day, then accordingly start an exercising routine for the dog. Keeping or pushing your dog for physical activity will be a problem in the initial days, but once it is habitual of it, the weight control becomes very easy for you to handle. However, to make your dog exercise, you will also need to be active and playful with the pet.

2.Keep A Check On Relapses
Your dog has the chances of relapsing into overeating if you do not maintain a careful eye on its eating habits! Just as one has to keep a coke addict in surveillance, your dog’s eating habits plus the daily routine also need to be checked! Make sure that you are giving your dog the right amount of food that will help in reducing the weight & not the physical strength! Give him such quantity of food that is sufficient to cope with his/her hunger nothing more than that.

3.Prescribed Exercise
Do not forget to take your dog to the vet on a regular basis. This will keep a tab on health of your dog and it will also help your dog prevent dangerous diseases that happen due to overweight! Follow the vet’s instructions properly & ask for the exercises that are to be done by your pet and make sure that your pet is following every prescribed activity.

4.Do Not Feed Your Dog Table Scraps & Treats
You are yourself killing your dog if you give your dog those fattening sweet treats as a reward for doing tricks for you or for being cute! Those sweet candies can actually cause diabetes to your dog. You should not feed your dog anything besides its meal time, and especially when you are yourself having your meal & if your dog comes to you & asks for the food in your plate, then the only right thing for you to do at that time would be not feeding the dog from your plate or allowing it to licks off the scraps left on the table from your plate!

5.Treat Any Donating Factor or Element
If your dog is overweight, then it is prone to have a lot of diseases that are caused due to obesity, therefore make sure you pay timely visits to the vet who can keep your dog’s health under the scanner. Sometimes the calorie conscious food or prescribed physical activities fail to help your dog get the weight reduced or does not even reflect even the slightest deduction in your dog’s weight, in such a case make sure that your dog does not have any disease that is helping the weight to increase more than to decrease!

6.Regularly Monitor the Dog’s Weight
Keep a timely check on your dog’s weight by regularly monitoring its weight! Holding a check on your dog’s weight actually helps you determine the actual results that will help you gain confidence about your care for your precious dog. Regularly monitoring your dog’s weight will help you keep yourself always on tab about the healthy lifestyle of your dog & your own self! You can always maintain a diary dedicated solely to your pet. Write about your dog’s diet, medicines and exercises so that you don’t forget it at all and this will also help you to compare the advancements in your dog. An owner can also share the diary with pet’s caretaker if you travel without your pet. The diary will help the caretaker to understand your pet’s need in a much better way.

Today more than half of this planet’s population is obese, and with obesity there come countless health problems that result in short life spans & increased stress & poverty, because of all the money going in for the expensive medicines & cures. In such a fast paced time, where we hardly have time for ourselves, it is very important for us to keep our pets as healthy as possible, as they are very delicate & we humans anyway survive the toughest conditions, but many our pets were never made to live in such inhuman conditions, where sometimes we put them into by being negligent! Proper feeding time & giving the right amount of food & keeping a check on the intake along with the being sure of the physical activities to be done by the dog, everything at the end ends up on our head as we humans are the ones who can make our pet’s lives as beautiful as a heaven or as ugly as hell to love & survive!

The post Ways to Control Obesity in Dogs appeared first on Pet Attack.

 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.

We treat and love our dogs just the way we love our kids, but certainly the life expectancy of our fur kids is not as much as of our children, this makes it important that we take proper care of our pets so as to keep them healthy and strong and add some more year of our togetherness. Many of us have a dream pet that we would like to keep but are worried about the care that is involved in keeping the pets healthy.

A proper vigilant diet, mental and physical exercise will make our pets live long and have a rich life style. A proper care may also be taken while choosing the pet of your choice. Some few simple tricks and tips needs to be taken care of while petting them which will keep your pet healthy and fit.

Here are some tips that are simple and best to keep our pets healthy.

10. Exercise more

Your pet may be at a good physical condition now, but make sure of a routine walk or playtime to boost the mental and physical health of your pet. A simple walk with your pet around will not only be beneficial to the pet but it will be for you as well to be hearty. Some pet toys like ball or a boomerang keeps the dogs really fit and active. Pull out some more extra time from your work and work routine so as to give them some more times at least once in a week so that they exercise even more that will surely benefit their overall growth.

9. Choose Brain games

Constantly giving older pets a new experiences and exposure keeps their mental reflexes sharp and good. Some food puzzle or a new trick works out best for your pets to keep their mental activity strong. Sometimes a simple change in the walking route provides freshness to pets and keeps them more involved in the activity. So make sure to employ some of the brain games that make and keeps your pet sharp and adds to the growth of its mental health.

8. Obesity shortens life of pet

Studies have shown that the pets that are huge in size and obese tend to live shorter than those who are smaller than them. Obesity in pets is the major cause for many diseases. So keeping your pet fit will let you have them for a long span wit h you. A good exercise routine and proper diet for it will make the pet healthy and fit avoiding them to be obese and adding in the life for your pet. In cases if you are a new pet owner and want to make a choice of it, you should get a pet that is smaller as their life expectancy is much more.

7. Play with them

If you want your dogs to be fit and avoid them being obese the best thing you can do is spare some more time for your pets to play with them, this will keep them active and enrich their life style saving some more years of togetherness. Take your pet at work with you if the term satisfies that as having your pet around will make your work stress lower and you can have some more to with your pet to play with it.

6. Diet

Give your pets a healthy and whole food diet which may include some fruits, broccoli, asparagus and some amount of yogurt which is a good option to puff the pets with some more extra pro-biotic without adding any amount of calories. A proper health diet if followed will help you to keep your dogs fit and avoid chance of them getting ill and sick.

5. Phobias

Older pets have increased chance of developing phobias and anxiety. If the pet becomes fearful or scared of certain things suddenly or wakes up unexpectedly at night it can be a matter of concern and seeing a veterinarian is needed. Some nutritional supplements or medications are also some modes that can maintain and reduce the age related behavioral changes in the pets.

4. Say no to Sugar

Sugar content in the food of your pet is not at all good for them, any food item that you feed your pet with, if has high sugar level in it then you need to avoid them. High level of sugar cause the dog to lose their fur at an accelerating rate just like for dogs if you feed your dog with high content sugar biscuits they will lose their fur.

3. Regular Checkups and Vaccinations

Visiting a veterinarian regularly helps to keep the health of the dogs under check and if there is any need to be taken care of you will be able to avail it sooner. Vaccinations are also very important for dogs they should not be kept away from it, dog polio and other vaccinations are important dosage that you should give them to your pet. If proper vaccination is given at the right time to your pets you can be free from any doubt and reducing the chances of getting infected by bites or nail scratch of your dogs on you or any people generally around your pet.

2. Hygiene is health

Keeping your pet hygienic with regular body wash is very important to keep them healthy. Your dog may not like bathing but you need to make it sure that you give it regular wash, it shall keep all sort of disease and insect at bay and protect your pets from catching any infection due to it.

1. Love them

Loving your pet will give them a feeling of being protected and taken care of, at the same time it is to be remembered that the pets are the best friend that humans can have as they always tend to love back. So love your pet and have more year of togetherness.

The post 10 Tips to Keep Your Pet Healthy appeared first on Pet Attack.

Being healthy is the first thing that every living organism wishes. To lead a good and prosperous life it is a basic need to maintain your body fit and strong. Just like a human body, our lovely pets also require a lot of attention from its owner’s side to keep a regular check on their diet and health so that it is strong enough to combat any kind of illness. According to Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (APOP), an estimated 52.5 percent of dogs are overweight or obese. Excess of fat on your pet may have severe adverse health effects on its body which can lead to reducing the lifespan, even if the pet is a little obese.

Being obese can attract dreadful diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular disease and arthritis in dogs. Obesity is most common in pet dogs these days; therefore it is really important for a dog owner to know the symptoms of being obese and what reasons can probably make your pet obese? There are some simple symptoms that can let you know if the pet is suffering from obesity. If your dog is not willing or unable to exercise then there are high risks that it may be tormenting from overweight issues which is making him unenthusiastic in any outdoor session. In case you identify excessive fat on your pet’s body which is bulging out then for sure your dog has stepped onto the ladder of being obese. Obesity in dogs not only makes them extremely lethargic, but also snatches their natural aggression or the dog trait of being protective or active from them. The owner should know the consequences of an obese dog! Have a look at the symptoms that can help you identify if your dog if overweight or not

1. Weight Gain
The biggest symptom is weight gain! Everything starts with gaining even the slightest weight. Added weight is not only a problem to many human beings, but it is a problem for animals too if not taken care or looked after! Weight gain will always result out to be critical if it is not controlled at the right time. High intake of calories or not the getting the activity to burn the fats in the food will only result on weight gain.

2. Excess Body Fat
Excessive amount of fat clotted up in the areas where usually the fat is not much felt or seen. Bulgy skin or lumps of skin at places can be the excessive fat grown out. Simplest way of finding out whether the dog has gained because of the fat is by getting regular weight check-ups done timely. Keeping a check with your vet will even help you control the gain in weight!

3. Inability or Unwillingness to Exercise
The decrease in the play time or walk time is a big signal of being overweight mostly in many dogs. Sleeping too much or getting tired soon or not running is the main symptoms of obesity. Many dogs develop wounds down under their footpads due to a heavy body. As the body starts getting pumped up, the legs tend to get weaker enough to bare the increasing weight of the body. This mostly happens with dachshunds. Their limbs are very fragile & they are made to pick a certain amount of weight on them. Being short in height, a dachshund’s legs cannot bare a large amount of weight on them.

I’ve seen lots of time many owners being clueless about the weight rising much even after giving less food! Many times we do not come to know about how many fattening elements the food that is being fed usually has! This results in the illness that is caused due to a lot of weight!

Let’s have a look at what causes obesity in a dog:

1. Excessive Food
Leaving a bowl full of food in front of your dog every time it comes towards the kitchen will absolutely make your dog gain a lot of weight & get fat. You need to make your dog understand that there is a routine for everything that it needs to be followed. Excessive food without any routine will do nothing but increase your dog’s weight rapidly! The routine has to be then followed daily by the dog & its owner.

2. Low Activity Level
The level of activity you are providing your dog matters the most & is responsible for the weight of your dog. If you feed your dog a lot of fat full diet, then you should make sure that your dog gets double the level of activity than the amount of food was fed. Low activity level not only makes your dog gain weight, but also makes it all ill or stay low with the mood very often. Low activity in human beings & dog hit the same! The more you stay inactive, more are the chances that you & your dog will fall into depression or stress soon!

3. Illness
Excessive eating or low activity level are not the only causes of obesity. Illness too can at times be the cause for being overweight. For example, illnesses like hypothyrodism, Cushings Disease, Pancreatic Cancer and pituitary problems are mostly found to be the reason of obesity in many dogs.
Getting hold of obesity or weight gain problem at the right time is very important. It can cause a lot of problems in future if not taken care of! Therefore looking out for cure of this problem is essential, after all who does not want a happy, playful, friendly & protective dog as pet! In order to find out simple ways to keep your dog far away from obesity, stay tuned for the cure of obesity in dogs till the next article!

The post Check if your Dog is Obese 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.

Nature has given us so many choices as pets. Every category of animals has a sub category and so on. People can go on and on with the list. Sometimes it even surprises us with a two in one package. Like what if you like a cat but can keep a fish as a pet? There are family and parents who don’t like the chaos and mess a pet can create. Hence, it becomes difficult to convince them keeping a pet. At such times, you need to gamble your wish list and satisfy both – your parents and yourself.  Yeah you heard it right, you can do so!

There is a certain pet that let you enjoy the traits of both a fish as well as a cat – the Catfishes. Well, the name itself suggests the prior explanation. Catfishes are a distinct type of ray-finned fishes. They are called so because of their striking features like the barbells, which resemble much like a cat’s whiskers. They come in various sizes and shapes, right from the largest being the Mekong giant fish to the tiniest being a tiny parasitic species known as the Candiru. Catfishes are of great commercial importance. Many are shipped for flesh and smaller fishes are of aquarium importance value.

Catfishes are generally found in freshwaters; however there are some species that may inhabit shallow, flowing water.  These are mostly seen in every continent except Antarctica. Their most diverse species are encountered in Asia, Africa and South America. Catfishes are designed in way that they generally sink instead of float, unlike other fishes. The main reason for this is their condensed gas bladder and a heavy, skeletal head.

The most nurtured catfish as a pet is the ‘Bullhead Catfish’. These fishes have a very peculiar way of living that keeps you entertained throughout the period of petting. Following are the steps involved in petting a catfish:

• THE SIZE: It is very important to decide how big your bullhead is going to be. Because that decides the size of the tank and other corresponding apparatus. Every inch of a bullhead requires 5 gallons of water i.e. 18.9litres approximately. At the initial stage of its life let the tank have at least 10 gallons of water, 40 gallons for the adult and 55 gallons if the fish grows anymore than 10 inches.
• THE FAKE ENVIRONMENT: See to it that you make the catfish feel home. Prep the tank with a layer of gravel. This helps the fish to dig nests and even dig out for food as a result keeps them active. Add leaves and sand for substrate and do not forget some rock caves or chunk of wood as hiding space for the fish. This prevents the bullhead from acting paranoid.

• FILTER IT OUT: Everyone enjoys a clean and healthy home. Make it a point your pet does too. Bring a filter that can consume 20-30% more than what your tank already has. For example if your tank has 40 gallons of water, see to it that the filter can cycle 60 gallons. The best choice for this is the canister filter. These have high bio load capacity.
• FEEDING TIME: Bullheads are considered as opportunistic feeders. This means they eat whatever that is available at that particular time. They eat from flesh to leaves everything. Their major variety of diet may include frozen worms, shrimps, fish flakes, fish fillets, minnows, live bluegills, tadpoles, frogs, salamanders, scuds, flies, crickets, crayfish etc. Anything that can fit into their mouth. The key to a healthy and a fit billhead is their flexible diet. If you aim at growing your catfish bigger and stronger feed them with frozen blood worms and minnows. Bloodworms provide good amount of fat and minnows an excellent source of protein. You can even hold the food at the top of the tank and let the catfish come towards it instead of putting it directly into the water.

• THE SURVIVAL TIME: At a minimum rate, a bullhead can survive for 5-12 years approximately. They grow the maximum in their very first year i.e. up to 8 inches. In later years they can grow till more 12-18 inches. They weigh up to 1-5 pounds. The survival period of a bullhead even depends upon the species you are petting.
• BASIC INJURY: It is always suggested to keep a catfish with a catfish only. Or else it creates territorial issues, which ultimately leads to injuries. A bullhead usually gets injured in three basic places. First is the tail. If a bullheads’ tip of the tail is lost in the battle, it’s not much of an issue as it can regrow it. However, if it loses the tail from the bone, it has to live a tailless life. Although it hardly affects its swimming abilities. The second place includes the barbells. This once lost is gone forever. But as the bullhead has eight whiskers, a loss of one might not matter that much. The third and the last will be the injury to its eye. This is again an unfixable injury, which makes the bullhead dependent on its whiskers for the rest of his life.

So these were some of perquisites of keeping a bullhead as a pet. A bullhead usually requires a darker environment as compared to other fishes. Hence, do not illuminate your tank for no reason. They even eat at nights or in low lights which ultimately helps the feeding process. A bullhead even has extremely pointed and sharp spikes on their fins that can harm you be painful, causing you an infection if not handled properly. Make sure you remember the dos and don’ts once you have had your catfish. Irrespective of the name and the looks, it has nothing in common to a cat; thus, do not treat it like one!

The post Can Catfishes be a Pet? appeared first on Pet Attack.

Monkey have always been a treat for the eyes! Their naughty nature and charming personality can make anyone fall in love with them at the first sight, and everybody wants to play with them. They have been our ancestors! Monkey are considered as one of the cutest animals of animal kingdom. We can also say that humans were first monkeys! The early man evolved from an ape, which is a type of this specie. Monkey have always been kept & nurtured by humans since the ancient times. They were kept as pets & are still kept as pets in many parts of the world. There are a lot of types of monkeys that can be found in a jungle. Many of them can be kept as pets & many of them cannot be! But many people do not understand this & end up with frustrated & short tempered irritated specie. Therefore one should know about what type of monkeys can be kept as pets! However before that be sure about whether you are ready to pet a monkey, keeping in mind that they are undoubtedly expensive and unpredictable. One should research about monkeys as much as possible before petting them. Talk to people who already have monkeys as their pets and judge your capabilities. Be aware of the fact that petting a monkey comes with a lot responsibilities and a lifetime commitment.

Macaque
These are those mammals that can live up to 30 years and require a big amount of space to live in! These monkeys are supposed to be kept in big cages, though they are small in size, but are great escapists & can climb up the electric poles; therefore big cages up to 30 ft are required for them.

Chimpanzee
These are the largest kind of primate, and they are actually not monkeys but apes, that are very large in size & are very strong, and can be very aggressive. But if trained well, then they can be extremely playful & friendly. There are usually many cases of chimps attacking their owners. This happens in the case of not taking proper care of the chimp, and as they are high tempered mammals, they can easily lose their cool & can be really dangerous if poked!

Squirrels
These are also known as the ‘acrobatic’ monkeys! Now as the name suggests these types of monkeys very playful & live up to 25 years. They hang on from the branches of the trees with the help of their long tails that is one of the strongest parts of their body, and helps them balance the entire weight on the tail while hanging. Squirrel monkeys are mostly found in jungles & zoos & eat a lot of variety of foods. A male Squirrel would weight around 950g against the female that would weight 650g.

Capuchin
Capuchin is a type of monkey that is most preferred among the movie directors & story writers as they are mostly used in television programmes & movies because of their small size & playful looks. Capuchins are capable of living in captivity for years. A Capuchin can lives up to 40 years and weighs around 4-15 pounds. A female Capuchin is generally smaller than a male.

Guenons
This primate has 10 dozen species that can live up to 25 years in captivity. These primates are very high maintenance and can get irritated quite soon. The most popular species of Guenons are Green Monkey, Vervet & Grivet. They mostly thrive in large groups, but if trained well then can easily adapt to any kind of living conditions. A healthy Guenon weighs between 9-10 pounds.

Monkey is a type of mammal that seems to get friendly with everyone. Once you have brought a monkey to your house, care about it like one of your house members. You should also keep reading about your primate whenever you get time to get enough knowledge and understanding about your pet. As monkeys are very mischievous, therefore they require a attention all the time, and just as the human babies are capable of harming themselves, monkey babies too can unknowingly cause themselves damage! Monkey are highly intelligent mammals. They were once considered as the early men & hence being an informative owner to your monkey can be very helpful for you & your pet both! As monkeys feel exactly the way humans feel therefore any type of humiliation can be taken way too seriously by them! Monkeys are intelligent enough to learn languages, therefore teaching them words can actually help you get a skilled monkey!

I’ve heard many monkey owners complaining that their hates this one particular member of the family & does not harm but is not even quite comfortable to have him/her around! In such a case, the owner should try to make a bond between the pet & that member. In case things do not work out then the owner should make sure that he is not too much pushy towards the animal, as it is an animal at the end of the day, you never know what their next move will be and should warn the member to not to be too close to the animal as it might attack anytime out of being uncomfortable!

Monkeys as a pet can be a very challenging yet extremely informative & fun experience altogether! Keeping a monkey as a pet can be next to raising a human baby! With this very adorable mammal, one can actually learn a lot to have patience in life & can be relieved of stress to the core & can never feel jobless or bored, as this charming animal can keep your bone tickling by its cute & naughty nature that can hardly give you anytime to jump out of boredom!

The post Kinds of Monkeys to be Kept as Pets appeared first on Pet Attack.

Ah! So now you are looking for ape friend that seemed to be a pretty smart buddy in that latest Hollywood flicks you saw recently. You must be wondering if you could own one and keep yourself occupied with your new found friend. Well, take it slow buddy, because it isn’t as easy as it looks like on the screen. No I am not saying it would turn out to be another ‘The-Rise-of-The-Planet-Of-The-Apes’, but you would surely have  a tough time handling your monkey friends. Here is why.

Disciplinary Issues

While you may find baby monkeys and Chimpanzees irresistibly cute but as they grow up, the reality would soon strike upon you in the form of disciplinary issues associated with them. Look! They are not same as a dog or cat, which would wag its tail around you and listen to your orders. They are wild and certainly not the ones who would respond when you throw the stick. As kids, the apes learn all the monkey etiquette via social interactions by observing their elders and imitating them. This way of learning is obstructed when they live in human filled environment and tend to behave differently, which can be abnormal. As babies they can be easy to handle but as they grow up they can prove to be an uncontrollable liability that would chatter and roam around in your house defying your sense of peace and safety. It is difficult to teach an ape human behavior and etiquette and it obviously not preferable and expected.

Wild, Real Wild!

They are not domestic beings. Though they are vegetarians but they have got canines that can prove to be dangerous if not fatal. There have been many cases where a poor owner lost a finger or two as his pet lost his temper. By the time they are adults, that is around five years of age, they become quite stronger than humans. In any case if they become aggressive then even the most experienced care taker cannot help but watch the mess come into existence despite all the efforts. Apes, though can be handled to some extent when they are young but as puberty hits, they long for others of their kind and become ecstatic.

Space and Time

Apes, with chimps specially stay with their moms for more than five years. Even while sleeping, the mamma chimps keep in contact with their infants while sleeping. They are raised with affection and care which a human cannot relate to or imitate. Even devoting all the affection and care, owners often overlook the everyday needs of constant cleaning, developing new tricks to keep them occupied, feeding regularly etc. Petting a chimp is not only concerned with keeping a hold on basic needs, ample space and dedicated time devotion are a part of it. No matter how big your bungalow is, or if you have a huge backyard, for a grown up apes, it would never be enough. Apes like to roam around and explore new spaces, that way your whole house can turn into a mess. It is how you imagine a 3 year old powerful kid roaming across your house, pulling down curtains and moving tables and furniture.

Chimps can become irritated if neglected. You may be off your schedule or come late sometime only to find your pet friend really angry upon you, that may take the shape of a havoc. Oh and if you think you can take your pet on a trip with you then forget that, you won’t even find a proper caretaker when you are away all by yourself.

Communicable diseases

Of course we are not much different from them, they being our ancestors. What could be more dangerous than getting infected by a disease they carry, which can b easily transferable living with your pet. Any disease that harms them can affect us too, since we are so similar genetically. So either way, a disease can be bad for both you and your ape friend equally, no matter who is the transmitter.

Time to say goodbye

Finally after going through all the headache and back breaking struggles , you would realize that these big monkeys only belong to the forest, where they can be happy and stay healthy. It can come to you that no matter how much compassion and care you show towards your pet and all the time you devoted for it, all of it turned out to be a treachery. Well, then let it be clear, like you can’t stay in a jungle with a chimp family, climbing trees and eating fruits, similarly an ape cannot be tamed to be a domestic amuse. Though you might have bonded with the ape but you realize have to let go, well deep down you actually knew this day would come.

The Disturbing Truth

Many owners don’t know this but zoo keepers don’t accept apes that have grown under human influence as they don’t mingle up well with others of their kind. They cannot adopt to the character traits that are though small  but unique and equally important to stay alive among their own species. Thus as a misfit they are targeted by other apes and suppressed. Same is the reason why they can’t be let out in the wild, the conditions being tougher there, decreasing the survival chances.

One dark truth that follows is that, these chimps are sent to various laboratories for innumerable experiments that are conducted ruthlessly upon these creatures. The are subjected to pain and torture and kept in inhuman conditions. Though the owners are told not to visit their chimps and disturb them in their new and happy homes, they don’t come to know that their beloved friends actually become victims to various horrendous conditions they are kept in. Thus following this many countries and places have banned keeping apes as pets.

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