Pets
Top Things to Consider If You Are Going to Get a Family Pet
Creating, and growing a family is a life ambition for many people. Each family home will be unique, with a different definition of what a family is. It could be that you and your partner are as big as you want to grow it, you might want to have several children, or you could be looking for that missing piece in the shape of a family pet. What kind of pet would suit your family’s lifestyle? If you have decided to look into getting a pet for your family, a consideration to take into account is what kind of pet will best suit your family and its lifestyle. Some families have a fast-paced, and active lifestyle meaning that they will rarely be home. Others will have a slower-paced, homey life. Sometimes it can be a mixture of the two, or even something completely different. Whatever the case is for your family, you should ensure that the type of pet you plan to get fits in with your specific routines and lifestyle. Some pets require more care and attention than others, so it is important to consider their needs, as well as your family. Fortunately, there is normally a type of pet that suits every family dynamic, and they can ultimately bring a huge amount of joy and happiness. Do you have enough time to care for your pet? Owning a pet, and properly caring for a pet are two different things. If you have a family then you will likely already have a finite amount of time available for other activities such as relaxing, hobbies, and a social life. You need to ensure that if you want to own a pet, you have enough free, and available time to care for them adequately for the duration of their life. It can be easy to think that you will be able to handle the extra time as a one-off, for a week, or perhaps even a month. But make sure you consider how much time your family pet will require from you. For most people who own a pet, they will agree that time spent on, and with their pets is time well spent. If you have children, do they like animals? People can introduce a family pet into the family at any time when their kids are of any age. A consideration that you will need to assess, and make, is whether your children first like animals, and secondly are ready to have a pet. Sometimes adding a pet into an already busy household with children can be a little chaotic, but over time things generally settle. Where every family dynamic is different, this is something only you and your partner can decide on, so make sure it is a consideration you take seriously. Do you have enough knowledge to care for your chosen pet? When owning a pet there will likely be a learning curve that comes with getting to know them. You can’t be expected to know everything that there is to know about your newest family member, especially if it is your first pet. However, it would be advisable that you have some kind of baseline knowledge about your specific pet, and their breed as it will help you immensely when it comes to their health, well-being, fitness, and overall quality of life. Many people will choose to get a dog for their family as they are playful, loving, and loyal creatures. Not to mention dogs are fairly unproblematic pets when it comes to caring for them. As long as you provide them with adequate exercise and feed them a healthy, and balanced diet, you should be good to go. Dogs will try to eat or chew on almost everything they find lying around, so you should do some research on common foods you may have in your house that they might come across. Among other things such as grapes, onions, cucumbers, and watermelon, find out if pineapple is safe for dogs and what to do if they eat something they shouldn’t. Luckily, there are many healthy treats you can give to your canine friends, just be sure you have considered whether or not you have a good enough understanding of the pet you choose to bring home, and into your life. Where do you see your life going in the near and foreseeable future? A consideration to take into account when thinking about getting a family pet is where you see yourself, and your family in the near and foreseeable future. For example, if one of your goals is to travel a lot, or move from place to place until you find somewhere in your life, owning a larger, long-term, or more complex animal like a cat or a dog may not be for the best. If you think you will be in the same place for several years at a time then it might work out depending on the personality, character, and breed of your pet. Plans change, and in life it is good to be adaptable, however, if you have a good idea of what the future holds, it would be advisable to consider this when thinking about getting a pet. Have you owned a pet before? A small consideration that may help you make some decisions is whether you have owned a pet before. For example, if you have owned a pet before then you will likely know a lot of things that come with having, and caring for an animal, and it may reduce the amount of other considerations, or decisions that you need to make. Whereas if you haven’t owned a pet before it is likely that you will have a lot more to think about before getting one. That being said, even if you have owned a pet before, it could be that your situation has now changed, especially if you have a family. Only you and your partner will be able to decide if this is the right … Read more
Hands-Free Dog Leash System from LifeHandle Giveaway
Welcome to this great giveaway for your dog from LifeHandle. Enter below for your chance to win.s Welcome to the Hands-Free Dog Leash System from LifeHandle $59.99 ARV The Hands-Free Dog Leash System from LifeHandle $59.99 ARV This giveaway is part of our Holiday Gift Guide – Stop by to see all the giveaways and great products. HOST IS VERSATILEER Below is a list of all the bloggers involved in the Holiday Gift Guide. A Rain of Thought, Deliciously Savvy, Freebies Deals & Steals, Giveaway Gator, Golden Goose Giveaways, Home Jobs by Mom, MarksvilleandMe, My Silly Little Gang, Pink Ninja Blog, The Stuff of Success, This Frugal Family, Versatileer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This giveaway’s Sponsor is: WEBSITE ~ FACEBOOK ~ TWITTER ~ #MyLifeHandle ~ INSTAGRAM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1 Winner will win a Hands-Free Dog Leash System from LifeHandle ~ $59.99 ARV! LifeHandle is a purpose-driven company helping active families find solutions to carry, handle, and adapt to whatever life throws at them. The Hands-Free Dog Leash System from LifeHandle! Control and comfort like you’ve never experienced. The Hands-Free Dog Leash System from LifeHandle! Distributes force across your core, not your shoulder. The Hands-Free Dog Leash System from LifeHandle! Seamless leash management and training. Added shock absorption and length adjustability. All-day comfort and durability. LifeHandle is a purpose-driven company helping active families find solutions to carry, handle, and adapt to whatever life throws at them. LifeHandle has been featured in the past in Men’s Journal and Women’s Running magazines, and on BackPackers.com and the Engearment websites. See the Hands-Free Dog Leash from LifeHandle HERE Now To The…… This giveaway/sweepstakes is in no way endorsed, affiliated, or associated with Facebook, Twitter or any other Social Media Networking Site. This Giveaway is valid to United States residents only, Entrants must be 18+ years of age to enter. This giveaway event will end at 11:59 PM (CST) 12/31/2022. The winner will have 48 hours to email their information back to versatileer at gmail dot com or a new winner will be drawn, you may want to put this email address as safe as it could go to spam. The giveaway is not valid where prohibited! Once a winner is drawn and confirmed, the name will be announced on the Rafflecopter form. LifeHandle will be responsible for sending the winners their prizes. By entering you are authorizing us to collect the information on the form below, this information is used only to contact the winner! No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law, and the number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Winners are chosen randomly by Rafflecopter through the use of Random-dot-org. More giveaway terms and conditions are listed: HERE. The sponsors are each responsible for shipping of the above prizes. No blog associated with this contest are responsible for prize fulfillment. If you would like to become a sponsor in a giveaway like this please email Jerry Marquardt at versatileer at gmail dot com. If you take an entry you must stay following for the entire contest or you will be disqualified. If you are interested in our gift guides: If you are a blogger interested in our gift guides or more information is HERE. Sponsors interested in joining our gift guides can see the information HERE. a Rafflecopter giveaway
Reasons To Protect Your Older Dog’s Back
My sweet rescue-dog, Archie, will be 8 years old in the new year. He’s been perfect for me to have as a little companion or emotional support dog. He never barks (unless he sees the UPS man) and is very good at house training. Archie has all kinds of signs to let us know what he needs and seem to understand what we’re saying. We do our very best to take care of him. He has his regular vet check-ups and takes his prescriptions. He has been neutured, chipped, and has a collar with his/our identification. He’s part Bichon so his main hair is long, curly, and wild! I trim it every few months with a kit and need to clip around his eyes a little more often, because he has tears that get matted. Last year, out of the blue, we noticed he was just sitting on the flour, away from us. This was something he has never done. We coaxed him up to the couch and he wouldn’t come. As we started watching him, we noticed that he started shaking. He shook all over, as if he had a fever or chills. We brought him food, water, treats, and even peanut butter. He wouldn’t eat or drink anything. We knew he must be hurting or sick. Herniated Disc We called and the vet saw him the next morning. She felt his spine a lot, going up and down his back. After a few minutes she said that he had a vertabrate problem. I think she was suggesting a slipped or herniated disk. Either way, there was inflammation. She gave us a lot of instructions. Medications We were to give Archie two dog prescriptions, which we picked up at the drugstore. We had Archie covered under our Kroger Family Discount Plan, which saved us a lot of money on the Gabapentin. He was to take 75 mg of Gabapentin twice a day (for nerve pain) and Prednisone (for a week) to bring down the inflammation so that the spine/disks could go back to normal size and heal. Jumping Can Create Injury The Vet said that dogs such as Dachshunds, Shih Tzu, Chihuahua, Beagles, and German Sheperds are more prone to herniated disc than some other breeds. Our Archie is part Chihuahua and part Bichon Frise. We needed to find a way to keep him from jumping on the couch. The Vet said to lift him carefully to the couch and up the stairs. To prevent him going up the stairs we put a baby gate at the bottom. We were to do this for a month. This was a real inconvience, but so was a very expensive surgery. Later, I asked the Vet about this problem returning. She said that it would most likely return. And because of his breed, it could very well become chronic. Oh, that really worried us. Our entire love this little dog and we want to prevent him getting in pain again. What can we. do. Chronic Pain The Vet said the best way to prevent this problem from re-occuring is to prevent him from jumping up on the couch, running up the stairs, or jumping on the bed. I can’t always be there to pick him up, but I found a solution! Dog Ramp Prevents Pain Alpha Paw is a company that makes items for dogs and cats. They have a creation called DachRamp, which is for smaller dogs. They also have a larger ramp and a ramp to use outdoors with a car. Using these adjustable ramps will make it easy for your dog to stop jumping up and down. They easily collapse and can slide under the bed or furniture.
How To Stop Your Dog Barking
Barking is a completely natural part of being a dog. Dogs bark to communicate with each other and with us, and this is not a problem unless they begin to bark excessively and in situations where barking is excessive. If your dog’s barking is starting to become a problem, you might be interested to know that there are several things you can do to help quieten him down. Take them to a dog training class The best way to get your dog to stop barking excessively is to have them trained at a reputable class like the ones offered by All Dogs Unleashed. When your dog knows what is expected of them at all times, they are more secure and therefore less likely to bark excessively, and when they know that you are boss, it is more likely you will be able to get them to stop when you need to. Don’t shout at them It can be tempting to shout at your dog or tell them off when they are barking, but this is only likely to make them bark more. They will either think you are joining in with them and it will be tons of fun for them, or they will get more stressed out causing them to vocalize their feelings even more. Stay calm and you will have much more success. Avoid stressors Dogs usually bark when they are afraid or stressed out by something, so removing the stressors from their lives will really help. For example, if they are barking at a neighbor cat, then bringing them indoors will stop them from doing so, or if they are barking because they have been left alone, taking them with you or enrolling them in doggy daycare will help. Providing them with a safe space such as a crate or kennel will also help them to feel more secure and therefore less likely to bark. Distract them Distracting your dog with a treat or a game is a good way to get their minds off whatever is causing the to bark, and it is also a good way to tire them out so they are less likely to feel anxious or stressed too. Exercise them The more exercise your dog gets, the less energy he will have to bark excessively and the less likely he will be to feel stressed out and anxious so again, he will not take to barking his frustrations out around you. Exercise is good for a dog’s overall health and mental well-being, so making sure you give them enough exercise every day really is vital. Ignore it Ignoring your dog when he barks means he does not get the attention he is seeking, which means he will more than likely stop, once he does stop, shower him with attention and he will soon see that being quiet gets him what he wants more successfully than barking ever does. Dogs bark and you are never going to be able to stop them from doing so completely, but the above techniques are a safe and humane way of encouraging your dog to stop barking excessively, so feel free to try them out on your pup.