Avoid Door Dashing With These Easy Tips!

During this wonderful time of year, we all have plenty of guests coming in and out of our homes. Teaching your dog to wait at the door is important because it helps to prevent door dashing. The last thing anyone wants is their dog to go missing because they decided to dash out the door! To train your pup, you will need:

1. Training Treats. 

Examples – Zukes, BuddyBiscuits, Orijen Freeze Dried Treats, Stella and Chewy’s Carnivore Crunch, and Purebites.

2. A Clicker or use of a command, like “good”

3. Patience.

Once you have these items, you can begin! Start practicing with your dog at a door that does not lead outside, like the bathroom door. Have your dog on a leash and ask him to sit at the door. Give the command, “wait”, and then reach your hand towards the door handle. If he stays in this position, click the clicker or say “good”, and give a treat. It is very important that the reward and command are given at the exact same time immediately after the good behavior.

The goal is to enforce the correct behavior with positive feedback; Treats! Once he has the reaching for the door handle down, try opening the door. If he goes to dash, close it immediately. You are trying to associate him dashing with the door closing. Once he is doing well at the bathroom door, move onto the front door. Eventually, practice waiting at the door with guests coming into your home that are in on the training. If the dog tries to dash, the guest can close the door and go back outside.

Remember, practice makes perfect. Repeat, repeat, repeat; the more you practice, the better your dog will be. Continue practicing with your dog for 5 to 10 minute sessions daily. Your dog may become bored or distracted if you practice too often. Limiting it to small sessions every day helps your dog to stay attentive and interested.

If you are struggling to get your dog to stay on command, there are plenty of dog trainers who can come to your home and help you with this task. You can find business cards for local trainers at all the Cherrybrook locations.

Holiday Décor Do’s and Don’ts in a Home with Pets

Christmas trees, holiday lights, candles, tinsel, poinsettias; the holidays are a magical time with decorations galore! Knowing what can harm your pets is important when deciding how to decorate your home for this wonderful time of year. There are certain decorations that should be avoided completely depending on the pet you have, so educate yourself and avoid having a giant holiday mishap this year!

Christmas trees are a staple in many homes during the holiday season. Our Christmas trees sit in stagnant water throughout the season so they do not go bad. This water is a breeding ground for bacteria and should not be ingested by your pet. Keep your pets away from this water as it could cause an upset tummy with diarrhea or nausea. Using a tree skirt to cover the water may help keep them away from the threat. Other plants like holly and mistletoe can cause gastrointestinal upset and cardiovascular problems in dogs and cats. Many varieties of lilies can cause acute kidney failure in cats if ingested. Instead, opt for artificial plants made from silk or plastic.

Tinsel is a very common decoration used during the holidays. This beautiful, sparkly, light weight decoration is especially enticing to our feline friends. While they may look cute playing with tinsel, it can be extremely dangerous. Playing can lead to chewing, which can then lead to swallowing. If your cat ingests tinsel it can cause a life threatening obstruction in the digestive tract. Avoid using tinsel if your share your home with felines.

Holiday decorations warm our homes and hearts. Knowing what can be potentially dangerous to our furry companions means a happy and healthy holiday season for all!

Have A Safe and Happy Howl-a-day Party with your Pets

  

The Holidays are fast approaching and our furry friends want in on the friends, food, and merry! There are certain things you should keep in mind when looking to include your pets in the Holiday Festivities.

Our pets love routines, so try your best to keep to their regular schedules. Too much change can sometimes lead to a very stressed out pet which may result in unwanted behaviors. The Holiday’s can be a very busy time for us, but it is important that your pets feeding time and walking time remain as close to normal as possible. Remember; happy pet, happy you.

Many of us enjoy a good Holiday party or dinner with friends and family. Some of our furry friends love to be in on the action, while others do not. If your pet does not do well with large groups of people, set up a room for them to go as a sanctuary. 

Your cat or dog may want to hide out away from the hustle and bustle until the guests have all gone. Make sure they have plenty of water and a cozy bed in a separate room for the duration of the gathering. There are plenty of holistic calming remedies available to make this time easier on your shy pets, like Heavenly Hounds Bars and Rescue Remedy.

If your pet is a social butterfly and basks in the attention of guests, make sure there are healthy pet treats available. We all love to spoil our pets, and Grandma is no exception. Having pet treats available for your guests to give your dog or cat will help to avoid them getting table scraps from overeager guests. Alcoholic beverages, fatty, spicy human foods, as well as cooked bones, should not be fed to your furry companions as it can lead to diarrhea or hazardous blockages in the stomach.

8 Things Cat People Understand That Others Don't

By Dr. Becker

Opening your heart and home to a cat is an experience like no other. It's not like living with a dog, a bird, or a hamster.

Feline companions are fascinating in that they are domesticated, yet retain many of the natural instincts and behaviors of their wild cousins.

Cat lovers are also unique, because there are things about sharing life with a kitty that only "cat people" truly understand.

8 Things Only Cat People Understand

1. Cats don't respect personal boundaries (except their own). Cat guardians are accustomed to sharing every square inch of space with their favorite feline.

For example, most kitties figure out early in life that a human sitting on a toilet is a captive audience and the perfect target for some leg bunting (this is when your cat repeatedly head butts your lower legs and rubs against them).

Needless to say, this isn't a two-way street, so don't dare even look in the direction of kitty when she's busy in her litterbox.

1. The house belongs to the cat. Anyone with the audacity to shrink Fluffy's territory by closing doors to certain rooms will live to regret it – especially if he or she is on one side of the door while kitty's on the other. There will be howling, scratching, thumping, and paws appearing and disappearing under the door.

More than a few clever cats have figured out how to work door handles after being locked out of rooms in "their" house.

1. All sunny spots also belong to the cat. Cats prefer an ambient temperature about 20 degrees warmer than most humans find comfortable, so they figure out creative ways to stay warm.

That's why kitties tend to stretch out in patches of sunshine wherever they may fall – on the floor, on furniture, on a windowsill, or right in the middle of your desk or the kitchen counter as you're working.

Learning the spots where sunshine falls and clearing them ahead of time for Miss Kitty is the least you can do for She Who Will Not Be Denied.

1. If it moves, it's prey. And this goes double if whatever "it" is moves quickly, furtively, or is underneath something. Obviously this makes for a very long list of "prey" around the house, including anything real or imagined moving under bed covers, paperwork, and area rugs.

It also includes your ankles if kitty happens to be stalking you as you walk from room to room, and your toes if you move them underneath the sheets as you sleep.

The good news is that once kitty has caught you with a quick swipe or dig of his sharp claws, he'll take off the second you scream out in pain. Until next time.

1. The vacuum is evil. It's ungodly loud, and cats hate loud. Tiger could care less how you remove the fur he so generously deposits all over everything – he'd put that varmint vacuum out of the house if he could.

Short of that, he'd like you to at least show some respect for his delicate sensibilities and warn him before you turn the horrible thing on.

1. A cat's backend is every bit as cute as his frontend. Let's say you're lying on the couch or in bed and kitty jumps up on your chest in an affectionate mood. You scratch his head or stroke the fur on his back, and the next thing you know, his tail is raised and his bottom is an inch from your face.

Cat guardians realize this is just a feline's way of being sociable. Your kitty is looking for attention and affection from you. You can try turning him to face you, but take no offense, since none is intended.

1. The human head is an excellent rubbing post. Most cats enjoy rubbing against things as much or more than they enjoy being petted. And as your kitty's human, it's your job to cooperate while she uses your face as a rubbing post. This can get a bit dicey if you're sensitive to cat fur or dander and Fluffy seems determined to shove her head into your mouth or up your nose. In that case, it's best to try to distract her with some petting or a toy.

Many cats also head bunt the top of their human's head. If your kitty does this, she's rubbing her scent on you so that everyone knows you belong to her.

1. The best time to meow really loud is at night when the house is quiet. Sometimes cats vocalize for a reason, for example, it's mealtime or they're saying hi as you come through the door. Other times, they meow for no conceivable reason. This is especially true of older kitties.

People with elderly cats are often awakened multiple times during the night by throaty, sometimes blood-curdling yowls, howls, and meows. The first few times it happens, we leap from our beds, sure a knife-wielding cat slayer has snuck into the house. Next, we visit the vet to make sure the otherworldly noises coming from kitty aren't health-related.

Finally, we devise ways to sleep through the midnight wailing, because as we've also learned, there's no "shushing" a cat.

Dr. Becker

Dr. Becker is the resident proactive and integrative wellness veterinarian of HealthyPets.Mercola.com. You can learn holistic ways of preventing illness in your pets by subscribing to MercolaHealthyPets.com, an online resource for animal lovers. For more pet care tips, subscribe for FREE to Mercola Healthy Pet Newsletter.

The Truth Behind Your Cat's Quirky Sleep Habits

By Dr. Becker

If you share your life with a feline companion, you’re aware that cats love to sleep. They sleep a lot… as in, 16 to 18 hours a day.

And because Fluffy spends so much of her life sawing logs, as her naturally curious guardian you’ve probably found yourself asking questions like, “How can she sleep so much?” Or, “She’s sleeping again? She just woke up!” Or, “What’s with the twitching and hissing? Is she dreaming?”

But Seriously… Do Cats Dream?

Just like humans, cats cycle through multiple stages of sleep, from periods of slow wave sleep to REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, which is the stage of slumber during which most dreaming occurs

According to Matthew Wilson of MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, kitties dream about their daily activities just as we do.¹ The part of the brain called the hippocampus controls memory, and it is wired very similarly from one vertebrate or mammal to the next. The hippocampus of a rat contains all the same pieces as that of a dog, cat, human, and other animals.

Even more interesting is that the electrical activity pattern in a sleeping cat’s brain is remarkably similar to that of a sleeping human’s.

Cats Probably Dream About Daily Life Just as People Do

Dreams in the non-REM stage involve brief snapshots of the day’s happenings. During deeper REM sleep, dreams last much longer and can revolve around experiences that happened days, weeks, months, and even years ago.

Humans enter REM sleep about every 90 minutes; for cats it’s about every 25 minutes.

When your kitty enters REM sleep, his body knows to “turn off” the large muscles that control his arms and legs to prevent him from acting out his dreams while sleeping.

However, the off switch in the brain doesn’t function perfectly 100 percent of the time, which is why animals occasionally twitch or thrash around in their sleep.

Your kitty in REM sleep may display a range of body movements and sounds that indicate he’s dreaming about his day. He may twitch his tail, wiggle his whiskers, extend and retract his claws, raise his lip in a bit of a snarl, and murmur, chatter or hiss. With a little imagination, you may even be able to guess what he’s dreaming about by observing the way his body moves.

As pets age, the off switch becomes less effective, resulting in more physical movement during sleep.² Sometimes the movements are so sudden they wake the animal up, causing him to be momentarily startled and confused.

In an attempt to interpret cat dreams, researchers have tinkered with the suppression mechanism (the off switch) so that motor activity was possible during REM sleep.

The result was “sleepwalking” cats that acted out behaviors they’d normally perform while awake, such as walking, swatting at objects with their front paws, and pouncing on prey.

Rats Replay Memories in Their Head as They Go About Their Day

Several years ago, MIT’s Wilson used electrodes to record the brain activity of rats as they ran around a track, and also as they slept. He observed that while the rats were in REM sleep, they appeared to be running the track in their dreams. About half the time, the rats’ REM-sleep brain activity repeated the same pattern as their brain activity when they ran.

According to Wilson, the rats’ brain activity in both situations was so similar he could determine the location of the dreaming rats on the track, and whether they were standing still or running.³ He assumes the same thing occurs in pets.

"My guess is -- unless there is something special about rats and humans -- that cats and dogs are doing exactly the same thing," Wilson said.

More recently, Wilson has examined what goes on inside a rat’s brain during waking hours. He discovered that the rodents appear to replay memories in their head as they go about their daily life, whether they’re eating or just resting quietly. He believes the rats are thinking about the past, and possibly contemplating the future.

"The idea that rats may actually be thinking — just as humans think when they're sitting, appearing not to be doing anything — suggests the full range of cognitive abilities that we have," said Wilson.

Cats Waking Up Slowly from Deep Sleep Act Out a Specific Sequence of Movements

According to animal behavior consultant and cat expert Amy Shojai, a cat’s sense of hearing and smell remain active during 70 percent of her sleep time. This is so that she can react quickly to “the squeak of a mouse or smell of a rat.”⁴

The other 30 percent of the time, she’s likely to wake up more slowly and with predictable sequential movements that include blinking, yawning, and stretching, followed by first flexing the front legs, then the back, and finally the rear legs. Most cats also do a bit of grooming when they first awake.

Typically, geriatric cats and very young kittens sleep more than healthy adult cats

However, all cats tend to sleep more when the weather is cold, overcast, or rainy.

As you’ve probably noticed if you spend any time around cats, dawn and dusk tend to be party time for felines. Fortunately, most pet cats adapt to their human’s sleep schedule. Many older kitties, however, start prowling the house again in the wee hours as they get up in years.

Sources & References:

• Pets Adviser
• USA Today June 29, 2010
• About.com

• ¹ Pets Adviser
• ² The Telegraph, March 28, 2013
• ³ USA Today, June 29, 2010
• ⁴ About.com

 

Dr. Becker

Dr. Becker is the resident proactive and integrative wellness veterinarian of HealthyPets.Mercola.com. You can learn holistic ways of preventing illness in your pets by subscribing to MercolaHealthyPets.com, an online resource for animal lovers. For more pet care tips, subscribe for FREE to Mercola Healthy Pet Newsletter.