Today is World Rabies Day!

Champ as a Puppy!

Be Aware! Today is World Rabies Day! Rabies. Few words can make a pet owner shudder more. Rabies is a nasty viral disease that gets transmitted either through the saliva or nervous system tissues from one mammal to another. It is an incredibly deadly disease with a 99.9% fatality rate across the world! Once clinical symptoms actually appear, the death is inevitable. That’s pretty serious, to say the least, especially considering that rabies can easily be transmitted through small bites or scratches from infected animals. Now, immediate post-exposure treatment can stop rabies before it progresses to the point of no return, and there are ways to take preventative action against rabies. If your pet is ever in the vicinity of skunks, raccoons, foxes, bats, coyotes, various rodents and other wild animals, they’re at risk of contracting rabies. That’s why World Rabies Day has been established to inform people of the danger rabies presents plus give them the resources needed to protect themselves and their pets against the ravages of such a disease. What’s the best way to protect your pet against the threat of rabies? Vaccination is the primary method, even if your pet spends most or all of its time indoors. Make sure your pet’s rabies shots are up-to-date at all times. If they’ve been bitten or scratched by another animal, be sure to take them in to the vet for a booster shot as well. When out in the wilds, if you keep your pet under control on a leash, this can reduce the possibility of them running off and being exposed to another animal attack. Plus having your dog spayed or neutered is also a big help to reducing rabies–mainly because overpopulation leads to more stray dogs, which can easily become recipients and vectors of the disease. How can you tell if an animal (or another pet) has rabies? The signs aren’t usually too visible, unfortunately. Affected animals may stagger or walk oddly, may be overly aggressive or overly friendly, and foam at the mouth. None of these are definitive symptoms either way, though. If you even simply suspect an animal of having rabies, be sure to keep your own pets and family members as far away from it as possible and contact local animal authorities to have them contain the animal. In the end, awareness and prevention are the two greatest tools you have to fight the rabies threat. Visit the Global Alliance for Rabies Control for further info and find ways you can support their efforts to promote human and animal health!

House Training Your Dog or Puppy

House Training Your Dog or Puppy

You’ve brought a new dog into your home—congratulations! Now comes your first dog-training challenge: house training.

House training is not an exact science—there’s no sure-fire formula or timetable that will work for every dog. The important thing is to make it a positive experience. Here are a few tips to help you through it.

Do: Supervise your dog. Limit the dog’s run of the house to the one or two rooms where you are able to see her at all times. Dogs usually show “pre-pottying” behavior such as sniffing, circling and walking with stiff back legs; all signs that you should get her to the potty area ASAP! As the training begins to take hold, you can slowly enlarge her territory.

Don’t: Yell at a dog for a mess she made earlier. If you catch her in the act, it’s okay to startle her by clapping or making a noise (hopefully this will stop her long enough for you to whisk her outside). But a dog will not learn anything by being scolded for a past accident, even one a few minutes old. Just clean it up and soldier on.

Do: Offer big praise when she gets it right. Whether your goal is for your dog to eliminate on pee pads indoors or to do it outside, you have to really throw a party for her when she succeeds. Lavish her with praise, affection and some yummy treats!

Don’t: Rub her face in it. In addition to this action making your dog fear you, she’s incapable of making the connection that it’s the act of soiling indoors you object to—to her, you just really hate pee and poop. If she thinks that the waste itself is what you dislike, she’ll only get sneakier about hiding it from you.

Do you have any fool-proof house training tips? Share them in the comments!

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Deaf Dog Awareness Week!

We often think of dogs as being creature that are inherently keen of hearing. They’re able to pick up on the tiniest noises and even hear in sound ranges beyond our own ability to detect. It’s almost like a superpower! Did you know, though, that dogs can be deaf just like humans? It’s true. Much like us, dogs can be born or become deaf through genetic defects, disease, or injury. This in no way impairs their ability to enjoy a full, long life and act just like any other dog, but it can bring about its own unique set of challenges. That’s why the last week of September is set aside as Deaf Dog Awareness Week! It’s not only a time to educate yourself on the issues surrounding deaf dogs but also to promote the adoption of deaf dogs across the country. So what should you know about deaf dogs (and potentially adopting one)? First off, know that deaf dogs don’t suffer from any lack of intelligence or physical ability. Just because they can’t hear doesn’t mean they can’t function normally. They’ll make all the same noises and have the same behaviors as a hearing dog. Deaf dogs also don’t require a “hearing companion,” i.e. a dog that can hear normally to guide them around or otherwise keep them safe. Dogs have numerous other senses they can rely on beyond hearing in order to navigate the wide and wonderful world. Deaf dogs are also fully trainable! They can pick up on sign-language commands quite well and will become visually cued to your actions–just like any other dog. The main warning of note with a deaf dog is that they should never be allowed to freely roam outside. Since they can’t hear, they aren’t always aware of cars or other dangers that might sneak up on them. If outside, they should either be supervised at all times, leashed, or contained by a fence. Have you ever wondered if your dog is deaf or not? Here are a few simple ways to test this: Call your dog in a normal voice Jangle keys or coins while standing behind your dog Whistle for your dog from across the yard Have someone ring your home’s doorbell Squeeze a squeaky toy across the room for your dog If your dog fails to respond to these various auditory signals, it might indicate partial or complete deafness. If you’d like more information on deaf dogs, be sure to visit theDeaf Dog Education Action Fund website. There you’ll find plenty of helpful resources plus see the many ways you can contribute to the fund’s efforts to support deaf dogs and their owners across the world.