Stuck Inside: Indoor Activities to Exercise Your Pet
During the past several weeks of the stay at home order, you may have noticed yourself getting into old hobbies and pastimes that you let go by the wayside.
Needing to keep ourselves busy, many Americans turned to gardening, bird watching, board games, puzzles, and so on. Likewise, our pets need lots of interesting things to do, since they are at home far more than we are. A bored pet is typically one who struggles with behavior problems and does not get the exercise they need to thrive.
We are here with some great solutions for keeping your pet busy, happy, and active. Here are some favorite indoor activities to entertain your pet from your friends at Godspeed Animal Care
Continue…Tips and Tricks for House Training Your Dog with Success
Perhaps the most important thing for your new pet to learn is where to eliminate and when. Without this basic skill, even the most endearing housemate can become unwelcome. When it comes to house training your dog, setting yourself up for success
is key and Godspeed Animal Care is willing to spill all of our best secrets!
Success from the Start
If you are welcoming a new family member who needs to start from scratch, half the battle lies in being prepared ahead of time. As soon as you bring your new bundle of joy home, house training your dog begins.
To Understand Cat Body Language, Look at Their Tail
When it comes to human communication, there are loads of “tells” that inform us (consciously and subconsciously) about another’s moods, feelings, opinions, and perspectives. Of course we’re not always aware that we’re giving cues, or even picking up ones from others.
Cats, on the other hand, are expert communicators. We just have to know what to look for. Their eyes, ears, and posture all give telling clues, but to really have a handle on cat body language, it is the tail that is arguably the most precise.
Continue…Why Do Cats Knead?
If you’ve been stumped by feline behaviors in the past, join the club. Cats have some endearing but also quirky tendencies that just beg to be explained – such as curling up tightly to take a nap, or grooming fastidiously after a meal.
One such tendency is the habit of “making biscuits” or kneading. But what exactly is this? And why do cats knead? Godspeed Animal Care explores this question, here.
What is Cat Kneading?
Before we get into why cats knead, let’s talk about what exactly it is. Cat kneading is a pushing motion cats make with their paws, alternating between left and right. It often occurs on a soft surface such as a bed, pillow, blanket, or your lap. Some cats knead with claws completely retracted, and others extend their claws as they push out and retract them as they pull back.
The behavior is called “kneading” because it resembles how a baker works bread dough.
Continue…Do You Have a Happy Cat? Five Signs the Answer May Be No
Cats are pretty self sufficient. They are also good at covering up when they are not happy or experiencing stress. Many cat owners feel that things are hunky-dory in the kitty happiness department. After all, they have a warm place to snuggle, a bowl of food, and a clean litter box. What’s to be sad about?
Many cats are not as content with life as their owners may believe. In honor of Happy Cat Month, Godspeed Animal Care wants to share with you a few ways to assess if have a happy cat (or if you have some work to do). Continue…
Emergency Preparedness for Pets Before You Actually Need It
Most pet owners spring into action to prevent, recognize, and treat a pet emergency, but what’s the right approach when it comes to disaster preparation? There are similarities, of course, but to truly tackle emergency preparedness for pets, you have to widen the scope quite a bit. Between hurricanes, floods, fires, and more, pets can quickly become separated from their owners, and suffer from injury or illness.
If You Gotta Go
Evacuation is one of the most common results of a natural or man-made disaster. The rule of thumb for owners of all types of pets is that, in the case of evacuation, pets must go, too. In other words, if it’s unsafe enough for people, it’s certainly no place for animals.
Acceptable Alternatives
A major part of your emergency preparedness for your pet must include a list of alternative places to safely stay in the case of evacuation. Have an evacuation route all mapped out, and mark places along the way that you know are pet-friendly. Hotels, motels, friends, and family members are all excellent, safe choices, but if there’s a lack of availability, you may not be able to keep all your pets together.
Depending on the type of emergency, there could be temporary Red Cross shelters positioned around the area. Designed to help people, these shelters cannot accept pets except for service animals. Check with us about pet boarding.
Tips and Tricks
In the spirit of preparation, cover your emergency bases in these ways:
- Train your pet to leave the house. This will help them move quickly when it really counts.
- Have your pet microchipped and always update your contact information if it changes.
- Ensure that their vaccinations are all up to date.
- Print up your pet’s medical records just in case.
- Have a picture of your pet printed and placed on their travel kennel or crate.
- Keep a backup collar, ID tags, and leash in your car.
- Store a few days worth of food, water, waste disposal bags, toys, and bedding.
- Keep some first aid items on hand.
- Affix a sticker to the door or window near the entrance to alarm rescue workers that a pet lives there (be sure to remove them or write “evacuated” across them before you leave).
- Before moving back into your home, be sure to carefully inspect your property for any potential hazards to your pet’s health and wellness.
Emergency Preparedness Pets
No matter the type of destruction your home or block experienced, it’s an uphill battle to get back into the normal swing of things. You may notice subtle to major shifts in your pet’s behavior. Aggressiveness, resource guarding, or anxiety are typical results of trauma or stress. Please let us know if we can help you address certain behavioral problems.
Also, if we can answer further questions about emergency preparedness pets, we encourage you to reach out to us at Godspeed Animal Care.
Gross! Why is My Dog Eating Poop?
It’s 2 a.m. You’re making your way to the kitchen for a glass of water when you pass by the litter box to find your dog munching away on the…contents. Or maybe you’re out enjoying your favorite park when – to your dismay – Fido decides to snarf up another pet’s poo before you can even blink your eyes. As disgusting (and shocking) as this behavior may seem, seeing a dog eating poop is not uncommon.
While this scene may not be a favorite among pet owners, it’s important to understand why your potty-mouth pooch may be feasting on fecal matter.
Coprophagia
Coprophagia isn’t exactly a word that rolls off the tongue, but it is the scientific term for ingesting feces. When it comes to dogs who are omnivores and natural scavengers, the tendency to eat a wide variety of things may perplex us, but seem perfectly OK to them. For this reason, we must take great care to keep our canine companions from eating something toxic or something that carries disease, such as a dead rodent or bird.
Ask a Vet: Why Do Cats Drool?
The movie Homeward Bound depicts the harrowing journey made by three courageous pets. Chance and Shadow are two canines who appreciate their feline friend, Sassy, although they bicker like most cats and dogs. Sassy says, “Like I said all along, poopsie, cats rule and dogs drool!”
Antagonistic or not, Sassy’s got a point. Certain breeds of dogs are known to drool more than others. However, there are reasons why some cats drool, too – and they aren’t always good.
Cloud Nine
Many cats drool when blissed out. This usually occurs after kneading, snuggling their owners, or even just dreaming. A sign of great happiness, most cat owners will look upon a puddle of drool with a sigh or a shrug.
The important thing to remember is that, while cat drooling can be a benign behavior, it can also signify disease, medical problems, or pain that shouldn’t be ignored.
Addressing Behavioral Problems through Positive Reinforcement Training
Have you ever attempted to correct a behavior with your pet by yelling “NO”? Or have you wondered when the day would come when stubborn Fluffy would finally learn to STOP PULLING ON THE LEASH?!?
You’re not alone. Most pet owners have experienced behavioral problems with a pet at some point in time. Behavioral challenges are typically a result of negligence in the areas of training and socialization. They can also stem from ineffective or punishment based training methods.
Since many of our canine companions come to us with unknown backgrounds, sometimes we find ourselves in situations where training needs to be provided to a young-ish pup or readdressed with an adult dog. Continue…
School Blues Behaviors: Pet Separation Anxiety
In all of the hullabaloo of the back-to-school season, we as pet guardians often don’t realize how affected our pets are by the changes in our routine and attention. That is, until our favorite pair of shoes turn up chewed to shreds or accidents behind the sofa ensue…
Sometimes these symptoms of stress can be short-lived during the back-to-school adjustment period, but they can also indicate a greater need for obedience training, positive reinforcement, and behavior management due to pet separation anxiety issues.
Before you succumb to the chewed sofa or missing sock blues, first get some understanding of stress response in your pet. Continue…