Dog and Cat Diary - Too Funny!

MORNING GUYS – THIS IS ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVOURITES – ENJOY!

EXCERPTS FROM A DOG' S DAILY DIARY
8:00 am - Oh Boy! Dog food! My favourite!
9:30 am - Oh Boy! A car ride! My favourite
9:40 am - Oh Boy! A walk! My favourite!
10:30 am - Oh Boy! A car ride! My favourite!
11:30 am - Oh Boy! Dog food! My favourite!
12:00 noon - Oh Boy! Kids! My favourite!
1:00 pm - Oh Boy! The garden! My favourite!
4:00 pm - Oh Boy! Kids! My favourite!
5:00 pm - Oh Boy! Dog food! My favourite!
5:30 pm - Oh Boy! Mom! My favourite!
6:00 pm - Oh Boy! Playing ball! My favourite!
6:30 pm - Oh Boy! Sleeping in moms bed! My favourite!


EXCERPTS FROM A CAT' S DAILY DIARY
Day 183 of My Captivity

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while I am forced to eat dry cereal. The only thing that keeps me going is the hope of escape, and the mild satisfaction I get from ruining the occasional piece of furniture.

Tomorrow I may eat another house plant. Today my attempt to kill my captors by weaving around their feet while they were walking almost
succeeded, must try this at the top of the stairs. In an attempt to disgust and repulse these vile oppressors, I once again induced myself to vomit on their favourite chair, must try this on their bed.

Decapitated a mouse and brought them the headless body, in attempt to make them aware of what I am capable of, and to try to strike fear into their hearts. They only cooed and condescended about what a good little cat I was. Hmmm, not working according to plan.

There was some sort of gathering of their accomplices. I was placed in solitary throughout the event. However, I could hear the noise and smell the food.
More importantly I overheard that my confinement was due to MY power of " allergies. " Must learn what this is and how to use it to my advantage.

I am convinced the other captives are flunkies and maybe snitches. The dog is routinely released and seems more than happy to return. He is obviously a half-wit. The bird on the other hand has got to be an informant, and speaks with them regularly. I am certain he reports my every move. Due to his current placement in the metal room, his safety is assured. But I can wait, it is only a matter of time...

Until next time

Regards

Lou

Why dogs eat poop?

So, you need to know why dogs eat poop.

Here are the reasons...

In this article you’ll find out why dogs eat poop.  This behaviour, known medically as coprophagia, can be frustrating.  If you understand it, you’ll have a better chance of fixing the problem.  Twenty reasons why dogs eat poop are provided to you.

 Why Dogs Eat Poop: Definition of Coprophagia:

Coprophagia is the ingestion of poop that is neither accidental nor incidental. It is deliberate and habitual.

Other abnormal canine eating issues include pica (eating of non-food material), psychogenic water drinking (consuming more water than necessary for regular daily use), anorexia (starvation to the point of extreme, and deadly weight loss), and gorging (serious, unhealthy overeating).

The focus here is on coprophagia and why dogs eat poop. But, you’ll see that dogs can have a variety of other eating problems. Interestingly, you’ll probably also notice that several of these eating problems are also found in humans, such as anorexia and gorging. We’re kind of like our canine friends sometimes, aren’t we.

Below there are 20 reasons listed why dogs eat poop. In addition, at the end of this article you’ll see a summarization of the reasons. Hopefully you will understand exactly why dogs eat poop so that you can solve the problem or take some action to improve the situation.

Why Dogs Eat Poop: 20 Reasons

1. Your dog might be hungry. If your dog doesn't have access to food, he might eat poop.

2. Some dogs will eat poop to clean up an area like a housekeeper. This is most likely if your dog is confined to a crate or kennel, or when he's chained up or otherwise restricted. He's taking care of his space.

3. If your dog likes to carry poop, and then eat it, it could be genetics. Some dogs have instincts to carry stuff in their mouths.

4. Your dog might be eating poop because of parasites or worms. They can suck nutrients out of your dog, driving him to eat poop. It might also leave him extra hungry because of the lack of proper fuel.

5. Your dog might be eating cat poop or other animal poop to get key nutrients and minerals not available in his own food.

6. Some dogs will simply eat poop to pass the time. Dogs will eat poop because they are bored or lonely. It can be a sign of neglect.

7. Your dog might eat poop because he's anxious, nervous or otherwise upset. Stress will drive animals to do odd things.

8. Some dogs will eat poop to hide the evidence. If you punish your dog for pooping, he might eat it to stop you from getting angry.

9. If your dog has puppies, she might eat puppy poop. This is an instinct to hide the poop from predators. Poop is evidence. Getting rid of it keeps her puppies safe.

10. Some young dogs and puppies will eat poop as a novelty. That is, they'll eat poop as an experiment. They don't know better.

11. If your dog watches you pick up poop, he might learn to do the same. This is called allelomimetic behaviour. Your dog observes you and learns from you, by putting the poop in his mouth you put poop in a bag.

12. Your dog might see others dogs eating poop. From this, they learn to eat poop too.

13. Many dogs simply like the taste of poop. This obviously doesn't make sense to dog owners but that's irrelevant. Some dog like to eat it and that's that. It's warm, moist, and very much like what your dog was given as a very young puppy.

14. If your dog food lacks key nutrients, he might eat poop. Your dog is trying to get "food" with nutrients any way possible, even from his own poop.

15. Sometimes dog poop seems like dog food. This can happen when dog food is low quality and includes materials that are easily passed and not absorbed by your dog. When the dog poops, it seems to be very much like the food he just consumed!

16. In some cases, dogs will eat poop if they are given too much food. This is especially true if your dog's diet is high in fat.

17. Some dogs will eat poop to gain attention. Many dog owners get very upset when their dog eats poop, which means the dog gets attention. This is a wonderful opportunity for your dog to interact with you, although it is because of negative attention.

18. It is possible that some dogs will eat the poop of other, more dominant dogs. Your dog might be more submissive than other dogs, resulting in strange poop eating behavior. This seems to occur more in households with multiple dogs where dominance and submission is a factor. Obviously this doesn't explain much about dogs eating cat poop or other animal poop.

19. It is possible that your dog wants to eat more than one time per day. If you only feed your dog once per day, and your dog eats poop, it could be an indication they want to eat more frequently.

20. In some cases, your dog will eat poop by accident. Dogs are curious and will try to eat almost anything, including poop. Dogs explore the world through taste and smell, much more than humans.

Summarization: Why Dogs Eat Poop

So, now you have seen 20 reasons why dogs eat poop. It could be a signal for higher quality food, more food, less food, or more frequent meals. It could be related to your dog’s desire for more attention and interaction. Your dog might be eating poop out of instinct whereas in other cases it might a learned behaviour from you or by watching other dogs.

Newest Cat article from All About Cats Mag

Cat Q and A


By Louise Thompson

Accredited Animal Behaviour Consultant (ABC of SA ©®™)



Why does my cat like licking me?

Generally this is a form of “epimeletic” or etepimeletic behaviour (care-giving or care seeking behaviour).



It can also be linked to the “parental” or “maternal” behaviour of a queen cat, cleaning and caring for her kittens. Mutual grooming is also used by cats as a form of bonding, and displaying affection from mother to kitten and well as a physical display of affection between two cats of any age, and a good sign that they are content and compatible.



In exaggerated cases it could also be a sign of a hormonal imbalance so if your cat is grooming you excessively it is suggested that you take it to your veterinarian for a check-up.



Excessive mutual grooming could also indicate that the cat was removed / separated from its mother at too young an age and she is seeking the comfort that this activity was familiar with. In some rarer cases it can also be an indication of a lack of minerals in her diet, but again this is best checked out by your veterinarian.



If this is an activity that you dislike or you wish to stop, then you could discourage her from licking you by spraying some mosquito repellent or rubbing some citronella oil on your skin before interacting with her.



Alternately, without scolding her or punishing her in any way, simply put her on the floor each and every time she starts to lick you. By not reacting to the behaviour and not interacting with her when she displays the licking – she is not rewarded by it. As she is not being rewarded (by the contact) her motivation will lessen and the behaviour will cease or lessen. If an animal is successful in its aim – it will repeat the behaviour!



However, you would also need to provide her with environmental enrichment / toys to chew and chase which would also help to distract her. You will need to be consistent to have any lasting effect.



Why does my cat prefer running water to water from a bowl?

This is quite a common question and one I think that is based from a throwback of “wild” cat behaviour, where running water would be safer to drink as it would be perceived to be fresher. Still water could be stagnant - certainly not healthy for animals and this could be just a base survival instinct.



Some cats start to demand to drink running water if they are unwell – and if this is something that has suddenly started – then you will need to get him checked out by your veterinarian. Kidney and bladder problems are very common in cats – so it is worthwhile ruling this out.



Attention seeking behaviour

If it is something that the cat has done for a long period of time they I would suggest that it is something that has become a habituated pattern of behaviour.

The cat learned quickly that he is rewarded (by your attention) whilst soliciting you to turn on the tap. As I have said before – with most animals – if a behaviour is successful or rewarding the animal will repeat it!



In some cases you can supply him with a kitty water fountain which would solve the problem and get him out of your hair so to speak!



If you wish to eliminate the pattern of behaviour then you will need to manage the environment. Start by limiting his options. Keep all bathroom and kitchen doors closed and don’t let your cat inside these rooms with you.



Don’t give in to his tantrums of meowing, scratching at the door with the most pathetic mournful moaning and wailing emitting from him. Some cats can really make a racket to get their own way. This could mean that you might have to put up with a bit of noise for a couple of days until the habit is broken.



A cute/fun tip is to pop a couple of light, coloured balls floating in his water next to a fan so that the balls will rotate or move and this could encourage him to drink from that in addition to keeping her entertained!

Money raised for Dog and Donkey Foundation - for animals in underprivilaged areas

A quick note just to thank you all for your valued support, help and contributions to our Pirate Treasure Hunt held recently at our grounds in Benoni.

We made a staggering R3.027.20 in just under 3 hours of fun and games - That is an incredible effort, and I would like to say a HUGE thanks to all those people who donated so generously, my instructors and everyone else who worked so hard to help make the afternoon such fun, and, of course, to all those who attended - without whom - none of this would have been possible THANK YOU EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!!!!!

Again thank you all so very, very much!

Cheers for now
Lou

Stopping a pup from jumping up without using force.

Stop your dog from jumping up on people (nicely)
By Chet Womach

I had the cutest thing happen to me today. I went
to go bring my dog in from the back yard, only to
find out that he was quite happy to remain outside
to play with a little white Maltese puppy that had
dug under our fence to come play.

I knew the dog and it's always been super sweet,
so I wasn't worried about the two dog's playing
nicely together. In fact I try to let all our
neighbour’s dog's come over to play as often as possible
so they won't all bark at each other but that's a
topic for a different day.

I wanted to share this little story of our neighbour’s
dog today, not to talk about digging, but because
after a little white dog digs a whole under a fence,
it tends to be extremely muddy.

And I was reminded just how quickly a puppy who has
not yet been trained to not jump up on people, can
quickly soil a brand new pair of pants.

And that's what happened to me today. As soon as
I went outside to see just how this Maltese had
escaped into our yard, it ran up to me and very
excitedly started to jump up and claw it's muddy
paws all over me.

But instead of getting mad I decided to teach the
dog a lesson... a nice, and helpful lesson.

I quickly ran inside, changed into a pair of beat
up jeans, so not to cause any further damage to
the ones I was wearing... and ran back outside to
teach this Maltese a little lesson in not jumping
up on people.

Now I know some people try to tell you to swat the
dog every time it jumps up, or knee it in the chest,
or to pull up on it's arms as a way to cause
discomfort, and get the dog to stop jumping up.

But that's FAR from the best way to teach a dog to
stop jumping up.

You see a dog jumps up because it's excited, and it
wants your attention. So we just have to make sure
that we give the dog what it wants (attention) after
it has asked for it in an appropriate way.

And we need to do this in a way that makes sure we
completely stop giving attention to the dog when it
does jump up.

The combination of giving the dog zero attention
when it jumps up, and lavishing it with praise
when it sits patiently at your feet is the easiest
way to do this.

This method took no less than 3 minutes to teach
to my little neighbours escape artist. I would
simply reach down in an excited manner so the dog
would get over excited and want to play, and would
continue to play with the dog until it's
over-excitedness (if that's even a word) led to the
dog jumping up on my leg.

At the exact instant the dog jumped up, I quickly
stood up, removed eye contact off the dog and
stood as still as a stump, showing no emotion.

When the dog got bored waiting for me to resume
playing with it, I would immediately go right back
to playing excitedly with the puppy.

It didn't take long at all for the dog to realize
that the second his muddy little paws touched my
pant legs the play session was over, and in 5
minutes we had the behaviour fixed.

Stubborn dog???

By Chet Womach

Stubborn dog???

Do you ever ask your dog to do something, and he
just doesn’t seem to listen?

Have you ever asked a friend to watch your new puppy
shake, or lie down or sit on command, only to have
your puppy completely ignore your commands when you
try to give him the cue?

This type of seemingly stubborn behaviour really isn’t
stubbornness at all. Let me explain by telling you
a short story…

When I was trying to train my dog Bauer the “down”
command he seemed to catch on very quickly. I would
just sit in my living room, and every time my dog
laid down I’d just watch closely and give him the
cue for “down” right before he’d go to lay down and
in no time at all he was laying down on cue.

Most people make the mistake of thinking this is all
it takes to teach the down command. In reality,
even though I could sit in my living room, give my
dog the “down” command, and 99 times out of 100 he’d
lay down and wait for his reward, that didn’t mean
that he really knew how to obey the “down” command.

What I mean is that even though the dog knew how to
do the behaviour. My dog didn’t fully comprehend the
cue for when to do the behaviour.

I realized this when my in laws first came over to my
house to see our new puppy after we first brought him
home.

I was so excited, because I thought I’d taught him
the down command at 10 weeks old… after all he would
lay down every time I trained him in our living room.

But what I didn’t realize, was that even though I
was sitting in my living room and saying “down” as
the cue for my dog to lay down… my dog wasn’t paying
any attention to the words I was saying.

Instead, he was actually watching my head movement.

Because in addition to saying down as my cue, I was
also looking at my dog and giving him a quick little
nod of my head each time I gave the verbal cue.

And little did I realize that my dog wasn’t listening
to a word I said, he was just waiting for me to give
the little head movement.

So when I went to show my in laws how quickly I’d
trained my new puppy to lay down, I just gave the
down command without my little head nod, and the dog
wouldn’t obey me.

Some people would naively think that the dog is
being stubborn. These types of peoples say things
like “I know he knows how to do this, he’s just
being stubborn”…. WRONG!

He’s not being stubborn at all. You just don’t realize
that your dog is capable of noticing EXTREMELY small
cues, and you’re giving them off without even knowing it.

This is actually a HUGE problem in training animals.

The first people to really discover that animals could
pick up extremely tiny cues, were the people who first
trained chimpanzees sign language. These people swore
that they had taught chips to communicate via sign
language in a way where the chimps could convey wants,
needs and desires.

But when scientists were brought in to first analyze
this they discovered something AMAZING. The chimps
were not using sign language as a way to communicate.

But in fact the chimp trainers had accidentally trained
the chimps to sign using accidental cues with their
EYES!

That’s right, the chimps would see their trainers eyes
move up, down, left or right and depending on the
patterns of the eye movements of their trainers, would
sign the coordinating signs.

That’s how capable animals are of understanding TINY
cues.

And it’s a mistake that even veteran animal trainers
make. So if you catch yourself thinking that your dog
is being stubborn and not wanting to obey you, what’s
probably happened is you’ve accidentally trained your
dog in a way where he doesn’t really understand what
the cue to the behavior is.

How I ended up fixing this with my puppy, is I made
sure that I gave the verbal cue of “down” from dozens
of positions. I’d give it sitting, standing up, with
my back to my dog, from a distance, with my eyes
closed etc. etc.

Because as soon as I stopped offering my little nod
as a cue for my dog to lie down, my dog started to
think that the cue only worked if I was sitting in a
chair, cuz that’s where I’d been doing the training.

And if I was lying on the floor of my living room and
gave the cue for “down” it was like my dog never even
heard the cue.

Again, this isn’t that my dog was stubborn, but that I
was giving off cues that I still don’t even realize I
was giving off. And only by really forcing myself to
train the down command while I was personally in a LARGE
variety of situations was I able to get the dog to really
understand that he needs to listen to the verbal
command and not watch my body language for the cue.

When you think about it, it makes sense. Why would a
dog who’s trying to figure out what we’re trying to
teach it first think to look for clues in the English
language? That would be absurd.

Of course it makes sense that instead of listening to
words, the dog would look for physical cues like
posture head movements etc.

So next time you catch yourself thinking your dog is
acting stubborn, rethink through your training process,
and maybe, just maybe, you haven’t REALLY taught him to
understand the cue like you thought you did.

Chet Womach