The LuxMob Info Tags

Some people believe that dogs need to be trained when they’re young. To some extent for our own sanity that’s true - especially with housetraining, and teaching your dog that chewing your shoes/slippers/anything that’s accessible, is simple not acceptable.

But despite the old adage “You can’t teach a old dog new tricks”, it’s perfectly possible to teach a dog of virtually any age new behaviours and even party tricks, if you like. Basically dog training boils down to rewarding your dog when s/he does something you like, and correcting your dog when s/he does something you don’t like. Good training establishes an appropriate relationship between you and your dog, and it ensures that your dog understands what you want of him/her.

Of course, the dog may become somewhat set in his/her ways, and be less inclined to be interested in learning. My dogs tend to look at me a little suspiciously these days if I try to introduce a new command. But once they get the idea that I’m giving them a new way to please me, it doesn’t take them too long to start to comply.

The idea is to teach your dog to make his own decisions (believe it or not!) Not complicated decisions, of course, - just whether to do something or not. If your dog makes the right decision, s/he’ll be rewarded. If your dog makes the wrong decision, s’he’ll receive a corrrection and the opportunity to then choose the right decision. Simple!

I’ve been reading some professional dog training secrets. They reminded me of an absolutely crucial point when training a dog - that consistency is critical with your dog. Because your dog is always looking for opportunities to elevate him/herself in the heirachy of your household, even just a little bit … if you don’t insist on a certain behaviour every single time, or conversely if you allow a misbehaviour even once, your dog gets a mixed message about what’s acceptable and what s/he can get away with.

As an example, if you’ve taught your dog to come when called, the only way you can be certain s/he will come every single time you give the command, is if you don’t give your dog a choice until you’re 100 percent certain your dog will respond to your command every single time. That is, you must carry this training out with a long leash or rope, so you can make your dog come each time you call him/her.

Adam’s ebook is over 300 pages long and explains all of this in much greater detail and not only tells you exactly how to train your dog to respond to specific commands, but also the most effective ways to prevent unwanted behaviours, and to have a much better behaved dog in general.

What I really like about Adam’s strategies is that his methods utilise the dog’s natural instincts and drives, and because you treat the dog as if s/he is a member of your pack, rather than a child of your household, you actually end up with a happier dog. Some of the methods described in the ebook are somewhat controversial, but I’d really recommend that you read the arguments he puts forward and make your own decision. I LOVE the ebook. Granted, it’s not a literary masterpiece - actually it doesn’t flow as well as it might, and it’s somewhat repetitive - but the information contained in it is priceless.

(c) 2005, Brigitte Smith, Healthy Happy Dogs

Brigitte Smith is a dog lover with a special interest in holistic dog health.

Pick up your special FREE dog health report - and your dog training information here - Dog Training Tips

Congratulations! You’ve decided you want to welcome a
Labradoodle into your home. Labradoodles are a popular dog
today, because they’re very intelligent, playful, and depending
on the Labradoodle, allergy-friendly dogs. Labradoodles have
oodles of energy and boast an entertaining personality. However,
have you honestly asked yourself “Am I ready?”

Labradoodles aren’t your typical dog breed. Beginning as a cross
between a standard Poodle and a Labrador Retriever, Labradoodles
are very smart and highly social dogs. You could even say
Labradoodles are “high maintenance” if not intellectually
stimulated and properly trained. So, are you ready to pour your
heart into nurturing this puppy love? You’re off to a good start
researching the breed and the responsibility of owning a
Labradoodle. This article offers you some useful information to
consider. And by the time you’re through, you should know if
you’re ready to make the commitment to care for and love a new
Labradoodle puppy.

I would suggest keeping in mind Beverley Manners of Rutland
Manors response when I asked her what she thought was the worst
trait of Labradoodles. “Definitely their incredible
intelligence. Many people think they want a super intelligent
dog, but what they don’t realize is, the more intelligent the
dog, the more vital it is consistent early training is given. An
intelligent Labradoodle, who’s given nothing to challenge its
superior intellect, soon becomes an attention-seeking, defiant
brat! It’s important for anyone considering a Labradoodle to be
prepared to put the work in and commit to spending the time
properly training his or her puppy, from day one, throughout the
first year.

Labradoodle breeder Michael Waggenbach of Sunshine Acres
whole-heartedly agrees, “It’s really the environment they go
into that determines the kind of Labradoodle they’re ultimately
going to grow up to be. People often ask me ‘How are you going
to know the kind of Labradoodle you’re going have?’ Well you
don’t. You, the owner, are the one who’s going to determine what
kind of dog you ultimately have. If it flops, it’s really the
owners fault.”

Michael also echoes Beverley Manner’s thoughts regarding the
high intelligence of these wonderful dogs. “The Labradoodles
high intelligence can lead to boredom. If they’re not
challenged, that boredom makes for trouble. So I usually tell
people, if you’re going to have a great Labradoodle, you have to
keep them challenged. You can’t just let them stay home by
themselves all day in a crate and expect them to behave
themselves, because they’re going to figure out ways to get your
attention a lot quicker than another dog would!”

Copyright by Edie MacKenzie. All Rights Reserved.

Cockatiel Illnesses

Cockatiels are one of the most lovable pets in the world. They are a valuable treasure to the owner. Cockatiels, just like humans, need a lot of attention and care. Parrots as pets are delightful but they can become extremely moody and temperamental. This may also depend on its health and diet.

Good cockatiel care involves not only regulation of diet but also of hygiene and cleanliness. Cockatiels, like most of its cousins in the parrot kingdom, are prone to some typical illnesses. Unfortunately, many are fatal and result in death even before the malady is diagnosed. As a result, cockatiels should always be kept under close supervision.

A wise owner of cockatiels is one who is aware of common cockatiel illnesses so that he/she can at least try and help. Many maladies are airborne and they set in even before you realize. It is advisable to seek professional advice whenever you suspect a crisis.

Some of the common illnesses are:

Pacheco’s Virus - It is easy to diagnose your cockatiel if Pacheco’s Virus infects it. The bird needs to be administered a strong oral dose of Zovirax medication. Vaccines are easily available for this disease, but they can bring about tumors and carriers. Evidence shows that parrots are likely to die shortly after inoculation.

Polyomavirus - Polyomavirus largely attacks the young ones. This virus is again air-borne and complicated to control. Look for clinical warning signs like depression, delayed crop emptying, anorexia, diarrhea, regurgitation and weight loss in parrots.

Beak and Feather Syndrome - Spread by feather dust and dried feces, parrots infected with PBFDS show abnormal growth of new feathers. The new-fanged shafts look as if swollen and gnarled. Another type of PBFDS symptom that is quite prevalent is growth abnormality of the beak. There is currently no known cure for this disease.

Wasting Disease - A highly contagious disease Wasting Disease is not as fast in opening out as Pacheco’s. Wasting Diseases are hard to reckon since they lie dormant for years, until hosts are on a move. Studies on parrot show Wasting Diseases have a severe effect on nervous systems extended to all of the major organs, triggering seizures, paralysis, and tremors, and also heart attacks. There is no known medication available for Wasting Disease, but changing the food patterns of the parrots by including easily digestible diet supplements may prolong the life of a victim.

Papilloma - Appearing primarily in the throat or vent areas, papilloma is caused by a virus infection similar to warts. It grows large enough to block the vent, making it difficult or even impossible for the host to defecate. Parrots diagnosed of Papilloma can be cured after successful laser surgery.

Psittacosis - Psittacosis is another most dreaded bacterial infection that commonly occurs in the cockatiels and is transmitted via feather dust and dried feces.

E-coli - This bacterium is not so lethal if it is acknowledged and treated at initial stages. In fact, when cockatiels are diagnosed of having Ecoli their droppings usually have the appearance of diarrhea, giving out strong odor.

Gout - Calcification of the kidneys among the parrots is common especially among the babies who are aged 4-8 weeks. In such cases, victims rarely survive. Initially they show regurgitating and slight dehydration after feedings. In addition, babies who appear slightly smaller than their regular sizes, with protruding neck bone have the largest possibility of incurring Gout.

Runny Nose or Nasal Discharge - The most common of all nasal discharge is laxity of Vitamin-A in cockatiels. This deficiency can be corrected by increasing the food quantities that are rich in vitamins and mineral contents especially.

Author : Medha
Roy

Website : http://www.pet-parrots.com

About the Author

The author is a parrot owner for the last 12 years. She works for www.pet-parrots.com

Walking on a collar and lead is an important skill that every
dog must learn. Even the best trained dog should never be taken
outside the home or yard without a sturdy collar and leash. Even
if your dog is trained perfectly to go off lead, accidents and
distractions do happen, and a collar, with proper identification
attached, is the best way to be sure you will get your beloved
companion back.

Of course before you can teach your new puppy to accept a
leash, he or she must first learn to accept wearing a collar.
The first step is to choose a collar that fits the dog properly.
It is important to measure the puppy’s neck, and to choose a
collar size accordingly.

After the collar has been put on the puppy, simply let him or
her get used to it. It is not unusual for a puppy to try to pull
on the collar, whine, roll or squirm when first introduced to a
collar.

The best strategy is to simply ignore the puppy and let him or
her get used to the collar. It is a mistake to either punish the
dog for playing with the collar or to encourage the behavior.
Distracting the puppy often helps, and playing with a favorite
toy, or eating some favorite treats, can help the puppy quickly
forget that he or she is wearing this strange piece of equipment.

After the dog has learned to accept the collar, try adding the
leash. Hook the leash to the collar and simply sit and watch the
puppy. Obviously, this should only be done either in the house
or in a confined outdoor area. The puppy should be allowed to
drag the leash around on its own, but of course the owner should
keep a close eye on the puppy to ensure that the leash does not
become snagged or hung up on anything.

At first, the leash should only be left on for a few minutes at
a time. It is a good idea to attach the leash at mealtimes,
playtime and other positive times in the life of the puppy.

That way the puppy will begin to associate the leash with good
things and look forward to it. If the puppy shows a high degree
of fear of the leash, it is a good idea to place it next to the
food bowl for awhile to let him get used to it slowly.
Eventually, he will come to understand that the leash is nothing
to be afraid of.

After the puppy is comfortable with walking around the house
wearing the leash, it is time for you to pick up the end of the
leash for a few minutes. You should not try to walk the puppy on
the leash; simply hold the end of the leash and follow the puppy
around as he or she walks around. You should try to avoid
situations where the leash becomes taut, and any pulling or
straining on the leash should be avoided. It is fine for the
puppy to sit down. Try a few games with the collar and lead.

For instance, back up and encourage the puppy to walk toward
you. Don’t drag the puppy forward, simply encourage him to come
to you. If he does, praise him profusely and reward him with a
food treat or toy. You should always strive to make all the time
spent on the leash as pleasant as possible.

It is important to give the puppy plenty of practice in getting
used to walking on the leash in the home. It is best to do
plenty of work in the home, since it is a safe environment with
few distractions. After the puppy is comfortable walking indoors
on a leash, it is time to start going outside, beginning of
course in a small, enclosed area like a fenced yard.

After the puppy has mastered walking calmly outdoors on a leash,
it is time to visit some places where there are more
distractions. You may want to start with a place like a
neighbor’s yard. Walking your new puppy around the neighborhood
is a good way to introduce your neighbors to the new puppy,
while giving the puppy valuable experience in avoiding
distractions and focusing on his leash training.

Puppies sometimes develop bad habits with their leashes, such
as biting or chewing on the leash. To discourage this type of
behavior, try applying a little bit of bitter apple, Tabasco
sauce or similar substance (just make sure the substance you use
is not toxic to dogs). This strategy usually convinces puppies
that chewing the leash is a bad idea.

When training your dog it can be a stressful time, but if you
let it, it can be an enjoyable fun time. Many people are turning
to aids to help them with their dog training, whether that be a
friend, family member, training class book or dog training video.

Dog training videos are possible the next best thing to a
personal professional dog training. They offer lots of handy
hints, advice and techniques but you can see them put into
action so you can tell where you are going wrong. There are
thousand dog training videos out there to choose from. Your
local supermarket may even sell some, if not your pet store and
also the internet is a great choice for purchasing dog training
videos. On the internet you can read reviews and personal
opinions and success stories about the video that you are going
to choose, not to mention there are sites that give you free
clips to watch . So sometimes you don’t even have to pay to
train.

I have tried several different dog training videos and they are
all presented differently. Some videos focus on the training
from the dog’s point of view, with the dog doing the talking and
no handler is actually present; these videos are ok but
sometimes you need to see the body language of the handler so
you know what you are supposed to do.

Other videos come with a handler and a dog in a plain white room
where they basically start at point one and walk you through the
steps of how to make your dog obey certain commands; these
videos although very informative are boring and you lose
interest pretty quickly, not only that the dog in the training
video has been taught obedience so is therefore not going to
show you what accidents could happen or what will happen if your
dog decides he isn’t interested.

The best type of video you can purchase is one where there are a
room full of beginner handlers and young untaught dogs. This
video will let you see what to expect completely when trying to
teach your dog, so you can be aware of what is going to happen
and how to correct things if something goes wrong.

Dog training videos are a great aid in training your dog and
they are very inexpensive so why not try some out? Anything that
will make your dog listen to you is worth a shot isn’t it?

Incredible advances in veterinary medicine are making it
possible for cats to live longer, healthier lives than ever
before. The quality of your cat’s health is the result of a
partnership between you and your veterinarian. You must be
confident that the vet you have chosen will take good care of
your cats.

When you first get your cat, be sure to have your veterinarian
examine her within 10 days. In addition to getting baseline
weights and measurements on her, your vet will want to check her
blood and stools for illness and parasites. If you have never
had a cat before, the first visit is a good time to get a
demonstration in cleaning your pet’s ears and clipping her
toenails properly.

A proper diet and sufficient exercise are key factors in keeping
your cat healthy. You must make sure the food you give your cat
is of good quality to provide her with the correct amounts of
nutrients to keep her systems running. If you are confused by
the variety of brands of cat food available, ask your
veterinarian for some help. Don’t be embarrassed to tell him how
much you are able/willing to spend for pet food. There are some
excellent brands that are not very expensive, and some expensive
brands that are not very good.

Exercise not only keeps your cat’s weight under control, it
strengthens her muscles and enhances her immune system. Some
cats are naturally active. Others need anywhere from a little to
a lot of encouragement from you to get moving. Set aside some
dedicated playtime each day with your cat, and she’ll be more
inclined to get physical.

Yearly “well-cat” appointments with your veterinarian help track
your cat’s health. A thorough going-over under the vet’s expert
eye can catch early skin or eye conditions and other physical
changes that you might not notice on a day-to-day basis. Blood
and stool samples allows your vet to diagnose and treat disease
and parasites before they reach a critical state.

The yearly vet visit is also a good time to mention any “strange
habits” your cat may have developed over the last year. Often,
these have simple explanations, but some behaviors, such as
licking paint or eating strange substances can indicate a
medical condition.

One of the most important aspects of the yearly vet visit is
updating your cat’s vaccinations. Even if you keep your cat
strictly indoors, it is important to have her vaccinated against
diseases such as rabies, panleukopenia, calcivirus, Chlamydia
and feline leukemia virus. If your cat were to get out of the
house and wander, she has protection against some of the
diseases that cost less fortunate cats their lives.

How Do You Find a Veterinarian?

* Get recommendations from other cat owners in your area. * Ask
cat groomers or emergency clinics for recommendations. *
Neighbors or your local pet supply store may be able to make
suggestions. * If you’ve just moved to the area, ask your former
veterinarian if he/she could recommend a veterinarian in your
new hometown

The process for selecting a veterinarian is very much like
choosing your own personal physician. You want to find a doctor
that you feel comfortable talking with, someone who encourages
all of your questions and supports you in all the health care
choices you make on your cat’s behalf.

Choosing Keywords - The Truth about KEI

Choosing keywords that will bring extra traffic to your website is something
that SEO experts are trained to do. There is a popular method of choosing
keywords that invloves the calculation of something called KEI (Keyword
Effectiveness Index). KEI was devised by Sumantra Roy, a Search Engine
Positioning specialist from http://www.1stSearchRanking.net. KEI is a very
helpful indicator, but in my opinion, it is slightly flawed.

The KEI is basically a comparison of the number of times a search term
is searched versus the number of search engine result pages that come up
for that keyword phrase.

For example, let’s say that you are developing a widget website. You want to sell
lots of widgets. You do some research using *Overture’s search term suggestion
tool (http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/). You find out
that the following terms are searched a lot:

widget, red widget, blue widget, green widget, yellow widget.

You then go to *Yahoo and type in the search terms to see how many websites show
up for each term and you come up with the following table:

keyword phrase = widget
# times searched = 10,000
# resulting pages = 1,000,000
KEI = 100

keyword phrase = red widget
# times searched = 9,000
# resulting pages = 950,000
KEI = 85.26

keyword phrase = blue widget
# times searched = 8,000
# resulting pages = 120,000
KEI = 533.33

keyword phrase = green widget
# times searched = 7,900
# resulting pages = 900,000
KEI = 69.34

keyword phrase = yellow widget
# times searched = 6,300
# resulting pages = 994,000
KEI = 39.93

According to the KEI ratio, the best keywords to choose are those with a high KEI
(ie. the most popular keywords, with the lowest competition). This is a basic
law of supply and demand. Based on the chart above you might think,

“Ah ha! I should target blue widgets because it has a high KEI ratio.”

The problem with this is that you are making the assumption that a low quanity
of competition is more important than the quality of the competition. This is a
major FLAW. KEI does not factor in the QUALITY of competion only the quantity. I
have come up with a simple method for determining the quality of competition
using *Google *Page Rank (although a better solution could be created based on
backlinks of relevant sites).

This simple method is done by calculating the average Page Rank for the first n
resulting pages for a given keyword search (where n is the number of pages you
want to be ranked in). So turning back to the example above, let’s say you want
to be in the top 10 (n=10) search engine ranking for blue widgets. Go to your
search engine of choice or use your tool of choice and type in blue widgets as
your keyword. Then check each page’s PageRank in the top ten results. Divide
that number by 10. This calculates what I call the KPI (Keyword Page Rank Index).
The formula looks like this:

(P1+P2+..+PN)/N (where n is the number of pages you are adding)

In my example above, let’s look at the new results:

keyword phrase = widget
# times searched = 10,000
# resulting pages = 1,000,000
KEI = 100
KPI = 7.5

keyword phrase = red widget
# times searched = 9,000
# resulting pages = 950,000
KEI = 85.26
KPI = 7.2

keyword phrase = blue widget
# times searched = 8,000
# resulting pages = 120,000
KEI = 533.33
KPI = 7.3

keyword phrase = green widget
# times searched = 7,900
# resulting pages = 900,000
KEI = 69.34
KPI = 4.2

keyword phrase = yellow widget
# times searched = 6,300
# resulting pages = 994,000
KEI = 39.93
KPI = 5

Based on the results above you can see that to make it into the top 10 search
engine results you will be competing with pages that have a *Page Rank averaging
7.3, which is a pretty high *Page Rank. On the other hand, if you choose green
widgets you will be competing against pages with an average *Page Rank of 4.2.
In this case, it would probably make more sense to target “green widgets”.

Does this ever happen?
YES! It does. While finding keywords for my websites, I discovered this
discrepancy in the KEI. I thought about keeping it to myself, because it is
useful “inside” information. But now that I have a website dedicated to helping
beginners with website promotion, I decided I would go ahead and let the cat
out of the bag.

While this new method itself is flawed, it is not bad. Another important
calculation that I came up with is what I like to call “anchor backlink quality
indicator” (ABQI). To calculate it, you would have to check the backlinks of the
top ten websites for that keyword, and determine the number of times a backlink
uses the keyword in it’s anchor text. This will give you a good idea of how many
backlinks to the page you will need ot be competitive for that given keyword
phrase.

One last factor that would be nice to know is the Relevancy of the websites
pointing to the top ten pages for the given keyword. In other words, how many
relevant pages point to the top ten pages for the given keyword. This could also
help in determining the quality of the competiton.

Ultimately, what should happen is the search engines should develop a keyword
suggestion tool that gives a competition indicator that uses all of their secret
factors to show us SEOs what are the best words for us to target. SEO experts
would pay lot’s of money for this tool and the Search Engines could make a
pretty penny by providing us with a tool like this. Are you listening *Yahoo,
*Google, MSN, anyone?

In conclusion, taking Page Rank into account will help improve your keyword
research over KEI. KEI is still valuable, but using it in conjunction with KPI
will help greatly in your search for good keywords.

——————————————————————————–
Notes:
This example is totally fictional. The numbers given in these examples are
fictional.

* Google and Page Rank are trademarks of Google Inc.
* Yahoo is a trademark of Yahoo Inc.
* Overture is a trademark of Overture Inc.
——————————————————————————–

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Choosing Keywords - The Truth about KEI
Written by George Manty, owner of http://websitepromotionbook.com
This article can be reproduced in whole or in part, providing this byline
is included along with a link to http://websitepromotionbook.com

If you have a dog or cat that is an escape artist with cross-country travel on its mind, you might want to consider a GPS pet–tracking device. The same technology that enables rangers to follow tagged animals will allow an owner track straying or lost pets. You can choose either a collar design or a backpack type that works with a harness.

Before you rush out to buy a GPS pet–tracking device you need to consider a few things. Firstly, in addition to the system having a GPS receiver, a transmitter is required so the animal’s location can be reported. This usually means a service provider is needed.

Some pet–tracker systems are used with GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) that uses your GSM mobile phone and a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card for tracking. Note the SIM card provider needs to have a service in the area where you’ll be using the device.

There are various ways of accessing the information that your GPS receives. These include via home phone, Internet, and software installed on your computer. Phone access is not recommended and installed software limits your access to information. Internet access to your GPS data is the recommended way to go. You just log on, enter your password and your pet is located.

Pet finding software allows you to define your pet’s boundaries and upload them to your computer. If your pet goes beyond its boundaries then an alarm will sound and you can quickly locate where the animal has gone. If you are traveling with your pet beyond its boundaries you can disable the alarm, or if you are visiting another area you can upload new boundaries. Most systems allow you have more than one area entered.

All GPS units vary in sophistication as does the pet–tracking GPS. You can choose a unit that gives location and nothing else, or you can purchase a device that will give you location and the information of how to get there, including reference points along the way. As in any product, what you spend will define the abilities of your system. If your animal is a water lover make sure that the unit is waterproof.

There is a difference between dog tracker collars and GPS pet–tracking devices. The former are usually limited in range to about half a mile and are ineffective if your animal has been stolen and removed from the area. Beacon devices can only be seen within the range of the light.

A GPS Pet-tracking device that is not being worn is useless. If you invest the money, make sure that your pet wears his/hers all the time. Yes, animal snatchers will sometimes remove collars, but a surprising number don’t think about doing so. Combined with micro chipping and registration, pet–tracking GPS devices will go a long way to ensure that your lost pet will be located.

About the Author

Anne King is a sports and recreation writer in Boise, Idaho. For more GPS tracking information, visit Maps GPS Info.com which provides practical information on GPS and maps that everyone can use. The website includes product reviews and a maps/GPS glossary.

‘I named all kittens, although they were all stillborn.’ ‘My pregnant cat has a bloody vaginal discharge.’ ‘I had a litter of five, but only one kitten survived.’

These are only a few of the horror stories I received the past weeks. Cat lovers that had hoped for a healthy litter, suddenly found themselves with stillborn kittens or an ill mother cat.

There’s a lot that can go wrong when cats are pregnant or give birth, even when most cats deliver without major problems.

Among the dozens of possible complications are infections in the womb, death of the fetuses, spontaneous abortion, development of fetuses outside the womb, suffocation of a kitten right after birth, kittens that get stuck in the birth canal … it’s a long list.

For experienced breeders and specialized vets it’s easy to recognize such problems. But things are different for a regular pet lover. Many female cats have only one litter during their life.

Some people rush off to the vet when their pregnant cat is only a little tired of walking around. Others wait too long because they are unaware of the discharge from their cat’s vagina. Or they don’t know how to cut an umbilical cord without causing a heavy bleeding.

Where it all comes down to, is this: if you know how to recognize complications, you can do a lot to prevent the worst. Seeing a vet might not even be necessary then - which is not only good news for your cat, but also for your budget.

And if you have the right skills, you can save a kitten’s life when something goes wrong during birth. Yes, even you can obtain these skills!

Time is of the essence with most medical issues. But when you have a pregnant pet, educating yourself is just as important.

Spend time on reading about pregnancy in cats. Talk with a professional breeder. Ask your vet for advice once you realize your cat is pregnant.

Don’t sit back and think all goes well. With a little time and effort, you can save yourself and your cat a devastating experience.

About the Author

Journalist and long-time cat lover Marc de Jong is the author of How To Take Care Of Your Pregnant Cat, a unique ebook that tells you all about pregnant cats, birth and raising kittens. Read more here: http://www.pregnant-cat-care.com

German Shepherds were among the first dogs trained for police work- beginning around 1900 in Ghent, Belgium.

Dog’s body cells contain the most pairs of chromosomes (heredity- carrying
structures) of any mammal- 39 pairs.

There is an old Chinese belief that if a person owns a good and faithful dog that the dog will sacrifice itself to Death when Death demands a member of its’ immediate family.

The most decorated U.S. dog during World War II was a German Shepherd/Husky/
Collie mix named Chips. He also served as a guard dog in North America and later
earned a Silver Star for capturing a machine gun nest during the invasion of Sicily.

Dogs have been used to determine whether twins are identical or fraternal because
identicals have the same scent, but fraternals do not, no matter how much they may
look alike.

The Latin word for faithful is “Fido?” Could this possibly have any connection with
the fact that so many dogs are named this?

If an old or sick dog does not shake itself after getting up that this is a sign of bad
overall health? Each dog shakes itself to get every muscle and tendon back into
perfect place after waking up.

A dog can survey an area between 200 to 270 degrees, depending on the shape of
its skull and the positioning of its eyes, compared to the average of 100 degrees for
a human being.

Due to the popularity of lap dogs in ancient Rome, Julius Caesar once mused if
Roman women had ceased to have children in lieu of their new four-legged
companions.

Article written and reprinted with permission of: http://www.pedigreedpups.com/
Purebred Dogs, Puppies and Dog Breeders - “Your New Best Friend”

Copyright 2005. All rights reserved.

Debbie Ray, owner of: http://www.pedigreedpups.com is a lifetime dog lover and
owner and breeder of german shepherd dogs for over 15 years.