When it comes to Funny Pet Pictures, Max takes the prize. This is Episode 2: The Chuckles. You might remember Max from an earlier post, Episode 1: Destroyer of Ducklings. I'm looking forward to more priceless pet pictures from Max. Expect more :D

Don't forget, you can send us your own Pet Pictures at YourPetPictures@gmail.com

Often dogs lash out when reprimanded for doing something wrong. This is because the dog does not know what it is doing wrong. It only knows you are being aggressive. Remember a dog should not be punished for anything after three seconds of the act, it just does not understand. Any punishment after that time can result in the dog fearing you and can often cause aggression.

Smack a puppy which nips you and you will just teach it to nip and run. Shout 'ouch' and ignore it. Teach it that nipping is not rewarding by ignoring.

Biting by dogs is a serious problem as these statistics from America show.

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, dog bites are responsible for 4.5 million injuries every year in the U.S.A., 750,000 people requiring medical attention and 334,000 ending in a hospital emergency room. The Insurance Information Institute reported that insurance companies paid an estimated $250 million in dog bite liability claims in 1996. More than half of all dog bites come from familiar dogs, those of friends, neighbours and even the owner’s own dog.

While some breeds may have more aggressive tendencies, all dogs are potential biters so don't be misled by size.

However the Humane Society of the United States reports that period from 1979-1996, five breeds, the Pit Bull, Rottweiler, German Shepherd, Husky and the Alaskan Malamute, were responsible for two-thirds of fatal dog attacks and, in two years from 1980 to 1996, 304 people died from dog attacks.

The American Veterinary Medical Association reports that dog attacks in the U.S. are the No. 1 public health problem for children, with more than half of all children bitten by age 12, most before the age of nine years. The leading reason for dog euthanasia is aggressive tendencies.

Commitment, Firmness, but kindness.
by David the Dogman

Tags: pet pictures, pets, pictures, dogs, dog biting

Damn, it seems lately, I'm getting sh** load of traffic coming into this blog, lots and lots of users and comments to my pet pictures and articles. It's all coming so nice lately. I'm learning so much each day now :) I'm on top of things, just like that turtle!

Oh well.. time to take up from the dream, nobody comes here, and nobody is interested but I guess I should not lose hope, not all things happen after night. As far as that is concerend I might see a comment from someone this year ;)

The old saying "Build it and they will come!" for sure does not apply, and I know that, quality links, quality content and top search engine rankings is what's needed... COMING SOON! :p

Keep the Faith !
keywords: fallout sharing sad blog thoughts :]

Tags: pets, pictures, articles, blogging, traffic, turtle, faith

Barking

I guess we've often had the "dog barking issue"... Here's a bit of info on it. Oh and that Pet Picture on top kind of gives me the shivers, bad memories I guess :)

So here it is:

Barking at night
The simple answer is to ignore the dog. By barking, it is training you to respond. You might have a few noisy nights but you will be showing it that barking is not productive. Certainly do not respond by shouting or scolding. If you do so the dog will only know that its barking has been productive by making you bark as well.

Barking, excessive
The reason for excessive barking in one word is FEAR, and it is frightened because it has not been socialized. It is nervous of every sound it hears and barks in a futile attempt to send the perceived threat away. Sometimes a dog which constantly whines, cries, barks, or is destructive, suffers from skin problems brought about by scratching and licking themselves because of the stress of being left. Generally this is not a problem with dogs which have been socialized through training classes at an early age. The solution is socialzation through obedience classes and home management.

Barking when the owner is out
This is a big problem caused by bad owners. The dog is a pack animal and if, as a member of the family pack, it is given the freedom of the home by being allowed to rest on the furniture and sleep in bedrooms, then it will suffer a form of stress when the pack goes off to work because it expects to go with the pack. When people leave home they should not look, touch or talk to the dog for about 10 minutes beforehand. The same applies when coming home: ignore, no talking, no patting, no looking, nothing. This way, the dog understands that its barking has not brought the owner back. If it has been barking while you were away and is rewarded by your attention when you come back, it then thinks it was its barking that brought you back to the house. A dog’s bark is said to be worse than its bite. It certainly is for the neighbors of a constantly barking dog left alone for too long, unsocialized and with uncaring owners. Hopefully no readers would permit their dogs to be such a community nuisance.

Barking at the postman
The postman or any kind of regular deliveryman is regarded by your dog as an intruder and so it barks and is immediately rewarded by the postman going away. It thinks it has frightened off the intruder and done its duty. Talk to your postman and try to get him to cooperate. Tell him you will leave a tit-bit outside the door and ask him to push it through the letter-box before the letters. The tit-bit will be a better reward for your dog than chasing the postman away.

Barking when the telephone rings
If you shout (bark) at your dog when it barks at the telephone ringing, you are encouraging it to bark more. It feels there is danger if you react. Get a friend to phone you at several agreed times. When the phone rings do not move and do not speak. After your friend has done this a few times your dog will no longer bark when the telephone rings.

Barking from balconies
When a dog barks from a balcony at someone passing by, it is simply asserting its dominance, firstly by looking down on humans and secondly by successfully telling them to shove off. As far as the dog is concerned, it is objecting to someone invading its territory. And even more pleasing, its barking is rewarded by the passerby walking away. Answer: ban the dog from the balcony.

Barking deterrent
Abistop is a French invention resulting from chemosensory research into the dog barking problem. It is attached to the dog´s collar and automatically emits a small spray of citronella whenever the dog barks. Brief exposure to cintronella immediately distracts dogs but does not cause them distress and even smells pleasant to humans. It is effective but expensive at £90. A cheaper method might be a quick squirt of water from a plant spray bottle or putting a bit of food in front of the dog’s nose. It cannot eat and bark at the same time.

Commitment, Firmness, but kindness.
by David the Dogman

Conclusions ? So what are your thoughts on this... I've personally came to hate dog barking at night, losing precious sleep time over it, just because a feel dogs feel like chatting up. It's times like this I had some super elite alien techlonogy remode, and just press "mute" button. Just my 2 cents.

Tags: pet, pictures, dogs, barking, fear, bite, blogging

Sciurophobia - Fear of Squirrels

We're going to bring you all the nicest pictures, on a wide range of animals, anything actualy, Pet Pictures is the name, and Pet Pictures is our game, stay tuned for our daily dose of Pet Pictures and Pet Articles.

Check out the picture on the left, now that's a "tuned" animal, he's eagerly waiting out new content :) And I caught him on my camera!

Feel free to add your own comments here, and stay tuned for new stuff each day !

Also, don't forget to mail us at YourPetPictures@gmail.com with your own unique Pet Pictures !

Quality Pet Pictures content.

Tags: pets, pictures, articles, squirrels, photo, photos, blogging

It is not true that dogs are completely colourblind. While dogs do not have the same color vision as humans, they are able to tell yellow from blue. Like a human with red-green colourblindness, they are unable to tell the difference between red and green.

The reason for this limited range, in both the colourblind human and the dog, is that there are only two kinds of colour receptors in the retinas of their eyes. While most humans have three kinds of colour cells, with three different receptor molecules sensitive to blue, greenish-yellow, and red, dogs only have receptors for yellow and greenish-blue.

Canine eyes also lack another human trait: the fovea, an area especially dense with detail-sensing cells. As a result, their detail vision is not as good as ours. But they make up for this by having much better night vision and greater sensitivity to movement.

Commitment, Firmness, but kindness.
by David the Dogman

Tags: pets, pictures, photo, photos, articles, dogs, blogging

Chocolate made for human consumption can cause death in dogs. Dogs are sensitive to a class of chemicals called methylxanthines. Caffeine and theobtomine are members of that family. Dogs simply cannot metabolise and excrete methylxanthines as efficiently as humans. The half life of those compounds in the human body is in the order of 2 to 3 hours, in the dog it is more like 18 hours.

In a dog the compounds are taken up by the liver and transmitted via the bile into the intestine. They are then converted back into the original methylxanthines for another circuit through the animal. This repeats itself a number of times and instead of getting rid of the substances the dog keeps repoisoning itself-

There are many formulations of chocolate with varying amounts of caffeine and theobromine. The lethal dose of sweet milk chocolate for a dog is 2 oz per kilogram of bodyweight. For a 5 kilogram dog this would be about 280 grams. A lethal dose of milk chocolate for a 25 kilogram would be about 1.4 kilograms.

Dark chocolate is at least 10 times as lethal. A 25 kilograms dog could die from the methylxanthines in 5 ounces.

Symptoms include vomiting, hyperactivity, restlessness, hypersensitivity to touch ( a dog will jump when touched very rapid heartbeat and rapid breathing rate. A loss of control of leg muscles, muscle tremor seizures, general weakness, coma and finally death follow.

In my humble opinion it would be a tragic mistake to encourage a dog to develop a taste for chocolate. A small dog left alone in a house with a box of chocolates might well follow his nose to the goodies and commit suicide by poisoning.

Commitment, Firmness, but kindness.
by David the Dogman

Tags: pets, pictures, photo, photos, dogs, chocolate, articles, blogging

Welcome to Pet Pictures !

Look forward to a lot of nice Pet Pictures and Pet Articles.
Feel free to submit your own Pet Pictures or add your comments to current Pet Pictures.

Have fun with our Pet Pictures!

Tags: pets, pictures, photo, photos, articles, blogging

It's sad for me to think about the fact that I know someone in real life, very dear to me, who really suffers from this kind of disease. And there is preety much nothing you can do about it except watch and be amazed. Guess the only thing I could do is put up an article here for others who might suffer or just want to know more about mesothelioma. It's not related to what this site is but I don't even care.

Mesothelioma: Questions and Answers

Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer in which malignant (cancerous) cells are found in the mesothelium, a protective sac that covers most of the body’s internal organs. Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles.

1. What is the mesothelium?

The mesothelium is a membrane that covers and protects most of the internal organs of the body. It is composed of two layers of cells: One layer immediately surrounds the organ; the other forms a sac around it. The mesothelium produces a lubricating fluid that is released between these layers, allowing moving organs (such as the beating heart and the expanding and contracting lungs) to glide easily against adjacent structures.

2. What is mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma (cancer of the mesothelium) is a disease in which cells of the mesothelium become abnormal and divide without control or order. They can invade and damage nearby tissues and organs. Cancer cells can also metastasize (spread) from their original site to other parts of the body. Most cases of mesothelioma begin in the pleura or peritoneum.

3. How common is mesothelioma?

Although reported incidence rates have increased in the past 20 years, mesothelioma is still a relatively rare cancer. About 2,000 new cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed in the United States each year. Mesothelioma occurs more often in men than in women and risk increases with age, but this disease can appear in either men or women at any age.

4. What are the risk factors for mesothelioma?

Working with asbestos is the major risk factor for mesothelioma. A history of asbestos exposure at work is reported in about 70 percent to 80 percent of all cases. However, mesothelioma has been reported in some individuals without any known exposure to asbestos.

Smoking does not appear to increase the risk of mesothelioma. However, the combination of smoking and asbestos exposure significantly increases a person’s risk of developing cancer of the air passageways in the lung.

5. Who is at increased risk for developing mesothelioma?

Asbestos has been mined and used commercially since the late 1800s. Its use greatly increased during World War II. Since the early 1940s, millions of American workers have been exposed to asbestos dust. Initially, the risks associated with asbestos exposure were not known. However, an increased risk of developing mesothelioma was later found among shipyard workers, people who work in asbestos mines and mills, producers of asbestos products, workers in the heating and construction industries, and other tradespeople. Today, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sets limits for acceptable levels of asbestos exposure in the workplace. People who work with asbestos wear personal protective equipment to lower their risk of exposure.

The risk of asbestos-related disease increases with heavier exposure to asbestos and longer exposure time. However, some individuals with only brief exposures have developed mesothelioma. On the other hand, not all workers who are heavily exposed develop asbestos-related diseases.

6. What are the symptoms of mesothelioma?

Symptoms of mesothelioma may not appear until 30 to 50 years after exposure to asbestos. Shortness of breath and pain in the chest due to an accumulation of fluid in the pleura are often symptoms of pleural mesothelioma. Symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma include weight loss and abdominal pain and swelling due to a buildup of fluid in the abdomen. Other symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma may include bowel obstruction, blood clotting abnormalities, anemia and fever. If the cancer has spread beyond the mesothelium to other parts of the body, symptoms may include pain, trouble swallowing, or swelling of the neck or face.

These symptoms may be caused by mesothelioma or by other, less serious conditions. It is important to see a doctor about any of these symptoms. Only a doctor can make a diagnosis.

7. How is mesothelioma diagnosed?

Diagnosing mesothelioma is often difficult, because the symptoms are similar to those of a number of other conditions. Diagnosis begins with a review of the patient’s medical history, including any history of asbestos exposure. A complete phyisical examination may be performed, including x-rays of the chest or abdomen and lung function tests. A CT (or CAT) scan or an MRI may also be useful. A CT scan is a series of detailed pictures of areas inside the body created by a computer linked to an x-ray machine. In an MRI, a powerful magnet linked to a computer is used to make detailed pictures of areas inside the body. These pictures are viewed on a monitor and can also be printed.

If the diagnosis is mesothelioma, the doctor will want to learn the stage (or extent) of the disease. Staging involves more tests in a careful attempt to find out whether the cancer has spread and, if so, to which parts of the body. Knowing the stage of the disease helps the doctor plan treatment.

Mesothelioma is described as localized if the cancer is found only on the membrane surface where it originated. It is classified as advanced if it has spread beyond the original membrane surface to other parts of the body, such as the lymph nodes, lungs, chest wall, or abdominal organs.

8. How is mesothelioma treated?

Treatment for mesothelioma depends on the location of the cancer, the stage of the disease, and the patient’s age and general health. Standard treatment options include surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. Sometimes, these treatments are combined.

9. Are new treatments for mesothelioma being studied?

Yes. Because mesothelioma is very hard to control, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is sponsoring clinical trials (research studies with people) that are designed to find new treatments and better ways to use current treatments. Before any new treatment can be recommended for general use, doctors conduct clinical trials to find out whether the treatment is safe for patients and effective against the disease. Participation in clinical trials is an important treatment option for many patients with mesothelioma.

Source: NCI factsheet.

Tags: Mesothelioma, Mesothelioma Lawyers, Malignant Mesothelioma, Asbestos, Cancer