Posts Tagged ‘animals’
A storm can be distressing for your outdoor fish, especially for large koi carp, which, being large, possibly do not have many places to hide. However, if you have designed your koi fish pond well, you will have taken this into account when your constructed the pond. Similarly, the pond should be deep enough for your fish to be able to get well beneath the choppy surface level.
If you prepared for the storm, you possibly put a net over the fish pond, so the first thing you need to do after the storm is clear up any fallen debris and take away the net, so that you can get a good look at your fish and what happened to them. They may be a bit stressed, so move unhurriedly and try hard not to scare them. Stress is a killer in the animal world as well as in ours.
Did you take the added precaution of sand-bagging the edges of your pond to stop it over-flowing and the fish swimming away? If so, take away the sand bags, so that you can get a closer look.
Now you can get a good look at the disruption, if there is any. Use a net to quietly skim off any leaves that have blown under the netting and onto the pond. If any plants have been uprooted, put them back where they should be. In general, put the pond back as it used to be, so that the fish feel at home. Again, move unhurriedly and try not to put your fish under any more stress.
If you have to carry out major structural repairs, you could put your koi in a child’s plastic paddling pool until you can sort the issue out. Put the pool in a shaded area and fold the netting over it several times so that the fish can not get out and cats and birds cannot get in. If you can aerate the pool with a pump so much the better.
Put a few plants in there with them for cover and feed in moderation. if the repairs will take a long time, you could ask your local pet store to take them away for a week or whatever. You will need to pay board and lodgings, but it is preferable to losing your prized koi carp.
Once any repairs have been carried out, you ought to check the water quality, which could have been affected by debris falling into the pond or by your repairs. Rain, especially acid rain, can have quite an effect, especially if it rained for a long time.
First check the water for nitrates. If the levels are incorrect (see the testing kit for details), you ought to normalize them. If the levels are extremely high, first remove the plants from the water.
Then test the KH levels. If they are low, say, below 100, then you could add a cup of baking soda per 1,000 gallons of water and check again. Whatever you do, the quickest way to de-stress your fish is to reinstate their environment to what it used to be with clean water to swim in.
Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is now concerned with water garden pumps. If you are interested in a Solar Powered Pond Pump, please go to our web site now for a special deal.
If you choose to be a vegetarian, it is a personal commitment and just a personal commitment. No one will ever give you a rule book, a set of principles to sign up to or a set of procedures to observe. It is completely up to you what you mean by being a ‘vegetarian’. There are no regulations for being a vegetarian.
There are, however, different levels of vegetarianism yet some vegetarians may well debate and even argue that their personal point of view is correct. The strictest form of vegetarianism that you are likely to come across is the macrobiotic diet; then there are the vegans, who do not consume any animal products including fish, eggs and dairy products.
Then there is the majority of vegetarians who will eat fish, dairy and eggs but there are those who do not eat fish, some who will drink milk and eat cheese and will not eat eggs yet some who do. I even knew a vegetarian who allowed himself one bacon sandwich a month yet turkey on Christmas Day (my father), but he considered himself a vegetarian.
You could adopt a mild form or vegetarianism at first but then gradually quit eating fish and dairy products later as your craving for animal protein assuages. Or you could jump in at the deep end by going vegan and add fish back in if you find it too hard. You can do whatever your conscience allows you to do.
Let us suppose that you take the gentle approach to vegetarianism for a year or two and then choose to stop eating dairy products and eggs. You have now become a lacto-vegetarian. It shows a sympathy for the animals in the dairy and egg industries. Numerous hens live in dreadful battery conditions. In general, cows fare somewhat better, but they still live an abnormal life.
Ovo-vegetarianism is the name give to the diet by which you can keep eating eggs after you have given up meat, fish and dairy products. Ovo-vegetarianism is convenient if you find it difficult to get enough protein into your diet, because you can have an egg for breakfast and be vegetarian for the rest of the day.
Veganism is just about as strict as most people would like to go. Strict vegans do not consume any animal products including honey. Most individuals find that this is going too far and that it puts unnecessary stress on the vegetarian following it. After all, a vegan has to know what is in everything he or she eats: every dish, loaf of bread, cake, biscuit and even slushie, in case someone has used honey as a sweetener or animal fat instead or margarine.
Most vegetarians would recommend the slow and steady approach to becoming a vegetarian, because it can get problematic at first and you do not want to put yourself off before you have even given it an opportunity to benefit you. Bear in mind that lifestyle alterations are always hard, so go easy on yourself and take your conversion into a vegetarian leisurely.
Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on several topics, and is now involved with low carb vegetarian recipes. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at http://vegetariancasserolerecipes.com
The snake called the spitting cobra is one of the most peculiar species as it not only has a venomous bite but it also sprays venom into the eyes of its prey and aggressors. Contact of this venom with your eyes can be very painful and even temporarily blinding, therefore, if you get cobra venom in your eyes, irrigate them immediately in order to prevent permanent tissue damage.

The King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is also remarkable in this large family of snakes (elapidae) because it feeds almost entirely on other snakes with mice and small birds also falling prey to its poison.
The King Cobra sets another record in terms of size: it can get to nearly twenty feet long, which makes it the largest venomous snake in the world. The most recent discovery of a new cobra species was made in 2003, when a specimen was identified at a London Zoo as part of an illegal shipment of exotic pets.
Going by DNA reports, this new species of snake is similar to the red spitting cobra but differs in genes. It apparently originates from an area between Sudan and Egypt and it has been named the ‘Nubian Spitting Cobra’.
Though highly dangerous when it is threatened cobras will not attack if you leave them alone, although the spit is very accurate for about two meters. Compared to the strike of a rattlesnake, the cobra is fairly slow in its attack and furthermore, many bites prove to be blank, that is without venom.
According to a study conducted on Malaysian cobra snake victims only 55% of the bites involved venom release and the same statistics indicate a mortality rate of 10% for people bitten, since the toxins injected into the blood of the prey destroy the nerves (neurotoxin) , which induces respiratory failure half an hour after being bitten, giving you 30 minutes to get help.
Their colouration varies from light green-grey to black, although juveniles are yellow and black banded.This snake is widespread throughout south-eastern Asia.
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RFID (radio frequency identification) chips or tags as they are better known are the size of the smallest coin in your pocket, but they can store huge amounts of data that can be manipulated in methods that can do incredible things.
For instance, RFID tags are in the majority of office identity tags and in a few passports, enabling the holder to pass through security quickly while keeping the building or the country secure.
They are a modern version of the bar code. Remember before bar codes and bar code readers? When a shop assistant had to key prices into the cash register, correct errors and look up prices that they could not remember? People do not have any time for that anymore.
It is all right at the newsagents, but imagine a teenager keying in your two trolleys of weekly shopping at the superstore every Saturday. You would still be there on Sunday! Supermarkets have thousands of items and dozens of special offers – no-one could remember that amount.
No-one could, but bar codes make it straightforward and so do RFID tags. Bar codes work well, but they have to be seen to be read. RFID tags send out their information on a unique frequency which can be read out of line of sight. In other words, an RFID scanner does not need to be able to see the tag to read it.
The scanner can read what is in your trolley without you having to unload it and as you pass by that scanner and pay for your things, they are subtracted from stock immediately so that the warehouse manger can see what people are buying and what nobody wishes to buy. So, if one brand of cat food sells better than another, the manager will see that on the computer print-out and buy more of that make, thus keeping more people happy.
This use of RFID in inventory control or asset management to give it its more official title, can translate itself into other uses too. An RFID tag can be placed under your cat’s fur or in its collar so that you can find him if he gets lost. The police and the wardens scan stray animals for a tag as part of their routine these days. Zoologists have been doing this with wild elephants, big cats and other endangered species for years. Now you can have it done with your pets also.
Company vehicles, as assets of the business, often carry RFID tags and you can have one placed in your car to aid recovery if it is stolen. Baggage handlers at airports or bus terminals can (and do) use them to avoid mislaying luggage.
The US government requires RFID tags be used on all vehicles carrying ammunition or dangerous substances and have done for nearly ten years. The US military is in fact the principal user of these tags in the world. RFID tags are used to track military assets such as armaments, battle tanks, fuel, containers, artillery, you name it.
Some people worry about RFID technology. Where is the line between their convenience and their personal information? For example, they do not like getting junk emails from people that have been able to track the purchases they made with their credit cards.
Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on several topics, but is currently involved with the RFID asset tracking. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Active RFID Management.
Keeping the attention of your dog during training is not always an easy task. Dogs are very easily distracted, and it is important to not allow the dog training sessions to be sabotaged by boredom. Making dog training fun for the dog and the human alike is essential to creating a happy, well-adjusted and well-trained dog.
You should provide random positive stimuli throughout the day in order to keep the attention of the dog. Doing things the dog enjoys, like walking in the park, riding in the car, and playing with other dogs, are good methods to keep the dog’s attention, but you must reward him for small successes.
For example, to thank the dog for coming to you when you call him, ask the dog to come to you, without giving any clues about going for a walk, a car ride, or other treats.
After your dog has come over to you and obediently sat down, attach the lead and start the reward. This can be either the afore-mentioned stroll in the park, ride in the car, or anything else the dog likes to do.
Providing some kind of reward, whether a treat, a special outing, or just a scratch behind the ears, every time the dog does something you want, is a great method to maintain your dog’s motivation while you are dog training.
If your dog knows something good is going to happen every time he follows your command, he will be motivated to please you every time.
Distraction training.
When training any dog, it is important to not allow distractions spoil the training. The dog must be taught to ignore distractions, such as other people, other dogs, other animals and loud noises, and focus on what is being taught These types of distractions can also be used as rewards when training your dog to come when told.
For instance, if your dog like romping with other dogs, whether it be in a park or with the neighbour’s dogs, let him play with those other dogs. Then go into the park or garden and call your dog.
When he comes to you, provide lots of praise, treats and other rewards, then immediately let the dog to go back to playing with his pals. Do this several times and praise the dog every time he comes to you.
The dog will soon realize that coming to you means good things (treats and praise) and not bad ones (being taken away from the park).
This so-called distraction training is one of the hardest things for your dog to learn, because dogs are naturally social animals, and leaving the pack is one of the hardest things you can ask your dog to do. Most dogs will be understandably reluctant to leave their canine companions, but it is vital to persist in dog training.
Training the dog to come to you when you call may take some creativity on your behalf at first. For example, waving one of his favourite toys, or a lure, is a great way to get your dog’s attention and put the focus back on you. If your dog has been clicker trained, a quick click can be a good motivator too in dog training.
Once your dog begins to get used to coming when called, you can start to reduce and then stop the visual cues and focus on making the dog respond to just your voice. It is important that your dog obeys voice commands alone, as you will not always have a toy or lure to hand.
Does your dog need training? If you need further information on dog training, then visit our website entitled Successful Dog Training This article, Motivating Your Dog is released under a creative commons attribution licence.
Heart worm, fleas and other parasites in dogs need to be destroyed by using the relevant medication on them. Many products have come onto the market to protect dogs from heart worms, fleas and other parasites like hook worms, whip worms, round worms, lice, ticks etc.
Of the heart worms, fleas and other parasites, fleas can produce a super-sensitive reaction in the infected animal. Animals infected with fleas scratch their skin very vigorously. Often the scratching becomes so severe that the skin becomes hyper-sensitive and dermatitis is the result in the affected areas of skin.
The result is often that the animal can not lie down for long or sleep comfortably due to the constant bites by the fleas. Therefore, your dog looks as if has some severe skin issues. If the your dog is not properly attended to for these flea bites, there will often be secondary bacterial invasions in these areas and there may even be a bad smell emanating from the animal’s affected skin.
You have to observe your dog closely in order prevent a serious infestation of fleas. However, it is essential to avoid such a serious outbreak as they are extremely upsetting to your pet. Similarly, the skin of the animal needs to be checked regularly for the presence of ticks and lice. In order to do this effectively, you need to inspect the dog’s skin by separating the dog’s hairs. The easiest way to achieve this is by slowly back-combing or ruffling the animal’s hair.
Usually, if your pet is anaemic, and he is not infested with fleas, you need to check for hookworm. Symptoms of hookworm are anaemia, loose stools and a pot belly. The dog’s owner may recognize these symptoms themselves, however, to be honest, the dog needs to undergo a routine health examination at the vet’s involving faecal and hematological examinations.
There are many commercial products on the market. Some of which are useful for dealing with all these conditions by a single dose. Drugs like ivermectin are highly effective and are available in injection, oral and solution forms. The latter should be applied directly to the skin. These drugs can lead to the prevention of the above conditions too.
So, the best strategy to follow is to keep a keen eye on your dog. This could most easily be done at bath time and when you are brushing him. You can use an anti-flea and anti-tick shampoo, which will keep these nuisances under control, if used as stated on the bottle. Couple this with regular grooming with a lice comb and the use of a flea collar should keep your pet tick, lice, and flea free.
If you are having problems dog flea treatment on your dogs, please follow the ‘fleas’ link or if you just want to read more about dogs, please go here: Man’s Best Friend – the Dog Also published at Worms, Fleas And Ticks On Dogs.
RFID is the recognized acronym for Radio Frequency IDentification. The basis of RFID technology is that every RFID chip or tag is capable of emitting a radio signal on a frequency wholly unique to itself.
Therefore, every RFID tag must have its own unique frequency and the RFID tag readers must be sensitive enough to be able to distinguish between frequencies that are only a very minute bit different from its neighbouring tags. The difference can be microscopic.
Therefore, the technology has to be sensitive and selective, but not fragile, because the apparatus has to be used on the shop floor and by people who are often in a hurry and in weather that may be inclement.
In order for RFID to have the desired result, you have to have a tag, which is an upmarket kind of bar code and a radio receiver, often called a (tag) reader. However, whereas a bar code can only hold a small quantity of information and the bar code reader has to be pointed at it, an RFID tag can hold much more information and can be read from a hundred yards or more – even out of line of sight.
Passive tags will only divulge their details when asked to by a reader, whereas an active tag is constantly broadcasting its contents. Clearly, active RFID tags are more expensive than passive tags, because they have to have a long life battery.
These tags can be utilized to track goods from the moment they leave the manufacturer of the items they describe to the in-bay of the vendor. The tags can then be up-dated or renewed and put in the warehouse. Once there, RFID readers can keep management up to date about what goods are where and if the sell-by-date is approaching.
This has implications for the levels of stock that a company needs to hold, the quantity of goods sold cheap because the sell-by-date is too near and for theft, all of which should boost company profits more than paying for the cost of the tags, the readers, the printers and the programmes.
At the click of a mouse, managers will be able to read how much inventory they have in real time and if this is all linked to the checkout cash registers, which are the most and least profitable items. This makes reordering easy . Easy to the point of automation. For instance, when stocks of the top ten percent of the best selling items falls below 1,000 order 10,000 more. Automatically, no questions asked.
RFID has many other applications too. The ideas mentioned above can be applied to farm animals, a call centre’s computers, a fleet of commercial vehicles, an inventory of domestic items, your pets, your car and even your garden furniture. Some people who work over a boundary are even having them placed under their skin so that they do not have to wait at customs.
And do not forget that criminals on early discharge are also tagged. It is the same technology.
Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on several topics, but is currently involved with the RFID asset management. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Active RFID Management.
Dog owners will tell you that there is no given method for choosing a good name for a new dog. Whether they have to think of girl or boy dog names, usually they will choose something that sounds cool or a name they like rather than putting some thought into what the name actually means. Popular boy dog names have a variety of meanings, but more often than not the meaning will not suit the dog it is given to. Below is a quick guide to the top five boy dog names and what they really mean.
Undoubtedly, one of the first things you do when you get a new dog or puppy is pick a dog name for him or her. For most dog owners, this actually takes little thought. They just choose a dog name out of thin air and that is the name by which the poor animal will be known forever. However, there are certain issues that ought to be taken into consideration when going through dog names in order to make sure that you choose a suitable one.
First of all, dogs can sense attitude and tone of voice better than humans are able to. If you choose a dog name for comic value or after someone you don’t like, your dog will know by your tone of voice that something is not right. As a result, their attitudes may change towards you or they may refuse to respond to your commands. Dogs’ names should mean something but should not be detrimental to their training, so you should really take the decision of the dog name carefully.
Although dogs are very intelligent creatures, they can’t understand the same amount of information that we can. Therefore, dog names ought not be more than two syllables long. If they are more than that, most dogs will not respond. Max, Sam, Becky, Lady, Molly and the like are excellent dog names because they are short and the names are easily heard. They understand these dog names and that will improve your probability of training them successfully.
However, dogs’ names should assist them mould an identity of their own. Common names don’t really help them to do that, so finding something simple but unusual can help their characters grow a lot without reducing their willingness to respond to a command.
Max: This is perhaps the most popular boy dog name and the meaning is probably the reason why most people choose it for their mut. It literally means “the best”. After all, every dog owner thinks that their dog is the best.
Jake: Jake is short for Jacob, which means “conqueror”. This is a suitable boy dog name, if your puppy takes over the house within moments of setting foot inside it!
Buddy: Buddy is a variation of Budd, which means “messenger”. This boy dog name could suit a farm dog or one you might possibly train to retrieve the newspaper from the porch in the morning. It is a very popular boy dog name throughout America.
Bailey: The boy dog name Bailey is French and means “steward”. This is fairly apt if your dog is responsible and sensible, so it is probably suitable for a Labrador or collie puppy, for example!
Sam: Sam seems to mean “an answer to prayers”. This is a good name for dogs that are obedient, easy to train and are largely quiet!
Not many people consult a name’s meaning when picking boy dog names, so instead of just going with your first thought, it would be worth taking the time to choose a dog’s name that is really suitable for your dog. After all, it doesn’t cost anything to spend some time thinking about your dog’s name.
Does your dog require training? If you require further details on dogs in general, then go over to our web site entitled Successful Dog Training Free reprint avaialable from: Boy Dog Names.
The requirement of healthy food seems to apply equally to people and their pets, since many pet owners prefer to buy organic products to feed their four-legged friends. One could be forgiven for being surprised at the large amount of organic dog food on offer on the market. Just as for humans, there are a lot of pet illnesses that one could cure or even prevent in the first place by the use of organic pet food.
For example, organic dog food could reduce the chance of the dog getting skin diseases and allergies. The explanation for the positive health effects is the absence of additives, chemicals, colourants and pesticides. Instead the ingredients in organic dog food are simply grain extracts and high quality proteins. Organic dog food contains more nourishment, which is obvious from the higher levels of energy and the weight of the dog.
Normal dog food often causes diabetes and excess weight with all the concomitant problems that accompany these illnesses: back ailment, organ failure and decreased mobility. How can organic dog food help here? Well, organic food items for pets do not contain bulk fillers, they are nutrient-packed products that create energy not fat deposits. Moreover, it is best and a lot easier to prevent health issues than to try to treat them afterwards.
A more efficient digestion and a stronger immunity system are the other main benefits that accompany the use of organic dog food. Due to the absence of chemicals usually mixed in ordinary pet food, your dog will not vomit or experience gas or diarrhea. A healthier metabolism is what will result from a healthy diet. Furthermore, the quality of the nutritional substances in organic dog food, boosts the immunity functions, which reduces the risks of infection and all sorts of specific diseases that affect dogs on an everyday basis.
In general, veterinarian experts say that organic dog food significantly extends the life of any animal, not to mention the fact that it will pass through old age a lot better. It is quite common that pet owners who choose organic dog food, are also interested in eating organic foods themselves, sticking to clean natural products that enhance bodily functions and avoid toxins and disease.
Ask your local dog food provider about organic dog food and if there isn’t any in your local shop, try to buy it online. There are many web sites that sell such products at pretty decent prices.
One last tip, be very wary of dried dog food, no matter what it says on the packet. I used to have a dog that stayed at home alone during the day, while I went to work. I didn’t like to leave ‘wet’ food, because of flies, bacteria and vermin, so I bought dry food, which would not deteriorate during the day. However, within six years she had diabetes, which meant that I had to inject her with insulin every morning. The veterinary said that it was very common for dogs fed only on biscuits to get diabetes, so check with your vet first or feed organic wet food.
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Fleas and other parasites ought to always be given the highest priority by dog owners. Flea bite allergy in dogs is all too common and causes concern to many dog owners every year, especially in the summer, although all year round if your dog lives indoors with central heating. This is because flea bites often produce allergic reactions in the area bitten by the fleas, which is very often on the back just above the tail. In these cases, the affected skin becomes red and bald due to the dog’s continuous scratching of itself.
Heavy flea infestations can cause severe dermatitis in dogs. If the flea bites cause allergic reactions or dermatitis in the dog, it really ought to be taken to the vet, because on many occasions, the dog will be experiencing severe discomfort.
The vet will provide you a salve to ease the itching and reduce the inflammation and some powder or a spray to kill the fleas. Prevention, however, is better than cure and medicated collars are available to treat and prevent an infestation of external blood-suckers like ticks and fleas.
Besides fleas, other parasites like ticks and lice plus internal parasites like hookworm, round worm, whip worms etc. can affect the well-being of your dog. For example, if hookworms infect a dog, that dog will normally suffer from anaemia. The signs of anaemia become more evident depending on the severity of infection by the hookworm.
Hookworm larvae can pass directly through the skin and cause problems inside the affected dogs. Such dogs may show cuts due to dermatitis on the paws and on the skin. Frequently, skin rashes are the result in such cases and the affected animal passes loose stools, which are tinged red with blood.
Most dogs and all puppies get round worms, which is why dogs can often be seen rubbing their bottoms along the floor. However, if round worms are present in large numbers, infected puppies show a pot belly, which is easily recognized by dog owners themselves. Piperazine salts are given orally for the treatment of this condition. However, broad-spectrum anthelmintics like pyrantel pamoate, fenbendazole etc. are also used to treat this condition.
There are many drugs on the market to treat fleas and other parasites these days, although medications including the drug ‘ivermectin’ seem to be preferred by many dog owners to clear up fleas and other parasites in dogs. This drug is available for injection or oral use but is now even available for external application too.
If you are having problems getting rid of fleas on your dog, please follow the ‘fleas’ link, however if you want to read more about dogs, please go here: Man’ Best Friend – the Dog Grab a totally unique version of this article from the Uber Article Directory
