There’s nothing more scrumptious than gathering with friends and family for the holidays, but many of the ingredients in human fun can result in distress for pets. As we kick off this season of lights, parties and yummy treats, the ASPCA wants to remind pet parents of the potential hazards certain goodies and décor can pose to our furry friends.

“As you prepare for your holiday celebrations,” says Dr. Steven Hansen, Senior Vice President of ASPCA Animal Health Services, “remember to be wary of foods and traditions that can bring potential dangers to companion animals.”

In honor of the joyous season to come, ASPCA poison control experts offer these essential tips for having pets at the party in a safe way:

Avoid Too Much of a Good Thing
While the holidays are a time for giving, there are some foods you should not share with your furry friends. A taste of mashed potato or a lick of pumpkin pie shouldn’t pose a problem. However, alcoholic beverages, coffee, onions, fatty foods, yeast dough and macadamia nuts can all lead to stomach upset, diarrhea or even worse—an inflammatory condition of the pancreas known as pancreatitis. A special no-no is chocolate, which if ingested can lead to death. And you may want to skip sharing the turkey—poultry bones can splinter and cause blockages.

Put the Meds Away
One of the most common holiday-related emergencies is the consumption of human pharmaceuticals. Make sure all your medications are securely locked away, and be sure to tell your guests to keep their meds zipped up and packed away, too.

That Holiday Glow
When you leave the room, put the candles out! Animals can easily knock lit candles over, causing a fire, and curious cats are particularly at risk of getting burned by candle flames. Also, be sure to use appropriate candle holders, placed on stable surfaces.

Decorations Can Be Dangerous
Holiday decorations such as breakable ornaments, string, ribbon and dreidels should be kept out of paws’ reach. These traditional decorations can cause choking or severe intestinal problems if swallowed. All holiday light strands, loose wires and electric cords can also pose serious dangers to your pet, especially puppies, who may chew on them.

Go Tinsel-less
Kitties love this sparkly, light-catching “toy” that’s easy to bat around and carry in their mouths. But a nibble can lead to a swallow, which can lead to an obstructed digestive tract, severe vomiting, dehydration and possible surgery. It’s best to brighten your boughs with something other than tinsel.

Forgo the Flowers
Be careful with holiday floral arrangements. Lilies are commonly used this time of year and all varieties, including Tiger, Asian, Japanese Show, Stargazer and Casa Blanca can cause kidney failure in cats. In addition, common Yuletide plants such as mistletoe and holly berries can be potentially toxic to pets. Holly, when ingested, can cause pets to suffer nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Mistletoe can cause gastrointestinal upset and cardiovascular problems. Safe alternatives include artificial flowers made from silk or plastic.

Oh, Christmas Tree
Cats often see trees as fabulous climbing posts. Be sure to securely anchor your tree so it doesn’t tip and fall, causing possible injury to your pet. Also keep in mind that tree water may contain fertilizers that can cause stomach upset if ingested. Stagnant tree water can also act as a breeding ground for bacteria, and, if ingested, a pet may suffer nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

New Year’s Noise
As you count down to the New Year, be alert to any pet hazards such as noise-makers and confetti. Noise-makers can frighten your pets, causing them to bolt out an open door or window. Confetti, if ingested, can wreak havoc on the digestive tract.

Holiday Travel
Before traveling with your pets by car or plane, make sure they have all the required vaccinations and are wearing identification tags or are microchipped. If you’re traveling by car, be sure to secure your pet safely with a seatbelt harness, crate or barrier and make frequent stops, allowing pets time to exercise and relieve themselves.

If your dog or cat accidentally ingests any potentially harmful products and you need emergency advice, please consult your veterinarian or the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 (a fee applies) or www.aspca.org/apcc.

BEFORE u bring the new dog home.. be prepared.  what u do before the new dog comes home and what you do the frst hour will make a HUGE difference on if the dogs stays!  Read this one page…

Click this  link.. 3 minutes that will change your life..

BEFORE you bring the new dog home..

1- If small. bring home in a crate..

2- Take them through the house and into the back yard. If they try to escape, they will try to leave the way they came in.

3- Have them IMPRINT on the area where they will be staying  for the first few weeks or until trained.

4- If you have a pool. BEWARE.. they may swim but not know how to get out of the pool.. see pool training blog.

Read This BEFORE You Give Up Your Pet Due to Allergies…

Great ideas..

http://www.findtoto.com/.. calls all your neighbors

http://thecenterforlostpets.com/

http://www.fidofinder.com/

re-print: Benedict Canyon Newsletter
by Jan Marlyn Reesman
The canyon is filled with “LOST PET” signs. We all know many of these missing small dogs and cats may never show up again. The fate of “the canyon”. However you should not stop searching. Cats have been found weeks after they go missing. Since the conception of the micro-chip, dogs have been returned home long after their replacement has arrived.
When a pet goes missing it is vital to act fast and to never stop the search. Grab a powerful flashlight even during daylight hours, we learned this from watching “CSI”. Search dark spaces. A frightened or injured cat will hide in dark spaces and will not come to you when called. An injured dog may also.

Immediately search your property thoroughly. Small dogs and cats can get into some incredibly strange places. Look in EVERY nook and cranny. Don’t assume that your pet would never crawl into a tiny space. Especially cats.. felines are a curious group. Look behind, under, and inside washing machines, clothes dryers, stoves, refrigerators, dishwashers, bookcases, behind water heaters, under furniture, under beds, in closets, in cabinets, in drain pipes, in sewer drains, in culvert pipes, under vehicles, under the hood of your car, in crawl spaces under the house, inside sheds and barns, etc. In the case of cats, also look in attic crawl spaces, on the roof, in roof gutters, and up in the trees.

Make some noise while you walk around the neighborhood! Animals can hear you from great distances. If your pet has a favorite “squeaky toy” bring it along and use it to help you make familiar noises. It’s also important to stop regularly, be quiet, and listen for your pet to make a noise in reply. Especially at dawn and dusk.

Place strong-scented articles outside your home to attract your pet. Leaving the pets bed, a piece of your clothes or personal blanket. They will help to give the pet an anchor to stay near or on if he or she is lost when you are away from home or if you have to leave the last area where you saw your pet.

Put flyers everywhere. It is extremely important to post MANY flyers within at least a 1-mile radius of where it was lost. DO NOT PUT YOUR NAME OR ADDRESS ON YOUR FLYER! List the date and place your pet was lost, breed of dog or cat, sex, age, weight, color, markings, and your telephone number. Offer a reward, but don’t state the amount. It is very important to always withhold several identifying marks and characteristics of your lost pet. Beware of the scammer. Post the flyers at waist level on telephone poles and at eye level in such places as veterinary offices, pet shops, beauty shops, grocery stores, community bulletin boards, churches, pizza parlors, convenience stores, near schools, and on school bulletin boards, on windshields, in mailboxes, fire stations, Starbucks, food trucks and construction worksites. Examine your posted flyers frequently and replace the ones that are missing or damaged.

Walk the neighborhood and talk to everybody. Go to each house in the area where your pet was lost and talk to the residents; give them your flyer. If no one is home, leave the flyer attached to his or her door, don’t forget to bring tape. Talk to everybody you run across ie, neighborhood children and parents waiting at the school bus stop.
This also includes the paperboys, school crossing guards, neighborhood crime watch groups, garbage pick-up crews, postal workers, sanitation workers, construction workers, etc. Give them your flyer.
Place an ad in your local newspaper. Some will do this for free. Be sure to advertise in the Sunday edition as well as during the week. Also place an ad in any “Penny Saver” type of publications. Check the newspaper “found” ads every day. Also check online “Lost and Found”. Most newspapers provide free ads to people who have found lost pets.

Call local veterinarian offices during the day. After 5 PM, call veterinarian emergency clinics. If an office has taken in or treated any animal that even remotely resembles your pet, VISIT THE OFFICE IN PERSON. Your description of your pet and their description of the same pet rarely match. YOU MUST GO SEE FOR YOURSELF!

Get phone numbers of local rescue organizations. The free Pet Press (at the library and pets stores) has current lists. Call each of the rescue organizations and ask for their help and find out if they have your pet. These groups generally network with each other and will pass the word about your case. VISIT your local Animal Control, humane societies, and animal shelters, including the ones in surrounding areas. You must actually visit the animal control and humane shelters every day or two. It works well if several family members can take turns visiting the shelters. Be sure to check all areas of the shelter, including the infirmary. Also be aware that dogs may be housed in the cat section and vice-versa.

Leave a picture of your pet and your phone number at each shelter, befriend them. Find out the holding period of each animal control and humane shelter. Be aware of how much time you have to claim your pet before it is euthanized!

Check shelters out of your area in person and online. A Good Samaritan may have taken your pet in only to have it escape a week or more later.

Don’t ever give up! Pets have been known to find their way back home after being lost for several months.

PREVENTION: Get your pet Micro-chipped, keep tags current.

Keep pet tags current and check that they are still in place and legible. A good idea is to write your phone number directly onto the collar. I do not remove my dog’s collar even when she is being bathed. I have heard the excuse that the lost pet was not wearing a collar and id because they were just bathed.

Your tag should have more then one phone number, your home number, cell, your vet etc.. I keep two collars and tags on my dogs as well as a microchip.

Get an “Acme Dog Whistle”. Blow the whistle whenever you feed or give treats to your pet. Leave the whistle next to the treats so that you will remember to use it, this really works. The high-pitched sound from these whistles can carry up to a mile or more. Cats are attracted to this sound as well as dogs. (It is also a great way to teach a pet the “come command”.)

Keep fence gates closed securely. Self closing gates area good idea. Always transport a cat in a carrier. Never take your cat to the Vet or anywhere else unless it is secured. A hand carried cat can bolt and hide if frightened by loud noises. When a cat is frightened in strange surroundings, especially with traffic noise around, it will hide and will not come to you.

If you have a dog who is an escape artist, try leaving a piece of broken leash hanging front their collar so that it will appear that the dog broken lose as opposed to being out for a walk.

NEVER, NEVER leave a choke collar on a dog when it is not attached to a leash. It will eventually become a HANGMAN’S NOOSE!

Have current photos of your pet.

A pillowcase is a quick way to transport cats or injured small animal.
As a final point, spay or neuter your pets! Both males and females will be much less likely to wander if “fixed.”
One of many online resources: http://www.laanimalservices.com/LostServices.htm

Jan Marlyn Reesman was a licensed heath technician and animal behaviorist. Partial name-dropping client list: Whoopi Golberg, Calvin Klein, Billy Crystal, James Caan, Dyane Cannon, Barry Diller, Sandy Gallin, Gabe Kaplan, Frank Wells, Barbara Benedek, Frank Mariani, Richard Dreyfuss, Hal Linden, Jack Warner Estate dogs and John Ritter.

I could not tell you any much better then this link.. It is difficut to do.. but is they r your dogs.. leave.. do the “jolly routine” as u go.. they should follow.. now read on..

eHow

BUT.. the short of it is to  separate the dogs by grabbing their hind legs and walking them backward (like wheelbarrows). If you can get another person to help, do it with both dogs.  If you are alone, do this to the more aggressive dog.. secure the dogs away from each other before releasing them.

You will thank me for this one… This will only take a couple of weeks but do reinforce often.

Keep a dog whistle next to the dog (or cat) food and treats and use it EVEY TIME you feed.. Blow the whistle and use the “come” command with praise EVERY TIME… Start using the whistle for training when you call your dog.. NEVER PUNISH when a dog obeys the “COME” command..

You will be very pleased when you soon find that your dog comes to your verbal command even if you do not use the whistle… Your dog will have learned the vocal command .. If you have a dog that is not food motivated.. good luck! Many sled type long-haired dogs are not food motivated…

Silent Dog Whistles about $10-12..
Invented by Acme in 1935, the Silent Whistle is the perfect choice people who live in an urban environment, where noise is a factor. Most dogs hear quite clearly frequencies that the human ear cannot. Both models are adjustable within the frequency range of 5400 Hz. to 12,800 Hz. So they can be tuned to your dog’s specific hearing level. Whether your dog is working close to you or at a distance this model is the perfect choice

MORE detailed instruction…

COMING WHEN CALLED You must have the ability to recall your dog, no matter what the situation or other temptations. The best way to achieve this is by ensuring that returning to you is a rewarding and highly pleasurable experience available to them. To do this it is essential that you never punish your dog for returning to you regardless of what they were doing before (or how angry it made you!).

Recalling a young puppy is often quite easy as they often lack the confidence to wander far away. It is important to take advantage of this period in building the recall command and associating it with very positive experiences. To get your dog’s attention and make it return to you, be prepared to step out of your comfort zone in terms of your own behavior. Use high pitched voices, clap your hands, jump up and down. Make yourself seem as interesting as possible to your dog. If you are really desperate, use a treat or run in the opposite direction to your dog. Their natural chase instinct nearly always gets their attention and brings them running. When they get to you, heap on the praise, hug them, play a short game or a tummy rub. Anything that makes them think returning to you is just the real business.

Start to introduce the whistle when recalling. To start with, you could just whistle yourself unaided and gradually move onto the dog whistle as your distances increase. Assuming your dog is able to sit on command, practice walking away from them a short distance, then using the pip-pip to recall. Sometimes return to your dog instead of doing the recall. This will stop your dog anticipating the command or always assume a sit/stay is followed by a recall.

If at any time your dog seems confused, keep calm and don’t start shouting (this will only make things worse). Go back to commands that your dog has mastered and start to build up slowly again. Training is always two steps forwards and one back.

re-print from LA Times

Fido’s little helper

By Carla Hall, Times Staff Writer
January 10, 2007

Photo Gallery

Animal meds

WHAT could be wrong with Shadow? The green-eyed, long-haired cat had adapted well to his Santa Monica home. There was a carpeted cat tree in the living room for his climbing pleasure. He appeared to have reached an understanding about sharing the house with the other resident feline.

Then one day his owners saw wet spots around the house: Shadow was urine-spraying. The door was a favorite target. So was the side of the sofa. And a corner wall of the living room.

Not to be confused with eschewing the litter pan, spraying is a ritual of territorial marking that cats sometimes do whether they are spayed or neutered — as Shadow is — or not.

Shadow’s keepers, Fernanda Gray and Elliot Goldberg, were distressed. Pet ownership, they believe, is a trust not to be betrayed. “I don’t throw animals away,” said Gray, who with her husband now owns three cats.

But Shadow’s spraying had tested the couple’s resolve. They had to replace draperies, carpeting and the sofa. Their veterinarian was running out of ideas to discourage Shadow’s habit.

Then Gray saw a small newspaper ad in 2001: “Spraying Cats Needed for Study.” Shadow was accepted into a double-blind study of an undisclosed medication’s effect on the behavior.

Fourteen days later, the spraying abruptly stopped.

The drug was Prozac. Five years later, Shadow is still taking the medication — half a 10-milligram tablet once a day — in its generic form, fluoxetine, a $16 supply of which lasts about four months.

“He’s still active, he’s still his hyperactive self,” Gray said. “But it just takes that anxiety away.”

THEY are the new “Prozac Nation”: cats, dogs, birds, horses and an assortment of zoo animals whose behavior has been changed, whose anxieties and fears have been quelled and whose owners’ furniture has been spared by the use of antidepressants. Over the last decade, Prozac, Buspar, Amitriptyline, Clomicalm — clomipromine that is marketed expressly for dogs — and other drugs have been used to treat inappropriate, destructive and self-injuring behavior in animals.

It’s not a big nation yet. But “over the past five years, use has gone up quite a bit,” said veterinarian Richard Martin of the Brentwood Pet Clinic in West Los Angeles. Half a decade ago, no more than 1% of his patients were on antidepressants. Now, Martin estimates that 5% of the 8,000 cats and dogs seen at the clinic are taking drugs for their behavior.

The use of antidepressants is another example of the growing sophistication of medical care available to animals and willingly financed by owners who see pets as cherished companions. For these owners, drug therapy is not just another indulgence like Louis Vuitton carriers and day spas for the pampered pet. In their eyes, medication is urgent. Indeed, the new Prozac Nation is not populated with the worried well of the animal kingdom; it’s filled with animals behaving so badly they’re in danger of being cast off to a shelter and, possibly, a death sentence.

“If you have a cat that sprays constantly, that’s not a cat you’re likely to keep,” said Elyse Kent, the veterinarian who owns the Westside Hospital for Cats. “We were compelled to try these behavioral modification drugs.”

Kent has been treating cats with psychoactive drugs, mostly for spraying or aggression, for 12 years. After a UC Davis study published in 2001 showed that fluoxetine reduced feline spraying — and following the success of Kent’s patient, Shadow, in a Prozac trial — Prozac became a frequent choice at her clinic.

“I’d say twice a week, someone comes in to get a prescription for Prozac or fluoxetine or clomipromine,” said Kent, who nonetheless estimates that at any one time only 1% of her practice’s 3,000 patients are taking a psychoactive drug. (“Six weeks to three months is the average” length of treatment, she said.)

Veterinarians who prescribe psychoactive drugs insist they are not Dr. Feelgoods for the animal set. They do medical work-ups on animals, they say, to rule out physical causes for destructive or neurotic actions and prefer to use behavior modification instead of — or, at least, along with — drug therapy. Sometimes they have to deflate the expectations of owners eager to place their pets on antidepressants.

“I tell people if I had a magic pill, I would give it to them,” said veterinary behaviorist Karen Sueda, who works at the VCA West Los Angeles Animal Hospital. “In most cases when we give medication, it is not going to be a quick fix.”

Said Curtis Eng, chief veterinarian of the Los Angeles Zoo: “My feeling is they are a useful tool — one of many — to decrease stress and anxiety on an animal. If you can relieve the stressors through a behavior management program, I would much rather do that. But sometimes you need a little extra help to get them over that hump.”

When the zoo was coaxing a male orangutan, Minyak, back to respiratory health and enough energy for mating, veterinarians consulted with a psychiatrist and put the primate on the antidepressant Remeron.

“He was put on it for depression,” said Eng, who noted a beneficial side effect: Miknyak hadn’t been eating well and the drug increased his appetite. The orangutan bred successfully, fathering a healthy baby in 2005, and he is being weaned off the antidepressant.

THE drugs administered to animals fall mainly into two classes of antidepressants commonly prescribed to humans: selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and tricyclics.

Both groups control the levels in the brain of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that is believed to affect mood, depression and anxiety. The tricyclics also work on other neurotransmitters, including norepinephrine, which is thought to affect attention and impulsiveness.

In most cases, the drugs are being administered off-label, meaning they have not been put through the trials required for FDA approval for use in specific animals. (The Food and Drug Administration regulates drugs for both animals and humans.)

Clomicalm, a tricyclic manufactured by Novartis, is the only antidepressant approved by the FDA for dogs as a treatment for separation anxiety.

Veterinarian Scott Huggins, manager of technical marketing for Novartis, maker of Clomicalm, said that dogs are not intended to stay on it for life. “We don’t have specific studies on long-term use,” said Huggins, adding, “I do know it happens.”

In general, vets prefer to taper their patients’ use of the drugs. “We try to use these medications short-term,” said Kent. “Because they are not without side-effects.”

Antidepressants are believed to work on animals’ brain chemistry the same way they do on humans’. The difference is that veterinarians will not say they are treating clinical depression; many don’t believe an animal can be clinically depressed.

“A lot of the outward manifestations — decrease in appetite, trouble sleeping, not taking joy in activities — are there in dogs and cats,” Sueda said. “But you can’t ask a dog or cat, ‘Are you despondent?’ ”

But veterinarians will say that animals experience anxiety. Dogs with separation anxiety can bark endlessly, destroy household furniture, gnaw through fences or even fling themselves out of windows after owners leave. Birds have compulsively plucked themselves to partial baldness. Troubled cats maul their owners, hide for hours or refuse to use their litter boxes.

Bob Stewart, now the sole owner of a cat since his companion, Anne Marie Schmitt, died of cancer, recalls how his otherwise mellow feline would turn into a leopard-like creature. At one point, when Serendipity clawed Schmitt’s arm badly enough to send her to the hospital, Stewart says they considered drastic action. “If we could not have gotten her controlled, as much as we loved the cat, we probably would have had to find a way to get her adopted or send her to one of these shelters,” said Stewart, a retired game show producer who created the original “The Price is Right” and “Password.”

The owners refused to have the cat declawed. Instead, for the last several years, a daily dose of “triple fish-flavored” fluoxetine has, for the most part, quashed Serendipity’s desire to practice her hunting skills on humans.

“I thought it made sense,” said Stewart, sitting in his apartment with Serendipity resting nearby. “They feel pain as we feel pain. They feel happiness as we feel happiness. I didn’t question the idea that a drug could change the persona of an animal.”

As with humans, choosing the right drug and dosage for an animal is a process of trial-and-error. “A lot of behavior treatment is an art,” Sueda said.

No one knows that better than Amy Weber, who adopted Sam, a spayed female dog, 10 years ago. The Labrador/beagle mix appears sweet-natured and calm as she lies in the living room of the rambling Beechwood Canyon home Weber shares with her partner, Wendy Schwartz, and five pets. The couple’s other dog, Scout, busily scouts for affection. A hulking orange cat, Stripper, saunters by, pausing to swat Sam. The action elicits a gasp from the humans but only a quizzical look from Sam.

For several years, Sam was anything but calm when her owners left the house. She scratched doors, chewed through washing machine hoses and gnawed the wood trim on windows, sometimes cutting her mouth. If she was left outside, she either dug her way out of the yard or ripped through wire fences, scratching her head in the process.

Weber tried Clomicalm, tranquilizers, homeopathic remedies and Cesar Millan, the “Dog Whisperer.” But Sam’s separation anxiety defied all drugs and therapy for a time.

Although Weber, who edits movie trailers, put together a nearly full-time schedule of sitters and walkers for Sam, that didn’t stop the dog from going into a frenzy if Weber and Schwartz went out for the evening.

Then Weber hired Sueda, who put Sam on a regimen of Amitriptyline during the day and recommended Xanax at night if the couple wanted to go out. And she started the dog and her owners on a behavior training program.

(There are only 42 board-certified veterinary behaviorists in the world, according to Melissa Bain, chief of behavior service at the teaching hospital at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Technically, Sueda is not one of them — she hasn’t taken her boards yet — but she is, practically speaking, L.A.’s veterinary behaviorist.)

“I never look at medication as a cure-all — just like with people,” said the veterinarian, who delves into the history of each animal’s situation.

Appointments with Sueda aren’t cheap. A package of two lengthy visits — the first is two hours — follow-up phone calls and e-mails is $550, not counting what Sueda charges if she travels to the owner’s house.

Brand-name Prozac can cost more than $100 a month, but most vets now prescribe fluoxetine, a monthly regimen of which can cost pet owners a few dollars a month to about $20, depending on the dosage.

Bain is wary of medications. “Drugs don’t work that easily,” she said. “And they don’t work without behavior modification.”

Much of what animals do, Bain said, is normal, just unacceptable — a result of owners incorporating their pets into close urban quarters. “Breeds of animals have not changed that much in 20 or 30 years, but human society has,” she said.

“What have we done to our animals? In the last 30 years, we’ve kept them inside, we’ve made multiple-cat households. A border collie, 20 years ago, was living on a ranch in Colorado, and now he’s living in downtown San Francisco. So he can’t do his typical behavior.”

Moustafa Seoud, a veterinarian for 17 years, sees drugs like Clomicalm or Prozac as “an easy way out.” Seoud, who practices at the Laurel Pet Hospital in West Hollywood, relies on massage, acupuncture and homeopathic treatments. “Homeopathic flower essence works well for cats with different problems — stress and anxiety and kidney problems.”

He dispenses different types of remedies for different problems: “Camomile is calming; Ignatia for grieving; Nux Vomica for nervousness.” One of Seoud’s clients said that one time, as he prescribed a homeopathic remedy for her withdrawn cat, he popped some of it into his own mouth and declared: “You can take it too.”

Conventional drugs seem to be working for Sam, the dog with the bad case of separation anxiety. Weber tells Sueda that Sam has been fine when she’s left the dog alone for a few hours during the day. And Sam has stopped following Weber around the house constantly. “She’s just calmer,” Weber said.

“That’s what we’re aiming for,” Sueda said. “A general, overall sense of calm.”

Borrowed from www.pethealthcare.net

Note: trying to fix this format!

Other techniques are often suggested for play biting.

Some involve harsh discipline, like slapping the puppy under the chin or forcefully holding the mouth closed.

Remember, pain can cause aggression and cause the puppy to become anxious, fearful or perhaps more excited.

These techniques also require that you grab an excited puppy; not an easy thing to do.  Some puppies may even

misinterpret the owner’s attempts at punishment as rough play, which in turn might lead to an increase in the behavior.  Physical methods are therefore not

recommended.  Owners who cannot inhibit the puppy with a yelp, could consider a shake can, electronic alarm, air horn, or ultrasonic device, as soon as the biting

becomes excessive.

The use of a head halter with a remote leash attached allows the puppy to play

and chew, but a quick pull on the leash can immediately and successfully close

the mouth and stop biting without any physical force.

By simultaneously saying “no biting”, most puppies will quickly learn the meaning of the command.  As soon as the puppy stops and calms down, the owner can allow play to resume, as long as biting does not begin again.

Remember that play biting is a component of play behavior in puppies.  Play is a form of social interaction.  Realize that your puppy is trying to play with you even

though the behavior is rough.  To ensure that you are in control, be certain that each play session is initiated by you and not the puppy, and that you can end each

session whenever you choose.

One effective strategy when the play gets too rough is to immediately end the play session and leave.  Social withdrawal can be a very powerful tool.  Leave the puppy alone long enough to calm down.

If upon your return the wild playing begins again, leave again.

Although it is tempting to pick the puppy up and take it out of the room, this interaction may be interpreted by your puppy as additional play and the biting may continue as you carry the puppy to a confinement location.

that is the question

Know the difference… Regurgitation is a favorite pass time for my cats.

Cats can have “non-specific vomiting and/or vomiting and diarrhea… Know you pet..

good article below:

Vomiting is a very common problem in dogs and cats. There are many causes of vomiting. Primary or gastric causes of vomiting are those that are due to diseases of the stomach and upper intestinal tract. Secondary or non-gastric causes of vomiting are caused by diseases of other organs that cause an accumulation  of  toxic substances in the blood. These toxic substances stimulate the vomiting center in the brain causing the animal to vomit.

A problem that can be confused with vomiting is regurgitation. Vomiting is the ejection of contents of the stomach and upper intestine; regurgitation is the ejection of contents of the esophagus. The esophagus is a narrow, muscular tube that food passes through on its way to the stomach. In health, food moves quickly through the esophagus to the stomach. If the muscle of the esophagus loses tone, the esophagus dilates, a condition called megaesophagus. A dilated esophagus does not effectively move food to the stomach and the animal will regurgitate food usually shortly after eating. The food may also be inhaled into the airways causing pneumonia and cough.

When you present your pet to the veterinarian because he or she is vomiting, the veterinarian will ask questions in attempt to differentiate between vomiting and regurgitation and to try to determine if your pet is vomiting due to gastric or non gastric disease. Vomiting is an active process. The pet is apprehensive and heaves and retches to vomit. If food is present in vomit, it is partially digested and a yellow fluid, bile may be present. Regurgitation is fairly passive. The animal  lowers its head and food is expelled without effort.  The food brought up by regurgitation is usually undigested, may have a tubular shape, and is often covered with a slimy mucus. The pet will often try to eat the regurgitated material. You may bring a fresh sample of “vomit” for the veterinarian  to examine. The pH of vomit containing food is acid, the pH of regurgitated materials is higher. Your ability to answer questions about your pet’s activity, habits and environment will help the veterinarian decide which causes of vomiting are most likely in your pet. A history of any drugs your pet is receiving is important. Over-the-counter pain medications such as aspirin and ibuprofen can cause severe stomach ulcers in dogs depending upon the dose and duration of treatment.  The veterinarian may ask you to describe the appearance of the vomit, as well as describe how your pet looks when it vomits and the relation ship of vomiting to eating. If the vomit contains blood it may be fresh, red blood or look like coffee grounds if the blood is digested. Blood is most often seen with stomach ulcers, stomach cancer or uremia (a collection of signs including vomiting seen in pets with kidney failure). Stomach ulcers can be caused by drugs or the presence of a mast cell cancer in the skin. Mast cell cancers release histamine that leads to stomach ulcers. Regurgitation often, but not always, happens right after eating and the pet will try to eat the regurgitated food.  Vomiting occurs a variable time after eating or may occur in a pet who is off food. Animals with a twisted stomach, gastric dilation-torsion, may make frequent attempts to vomit without producing anything. Pets with a hacking cough may retch and sometime vomit at the end of an episode of forceful coughing.  An accurate description in this case would lead to an investigation of the causes of coughing, rather than vomiting.

If your pet vomits just occasionally and has a specific series of actions associated with vomiting, you may consider video taping an episode of vomiting to help describe the episodes to the veterinarian.

The physical examination of the vomiting pet can also provide information to narrow the list of possible causes.  The presence of fever, abdominal pain, jaundice, anemia or abnormal masses in the abdomen will help the veterinarian make a more specific diagnosis. The mouth should be carefully examined as some foreign objects such as string can wind around the base of the tongue with the rest of the object extending into the stomach or small intestine. A nodule may be palpated in the neck of cats with hyperthyroidism.

The list of non-gastric causes of vomiting is long.

Pancreatitis in the dog causes vomiting that is sudden in onset and often severe. The dog may have a painful belly. Pets with pancreatitis often have a  history of eating garbage or fatty table scraps. Tumors of the pancreas can cause similar signs to pancreatitis. Pancreatitis occurs in the cat but the signs are subtle and non specific and often don’t  include vomiting

Kidney failure is a common cause of vomiting in dogs and cats. The kidneys can be acutely (suddenly) damaged by poisons such as antifreeze or by severe dehydration.   Waste products that the kidneys normally get rid of, rise to high levels in just a few days. The kidneys can also gradually lose their ability to remove waste products from the body as the pet ages. Early signs of kidney failure include drinking and urinating large amounts called polyuria and polydipsia or PU-PD. PU-PD may be present for months to years before the kidney failure is severe enough to lead to waste product accumulation and vomiting. Vomiting in chronic kidney failure may began as occasional episodes and progress to severe, frequent vomiting. The pet with chronic kidney failure will often lose body condition and may have pale gums due to anemia.

Non-spayed, middle aged female pets can develop a uterine infection called pyometra. Pyometra occurs within 2 months after a heat cycle and often results in discharge of pus from the vagina. The pet may frequently lick the vagina so discharge may not be seen. Dogs develop pyometra more often than cats. Other signs may include PU-PD and depression.

Liver failure causes vomiting as well as other signs depending on the type of liver disease. Other signs of liver disease may include seizures, jaundice (a yellow discoloration of the areas of skin not covered by fur), PU-PD and fluid accumulation in the belly or legs. Bladder obstruction or rupture will cause a sudden onset of vomiting. The urethra that leads from the bladder to the outside can get plugged by stones or tumors. The animal  will strain and pass just a free drops of urine or none at all. They will also have a painful belly. Bladder obstruction if not corrected, is fatal in just a few days. The bladder can be ruptured by blunt trauma such as being hit by a car or kicked.

A form of diabetes called ketoacidosis will cause vomiting along with depression and PU-PD.

Addison’s disease is a deficiency of hormones from the adrenal gland and causes vomiting, diarrhea and weakness. Addison’s disease occurs most commonly in young to middle aged dogs, most of which are female. Addison’s is rare in the cat.  The signs of Addison’s disease may be intermittent or may be very severe and constant.

Diseases of the inner ear can cause vomiting accompanied by incoordination, circling and tilting of the head to the side. Motion during car rides stimulates the inner ear and can cause vomiting.

A sudden onset of vomiting in young, poorly vaccinated pets may be caused by infectious agents including canine distemper, canine parvovirus and feline panleukopenia virus.

There are many toxins including lead, insecticides, antifreeze and other chemicals that can cause vomiting.

Cats with elevated thyroid function, hyperthyroidism, may vomit in addition to other signs including, increased appetite, weight loss, hyperactivity and a poorly kept coat. Heartworm disease in cats may cause vomiting in addition to coughing, respiratory distress, weight loss and depression.

Primary causes of vomiting include acute gastritis often due to eating garbage or other types of dietary indiscretions; the ingestion of large amounts of hair during grooming; ulcers of the stomach; stomach or upper intestinal cancer; parasites; food allergies; the presence of a foreign body stuck in the stomach or upper intestine; twisting and dilation of the stomach; and intussusception which is a telescoping of one part of the intestine into another piece of intestine.

The stomach is usually empty 6 to 8 hours after eating. Vomiting of  food when the stomach should be empty suggests an obstruction of the stomach or abnormal motion of the stomach muscles that normally grind food and push the ground food out of the stomach.

Tests to differentiate primary causes of vomiting include x-rays or ultrasound of the abdomen and endoscopy. Endoscopy is the technique of passing a flexible scope into the stomach and upper intestine to examine the inside of these structures. It may be possible to remove a foreign body with endoscopy and small biopsies of the lining of the stomach and intestine can be taken for microscopic evaluation. Endoscopy requires general anesthesia.

If the pet vomits sporadically, the results of all tests may be normal. Many healthy dogs and cats vomit occasionally without identifying a cause. Sometimes the cause of vomiting is as simple as the pet eating too fast.  The treatment for vomiting depends upon the cause. Nonspecific treatment for vomiting includes fasting, and fluids to correct or prevent dehydration.  In episodes of sudden onset of vomiting,  food is withheld for 24 – 48 hours and water for 24 hours. Water should never be withheld from an animal with known or suspected kidney disease without replacing fluids intravenously or subcutaneously (under the skin). If vomiting stops, small amounts of a bland low-fat food are fed 3 to 6 times daily for a few days, with a gradual increase in the amount fed and a gradual transition to the pet’s normal diet. Water is also reintroduced in small amounts on the second day. You may start with  ice cubes and then gradually increase the amount of water over the day if vomiting does not reoccur.

If the pet is bright and alert and has had no previous health problems, episodes of acute vomiting  may be managed at home, although veterinary consultation prior to home treatment is advised.  Consultation with a veterinarian in your region may reveal a recent outbreak of an infectious disease causing vomiting or identify  a cluster of recent poisonings. With this type of knowledge you will want to have your pet evaluated rather than waiting a few days. Dogs and cats who vomit for longer than a few days or are depressed or dehydrated should be presented for veterinary evaluation.