Pet Channel

Evolution is an attempt to explain the various forms of life on this planet in regards to their adaptation to the environments they live in. Certain physical characteristics may be positive attributes that enable life to exist in an area where otherwise, it could not. Take polar animals, for example. They typically have very thick layers of fat or blubber that enable them to winter (if you will) the cold and extreme conditions that are present in the polar regions. Yet in desert animals, you don't find thick layers of fat, do you? There's a reason for instances like this and it's called evolution. What's so hard to understand about the action of evolving?

My family’s neighbors recently turned me on to this fun new toy where you feed squirrels ears of corn attached to a bungee cord. I cannot think of many things more entertaining than a squirrel bouncing up and down clutching corn. Check out the video on the website - you’ll get a chuckle out of it! http://www.squngee.com

What often happens is that somebody gets the bright idea of breeding pet birds in their garage or basement thinking that all they need to do is provide nest boxes and the birds will just reproduce themselves on a little seed and water and bingo, they have a home based business to start raking in dough. From there things spiral out of control. If they have too many birds they can’t properly hand tame them so the birds essentially become feral. They are afraid of people and prefer their own kind. They flee from people’s hands and when caught, they react like any other frightened wild animal: they bite. So the birds don’t sell well as pets. Meanwhile, more of them hatch often leading to more crowded conditions and if the breeder isn’t dilligent about making sure that they get vet checks and vaccinations, psitticosis, giarda and other diseases can spread like wildfire through these improperly taken care of flocks. Apparently when the Humane Societies get these failed breeder flocks they euthanize the birds because they don’t have the time or money to house, feed vet check and tame all these poor creatures. A few bird shelters do this, including Sabra’s.

In 99.9% of the cases in all dog breeds, in my point of view, it ain’t the dog that is the problem, but the owner/caretaker. Some people don’t socialize with the puppy, to meet other dogs, strange people, wierd (to dogs eyes) things like cars, motorbikes…

This isn’t just farmers, people. This isn’t just small-scale homesteaders. This is the government requiring that ANYONE who owns an animal register it with the government. It’s not just livestock. It’s rabbits, pet birds, for cripe’s sake, it’s even FISH! If you have a flippin’ GOLDFISH, you’ll have to register with the government!

A 75-year-old Polish man was chained up by his wife in a dog kennel because she was fed up with him coming home drunk.

See if your favorite dog breed made the list of the Top Dog Breeds of 2005! This is a good article.

So I went a couple of weeks ago to check out a dog training center that I had seen a bunch of commercials for on the animal planet channel. If you live in the Cincy area and watch that channel its the one that they have the dog washing the car where they say, "Good job spot" or something along those lines. Cheesy, I know, but still it got my attention and I went to their web site and contacted them. I figure if they train police dogs and service dogs they must know what they are doing. So I went to a presentation where they show you what your dog could do if you get them trained. It was amazing and I was sold. You can see the video here, but be warned it is quite large: Training Demo

Let’s say that your website is about Siamese cats, and you get a lot of general non targeted visitors (bulk) – how many will click on an ad about breeding Siamese Cats?

The pet insurance company that sponsored the survey also discovered that after gaining weight, the pets have become lazy and reluctant to go on walks or move around.

Dogs - Yep, dogs. Not only do we have one dog, named Silas. We now have another dog, named Lucy. Keep in mind that these are electronic dogs on the Nintendo DS playing the game Nintendogs. Honestly though, it’s a lot of fun. I can see why this game has sold over a million copies and continues to sell like hotcakes. If you ever want a demo let me know. One result of this I didn’t expect: all the pre-teen and teen girls are talking to me at church about my “dogs.” Weird.

Here's a piece I first read in Fortune and then found online at their site on a guy who's a pet acupuncturist (subscription required). Yep, you got that right. I know hard to believe.

This article from the Globe and Mail puts some context around the information that led to Ontario’s current dangerous-breed legislation. After the violent attack in New Brunswick of a young child by three Rottweilers those who would ban violent or dangerous dog breeds have rose to the surface once again. This article is interesting given that it presents a (relatively) balanced series of opinions both in favour of the breeds and in favour of banning certain dogs. Of particular interest is the couple of paragraphs which state that the biggest biters are German Shepherds, Cocker Spaniels, Golden Retrievers and Rottweilers, yet most people want to ban Pitbulls and other ‘working dog’ breeds.

I then stepped outside to fill the bird feeders. There in front of me was another first, a mini meadow of yellow sunflower like flowers. They had grown there due to the seeds fallen from the bird feeder. I noticed the seedlings and therefore did not mow them down.