Dogs
are a reflection of their human’s behavior; their human’s training
capabilities, their human’s values.
Hi,
I’m Parker – a dog blogger. I write to
humans about creature-based issues. For all their intelligence, I find most
humans loveable but clueless and in need of ‘training”. This week I’d like humans
to understand that their behavior can have a devastating impact on the health
of their pets. Let me explain.
Most
of my canine kind:
•
that are obese have couch potato type humans that spend more time watching TV at home and
computer screens at work while
snacking on high-calorie junk;
• whose
breed suffers from degenerative diseases are a reflection of humans that are hell-bent on
overbreeding their kind;
•
who lose their teeth prematurely have humans that have forgotten to take proper care of their own
teeth and little to
no care for their dog’s dental hygiene
• that
tend to destroy household items are left at home alone for an average of 9.5 hours a day with
nothing to do but tear
up things;
•
with the tendency to have far too many ‘accidents’ in the house were not properly house trained in
the beginning.
This
topic seemed important when I overhead a conversation that Jet (my foster mom)
had with a suit (my term for business types) that knocked on her door one
day. He was peddling something but
seemed like a nice sort. They discussed how one of Jet’s family dogs looked,
i.e. five fries on the high side of a Happy Meal. Her name is Mandy. She belongs to Jet’s mom. Mandy should have weighed 3 lbs. but weighed
5.3 lbs. Jet and her mom changed her food to low-calorie, served it in measured
portions and walked her (almost daily). Today, at the age of ten, Mandy weighs
4 lbs. When motivated, she can now run
faster than you can read this sentence.
I’m
not trying to point fingers (paws) at my human readers about their pet’s behavior
so that they feel guilty about it. I’m trying
to alert my human readers about their pet’s behavior to remind them that they are
accountable for it.
So my lesson of the
week:
don’t blame a dog for the bad things he or she does since most of the time
their behavior is a reflection of your commitment to properly care for them. Take
a look in the mirror. We (your pets) will be there looking back at you. What kind of behavior (yours) do we reflect?
LETTER FROM A FAN
Dear Parker: We live in an
area of the US that has horrible storms they call hurricanes. My humans prepared in advance for these mega
storms by creating an emergency kit. What should they have
in the 911 kit for me? - Your devoted
reader, Crackers the Cocker Spaniel
Dear Crackers:
What a great question!
Humans need to make sure they have what is needed in their disaster kit in advance
of an event. The experts at the ASPCA
recommend humans pack the following items for their pets, including:
•
Pet first-aid kit and guide book (ask your vet what to include,
or visit the ASPCA Store to buy one online)
•
3-7 days' worth of canned (pop-top) or dry food (be sure to
rotate every two months)
•
Disposable litter trays (aluminum roasting pans are perfect)
•
Litter or paper toweling
•
Liquid dish soap and disinfectant
•
Disposable garbage bags for clean up
•
Pet feeding dishes
•
Extra collar or harness as well as an extra leash
•
Photocopies of medical records and a waterproof
container with a two-week
supply of any medicine
your pet requires (Remember, food and
medications
need to be rotated out
of your emergency kit—
otherwise they may go
bad or become useless.)
•
Bottled water, at least 7 days' worth for each person
and pet (store in a
cool, dry place and replace every
two months)
•
A traveling bag, crate or sturdy carrier, ideally one for
each pet
•
Flashlight
•
Blanket (for scooping up a fearful pet)
•
Recent photos of your pets (in case you are separated and
need to make
"Lost" posters)
•
Especially for cats: Pillowcase or EvackSack, toys, scoop-
able litter
• Especially for
dogs: Extra leash, toys and chew toys, a week's
worth of cage liner.
Here’s a link to the ASPCA disaster preparedness for pets
website. I recommend all pet owners (including
the kids) conduct a thorough review of this page every year.
http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/disaster-preparedness/
Your Pal, Parker
No comments:
Post a Comment