The trusty old dog license is quickly being replaced as the primary method of identifying lost dogs by microchips and tattooing. These new identification procedures have experienced a huge rise in popularity over the past couple of years, but there are some very serious downsides to these methods that pet owners may not have considered.

Remember, your dog is not a car that should automatically be LoJacked because it has value. Your pet is a living thing that is affected by what you do or have done to it. Think before you act, don’t do it because it’s trendy and consider the old tried and true method of a Dog License as a means of identification.

About the Author: Bill Knell may be contacted at http://billknell.tripod.com/life/life.html or billknell@cox.net. A native New Yorker now living in Arizona, Bill Knell is a forty-something guy with a wealth of knowledge and experience. He’s written hundreds of articles on a wide variety of subjects. A popular speaker, Bill Knell presents seminars on a number of topics that entertain, train and teach. A popular radio and television show guest, you’ve heard Bill on thousands of top-rated shows in all formats and seen him on local, national and international television programs. Visit Cat’s Chihuahua Puppies for an outstanding selection of quality dogs for discerning pet owners. http://tiny.azpuppies.com

Myself, I’m definitely a dog person, but that’s mostly because I’m so allergic to cats. If they didn’t make me sneeze and wheeze, I might actually own 1 or 2. Anyway, the author on this page offers the perspective that cats and dogs CAN live together harmoniously, despite what the cartoons tell us.

Can cats and dogs live together without constantly being at war? It seems that they very often can. We often hear people claim to be a “cat person” or a “dog person”, but browsing through the various pet forums it appears that there are many of us that equally like both cats and dogs.

My son has a beautiful Border Collie who was the only pet of the house until she was five years old. Then three part Burmese kittens were brought into the family. Mollie the Collie and the kittens were introduced to each other slowly, and Mollie was taught that the kittens were not to be harassed. Naturally she was given extra doses of attention and affection, just to show her that the kittens were an addition to the family, and not a replacement for her.

As the kittens grew they soon learned to dominate the dog, after all they are felines and a canine must know its place; besides, there are three of them. Often when Mollie is snoozing, or just chilling out, one of the cats will just walk right over her, foregoing the niceties of walking around the dog. Mollie gives the impression that this behavior does not bother her, but sometimes a little sigh of exasperation is heard. Rarely do the cats take any interest in what is in the dog bowl, Mollie on the other hand, will quite often take a sniff of the cats lunch, and if one of the cats is close by it will give a warning hiss.

I don’t think that it can be said that the cats and Mollie are great friends, they never appear to play together. They live together in a state of tolerance, rather than friendship, but the relationship works OK. My son’s house is free of cat and dog fights.

From reading the posts on the pet forums, many people report that their cat and dog are the best of buddies.

A lady writes that her Boxer and tabby curl up together on the sofa. Another post from an elderly gentleman reports that his Persian often hitches a ride on the back of his Labrador cross. There are many posts about cats and dogs being taken for walks together, stories of felines and canines being absolutely inseparable, even accounts of dogs pining for cats that have passed away.

All this does not imply that any old cat and dog can be thrown together and get on like a house on fire. Some dog breeds are unlikely to put up with sharing their home with a cat. Hounds and hunting dogs, for example may not be a wise choice. Also not all breeds of cat are sociable enough to live with another species of animal.

When introducing cats and dogs to each other do it slowly and make sure that you are in control. Never leave your pets without supervision while they are learning to get along with each other. Feeding your cat and dog in separate places, and at separate times is probably best until they are used to one another.

Remember that two or more dogs are likely to have a pack instinct, and could see a new kitten as prey. If yours is a multi-dog household and you are adding a cat to your pet family, make the introduction one dog at a time. Remember also that it is not only dogs that can hurt cats, frightened cats can inflict nasty scratches to inquisitive puppies and dogs, and a scratch on the puppy’s eyes could be serious.

So can cats and dogs live together as friends? Yes, they can; it may take patience and perseverance on your part, but the result will be worth it.

About the Author: Larry Chamberlain may be contacted at http://www.best-cat-art.com Larry@best-cat-art.com. Click here to view more of his articles. Larry Chamberlain is the webmaster of www.best-cat-art.com and a lifelong cat lover. He lives in London England. Want to find that perfect Cat Lover Gift?

The following article is written from the perspective of the dog itself… (:-))

Dear Dog-Owner,

I wanted to write this to dispel a couple of misconceptions about crate training. But why should you listen to me? Because I’m a dog and I should know…

First, crate training should be used to housetrain a dog or puppy. But some owners seem to use it as a form of punishment. The end result is that neither the “training” nor the “punishment” work.

Second, to make crate training effective, there’s one vitally important thing that a dog owner must do. The owner must establish a routine of rewarding the dog for demonstrating the proper behavior. Without it, crate training is a useless exercise for both the dog and the dog owner.

Third, the dog owner should establish a routine feeding schedule. After all, what goes “in” on schedule typically comes “out” on schedule.

Finally, there are several other quick and easy things you can do to ensure that crate training goes smoothly and is effective in housebreaking your dog. In fact, you’ll be surprised when you find out how simple they really are.

These secrets are used by professional dog trainers all over and it’s something they’ll charge you hundreds of dollars to learn.

Save your money and click here to discover the secrets for yourself:

Yours in Success,
Malacka

P.S. If you sign up for our Free “Doggone It – Dog Training Tips” newsletter today you’ll receive a complimentary and fun audio Dog Training session that you can download immediately. Hurry before this limited offer expires…

About the Author: Malacka Persa may be contacted at www.writersnest.com, malacka@writersnest.com. To view more of her articles, see www.dog-training-at-home.com).

While I’ll use dogs here, other animal companions have participated in these Visiting and Therapy Programs, such as cats, guinea pigs, birds and rabbits.

Known by various terms, taking your animal companion to a hospital, prison, nursing home, children’s shelter, oncology or pediatric ward can be a rewarding experience for everyone.

It gives you and your loved ones a bonding and learning experience, gives your people-loving dog an adventure, and brings great joy and comfort to the people visited.

Visiting a nursing home means giving the residents something to look forward to, and it’s easy to make friends around a dog. There’s a natural topic of conversation as the dog is busy doing its thing. Whereas simply visiting a rehab center or children’s shelter might be a bit awkward, bring your animal companion and everyone feels at home right away.

It’s a relief from boring routines to the residents, and a distraction from pain, illness, depression, and homesickness. Caregivers report that residents become more active when a dog comes visiting, and talk about it long afterward. It’s a big event to them, and only requires time from you.

A companion dog can sometimes reach someone who’s withdrawn from the world, as letters to pet therapy sites attest. They also have been shown to reduce the blood pressure of people in many different circumstances (apparently always) – healthy college students, a child reading a book alone in a room, and hospitalized elderly. Touching and massaging have been shown to help both the recipient and the giver, as does petting an animal.

Sounds like a wonderful idea doesn’t it, for a winter Sunday afternoon? So how do you proceed?

1. Consider your dog’s personality. You already have a good idea how your dog interacts with other animals and people. Good visiting dogs enjoy meeting strangers, actively approaching but in a calm, friendly manner. A fearful or aggressive dog is not a good candidate. An overly enthusiastic greeter can be trained.

2. Consider your dog’s reactions. He must be able to tolerate strange people, noises and surroundings, commotions, and also the other animals that might be visiting as well. He must be able to calm quickly and reliably.

3. Choose the right venue to suit your dog’s personality. A convalescent home, the children’s playground at a shelter, a prison, and a psychiatric ward all require slightly different tolerances from the dog. One dog may be sad at the lack of contact in a convalescent home, while another might be over-stimulated by a group of active children.

4. Start with good obedience training. Check with your vet or in the yellow pages for training opportunities in your community.

5. Condition your dog to stimulating new environments, building her trust and confidence in you. (If you’re taking her there, it’s okay.)

6. Read some books on the subject. There’s a list here: http://www.dog-play.com/books.html.

7. Join an organization that can help you learn and also direct you to opportunities.

The Bright & Beautiful Therapy Dogs, Inc., http://www.pet-therapist.com, Therapy Dogs International, Inc., http://www.tdi-dog.org, and Delta Society, http://deltasociety.org.

8. Obtain a Canine Good Citizenship Certificate, awarded under guidelines by the American Kennel Club (AKC). It involves basic good behavior, following some commands, being able to stay alone briefly, not whine or bark, good grooming, and other things. You can read about it here: http://www.akc.org/love/cgc/program.cfm.

9. Once your dog has earned the Canine Good Citizenship Certificate, you can register him or her in the Canine Good Citizen Hall of Fame: http://home.earthlink.net/~dianebassett/dogtraining/CGC_hall_of_fame.html.

10. Don’t be afraid to set this up on an informal basis, from simply going to visit a home-bound neighbor, to calling the volunteer director at the local children’s shelter and asking if you can come by.

A good volunteer director is adept at working in various volunteer opportunities, and also always looking for enriching, fun and/or educational activities for clients.

Your visitation may be highly structured or not, involve one-on-one or a group, you may visit residents’ rooms or meet in the meeting room, and yours may be the only animal there or one of many.

You can see the various possibilities this can provide for a meaningful family or individual experience. There are both intellectual and emotional learning opportunities. With the right companion dogs, you’re on your way and someone’s going to be very happy to see you!

About the Author: Susan Dunn, MA, The EQ Coach, http://www.susandunn.cc . I offer coaching, distance learning programs, and ebooks around emotional intelligence for your personal and professional development. I train and certify EQ coaches. Get into this field, dubbed “white hot” by the press, now. No residency requirement. Start immediately. sdunn@susandunn.cc for free ezine. For daily EQ Tips, send blank email to EQ4U-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

For those of you who are wanting to get involved in this great adventure with their pet, there are some things you need to do to make this as fun as possible for both of you.

First time camping pooches should be shown the wonders of nature slowly. City or urban dogs need to be brought along slow because of their tender pads on their paws, and they need to get used to all open spaces and wonders of nature. Start with taking them on a some day trips to state, county and conservation parks.

The wide open spaces will help your dog get used to unpopulated areas. He wll also find new odors and sights in this stress free environment. Going on nature and hiking trails will also help your dog gain muscle strength and fitness before you go camping.

As we enjoy the companionship of our dogs, they become members of our families. Going with us on family outings, walks, trips around town, just about everywhere we go they tag along with us. Thats fine because we care about them so much. Its not always the same with camp owners, who feel that dogs are not man’s best friend in their camping area. They have good reason to feel this way. A lot of dog owners are not very good in keeping their pets leashed or cleaning up after them. They also don’t abide by the camp rules the way they should, as many irresponsible dog owners feel the rules don’t apply to them and their dogs. Of course, because of these pet owners , we all suffer, thus there are now many campgrounds that do not allow dogs. Check ahead to see if the campground you’re going to allows dogs, and if so, are they allowed on the trails, or have special trails set aside for dogs. Also, some campgrounds charge two dollars a night for dogs as well.

As loving, caring, pet owners, we need to find a way to take care of our dogs while we go out on the trails with our other family members. We could take turns dog sitting with family, friends, other campers with dogs. One thing we need to do is make sure we are good, responsible pet owners. Check ahead before you go camping with man’s best friend.

Here are some pre-camping tips:

1. Try to take your dog for a pre-camping visit for possible needed shots, and a Rabies shot tag for his collar. Look at a possible Lyme disease vaccine.

2. Take with you a current copy of his records and his vet’s phone number.

3. Pick up a proper dog license & ID tags for your dog with their name, your name, etc.

4. Microchips, tattoos and pet registries can be used.

5. Bring medications and a copy of prescriptions.

6. Try to get a site with some shade for your dog.

7. Supervise your dog closely around children, other visitors and other dogs.

8. Keep your dog quiet. Frequent and continued barking disturbs the wildlife and other campers.

9. Let your dog have time to adjust to his new surroundings. Give him time to rest.

10. Try to use ziplock bags to pick up after him and properly dispose of it in appropriate trash containers.

11. Keep an eye on how weather conditions effect your dog (heat, cold, rain etc.).

12. Consider use of a crate for travel and short term restraint, while you are near. Your pet could be stolen if not watched carefully.

You should be aware that your dog will have increased exposure to ticks and fleas. Take the proper tick/flea collars, repellants or use Frontline applications. Other diseases can also be transmitted by wild animals and insects.

About the Author: Robin Shortt is a father of five children and five step children and thoroughly enjoys the outdoors. He is also a Cub Scout leader,who sees the big picture when it comes to helping our children to love and explore the great outdoors. Visit: http://www.goodnightcampingequipment.com for more original content like this.