14. May 2010 by admin.

A run in  shed can easily be constructed in a weekend or two with good quality  horse run in shed plans. These blueprints can be found in various places all over the internet as well as in brick and mortar farm or specialty shops. Finding the blueprints is not the issue, but if you’ve never built anything from a set of plans there are a few items you should look for before making your selection .

This may come across as fluff, but when you first pick up the blueprints, how do you feel? Like you want to jab a pencil in your eye or do you feel like a confident, soon to be carpenter? The horse barn blueprints should not give you a migraine or make your eyes cross.

There are some very good horse shed plans available and when you find them, you will know it. A nine year old could build a barn with this type of blueprints. They have plenty of easy to read diagrams and easy to follow instructions that make horse barn building  just about goofproof.

The blueprints will also come with two very important and sometimes looked over items, a cut sheet and a materials list. The cut sheet will have diagrams of exactly how to cut your lumber. This will ensure that each piece of lumber you have is used to the max and that a minimal amount of scrap wood is left.

The materials list will have every piece of wood, screw, nail, bolt, nut, bracket, etc. that you need. With this list you can take one trip to your local lumber yard or home improvement store and buy everything you need. If you are really smart, you will start by taking this list to multiple home improvement/hardware stores/lumber yards before finally committing to buy. This will ensure that you are getting the lowest price possible.

With your handy set of good quality horse run-in shed blueprints you should have your horse run in shed  finished in a weekend, two weekends tops. Once you’ve sorted through all the junk that’s out there and found proper horse run in  plans, building the shed is a piece of cake! For help with choosing your plans and some recommendations of reasonable places to buy, click here:   Horse Barn Designs

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14. May 2010 by admin.

The act of chewing seems to be a matter of individual preference among dogs: some have an innate desire to chew as a pleasurable activity in itself, and some seem to have no need to chew whatsoever unless they’re driven to it out of bold boredom.

The phrase “destructive chewing” may sound redundant, because – by its very nature! – all chewing is destructive. Your dog has strong jaws full of sharp, pointy teeth: just about anything she starts to chew on is likely going to show the effects of it inside of a minute. So just to clarify, when I use the phrase “destructive chewing”, I’m referring to inappropriate chewing: the kind of chewing that’s focused on your own possessions and household items, rather of on your dog’s own designated toys and chews.

The three main reasons why dogs chew:

- Most dogs have a born(p) desire to chew. It’s fun, it passes the time, and it’s a self-rewarding, self-reinforcing activity (for example, if she’s chewing on something that tastes good.)

- Chewing provides a nervous, bored, or lonely dog with an outlet for her emotions. To an anxious dog, the repetitive act of chewing is soothing – it’s the doggie equivalent of comfort food.

- Underexercised dogs often use chewing as a way of burning up nervous energy and giving themselves something to do.

- How to prevent destructive chewing -

Dogs are perfectly subject of learnedness not to chew your material – you just have to put in a little effort first, that’s all.

It is aslo possibly that your dog could be suffering from seperation Anxiety  read more here Anxiety Separation Dogs

1. Take control of the spot: manage your own possessions. Your first step should be to dog-proof your home. Even if you have the best-behaved dog in the world, there’s still no reason to test her self-will – after all, dogs seek the world with their mouths.

Dog-proofing your home means taking whatever you don’t want to end up in her mouth, and making it unavailable. Consider her size and agility when deciding whether something’s out of reach: can she jump? Can she climb, or leap onto something else to reach the desired object? How tall is she when standing on her back legs?

Common targets in the home include books, eyewear, clothing, shoes, garbage, and small firm appliances like cameras, cell phones, and remote controls.

It should go without saying that all food needs to be put firm away: don’t leave snacks on low tables (or even countertops – you’d be surprised how acrobatic she can be when there’s food at stake!), put all food into containers or the larder. rinsing your filthy plates clean of any food scraps before leaving them by the sink.

2. Prevent her from learning the joys of illegal chewing. The more present time she manages to bite a jawful of a forbidden signification – a chair-leg, a pillow, a run shoe – the more readily she’ll target those items in future. If you can prevent her from chewing your stuff in the first situation, it’s a lot easier for her to understand what you count of her. Practically speaking, this means confining her in a dog-proofed area until you’re surefooted of her reason? of the house rules.

3. Don’t set her up for failure by blurring the boundaries between her stuff (OK to chew) and your stuff (not OK to chew). Don’t work your dog cast-off clothes, shoes, or towels to chew and play with: naturalistically, you can’t perhaps expect her to be able to tell the difference between your current shoes and the one she’s got in her mouth that you gave her five minutes ago.

4. Provide her with lots of tasty alternatives to your stuff. If her environment is relatively barren of attractive, appropriate chewing objects, you can scarcely blame her for targeting your possessions. consider, most dogs need to chew; if she’s an adolescent (under three years) or a puppy (under one year), her needs will be even more pronounced. Go on a toy and chew shopping spree, then give her two or three to play with at a time. Rotating the available toys every few days will keep things novel and interesting for her.

5. Spend lots of time in active supervision. Yes, it might be easier for you to just keep her penned up in her crate, run, or the yard – but that’s boring and horrible for her, and hardly much fun for you either (if you wanted a pet that you don’t need to interact with, you’d have got a goldfish, right?) She can’t learn what you expect of her if she’s spending all her time boxed up in the dog-proof zone: she needs the opportunity to explore the boundaries of your expectations, so she can understand what’s appropriate and what’s not.

6. When you catch her chewing something inappropriate, interrupt her by making a loud noise: clap your hands or make an “Ah-ah-aaaah!” noise. Then, immediately hand her a tasty and dog-appropriate alternative (a rawhide bone or other chew toy); as soon as her jaws close around it, praise her lavishly. There is no better way to get your dog to understand that chewing “her” toys equals praise from you, but everything else equals hassle.

- sustain a generative attitude -

Above all, remember to keep your expectations realistic. You’re not perfect, and neither is your dog: there’s likely to be at least one incident wherever a treasured item is damaged by her curiosity.

Particularly in the early stages of your relationship, she’s still learning the ropes: it’ll take awhile before she’s completely reliable (and even then, if she’s left by herself for too long or feels neglected, she may choose your stuff over hers to absorb her time and jaws with.) Remember to give her time to learn the rules, and plenty of ‘you-time’ to help her learn faster – and don’t forget to take precautions and keep things out of reach until she’s got the hang of the chewing rules!

For more information on dog training techniques and how to deal with problem dog behaviour (like chewing), check out Anxiety Separation Dogs. It’s the complete manual for dog ownership and is designed to fast-track your dog’s learning.
You can visit the Anxiety Separation Dogs site by clicking on the link below:

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14. May 2010 by admin.

There are all types of dog food ratings and comparison charts and reviews you can get comparing one commercial brand to another, analyzing crude protein content, calorie values, ingredient sources, and so on.  There are a couple of things which are never mentioned, however:  ingredient definitions and comparisons to handmade dog foods.  Why not?

One obvious answer is that it truly is difficult, if not impossible, to compare a commercial brand to “home made” due to broad range of possibilities for home made dog foods; there isn’t any one standard home made dog food recipe.  And there is some truth in this.  Another not so obvious answer is that a lot of these reviews are commissioned through the manufacturers themselves and they are not likely to put something in the review or comparison that makes them look bad.

When you read the ingredients lists on cans of pet foods, one ingredient that you’re going to see time after time is “meat by-products”.  Do you know what that is?  It’s the non-rendered, clean parts, other than meat, derived from slaughtered mammals. It includes, but is not limited to, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially defatted low temperature fatty tissue, and stomachs and intestines freed of the contents. It does not include hair, horns, teeth and hoofs.  Sounds appetizing, doesn’t it?

If you’re buying a can of “Beef Delight” for your Fido and it contains meat by-products, you’d expect those by-products to be beef, but you could easily be wrong.  The definition says derived from mammals, which means they may be pigs, goats, any mammal, not just cows.  They can also be from “downer” animals, animals that are sick or dying just prior to slaughter.

You wouldn’t eat this stuff yourself, so why feed it to your pet, who is a member of your family?  Yes, you will need some time and effort to make your dog’s food yourself, but when you do, you’re certain what’s in that food.  You control the quality and also you control the nutritional content.  You’re confident what your dog is being fed.  That’s more than could be said when you read those dog food ratings.

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14. May 2010 by admin.

You may not be the type of dog owner who spends a lot of time training your doggy . It’s rather alright (most dog owners do not have the time). However, there are two basic commands that could literally save your dog ’s life and only takes a few minutes each day to teach .

training your puppy the “leave it” and “drop it” commands can keep your youngster from doing something dangerous, such as eating mouse poison, rotten food and other skanky stuff, or running into the path of a speeding car .

Leave It

With your puppy on a leash, walk by a alluring item, such as food or a toy (you can pre-place items for this exercise). When your puppy tries to pick up the item, give a short quick tug on the leash and say, “Leave it.”

Enthusiastically praise your puppy for obeying (”Good Sparky !”). You can offer a cookie at this time if you prefer, but praise and a pat on the head work just as well. Repeat this routine at home.

Here’s another method you can use to teach your dog the “leave it” command: Hold a food treat in your shut fist. When your puppy sniffs your hand, say “Leave it,” and keep your fist closed. When your pup stops nosing your hand, reward with praise, then give a verbal release command (such as “okay”) and let your puppy have the treat. Continue working like this until your puppy will sit quietly without touching a nearby treat until you give the release command.

Drop It

When your puppy picks up a forbidden object, say, “Drop it!” and walk over to your puppy. If your pup won’t release the item, offer it a tempting treat as a trade for the item. When your puppy drops it, offer praise and a safe substitute - preferably one that’s more tempting than the forbidden item.

If your puppy runs away from you, don’t chase it - it’ll think you’re playing a game. alternatively, ignore your little one and get yourself a treat from the kitchen (something you know your puppy likes). Take the treat to a puppy-accessible area and start to eat it (or pretend to eat it, if it’s a dog goodie).

Be dramatic about how yummy it is. Call your puppy over, then give the drop it command and trade the treat for the forbidden item. (Be sure to praise your youngster for obeying.) After your puppy finishes the treat, offer an accepted toy.

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14. May 2010 by admin.

Evaluate the can of pet food you are feeding your dog.  Don’t just check out the label.  “Super Gourmet Beef Delight” doesn’t let you know what your dog is literally eating.  Read the ingredients.  Are you aware what each ingredient is?  What it really is?  Not all ingredients in the can of food are necessarily good for your dog.  Here are three dog food ingredients you might want to steer clear of.

Corn (in any form)

You will note it listed as corn gluten, corn gluten meal, corn cellulose, or simply corn.  Dogs are carnivores but they can eat and digest vegetable matter.  However, corn is often rather difficult for them to digest because they don’t have enough of the proper enzymes.  A lot of corn often leads to digestive issues.  The corn gluten, gluten meal, and cellulose are employed primarily as binders and also have little nutritional value.

BHA/BHT

These are phenolic antioxidants, used to preserve fats and oils.  Many countries have banned these from human use, but they continue to be permitted in the U.S.  They could be human carcinogens and have been demonstrated carcinogenic in animal experiments.

Here’s how this ingredient listing looks on the bag of a well-liked brand of kibbles.  This is the fourth ingredient, by the way:  “Animal Fat (preserved with BHA/BHT)”.

Ethoxyquin

Ethoxyquin is an antioxidant.  It had been developed by Monsanto as a stabilizer for rubber.  It’s also been used as a pesticide for fruit along with a color preservative for spices - and later for animal feed.  It may be linked to thyroid, kidney, reproductive and immune related illnesses as well as cancer.  Studies to determine the safety of Ethoxyquin haven’t been completed, which explains why it’s still allowed in dog foods.

As a side note, if you see that fish meal is an ingredient in the pet food brand you are using, unless it says “human grade” fish meal, it’s preserved with Ethoxyquin, even when it’s not specifically listed.

They are a few of the dog food ingredients it is advisable to avoid feeding your dog.  The best way to ensure that your dog is getting the healthiest, most nutritionally balanced food possible is to make it yourself.  Otherwise, you could possibly be compromising your pet’s health without even realizing it.

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