6 Things You Can Do to Prevent Animal Cruelty

How many of you are animal lovers? We are! We have animals as pets and we're always donating goods and volunteering our time to worth animal rescue groups. Animals become valuable members of our family and are loved. With that said...there are some nasty people in this world who abuse them.

In recognition of Animal Cruelty Month this April, canine authority Jeffrey Scott Franklin, owner and operator of Cobra Canine, is sharing six ways to prevent animal cruelty. Please pass this information on to all of the animal lovers in your life!!!

6 Things You Can Do to Prevent Animal Cruelty

1. Don’t get a pet as a toy or an impulse decision. The people who aren’t up for the 8 to 15-year commitment of responsibility (financially, physically and emotionally) are often times the ones who end up sending their pet to a shelter or simply not caring for the pet as is required. Pets need food, shelter, regular baths and nail clippings, vet checks, vaccines and in their lifetimes some sort of vet care or geriatric care may become necessary. Be prepared for these and this will make sure animals aren’t neglected.

2. If you don’t know much about dogs (or any specific animal in question), don’t breed them. Let experts do the breeding work. Enjoy your pet to his or her fullest- without adding more animals that may or may not end up in great homes. While we aren’t advocates of spaying or neutering until at least two years of age, we do believe in being responsible if your pet is around other animals.

3. Volunteer at an animal shelter. If you feel the need to have a fuzzy pet friend, but not a lot of time- donate your time and energy to a local shelter. Go walk a few dogs and pet some animals that need some love and attention. There are never enough volunteers at these places.

4. Keep them warm and cozy. Donate extra blankets and care items you may already have in your home to local shelters.

5. Report suspicious activity. If you see animals that are maltreated, mistreated or neglected- report it. You won’t get backlash for this from the authorities- but you very well may save an animal’s life in the process. If we keep our eyes and ears open, animals have a much better chance at having a good life or potentially, a great life and a second chance.

6. Adopt or donate money to shelters. We have found many strays over the years, and helped them medically, given them training, and found them loving homes. If you see an animal that needs some TLC, or a home- help as you are able.

How Pets Help Reduce Stress

Some studies show that people begin to feel less anxious after spending less than an hour with an animal. There are endless benefits from lowering your stress level and while the things that we find stressful in our lives are often hard to eliminate, adding an animal to your life can help.

General Benefits: There's a reason that they say dog is man's best friend. Having a pet, not limited to dogs, is something that everyone should experience at some point in their life. Pets can be calming, mood lifting, empathetic, and so much more. They teach you how to be selfless and responsible as you are caring over another life (for those of you without children). Generally speaking, they make you happy.

Helps with Depression: In some cases, therapists suggest that patients suffering from depression that they adopt a pet. An animal will love you unconditionally and also be a great friend and listener. People with depression often benefit from having a pet, as the animal can help them get out of the house.

Health Benefits: There are other health benefits associated with pet ownership (particularly dogs). Many studies show that owning a pet has a positive impact on cardiovascular disease, hypertension, infection control, allergies, stress related problems, blood pressure, and psychological issues.

Engaged Mind: A key to a healthy mind, especially for those who are elderly, is staying engaged with others. A pet is often a conversation starter and being out with a pet often warrants questions or comments from passersby. Bringing your dog to a dog park is a great way to meet new people with similar interests.

Build Your Children's Confidence: Having a dog in the home can build confidence and manage anxiety and stress in children. Children who struggle with reading or math can gain confidence when reading aloud or reciting multiplication tables to their dog.

Excuse to Play: Training and playing with your dog also provides mental stimulation, helps unleash creativity and alleviates stress. Having a dog will also encourage you to exercise as you'll need to walk Fido regularly.

Routine: Having a daily schedule reduces stress for any individual. Having a dog that relies on you at specific times each day (feeding, walking, and sleeping) can help establish a routine.

Bio: Erin Askeland, CPDT-KA and Training and Behavioral Expert at Camp Bow Wow (North America's largest and most trusted pet care franchise), has offered her insights and tips on the benefits of having a pup and how our furry family members can truly reduce the stress we experience every day.

Tips for Introducing a New Pet to Family

Today I am sharing with all of my readers a great guest article about how to introduce a new pet to the family. This is very timely information for me since I will be bringing home a new pet in about 2 weeks! Yes, I am getting a new kitty! Finally!

Thank you Heidi Ganahl for sharing all of these valuable tips with my blog readers.

From your very first pet, to introducing your pet to a new baby, there are certain situations you need to prepare for. To make sure your house and family members are ready to welcome its new addition, without feeling overwhelmed, it is important to do some research to make these transitions easier for all parties involved.

To answer questions every pet owner should be asking when it comes to preparing for a new pet or for baby, Heidi Ganahl, CEO and Founder of Camp Bow Wow, North America’s largest and fastest growing pet care franchise and INC 5000, has some very helpful tips.

Tips for Introducing a New Pet to Family

1. Get everyone in the family on board – It is important that all of your family members are ready for the responsibility of a dog. Prior to bringing your new dog home, determine who is responsible for walks, feeding, etc., so once your pup is in the home, you are ready to get started on the right paw.

2. Head to the store – You will want to purchase items you will need for your pet prior to them coming home. You will need food, dishes, toys, cleaner for accidents, a leash and collar and more. You want to ensure that you have as much as you need.

3. Let your pet settle in – When you bring your dog home, give them time to settle in and relax, especially if you have child. It can take a new dog a few days to acclimate to their new surroundings, so give them time to de-stress.

4. Get your pup on a schedule - Dogs are very schedule-oriented, so ensuring that you get them on a routine as quickly as possible will help them understand potty times, feeding, walks and more. This will help the transition of having new pets in your home easier for the dog and your family.

Tips for Introducing Pet to Baby

1. Get started right away – Start working on helping your dog get prepared for the new little one’s arrival as soon as you know you are pregnant. If you wait until the last couple of months, you will have less time to devote to helping get your dog ready for the baby’s arrival. It will also help your dog by not overwhelming them with too many changes at once.

2. Take a training class- If your dog has not been to training in a while, it is important to take a refresher course. There are many commands that will be extremely helpful for you to use when the baby arrives. You want to ensure that your dog is able to understand your requests and respond in a timely manner once your baby arrives, so a refresher course will help both you and your dog.

3. Put the baby gate up now - You want to start teaching your dog boundaries, especially at the door of the baby’s room. You want to ensure that your four legged family member starts getting used to not being able to come everywhere with you. Practice going into the baby’s room and closing the baby gate so your dog can’t come in with you so they get used to seeing that behavior before your baby arrives. By the time your baby arrives, your dog will see it as a normal behavior and not something that is occurring just because of the little one.

4. Put baby items around the house – Start bringing in items that will be around the house when the baby arrives. Put a bouncy chair on the floor, bring in a high chair and other items. This will allow your pup to get used to seeing them. It is also a good idea to get a CD of a crying baby and baby noises and have your dog get used to hearing those.

5. Let Fido adjust to new smells – Dogs have a very keen sense of smell so it is important to bring in items that are going to be used on the baby. Purchase baby powder, some diapers, and any other items you know you will be using that have a distinct scent. Your pup will acclimate to them and they will be part of their everyday experience before the baby even arrives.

6. Quality time - Spend a minimum of 10 minutes a day doing something with your dog that they enjoy. Play fetch in the back yard, go for a ride in the car, or simply spend time petting them.

7. Buy a baby doll - You will want to practice having your dog respond to commands and displaying good manners when you are holding the baby, so there is no better way to practice than to carry a baby doll. Sit on your couch and hold and talk to the baby doll and make sure your dog sits on the floor and doesn’t try to jump up, put the baby doll in the bouncy chair and get your dog to lay down next to it. Getting your dog practicing manners right away is a must.

6 Important Cold Weather Safety Tips for Pet Owners

Dogs and cats are very sensitive to the cold and winter weather. When letting your pets outside during the winter season, you need to take some easy precautions to help protect them from the cold, ice and snow.

Here are 6 important cold weather safety tips to remember:

1. Pets like dogs and cats have very sensitive paws that can freeze or get frost bitten in cold winter weather. You want to limit their time outdoors and in extreme weather purchase booties for their feet which will help to provide some warmth and protection.

2. Dogs and cats (just like humans) lose a lot of their body heat via their head. Cover their heads up with specially made knit hats. When they return from being outside, dry off their heads completely so that they can warm up quicker.

3. Make sure your pets are well fed and properly hydrated so they can efficiently heat their bodies. Feed them smaller meals throughout the entire day along with a constantly filled water dish.

4. Limit their time outdoors! Take them out more frequently for shorter periods of time. Don't let them out there in the frigid weather for hours at a time. If your animal is an "outdoor" dog or cat, bring them indoors until the frigid weather passes.

5. Since your pet can't burn off "energy" outdoors like they usually do, have plenty of activities for them to enjoy indoors. These can include new toys, bones, dog chews, treats, ropes, etc. Keep them busy to bust the boredom!

6. Do not bathe your pet and then let them outside to do their business in cold icy temperatures! Let them completely dry off and warm up for at least an hour before letting them outside.

These are all important tips to remember this winter season to keep your pets healthy and safe. If in doubt, always consult a license veterinarian for advice and help.

Newly Hatched Baby Birds - Almost Wordless Wednesday

Hubby and I have been big bird watchers for the past 10+ years and every year we are blessed with several different species of birds calling our backyard their home. When we find the nests...we chart them on our backyard map and make sure that we keep an eye on the birds while they are nesting and living here.

When you stumble upon a nest, it is really important to NOT touch it and do not disturb it in any way. When we photograph eggs, nests and newly hatched birds, we always make sure that mom is out hunting for food and that we do NOT touch the nest! We use a high powered camera with telephoto lens to get our snapshots.

Well, last week we stumbled upon a Robin's nest that is built in one of our large bushes and inside that nest was 4 beautiful blue robin eggs. Two days later...one of the eggs hatched and the following day...two more eggs hatched. It has been five days now and the 4th unhatched egg has disappeared.

Officially, we got three beautiful little robin babies that are growing stronger each day and will be ready to fledge the nest in about 4 to 6 more days. They are doubling in size daily and each & every day they have more and more down & feathers on them. When mom leaves the nest to collect food...they are pretty noisy awaiting her return.

Well, there you have it...my "Almost" Wordless Wednesday post for this week and this post is also being filed under our bird watching category here on the blog. You can find other bird watching info & photographs by visiting that category.

Do you enjoy bird watching and if so, what are some of your favorite species of birds to watch? We are big backyard birders and we love to watch sea birds and owls too! Happy Birding!

Love Watching Mallard Ducks!

I love nature and I am especially found of watching animals in their natural habitat. We have 2 nice sized streams that run through our property and every year we get a few Mallard ducks making our property their home. (you can click the photo in this post to enlarge it).

This year we have a beautiful female (she is all brown) and we named her Ding. She had a few male companions with her last month but they flew the coop! However, she has 3 new male companions with her now so we are hoping for some duck mating so that we can get some babies!

These particular 3 male Mallard Ducks are being really protective of Ding and don't like us coming near her. She is people friendly to a point but those boys want her for themselves right now. She does have what looks to be a nice sized nest near the one end of the stream so we are hoping that she will mate soon and baby ducklings will soon be on their way.

I just had to share a photo today of Ding's boyfriends! They are super colorful and very handsome!

We Have 3 New Mallard Ducks on Our Property!!!

My mom and I headed out today for a nice 2 mile walk through the neighborhood and on our property as the weather was just beautiful here today in South Central PA. (near 60 degrees in February is unheard of around here!). (CLICK ON PHOTOS to ENLARGE THEM).

Anyway...we have 2 small streams that run through our property and as we were checking out the beauty of the stream we found 3 adult ducks! As you can see from my photos..2 were male and 1 was a female (she is the brown one).

These 2 male ducks chased her around something fierce this afternoon and were definitely trying to get her attention. I am not sure if it is mating season for ducks or what...but she was letting them close to her (at times) and then at other times she was pushing them away.
I just love wildlife so it was very nice to sit on the bench and watch the ducks today and after a few minutes they did come up close to us and wanted us to feed them. (I didn't have any ducky food on me though).

We did locate the female's nest but we didn't touch it. We could clearly see though that there were no ducky eggs inside of it. Hopefully in a few months we will have some baby ducks running around the property.

Birdwatching | 17 Day Old House Finch Babies Have Fledged

Well, it finally happend...the 2 baby house finch birds finally fledged the nest today at age 17 days. The above photo was taken last evening when they were 16 days old and this afternoon I actually got to see them leave the nest with their mom. Kind of sad that I won't see the 2 babies again now that they have fledged their nest. (click photo above to enlarge to see the details)

Can you believe that it only takes 17 days from the time they hatch and are born naked for them to get down and feathers and leave their nest? wow! You can find their 1 day old photos along with other photos of them by checking out my Bird Watching category here on my blog. Sad to see them go but they are now on their own and building a life for themselves.

~ Shelly ~

Birdwatching | Ten Day Old Baby House Finch Birds

Time to update all of you on the baby house finch birds. As of yesterday they are 10 days old and as you can see in this photo (click it to enlarge) there are 2 babies and they now have their eyes open and their beaks are fully formed & mom has been feeding them well. Their bodies are completely covered now in down and very fine feathers. They are not moving around too much just yet but when mom leaves the nest to feed they cry for her which breaks my heart :(

I think they are totally adorable but the sad thing is that within a week they will be gone as they usually fledge around 14-16 days (at least that has been our past experience). I will try to get a better photo tomorrow but it's really hard now since they are the same color as the nest!

~ Shelly ~

Birdwatching | Six Day Old Baby House Finch Birds

Time to update you all again on our baby House Finch Birds! As of yesterday (when the photo was taken) there are 2 babies in the nest and they are now 6 days old. As you can see, their bodies are now 70% covered in down and about 15% of their feathers are through. Their eyes are still shut and their beaks are really starting to take form.

The mommy finch who I have named Ester (short for nester) is taking great care of these 2 birdies and only leaves the nest to feed or for when we mist it with water & take photos. The babies are growing at a bionic rate...doubled in size in only 6 days but yet still pretty small. I will update you all again in a few days.

~ Shelly

Birdwatching | Four Day Old Baby House Finch Birds

Well, the 4th egg never hatched and the third egg totally disappeared so we have 2 thriving baby house finch birds who are now 4 days old! If you click on the photo it will enlarge. You can see their bodies are becoming covered in down and you are starting to see the feathers coming in now too. I love how the 2 birdlets are hugging one another in the nest.

So far so good with mommy bird letting us mist the nest to keep it cool as we are still having 90+ degree weather days here and at times the birdlets seem to be panting and gasping from the heat. I think they are totally cute and I am still waiting to see if that 4th egg ever hatches.

I will get pics in 2 days and update the blog then.

Birdwatching | Two of the Four Eggs Have Now Hatched!

Wow...check out these cutie pies! I blogged last week about a mommy bird (she is a house finch) who made a beautiful nest in one of my hanging baskets and then she laid 4 tiny little eggs. Well, we have hatchlings! This photo shows two of the hatchlings which are now 24 hours old. They can't hold their heads up yet and they have no feathers. They do have a light sparse layer of down on them but no feathers yet. They cry and cry for mom when she leaves the nest and so far she is really protective of them but let's hubby and I take photos and let's us mist the basket with water. We have had over 96 degree weather here for a week so I think she is happy about us misting water on the basket a few times a day. As soon as the other two hatch, I will get pictures of them.

Our other basket has 5 day old hatchlings in that one also with 4 little birdlets and they are also house finches but that mommy bird is pretty fiesty and not letting me get the photos of them.

I will update the blog in a few days with new close up photos of our new baby birdlets!

~ Shelly ~

Bird Watching | Mommy Finch Laid 4 Beautiful Eggs In Her Nest!

As some of you know...I absolutely love birds and I love to go bird watching from time to time and every year I look forward to various birds building nests in my hanging flower baskets and this year is no exception.

About 10 days ago we saw a mommy finch flying in and out of one of my hanging baskets so earlier today we took the basket down to water my plants and low and behold...we got a brand new nest with 4 tiny little eggs inside! Each egg is no bigger than a dime! Mommy wasn't too happy about us coming near the flower basket but after we hung it back up and misted it with some water she came right back and sat in her nest.I will check it again in a few days to see if the eggs hatched yet and to give you all a progress report. I look forward to this every summer so I am very excited that for the 4th summer in a row...I get to watch the eggs hatch and then watch the babies grow and fledge!

~* Shelly * ~

3 Baby House Finch Birdies!

Update: The third egg finally hatched! We now have 3 gorgeous little finch babies! The oldest one now has his/her eyes open and cries a lot for momma finch. They are making a mess of the nest and it smells like bird poo! Momma finch was out finding food while daddy finch watched over the nest, so he wasn't too pleased with me disturbing it. Momma finch is fine with me as she has learnt that I won't hurt her or the babies.

Each of the 3 babies hatched on different days which coincides with how she laid them. She laid 1 egg every day for 6 days. Over the past 4 days, the remaining 3 eggs hatched one at a time each on different days.

I will update the blog again in 2 days with new pics!

We have hatchlings!!!

Last week I posted a photo of momma finch's nest that she made in my hanging flower basket that had 5 eggs. She eventually had 6 eggs. We now have 2 hatchlings (baby birds) and 1 egg left.

Last night a nasty squirrel got into the nest and carried off 3 eggs! I was so dang angry! blah!

So far, the 2 babies seem to be doing well. When momma leaves the nest to get food, daddy finch comes and stays with them.

I will post another picture in a few days.

New Bird Family!!!

Last year I blogged about a mommy house finch who made a beautiful nest in my hanging flower basket last May. She laid 5 eggs, had 4 hatchings and it was a wonderful experience for us. (see my Bird Watching Label here for all the pics!).

I am happy to report, she is back! She made a new nest in my hanging basket that my daughter purchased for me for Easter. (see photo above)

What a beautiful nest! We noticed on Sunday that she laid a tiny little egg. Every day since Sunday, she has laid another egg. As of today (Thursday) there are 5 tiny little eggs. They are the size of a malted mill ball egg (candy egg). Right now, she is being pretty protective of her nest so after I saw her 'jet' out to get herself a meal, I took the basket down and got a picture :)



As time goes on, I hope to blog this experience too! I hope you will follow along!

Shelly

Babies Fledged!

Well...this will be the last picture of the baby house finches! This picture is at age 10 days. I got up Saturday morning to go check on them and they were all gone! So they fledged on Saturday morning at age 12 days!

Mom and Dad are still hanging around in the pine tree that sits about 30 ft from my hanging basket. According to my bird book, house finches can breed 2-3 times per year so perhaps we will be blessed with another round of babies sometime this summer. I will let you all know if that occurs!

My husband and I totally enjoyed this experience!

Babies are now 8 days old...

As you can see from the newest photo they have alot of down fluff on them and I can see the starts of feathers now too. They all have their eyes open and are peeping their heads out over the nest in the flower basket.

They are making a mess in the nest and all 4 of the babies seem to be crowded in there now that they are bigger. I didn't see the "dud" egg in there today so either they ate it or mom/dad removed it.

~Shelly~

Baby Birds are 6 days Old!

Well, our baby house finch birds are now 6 days old. They are getting alot of furry down type of material on them now and have even started opening their eyes. I can hear them from outside my bedroom window and can see them in the hanging basket.

Since its been 95+ degrees here in PA, we have checked on them often. They were over-heated today and breathing hard so we misted the flower basket with some light water and they actually seemed to enjoy that although mom was not happy and dad was certainly not happy and took a dive at my husband. We haven't been able to get pics of mom and dad yet.

Today's photo is of our 4 hatchlings and they are now 6 days old. The 5th egg never hatched but is still in the nest at this time.

~Shelly~

Bird Watching - We Have House Finch Hatchlings!

My husband and I are big fans of birding. We enjoy watching them, trying to identify them and of course watching hatchlings grow up.

For mothers day he got me a beautiful hanging flower basket. A week later we noticed a very small bird (we believe she is a house finch) going in and out of the flower basket.

We finally got nosey and suspected she had made a nest and took a peek and low and behold there was a beautiful nest inside our flower basket with 5 tiny blue eggs (the size of marbles). It has now been 2 weeks and we finally have hatchlings!

Yesterday we noticed that 3 of our 5 eggs have hatched and then this morning another one hatched so we now have 1 egg left to see if it hatches. I hope you enjoy the photo's and I will be updating my blog from time to time about these beautiful little birds!

For more information about the House Finch Birds please see:

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/House_Finch_dtl.html

~Shelly~