Tag: pets

Cats Love Cardboard Boxes

Cats Love Cardboard Boxes

If you have a cat or a few of them…I’m sure you already know that they love napping in cardboard boxes, drawers and baskets. Our Romeo loves them all. They’re a safe place for him to catch a good nap. They like confined spaces which 

Top 10 Cat Toxins You Need to Know

Top 10 Cat Toxins You Need to Know

We love cats and have had at least one in our home since 1989. Being a cat owner means that you have the responsibility to take care of your furry friend to the best of your ability. That means feeding them, keeping a clean home 

Baskets, Boxes, Bins, and Caves Favorite Hiding Places for Cats

Baskets, Boxes, Bins, and Caves Favorite Hiding Places for Cats

Baskets, Boxes, Bins, and Caves Favorite Hiding Places for CatsAll cat owners know that they love to hide. You’ll often find them hiding underneath the bed, in the back of a closet, or underneath your favorite sitting chair. Cats are some of the best hiders in the domestic animal world!

Our favorite feline Romeo is no exception! You’ll find him hiding in your standard places around the home and thensome. We often find him hanging out in wicker baskets, cardboard boxes, storage bins, underneath homemade blanket tents, in an open dresser drawer, etc. One of his favorite games is hide-n-seek, he’s the hider and we’re always the seekers!

Hiding is a natural instinct for cats. It helps them to feel safe and secure. They rotate their favorite hiding places. That’s why it’s important that all pet owners rotate things around their home to give their furry friends a new place to hang out. So, how can you quickly and easily do this?

Simple. You’ll want to invest a little bit of money into cardboard boxes, baskets, storage bins, and baby blankets. You can find a lot of those items at your local Dollar General Store, Dollar Tree, Target, and on Amazon. Heck, you can probably pick up a lot of that at local yard sales or from family and friends who are giving items away.

Baskets, Boxes, Bins, and Caves Favorite Hiding Places for Cats

You’ll want to keep the items clean by regularly wiping them down with pet-safe cleaning products. This will help to remove the scent. They like “fresh, clean, and new” places to hide. Once the items are clean rotate them around your house every 7-10 days. We like to completely relocate items to a different room and swap things all around.

Use baby blankets or small throws to make blanket tents and caves. Leave a small opening so your furry best friend can go in and out safely. We will drape them over the back of furniture, across a chair, or tossed over the hamper turned on it’s side. You can turn cardboard boxes and storage bins on their side and drape the little blanket (a hand towel works well too) over the entrance to make a wonderful hiding place.

Our boy Romeo really enjoys that we take the extra effort around our home to give him safe places to hide and relax. It provides a form of enrichment for him by spicing up his day and giving him something to do. He will go from one place to the next checking them all out and leaving his scent behind.

Give your furry friends something easy to do that doesn’t cost a lot of money. It’s a natural instinct for them to hide and an important instinct for them to maintain. A happy cat is a healthy cat!

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Keeping Your Dog Healthy: Understanding Common Health Problems

Keeping Your Dog Healthy: Understanding Common Health Problems

We all want our canine companions to have long, healthy lives as dog owners. But during the course of their lives, dogs, like people, can experience a variety of health issues. For this reason, it’s crucial to comprehend these common health conditions so we can 

4 Tips for Caring for a Dog with a Sensitive Stomach

4 Tips for Caring for a Dog with a Sensitive Stomach

It’s common for dogs to have sensitive tummies, and this might be caused by canine domestication and how you feed your pets. Common signs of a sensitive stomach in dogs include vomiting, flatulence, constipation, and diarrhea. This condition makes it hard to feed a pet 

The Basics of Training a Horse:  4 Tips You Must Know

The Basics of Training a Horse: 4 Tips You Must Know

The Basics of Training a HorseTraining a stallion is challenging yet a fun experience. It takes the trainers years of practice to master the art of instructing the horses. Experts suggest that using the correct method to train them is rewarding in the long term. Your training plan begins right from when you select the breed. This article mentions expert tips that will help you train different species of the same family. Read on!

1. Bond with the horse

You would not follow someone’s instructions if you never trusted that person, right? Animals also react in the same way. Thus, to begin the training sessions, you have to first make a bond with the horse; spend time together and befriend it.

Simply put, you must understand the animal’s nature and make it feel secure and comfortable. You can use different methods, such as regular grooming, feeding, and rewarding it to create a bond.

2. Groundwork exercise

Stallions are wild and have a habit of reacting instinctively to unknown situations. So, you need to guide them through groundwork exercises. Once you bond with the animal, they would consider you from the same herd.

However, there can only be one leader on the ground. So, you’ve to train them to follow your command using the right horse training supplies. Groundwork helps you to teach them crucial skills, such as:

* Leading
* Haltering
* Standing still
* Moving the shoulders
* Walking the lunge line and more.

It is easier to teach the animal when you have the correct command, vibe, hold, and training material handy.

3. Help them fight their phobias

These beautiful animals were hunters by nature, but gradually they shifted to being the prey. Nowadays, they spook, panic, and startle easily. Therefore, you need to desensitize them for their phobias to prevent unexpected reactions. Generally, stallions fear:

* Unknown humans
* Loud noises
* Buzzing machinery
* Fire
* Over enthusiastic gestures
* Balloons, umbrellas, and traffic cones.

It may be possible that your animal is not scared of some of these things. Therefore, you must pay attention to their behavior and discover what scares them. Next, you’ve to help the animal by exposing it to the same object to reduce the fear. Understand that you need to place the person and thing at a safe distance from the animal.

Communicate to your stallion and gently calm them as you move the object or person closer each day. It is a long journey; you must not expect the stallion to eliminate the fear instantly. Gradually, as you train them, they will realize that there is nothing to fear and they should not react to it. Making them feel safe with kind communication can do the trick.

4. Saddle training

Once you are done desensitizing them and have them follow your commands rightly, the next step is to train them with saddles. Since saddles are heavy, the animal may resist the weight on their backs. So, to customize them with the weight, you can start with saddle pads or blankets.

It will work the best if you add the blanket during their groundwork exercise. Gradually, you can add the rest of the equipment, including bridle, stirrups, and bit. Understand that time, consistency, and patience are critical to a great training session.

Conclusion

Training a stallion is a challenging task; you need to have patience. The bond between you and the stallion will gradually ease your training sessions. It would benefit if you did not put too much pressure on the animal. It would be best to show your confidence in them for better performance.

6 Common Cat Health Issues to Look Out For

6 Common Cat Health Issues to Look Out For

As a pet owner, the worst thing that you could ever imagine happening is that your pet strikes ill. However, this is something that is common among all pets, including cats. Cats are a staple piece in most family households as they are treated much 

Large Wooden Outdoor Cat House Catio Enclosure

Large Wooden Outdoor Cat House Catio Enclosure

We have an indoor cat named Romeo. Our boy will be turning 3 years old in September. He loves to sit in front of all of the different windows in our home and spend time in our enclosed sunroom. He’s yearning to get outside but