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A cat box is a necessary evil for a cat loving family. Ugly and messy, we put up with them day after day. If you love your kitty there is no other choice, right? Well, thanks to the development of cat furniture, you have the possibility for a wonderful upgrade from the old litter box.

You may have the cat litter box in a far away corner, down in the laundry room or even in the basement. Although the main reason for putting it out of the way may be to hide it, it also provides a useful purpose, a place of privacy for you kitty. In some large homes this may be easy to do. But many cat owners today live in smaller, modest homes that can not quite support the needs of both the cat and the owner.

So if you don’t have a basement or if you don’t want the litter box in the bathroom, what are you going to do? No one likes to see a litter box out in the open. This is not going to be visually pleasing to you and your guests. The cat will not appreciate it either as there is very little privacy when placed this way. The answer to this ongoing problem is cat litter furniture. Now you can hide the cat litter box inside a beautiful piece of solid wood furniture. This will solve the problem of both the cats privacy as the box is hidden inside the cabinet, and the owner who can now place the litter box anywhere in the house. Cat litter furniture looks beautiful and can double as a functional end table.

Cat litter furniture can accommodate the decor of any home with the many colors and styles available. The cat litter cabinet is one of the most popular. This type hides the cat box inside a wood cabinet. It is very versatile as there is easy access to the inside with openings on the sides. There is also ease of access to the inside for cleaning and because it serves multiple purposes it can be useful to all. The size of the litter cabinet is based on the size of the cat and the litter box. The best thing about this unit is the fact that it can be placed anywhere in the house. You can place books, knick-knacks or anything else on top just like an end table or book case.

When you decide to switch out the old litter box, you need to take a few things into consideration. Of course the optimal time to put in a new litter box is when your cat is a kitten. If you switch out the litter box on an older cat just be sure to make the transition a slow one. It would be a good idea to keep both litter boxes available at the same time while your kitty adjusts to the new one. Another idea would be to just place the cabinet in the desired location while you slowly move the litter box closer and closer until it is finally placed inside the cabinet. Give your kitty praise when you see him use the new cat furniture and always keep it clean as possible!

The most important thing about your cat litter furniture is that it is a barometer of your cat health. If you notice your kitty is not making his regular visits to the box then something is up! You may notice that you cat has a case of diarrhea. This would indicate a definite problem is at hand. Sometimes a cat will even lay down in it’s cat box, this is a sign of possible serious sickness or other problems as cats usually have very clean habits. If you notice any of these signs or symptoms you should be sure to contact your vet.

Now, go shopping for a great new piece of cat litter furniture!

David Lee is owner and designer of several pet web sites promoting health and responsible pet ownership. See his sites for more information on cat health, acecathealth.com/cat_disease2.html cat kidney disease and acecatfurniture.com/ps1.html Pet steps For dog lovers tips on germanshepherd-1.com/training German Shepherd training

Humid or moist hides are vital for leopard geckos health. Without access to proper moisture and humidity most leopard geckos have trouble shedding. Some will even experience toe loss and problems digesting food. But what exactly is a humid or moist hide. The best way to provide a humid hide is a plastic container with a hole for access. The container should have 2-4 inches of perlite, vermiculite, or moss on the bottom. This substrate should be moist but not sopping wet. A good way to test this is to squeeze a ball of this substance in your hand. It should drip slightly but not pour water. Heat is essential, so place this container over the hot side of their enclosure.

We have found that a hole placed on the top of the container is much better that one placed on the side. Leopard geckos are good climbers and good diggers. A hole on the side often leads to all the vermiculite being kicked out of the container. One note of caution. Baby leopard geckos should never be given a humid or moist hide with perlite or vermiculite. Instead their moist hide should be a damp paper towel in small plastic container. It is very easy for baby geckos to eat the perlite or vermiculite and become impacted. We lost one of our very first babies to impaction this way and it was only after months of care that our other babies were able to pass all the perlite that they had eaten.

More reptile care and health imformation at

All dogs are going to have to learn some kind of dog training. They need to learn to be obedient to you.

It’s never too early or too late to train a dog. If you have just brought a puppy, then puppy training is great, the younger the better! But whatever the age of your dog, you can teach him to obey your command.

Don’t waste your time and gas taking your dog to the obedience school. There are web sites available on the internet that can give you quick and easy steps on how to train your dog. Besides training this should be a play time with your dog. Both you and your best friend should enjoy it to the fullest. While you are getting rid of your dogs bad habits, such as barking, chewing, jumping.
When selecting the web site for the training of your dog there are few thing that you need to consider:

1 Find Reliable Sources
The internet is full of ebooks. As with any other type of media, some of them are good and some are not so good. The best way to find the right crate training ebooks to use with your canine training is to look in reliable places.

2 How easy is to use the site
Make sure that site is easy to use and to navigate through. At the same time make sure that instructions are easy to understand. You can check the user rating and it will give you review from current members.

3 Excellent Customer Service Support
Make sure that they offer good support in case you have questions, need help, asking for advise.
Depending on what you are looking for, and what you are interested in you may be able to find sites that have e-book and a few additional features and bonuses. This may be enough if you just want to teach your dog basics. On the other hand, if your dog has already developed a few bad habits, I would recommend the site with little more than just basics.

Want to find a good web site for the training of your dog visit 9dong.net/dogtraining.htm 9dong.net/dogtraining.htm
It can help you train your dog.

Many dogs enjoy going for a car ride. They stick their heads out of the back window and let the breeze bring to them scents of new places. You know that dogs can enjoy a car ride, but yours doesn’t seem to be, and you don’t seem to be able to help much. Here are some tips to provide a safe (for you and your dog), hopefully fun and stress free ride in the car.

Help prevent your dog from being sick or eliminating in the car:
Being in the car for the first time can be both scary and exhilarating for you dog. Even if your dog has been on many car rides, it still might get overly excited. If your dog has a problem getting sick in the car, don’t feed him several hours before the ride, and limit his water intake. Make sure he has a good potty break and maybe a decent walk before making him go in the car.

Keep your dog still when in the car:
It’s recommended that you have your dog secured in some way when he’s in the car. There are many products such as specialized seat belts, carriers, and car barriers that can be set up so your dog is safe when riding in the car. Before using any of these devices, get your dog used to them before taking him for a ride with them. Seat belts can be worn as harnesses when you’re out for a walk, and you can get your dog comfortable with going in and out of carrier. If your dog is crate trained, this will be all the easier to do. Make the items used for his security as stress free as possible before adding the additional stress of the car.

Get your dog used to being in the car:
Once you have let him get used to the safety devices, take him for short trips. Make sure the destinations are fun places like the park or a pets store where he can socialize with dogs and people. He will quickly come to associate riding in the car with a positive end result. Don’t take your dog places where you’ll have leave him in the car. It’s not safe to leave a pet inside a car even if it’s not too hot outside or the windows are rolled down. There are things he could get into, and if your dog is already nervous about car rides, leaving him in the car could increase his anxiety.

Soothe your nervous dog while in the car:
Give him a familiar object to have near them in the car. Bring their favorite toy along or let your dog sit on its blanket or bed.

Talk to your dog. Use a positive, soothing voice. Some dogs actually get riled up by their owners voice, so this depends on your dog. Try talking and silence to see which works the best for keeping your pet calm in the car. Don’t let the dog become a distraction, and don’t let him pester you into distraction. Try not to scold your dog while in the car.

Play music. Put something soothing on quietly in the background. It may help to ease the tension your dog feels. It will also help cover the unfamiliar road noise and proved a distraction.

Open a window. This will provide new sights and smells for you dog, and a distraction. Because of the restraint, he may not be able to stick his head out of the window, but the fresh air and new scents will still serve to distract him from being scared inside the car.

Ashley writes on how to train your dog better and more efficiently. You can learn more by visiting dog-training-easy.blogspot.com/ Dog Training.

Most pet owners do not enjoy being disturbed in the middle of a spine-chilling scene on the television or in the middle of an interesting conversation with your neighbor so that they can take out their pets. The best option to avoid these interruptions is to purchase a pet door.

There is a huge variety of pet doors available in the market today, but if you are looking for a door that can be installed without cutting any holes in the door or walls, then a patio pet door is the answer. These patio doors are available in all sizes, so whether it’s a Great Dane who needs a walk or a kitty that needs to go out, it’s safe for all of them.

Patio doors have different models to choose from. There is the single-pane window, which can be fitted as a temporary or semi-permanent door on any glass door or screen door track. It is best suited for vinyl-clad sliding doors. There are also the thermo-panel patio doors, which provide the advantage of a dual-pane glass with the easy installation of a spring load and height adjustment feature of a quick panel. These sheathed or insulated dual-glass door panels are assembled using pre-fabricated glass units for efficiency. The height of these panels can be adjusted using the spring load assembly, which is totally tool free.

It is recommended that the patio pet door be as tall as the shoulder of the pet; a pet can duck, but it is better if he does not have to crouch his way through. Make sure he can pass through without much discomfort. These pet doors are also available in electronic versions, which operate with a magnetic key attached to the pet’s collar. Before an electronic patio door is installed, you must make sure that you have enough room to move about. A patio door panel takes off about twenty-one inches from the sliding glass door opening. It is always better to check an electronic patio pet door to see if it works properly before installation.

e-PetDoors.com Pet Doors provides detailed information on Pet Doors, Electronic Pet Doors, Patio Pet Doors, Magnetic Pet Doors and more. Pet Doors is affiliated with e-PetBeds.com Luxury Pet Beds.

There’s a horse show across the state in a few weeks, and you’re planning on being there with your horses. However, it’s been awhile since you last pulled a horse trailer, and you’re a little concerned about your trailering skills. After all, you want to arrive at your destination safely, with the horses as calm and relaxed as possible.

Guiding a loaded horse trailer down a country road or highway requires practical experience and know-how. There’s very little room for error. What do you do to ensure a safe, uneventful journey?

How to Ensure Safe Trailering

If you’re out of practice, or if you’ve never towed a trailer before, obtaining adequate personal experience prior to the actual event is of the utmost importance. Just as if you were learning to drive for the first time, you should begin by practicing basic driving skills before getting out in traffic with the trailer.

The more experienced you become, the more prepared you will be for anything that may potentially happen. With more confidence and a higher level of awareness and preparedness, you should be better able to handle any unexpected situation that comes along.

Find a level field or a parking lot in which to practice. Mark your course with several highway cones, then, set out to work on the following driving skills:

Turning with your trailer.
Backing your trailer.
Parking your trailer on a grade.
Stopping the trailer rig suddenly.

Ready for the Highway

After you’ve practiced all the basic driving skills while pulling your horse trailer and you feel confident in your ability to handle the rig safely, you’re ready to test your skills out on the road.

Try towing your trailer for short distances, at first. Make sure that you feel comfortable with turning corners in traffic, with backing your trailer, with parking on a grade, and with being able to stop your trailer quickly (should the need arise). Once you are confident in your towing abilities, you’re ready to travel any distance with your horses.

Just remember to always be alert when out on the roads. Drive defensively and be prepared for any possible situation.

Neva Scheve is the author of The Complete Guide to Buying, Maintaining, and Servicing a Horse Trailer. She and her husband Tom are the owners of

Guinea Pigs make great pets and are fairly easy to care for. They love to be touched and cuddled.

Their Scientific name is Cavia Tschuldi and were discovered in South America. Guinea Pigs are are a rodent.

Have you ever wondered about where they got their name? There are many types of Guinea Pigs.

Over 1,000,000 families in USA alone have them as pets. If you are considering a guinea pig as a pet there are a few things you should be aware of.

But, just like any pet they require a comittment from you as they live for several years. They become a part of the family.

Never keep males and females together as they breed, herd of the saying, “like Guinea Pigs” or 2 males together as they tend to fight to show who is boss.A most important ingredient in a guinea pigs diet is vitamin “C”. Hay is the main stay of their diet. Never feed them rhubarb or raw beens,they are extremely poisous to them.

If you would like to learn all about Guinea Pigs,my book reveals evrything you need to know about haveing a happy healthy pig as a pet.

You can get it instantly NOW at mysecretsrevealed.com mysecretsrevealed.com.

Fellow Guinea Pig Lover and Author

Imagine that you are scolding your cat for scratching at your new furniture, and Kitty is sitting staring at you. Suddenly you realize how silly you look and how futile your scolding is. So how do you train your cat to respect your home?

All cats can be trained and should have some training from their owners. You will need to train your cat to use her litter box, sharpen her claws on the scratching post instead of your couch, and to stop negative behavior when you say “no.” Cats can also learn to do “tricks,” and the mental stimulation of learning is good for them.

Cats learn the same way dogs and people learn; they repeat behaviors that have a pleasurable result. The best way to train your cat is to reward her when she does something right. The reward might be a small piece of a special food, or lots of praise from you in a happy, high-pitched voice.

Training to change negative behaviors requires you to catch your cat “in the act.” For example, if your cat uses your stereo speakers as a scratching post, wait until she is about to put claw to fabric, then firmly say “NO.” The moment she freezes and turns towards you, switch to the happy voice and praise her. Move towards her to distract her away from the inappropriate object. If she makes any movement towards you praise her even more. Timing and repetition are the keys to success here. You must catch her as she moves to act inappropriately, and praise her the exact moment she stops.

Things to remember if your cat scratches your furniture

* Understand your cat’s need to scratch.

* Forget punishment - it doesn’t work.

* Provide a suitable place for your cat to scratch such as a scratching post

* Make the scratching post attractive to Kitty

* Make the place she’s been scratching unattractive - physical or scent related deterrents will work

* Whenever possible, start cats young.

* You may want to trim your cat’s claws.

Training simple tricks can be incorporated into daily playtime. Always keep some cat treats in a pocket during training time. To teach your cat to “shake hands,” begin by saying “shake,” then touching your hand to the underside of one of her front paws. Praise her for letting you touch there, and give her a treat. Repeat this over and over again. Eventually, you can lay your hand flat on the floor just in front of her paw. Say “shake” and wait. If she even moves her paw towards you praise her and give her a treat. Little by little, she’ll catch on that every time she touches your hand with her paw she can get you to give her a treat. Once she willingly touches your hand, you can start to raise your hand off of the floor a little bit at a time. Keep training fun. Stop the session before she loses interest, and always end on a positive note with a reward.

You can use the same one-small-step-at-a-time technique to teach your cat to walk on a leash. This allows you to take your cat outside for fresh air and sensory stimulation without having to worry about her running off. Purchase a cat harness from a pet supply store. Before you even try putting it on your cat, simply leave it lying by her bed for a day or two. When she is used to seeing and smelling it, loosely put it on her just before her normal mealtime. Hand-feed her food to distract her from the harness and to make wearing it a pleasurable experience. Remove it when the food is gone. After a few days, you can let her wear the harness around the house. Let the leash drag behind, but watch to make sure it doesn’t become tangled around furniture. When she seems comfortable with the harness and leash, pick up your end and walk with her, letting her lead the way. Eventually she will walk willingly beside you, and you can both venture outdoors.

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It hit many cat and dog owners like a case of the flu. The most widely available and trusted cat and dog food brands, that we have been feeding our best friends, have allegedly been tainted with contaminated wheat gluten imported from China.

The recent pet food recall leaves scared and confused cat and dog parents looking for safe and healthy pet food options. With so much uncertainty and mistrust of the pet food industry, many are scrambling for information about food that is safe for their pet.

Start now and think about the following when searching for a quality food:

Immediately, replace any of your pet foods that contain wheat gluten. Investigators are currently focusing their suspicions on melamine — a chemical found in plastics and pesticides — that was allegedly found in the wheat gluten of the contaminated foods. Still, no one seems to know how, where or when the melamine got into the food. Until these important questions are answered, and our concerns are alleviated, its best to be safe and not purchase a food or treat that contains wheat gluten. Yes, some treats are made with wheat gluten, too.

Read the ingredients and learn to understand the fine print on your dog or cat food label. We suggest that you visit www.BestFurryFriend.com and learn about what’s in pet food and how to read a pet food label. You might be surprised, shocked and disgusted to learn that your precious furry friends are eating chemical preservatives, artificial flavors, nitrates, dyes, sugars, salts, corn, wheat, and by-products. Don’t be fooled by fancy bags which are designed to market inferior pet foods. The most important item for the health of your pet is the ingredient list and not the pictures displayed on the fancy packaging.

Consider switching to an alternative and more natural brand of food. Life’s Abundance Dog Food and Cat Food is one such brand. Information about Life’s Abundance Dog Food can be found at www.Dog-Food-Zone.com.

These are confusing and scary times for pet parents. It is however, a good opportunity for you as a consumer to become educated about pet foods and learn what you are feeding your pet. After all, your dog or cat depends on you to make the right and safe food choice for them.

Bev Storer writes about human and pet nutrition. For more information about healthy and safe pet foods, please visit Cat-Food-Zone.com Cat-Food-Zone.com or BestFurryFriend.com BestFurryFriend.com.

An Akita will always make a memorable lasting impression. The combination of size and elegance makes this dog truly distinctive.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

The Akita is a large powerful dog: the male is 26-28 inches tall and weighs between 100-125 pounds. The female is a bit smaller. She is 24-26 inches tall and weighs about 70 to 100 pounds.

*Color: No particular color. Akitas can even be pure white.

*Coat: Short moderate in length, but very dense and consists of two layers. The undercoat is very soft and is the primary insulator, while the outer coat is slightly longer and coarser.

*Head: The Akita has a very large head with small erect ears. She has very distinct small triangular shaped eyes with black rims.

*Tail: Large full and curled.

PERSONALITY Very intelligent and dignified.

Extremely protective and loyal - An Akita will live her life as if her only purpose is to protect and spend time with you. She will thrive on human contact.

Since an Akita is so loyal, she usually will not show affection toward someone that is not a member of her family.

Typically Akitas are not aggressive towards people, but do have a well developed guarding instinct.

Akitas are very quiet and will not bark unless there is a reason.

Will show aggressive tendencies toward other dogs of the same sex. Can live peacefully with a dog of the opposite sex. However, some Akitas want to be the only dog.

Will usually get along with cats.

AKITA AS A FAMILY PET

An Akita would make a wonderful addition to most families as she is usually very gentle and patient with children - she will be a great friend, and protector.

Akitas are extremely clean and easily housebroken.

A very calm demeanor and do not require a lot of exercise. However to maintain her proper weight, an Akita needs regular exercise.

An Akita is not suitable for apartment living.

TRAINING

Very easy to train - No professional dog training will be needed.

Akitas are extremely intelligent and tend to get bored easily; so short training periods are suggested.

NUTRITION

An Akita has a very large appetite.

She is very food possessive so she should not be feed with other animals.

Akitas should be feed a good quality meat and bone based food and do not thrive as well on a soybean based dog food.

COMMON HEALTH PROBLEMS Many Akitas have a problem with Hypothroid disease - this can be treated very easily with hormone replacement therapy.

Other diseased found in Akita s include: impaired night vision, Progressive Retinal Atrophy (blindness), hip problems, and kidney problems in older dogs.

MISCELLANEOUS AKITA INFORMATION

With proper care and nutrition an Akita should live 10-14 years.

Most Akitas like to carry things in their mouths - including your wrist! It is not unusual for an Akita to take you by the wrist to lead you to her food bowl or a favorite place. (She does this out of love rather than aggression.)

An Akita can easily be trained to carry in the newspaper or mail.

HISTORY An Akita is Japanese bred with a very long history (one of the most primitive breeds).

This breed is considered a national treasure in Japan. It is believed that a home with an Akita is a symbol of prosperity and good fortune.

Helen Keller brought the first Akita to the United States in 1937.

Jasmine Macdonald is a dog lover who publishes the Frisky Dog blog. You can visit Jasmine at friskydog.blogspot.com friskydog.blogspot.com