2008年9月16日星期二

Don't Let Barking Drive You Mad

You love your dog – but he barks - a lot! It can be really annoying to you and your neighbors if it becomes incessant barking. So what can you do to control or reduce your dog's barking and make him the most loved dog on the block?

First off there are the traditional methods. Dog training and dog obedience schools help train the dog and also teach you how to handle your pet too, so that you can grow a lasting bond with your dog. Of course if you take your dog out and give him lots of exercise he’ll be a lot less inclined to bark. A tired dog has less energy to bark and a tired sleeping dog can’t bark at all!

Sometimes barking is good, it’s your dog’s main way of communicating with you. He may have heard or smelled something and wants to let you know. Just acknowledging him may well stop the barking, he knows you've heard and understood. If your dog continues to batk, try a NO, or Quiet command. When he stops barking reward him so that following your commands becomes pleasurable to him.

Giving your dog something to chew on is also a good deterrent to barking. How many dogs have you heard barking with their mouth’s full? All your dog's attention is now on the new squeaky toy you gave him!!

If the traditional methods don’t seem to be working it may be time to try a barking control collar. Many of these work by using sound so that the desired behavior, (in this case stopping barking), can be associated with the sound. Some of the more sophisticated, and of course expensive, models also use electric shocks to deter the dog from barking.

There are two types of bark detection used in Bark control collars. The sound collar uses the noise of yourdogs bark to activate and the vibration collar uses the vibrations from your dog's throat. Neither type is perfect. The sound type can be set off with sharp loud external sounds and the vibration type from violent motion such as your dog drying himself. There are collars that combine the two methods and these help reduce the false readings.

Whichever method you use, barking can be brought under control in a reasonably short space of time, so persevere and enjoy your dog for years to come.

2008年9月4日星期四

Pigs Swallows

Pigs were domesticated thousands of years ago. They are farmed for their meat and hides. There are still many wild pigs, like the wild boar, the warthog, and the bushpig. Pigs are found on every continent on Earth except Antarctica.

Names: Pigs are also called hogs or swine. The adult female is called a sow. The adult male is called a boar. A baby is called a piglet.

Anatomy: Pigs vary in color from brown, black, white, to pinkish. Some wild pigs have large tusks, overgrown teeth used for fighting and digging for food.

Diet: Pigs are omnivores . They eat a variety of plants and small animals.

Classification: Class Mammalia, Order Artiodactyla, Family Suidae.

A pig has a snout for a nose, small eyes, and a small tail, which may be curly, kinked, or straight. It has a thick body, short legs, and coarse hair. There are four toes on each foot, with the two large middle toes used for walking.

pigs are omnivores, which means that they consume both plants and animals. Pigs will scavenge and have been known to eat any kind of food, including dead insects, worms, tree bark, rotting carcasses, garbage, and even other pigs. In the wild, they are foraging animals, primarily eating leaves, grasses, roots, fruits and flowers. Occasionally while in captivity, pigs may eat their own young if they become severely stressed. A typical pigs has a large head with a long snout which is strengthened by a special bone called the prenasal bone and by a disk of cartilage in the tip.The snout is used to dig into the soil to find food and is a very sensitive sense organ.

Pigs have a full set of 44 teeth. The canine teeth, called tusks, grow continually and are sharpened by the lowers and uppers rubbing against each other.

Pigs that are allowed to forage may be watched by swineherds. Because of their foraging abilities and excellent sense of smell, they are used to find truffles in many European countries. Domesticated pigs are commonly raised as livestock by farmers for meat , as well as for leather. Their bristly hairs are also used for brushes. Some breeds of pigs, such as the Asian pot-bellied pigs, are kept as pets.

Breeding occurs throughout the year in the tropics, but births peak around rainy seasons. A female pigs can become pregnant at around 8-18 months of age. She will then go into estrus every 21 days if not bred. Male pigs become sexually active at 8-10 months of age. A litter of piglets typically contains between 6 and 12 piglets. After the young are weaned, two or more families may come together until the next mating season.

Pigs do not have functional sweat glands,so pigs cool themselves using water or mud during hot weather. They also use mud as a form of sunscreen to protect their skin from sunburn. Mud also provides protection against flies and parasites.

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