Adding a pet to the family is a lifetime commitment and should be undertaken with careful consideration. Snickers and I take the opportunity to educate the public about responsible pet ownership wherever we go and we learn from everyone we talk to as well. Our discussions and posts regarding the responsible acquisition and thoughtful care of companion animals are below.
So many people buy puppies from pet stores and back yard breeders because they don’t know any better, but then – even worse – people who DO know better, to some degree, get frustrated and impatient and end up buying a dog from a less than ideal source because they don’t want to wait. Here’s info on how to find a good breeder and why your puppy will be worth the wait. [click to continue reading...]
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Bite inhibition in companion dogs is much too important to leave to chance. I am fairly convinced though that many dog owners do exactly that. Of course, they are surprised when the dog eventually bites someone and then it is the dog who pays the price for their negligence. Too many people don’t respect how much damage a dog can do. [click to continue reading...]
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Today brings us to the third installment of the One Question Interview series. Today’s answer is from Aurora Piacentino, Director of Operations at Liberty Humane Society. Question: If you had the opportunity to communicate and teach one concept to all dog owners everywhere, what would it be and why? Answer from Aurora Piacentino Probably something you would expect from the Director of an animal shelter – the importance of spay/neuter in pet quality companion animals. I think that by this point, most people have probably heard that they should spay [click to continue reading...]
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In no particular order, here are a few dog-related societal improvements that I feel would have immense benefits for companion animals and the humans who love them. the psychological benefits of animal companions recognized so that the elderly wouldn’t have to give up their pets when entering assisted living or nursing care facilities dogs proven to be well-behaved and under control (Canine Good Citizens perhaps) given the ability to fly in the cabin with their humans, without fitting under a seat an end to large commercial pet breeding facilities animals [click to continue reading...]
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When I wrote the mission for Jenna & Snickers (.com), I defined my own personal idea of responsible dog ownership. I listed ten basic requirements that I feel our dogs deserve from us. I expanded on one of those in the post about Making the Most of Companion Identification Methods. Today, I want to expand on four more. to not live an isolated life proper socialization with people and other dogs appropriate levels of exercise and mental stimulation basic companion training (at least sit, stay and come) These four things [click to continue reading...]
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Although tags are the easiest solution for someone to see and read if they find your pet, collars can break or slip off and are not always enough. Microchips and tattoos are more permanent solutions than ID tags and give your dog a much better chance of being returned to you if they end up in a shelter. [click to continue reading...]
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Recently, someone on a Shiba board asked for recommendations for a good vet to neuter their dog. One of the responses was "Why do you want to do that to your dog? If you are a responsible owner and control your dog, there is no reason." Well… there are more than a few reasons why truly responsible owners have their companions spayed or neutered. Even if “you are a responsible owner and control your dog” there is no guarantee that your dog will never be loose without permission (how many [click to continue reading...]
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We’ve talked about responsible breeding of companion animals on this blog a couple times in the past (see here and here for two good examples). Today I managed to let myself get sucked into a "conversation" on the same topic with none other than a PETA employee. I started off thinking that my "we have different opinions on some things but similar on others" approach was pretty undeniable, but I ended up remembering that people with extreme opinions and closed minds don’t listen to the other side. She was basically [click to continue reading...]
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A few weeks ago at one of my NYC Shiba Inu Meetups, someone asked me “do you know who owns this dog?” He was pointing to a poor quality male Shiba standing near me. I replied “Sorry, I don’t. Is something wrong?” He said “No, I’m planning to breed my female and he has all his parts.” Apparently the only requirement for a mate to breed his female (which I didn’t see) with was a male with balls. <SIGH> I’m not saying the male Shiba in question wasn’t a great [click to continue reading...]
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Back in March, I wrote an entry titled "When You Realize What You Don’t Know." It took five days to find the words for that post. It was worth it though, because the response was AMAZING. It turned into a great conversation which lasted two or three days. And then, that was it. For the past couple months, I’ve had a draft titled "What We Learned" sitting in WordPress while I attempted to devise a brilliant summary of what was gained from that original conversation. I have come to the [click to continue reading...]
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Ever have those moments when you realize there is so much you don’t know about something? I get so frustrated sometimes when I believe I have an opinion about something and then I realize I don’t have all the facts and then when I try to LEARN all the facts it turns out there are WAY TOO MANY facts and opinions and I just can’t learn it all!!!!! AUGH! So, this is one of those times. You saw that coming though, right? The story of what I don’t know starts [click to continue reading...]
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