Most of you know how special a relationship can be between humans when everything clicks and how miserable that same relationship can be when things go wrong.
Well, having a really special relationship with a pet is also a wonderous thing, and in truth, a lot more assured. If you'll spend the time with your pet to love, play, and train...you'll have a high probability of enjoying such a special relationship.
The joy and personal satisfaction of having a well adjusted, well trained pet-friend is special indeed...way better than possessions...and well worth the necessary effort.
Read through the articles...especially the ones on basic concepts...and you will be well on your way.
Many of the articles on this page were copied from other sites... chosen because they are well written, useful, and because they agree with my ideas on the subject.
There are also articles on things I don't really know enough about to pass professional judgement, such as Clicker Training.
Credit, of course, is given to the authors in all of these articles and a link offered to their web site. Enjoy. Roger Ross, DVM
As many of you know from watching movies such as "The Horse Whisperer" and the "Dog Whisperer", there is a revolution of ideas and training methods going on now. This revolution is not just for horses and dogs. Gentle, positive motivating methods of behavior modification (training) are becoming mainstream for other animals too. It's about time.
The first few articles come from a great web site put out in part by the Veterinary School at the University of Minnesota. I wanted to be sure to give the author Dr. Laurie Green, credit for these articles not only because it's the right thing to do, but because they're so well written.
There are a lot of different and whacky ideas about pet behavior and animal training out there...some of them very good and insightful, some of them very suspect...but the training philosophies espoused in the following articles are basic and sound. Thank you, Dr Green.
Here are the links to these great articles:
Written by Dr. Laurie Green
Written by Dr. Laurie Green
I Think the author of these next two articles is Adam Katz
Rumor: It is said that in China, 10,000 bears are being kept in cramped cages, so small that they cannot stand, and that permanent holes have been made in their bodies for catheters inserted to allow bile to removed on a regular, painful basis.
The Truth: This was true but the Chinese government has announced that it will close down the bear farms and try to reintroduce the bears to the wild. According to a Reuters report dated July 25, 2000, Chinese officials signed an agreement with the Hong Kong based Animals Asia foundation to end the mistreatment of the bears, some of which had lived in the conditions of the farms for decades.
The World Society for Protection of Animals had investigated the allegations with first-hand visits to some of the bear farms and documented what some experts called the most appalling treatment of animal life they've ever seen. The bears were kept in small enclosures that looked more like coffins with bars than cages. They could not stand, change position, or move around. They had holes or catheters in their bodies where the bile could be harvested, which was said to be a painful procedure.
For many years, there has been concern over the hundreds of thousands of bears that have been killed by poachers who want just one thing: the bear's gall bladder. Gall bile is highly valued in Chinese traditional medicine. An industry had emerged in China, however, to provide bear bile for more than the Chinese medical purposes. It was being extracted in massive quantities for use in products ranging from wines to shampoos. According to the WSPA, the Chinese medicinal use of bear bile is 500kg per year, but more than 7,000 kg of bear bile is being extracted annually, most of it for consumer products.
This page brought to you by The Animal Rescue Fund of South Carolina.
The number one reason our shelters are so full of unwanted pets is straight forward: many pets are abandoned, euthanized at shelters, or are relegated to a chain in the yard because they are a nuisance to live with instead of the fun companion their owners envisioned when they got the pet.
Hopefully the tips, information, and insights brought to you on this site will help you realize what's involved in having a terriffic pet.
This, in turn, will hopefully greatly increase your joy in life, the pet's joy in life, and prevent yet another pet's life ending up in lonely misery.
On Other Pages:
"The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man."
- Charles Darwin
"Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace." - Albert Schweitzer
South Carolina is a small state.
Yet I wonder if any state could stack up historic “firsts” comparable to the list of 45 our district agent, A.H. Ward of Aiken, has compiled for South Carolina.
Here are a few of them:
From an article clipping in “The Columbia Record” , from the 1950’s or ‘60’s about being “proud, though not haughty” about South Carolina:
First museum in America
First Chamber of Commerce
First man to pilot a steamship across the Atlantic
First long railroad
First train to carry mail
Oldest railway
junction in the world
First submarine ever built
First musical society
First state hospital for the mentally ill
First orphan’s home
First monument to women
First agricultural society
Largest earthen dam
First Bible society
First YMCA in America
First girls’ 4H Club
First home demonstration club
First public library
First special library building
First to observe Memorial Day
First normal training school
First inoculation given for small pox
First native American to receive a degree as doctor of medicine
First monument erected to honor slaves
First high school with military training
First botanical gardens in America
First in textiles
It’s rivers carry more water into the Atlantic than any other state
First hydro-electric plant
Highest percentage of native born Americans
History’s mightiest industrial enterprise…the Savannah River Project
The first county fair
And so on.
