A Bristol University expert has debunked the age-old belief that aggressive dogs have the desire to assert their 'dominance' over people and other dogs. Dr Rachel Casey, a senior lecturer in Companion Animal Behaviour and Welfare, spent six months studying dogs freely interacting at a Dogs Trust re-homing centre, and re-analysing data from studies of feral dogs. Dogs no matter what the dog name is but a lot of the dog breed tend to act in a similar fashion.

The researcher observed that individual relationships between dogs are learnt through experience rather than motivated by a desire to assert 'dominance'. In the study paper, Casey's team say that dogs are not motivated by maintaining their place in the pecking order of their pack, as many well-known dog trainers preach. The academics also say that training approaches aimed at 'dominance reduction' vary from being worthless in treatment to being actually dangerous and likely to make behaviors worse.

According to them, instructing owners to eat before their dog or go through doors first will not influence the dog's overall perception of the relationship, but merely teach them what to expect in these specific situations. They warn that techniques like pinning the dog to the floor, grabbing jowls, or blasting hooters at dogs will make dogs anxious, often about their owner, and potentially lead to an escalation of aggression. Dr. Casey said: "The blanket assumption that every dog is motivated by some innate desire to control people and other dogs is frankly ridiculous. It hugely underestimates the complex communicative and learning abilities of dogs.

It also leads to the use of coercive training techniques, which compromise welfare, and actually cause problem behaviours". The researcher added: "In our referral clinic we very often see dogs which have learnt to show aggression to avoid anticipated punishment. Owners are often horrified when we explain that their dog is terrified of them, and is showing aggression because of the techniques they have used " but it's not their fault when they have been advised to do so, or watched unqualified 'behaviourists' recommending such techniques on TV."

Veterinary Director Chris Laurence MBE, said: "We can tell when a dog comes in to us which has been subjected to the 'dominance reduction technique' so beloved of TV dog trainers. They can be very fearful, which can lead to aggression towards people."

Laurence added: "Sadly, many techniques used to teach a dog that his owner is leader of the pack is counter-productive; you won't get a better behaved dog, but you will either end up with a dog so fearful it has suppressed all its natural behaviours and will just do nothing, or one so aggressive it's dangerous to be around."

The study has been published in the Journal of Veterinary Behaviour: Clinical Applications and Research.

Raring a pet may just will perhaps be the last word for many after one hears this. According to some American researchers, pet owners are at an increases risk of getting infected with the potentially fatal M.R.S.A. infection through dogs and cats. This comes after the head researcher from the University of South Florida, Dr. Richard Oehler, admits that M.R.S.A. and skin infections in dogs and cats can be spread through bites.

He believes that children between the age group of five and nine are at risk of dog bites the most, while for the elders, cat bites seem to have been a problem. So, what is the threat for? Well, according to him, these bites cause deeper puncture wounds than dogs, and carry a higher risk of infection and soft-tissue abscesses. If ones goes by the figures, it's believed that almost 20 per cent of the bites lead to severe infections, caused by bacteria in the animal's mouth, plus other infectious agents from the person's skin.

When asked to opine on the infection, the BBC quoted Oehler, as saying, "As community-acquired strains of M.R.S.A. increase in prevalence, a growing body of clinical evidence has documented MRSA colonisation in domestic animals, often implying direct infection from their human owners". He also speaks about the infection in other animals. He adds: "M.R.S.A. colonisation has been documented in companion animals such as horses, dogs, and cats and these animals have been viewed as potential reservoirs of infection. M.R.S.A.-related skin infections of pets,” he says, is “seem to occur in various manifestations and can be easily spread to owners."

As far as remedies are concerned, any MRSA infection acquired from pets is treated with medication, as normal MRSA infections. "Pet owners are often unaware of the potential for transmission of life-threatening pathogens from their canine and feline companions," said the researchers. He concludes: “Precaution is the best remedy. Clinicians must continue to promote loving pet ownership, take an adequate pet history, and be aware that associated diseases are preventable via recognition, education and simple precautions."

Pet owners in New York have a specific day to celebrate as their own. It is none other than the annual ‘Take Your Dog to Work Day' when they will be allowed to take their dogs to work with them. The day falls on June 26th on every year.

The day was created to celebrate the companionship of the dogs. The day also encourages the adoption of the dogs. On this day, non-owners can witness the bond between dog and man.

During the recession era, it might be difficult to find a best friend too. Pet adoption is the most eco-friendly and budget-conscious option for finding your next four-legged best friend at this time. It's very therapeutic to come over and pet the animals in an office ambience.

The day is not an official holiday, but New Yorkers who have done it in past years say the day's great fun. The day is very much an office stress reliever.

While cats are often seen as difficult pets when it comes to making them do something, they certainly know the trick to get humans at their service, according to a study.

The crafty cats send something of a mixed signal - an urgent cry or meowing sound embedded within an otherwise pleasant purr - in order to motivate people to fill their food dishes. And such a call turns out to be annoyingly difficult to ignore for humans, who oblige these clever pets with food immediately. "The embedding of a cry within a call that we normally associate with contentment is quite a subtle means of eliciting a response," said Karen McComb, of the University of Sussex. He adds: "Solicitation purring is probably more acceptable to humans than overt meowing, which is likely to get cats ejected from the bedroom."

In her opinion, such form of cat communication sends a subliminal sort of message, which taps into an inherent sensitivity that humans and other mammals have towards nurturing their offspring.

McComb in her thrive to understand the cat communication more, she apparently found that the cats were perfectly willing to use their coercive cries in private, but when strangers came around they tended to clam right up. Thus, her team had to train cat owners to record their own cats' cries.

In a series of playback experiments with those calls, they found that humans judged the purrs recorded while cats were actively seeking food as more urgent and less pleasant than those made in other contexts, even if they had never had a cat themselves.

"We found that the crucial factor determining the urgency and pleasantness ratings that purrs received was an unusual high-frequency element 'reminiscent of a cry or meow' embedded within the naturally low-pitched purr. Human participants in our experiments judged purrs with high levels of this element to be particularly urgent and unpleasant," said McComb.

The study has been published in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication.

In nature, mammals grow up feeding on their mother's milk. The same principle of course applies to litters of puppies and kittens. This milk is fortified with efficient antibodies that will aid the puppy or kitten through the most vulnerable phases of their lives. In particular, the first milk produced right after the puppies or kittens are born is called 'colustrum' and it is particularly rich in antibodies and vital nutrients.

This special milk is usually present for the first few days, then it is gradually replaced by a richer, calorie-dense milk. Puppies and kittens that are orphans or are unable to use this important milk start their lives disadvantaged because while there are effective milk replacements products sold at pet stores, such milk replacements will never match the nutrients naturally produced by their mother's colostrum.

The closest milk resembling the milk produced by a puppy's or kitten's mother is raw goat milk. This milk is one of the most popular milk substitutes used in the case of orphaned puppies and kittens.

Why Cats Cannot Tolerate Milk

It is important to notice that in nature, milk appears in diets of cats and dogs only through the phases of kittenhood and puppyhood. Then, once weaned both puppies and kittens will gradually lose their ability to produce a special enzyme known as 'lactase'. Lactase is basically what helps puppies and kittens digest the milk's sugar known as 'lactose'. This easily explains why most adult dogs and cats have trouble digesting milk offered by their owners.

Indeed, most dogs and cats are lactose intolerant, which mean that they are unable to digest milk properly often resulting in unpleasant side effects such as bloating, flatulence, stomach upset and ultimately, diarrhea. This intolerance is permanent, because in nature dogs and cats no longer need milk in their diets as they grow older. This applies to most types of milk including but not limited to pasteurized, homogenized and condensed milk.

Dairy Products That are Better Digested by Cats

However, there are some forms of dairy products that may be more readily digested by both dogs and cats. Other than raw goat milk, other sources of dairy products containing beneficial bacteria are plain yogurt, kefir and fermented milk products. In particular, dairy products with probiotics may be very helpful in pets undergoing antibiotic treatment as these products help replenish the good bacteria found in the pet's gut.

While most cats and dogs have difficulty digesting milk, some may tolerate it very well if given in small amounts. If this is the case, these pets may benefit from the healthy dosages of calcium, proteins and minerals that milk provides.

Overweight dogs and cats are becoming increasingly common and often pet owners truly do not realize that their pet is overweight or even obese. An opposite but equally serious situation is the underweight dog or cat.

One of the biggest obstacles to determining the proper body weight of dogs and cats is a lack of understanding of how the dog or cat should look when at the proper body weight. In truth, body weight by itself cannot be used to determine whether a dog or cat is overweight or underweight. The animal's body condition is far more important in diagnosing an overweight or underweight pet. Every dog or cat should have a body condition evaluation and receive a body condition score. This body condition score is used to indicate whether the body condition of the pet is ideal, and consequently whether the pet is overweight or underweight.

The Ideal Body Condition and Body Weight for Dogs and Cats

Body condition may be scored on a scale of one to five with a body condition score of three being ideal, or on a scale of one to nine with a body condition score of five being ideal. The ideal body condition score will also reveal the ideal body weight of the pet.

The dog or cat with an ideal body condition score will have ribs which can be felt easily without a large amount of fat between skin and ribs. There will be a waist evident behind the rib cage when the pet is viewed from above. In dogs, there will be a tuck in the abdomen which raises upward toward the legs. In cats, there will be a minimal fat pad over the abdomen.

The Overweight Dog or Cat

The overweight pet may range from being slightly overweight to being grossly obese. Body condition scores increase with severity, with either five or nine being grossly obese, depending on the scale being used. Body condition scores above the ideal indicate a need for weight loss.

If the dog or cat is overweight, the ribs become more difficult to feel and the waist begins to disappear. The abdominal tuck will become more difficult to visualize in dogs. In cats, the abdominal fat pad begins to increase in size. As the obesity becomes more severe, the abdominal tuck and the waist disappear completely. In addition, particularly in dogs, fat deposits will begin to be visible over the back and at the base of the tail as the weight increases. In cats, the abdomen begins to become rounded and fat deposits may be seen over the back, the legs and the face.

The Underweight Dog or Cat

On the opposite end of the spectrum is the pet which is underweight. For these pets, the body condition scores decreases, with one being an emaciated state.

Underweight or emaciated pets will have easily palpable ribs with very little, if any, fat padding. The waist and abdominal tuck will be extremely visible and, in cats, the abdominal fat pad will be minimal. As the emaciation becomes more severe, the back bones and hip bones will become more prominent.

Obesity is now recognized by veterinarians as a disease with fat being identified as a secretory organ. Obesity can contribute to a number of different health issues, with the health of overweight or obese dogs and cats being at risk as a result of the abnormal weight. Conversely, dogs and cats which are underweight or emaciated are often in this condition because of some type of health issue affecting the pet's appetite or metabolism.

Special Needs Pet Care is a convenient and practical way for you to undertake the often overwhelming responsibility for caring for your ill or injured pet by providing accurate and effective methods for administering medication in your home.

Many pets experience fear and trauma when taken from their home to a veterinary hospital on a frequent or daily basis, and our company provides busy owners an in-home alternative and much needed assistance in treating their pets on a temporary or permanent basis. Studies have shown that in-home care plays a vital role in decreasing the amount of recovery time needed as well as improving the overall quality of life for your beloved pet.

We work in conjunction with your primary care veterinarian and will accommodate you and your pet’s needs by offering multiple daily visits or weekly visits as required. This approach ensures that your pet receives the prescribed medication or treatment at the appropriate time and in the least stressful manner possible.