Monsoon Care for Dogs.

While the rains during monsoon provide us and our pets with much needed break from the sweltering heat, it’s an absolute downer for every dog to stay indoors during the rainy season.

As a responsible dog owner, you should prepare your dog well before you go out together, and even when you stay inside your home. Activities should continue even if it is raining. 

Dogs are creatures of habit. You shouldn’t let the rain alter their routine or they will stress out and affect their physical and psychological health. The rain is not good if you and your dog are not prepared. It’s not only cold, but it’s also very wet out there. Making sure that your dog is healthy even when he does his daily walk in the rain, it’s essential for your furry friend’s well-being.

It is never an excuse for a dog to stay cooped up inside when it is pouring out.

Rain, shine or snow, they still need mental and physical stimulation. You can engage them in indoor games.

All you need to do is be aware of the safety and protective measures when it is time to walk in the rain. You are not the only one who needs to stay dry. Even if dogs are covered with fur, they still need to be shielded from the elements.

Take care of your dog during the rainy season and you will have a loyal friend for years to come — rain or shine.


Here are some simple tips to protect your dog this monsoon.

                                           

Remember, pets are prone to water-borne disease or skin infections during monsoon.


Vaccination and de-worming must be done by a vet before monsoon begins

The high humidity levels in monsoon makes the wet fur smell due to breeding of fleas and worms, and it can also lead to fungal infections. In addition, the cold weather can cause coughing, sneezing, and cold in pets. Monsoon season also brings mosquitoes which can transmit life threatening diseases like canine malaria, dog heart-worm, West Nile virus and Eastern equine encephalitis.

Common fungal infection causes itchy skin Rashes and burns and is rampant in the rains.

When cats come in contact with rain, they are prone to upper respiratory infections. Take your pets to the vet regularly.

It is necessary to de-worm your pets periodically.

Avoid providing cold food or water to your pets. Meat, chicken and oily food should be avoided as a wrong diet can upset your pet’s digestive system.

You should not store food and water in open air because it will get contaminated. This can lead to digestive disorders and gastroenteritis. The ideal diet for your pet in monsoon is clean drinking water and cooked food.

Avoid long walks with your pets and do not allow them to play in water-logged areas as pests and mosquitoes breed here.

Don’t allow pet to keep smelling anything lying on the road, during rainy season. There are increased chances of infection and germs that cause considerable harm to your pet.

The pooch must wear a muzzle while going out.

After every outing, clean your dog’s paws and keep them dry.

To make a paw solution at home, combine vinegar and warm water, some iodine, and anti-fungal shampoo. This will get rid of the fungi on your dog.

Ringworms can be contracted by humans, so you make sure this condition is treated by you.

Place booties or bandages on your dog’s infected paws.

Give your pet baths with an antiseptic shampoo.

Do not bathe your pet frequently, as it makes your pet prone to fever and cold. You should never give bath to your pet more than once a month in monsoon.

Dry-bathing your pet is ideal during monsoon.

Without proper consultation from your vet, you should never use new product or medication.

Any foul smell, itchiness or hair fall must be brought to the notice of a veterinary doctor.

Regular grooming, including nail clipping, ear cleaning and dental check-ups must be done.

Increase the fiber content in your pet’s food.

Limit the food intake for your pets as they are usually not taken outdoors for a walk to burn the calories in the rains.

Provide comfortable, dry bedding to your pet, and keep them away from any rain splashes to avoid dampness.

You can also get some fashionable raincoats, socks, shoes for your pet from a local pet store.

  

These pet tips for monsoon season are very important for any healthy domestic animal.

The tips aren’t very hard to practice.

It is very little that you are giving to your faithful, undemanding pal.

                                            

Dogs and Music

I can’t remember the last time I haven’t listened to music. I literally cannot go one day without listening to some kind of music.

And admit it, music is such a big part of our lives and I thought filling this blog with a few music tracks of our ‘four-legged friends’ will certainly fill our acoustic with a...

 “Hakuna Matata” mood.

   

 

We enjoy listening to music at home, at work, in the car, while shopping, and almost any place we go. Music can make us calm, content, and happy despite our demanding lifestyles.  But did you have any idea that your pooch can also be calmed by music?

Studies have shown that by listening to music, animals tend to become calmer and at ease even in new surroundings.  So it’s an absolute yes, dogs do like music.

We have a very human tendency to project into our pets and assume that they will like what we like.

People assume that if they like Classical, their dogs will like classical. If they like rock music, they say their dog prefers rock.

Nowadays, lots of dog owners are convinced that their pooches really enjoy listening to music and they have made use of gentle, relaxing sounds to help their dogs remain calm when they are at home alone.  I wouldn’t be surprised it won’t be long before our four-legged furry companions will have their own unique music shops, and their favorite music stored in their own doggie iPods!

Several animal shelters have already begun playing soothing music to help calm down their four-legged residents.

This technique is particularly effective during celebration to aid in coping with deafening cracker bangs and distress they often experience in their stress.

Fortunately, the effects of music on dog’s well-being have spread even further to vet clinics as well.  Hospitalized pooches tend to have lower heart rate when harp music is played to them.

This suggests that music does not only help animals relax,

but also helps them to recover faster from their health problems.  It appears that both humans and pets can recover more rapidly when they feel calm and peaceful.

Research also shows that animals actually do share our enjoyment of music. They enjoy tunes especially designed using the pitches, tones and tempos that are familiar to their particular species.

Study found that classical music or soft instrumentals was more soothing than ‘psycho-acoustic’ music or specially made Pet CD’s that are designed to calm animals.

It’s worthy to note that dogs are actually not very keen on certain percussion instruments which are somewhat reminiscent of gunshot sound.  Pooches also seem to dislike the word ‘No’ added into songs.

                    

Do dogs sing with us?

Many experts think that dog’s don’t actually engage in their vocalizations to produce music, in the same way that we might sing or play a piano as part of an aesthetic experience. However, there are reports of dogs that had definite tastes in music and some sense of what constitutes good music.

Many people think of a dog's howl as a canine attempt to make music, because dogs sometimes howl when music is played or sung. Compared to wild canines, domestic dogs bark a lot more and howl only occasionally. Howling is a form of communication that can indicate loneliness in an isolated dog, but typically serves other social functions.

Wolves howl to assemble the pack and also to reinforce the identity of the group. Upon hearing one animal howling, other pack members gather together and join in.

The kind of human music that most often induces dogs to howl is produced on wind instruments, particularly reed instruments such as clarinets or saxophones. Sometimes dogs can be induced to howl by a long note on the violin or even by a human holding a long note while singing. Perhaps these sound like proper howls to the dog and he feels the need to answer and join the chorus singing.

Animals prefer music with pitches and tempos associated with something familiar:

People cannot be faulted for having the tendency to think that the music our pets like will necessarily be the same as our pets.  We tend to project these feelings and desires into our animals.

Animals prefer music with pitches and tempos associated with something familiar. In other words, this means animals are not attuned to tones.  When a piece of music is transposed a key higher or lower, they cannot establish a relationship between the notes.

Not all pets will like the music we do. At a research, tamarind monkeys were played music which sounded harsh, shrill and unpleasant.  However, it wasn’t so for the little monkeys, who actually associate with such sounds.  Whereas, the pitches of certain instruments, such as the harp, have a calming effect on animals.

Suitable times to introduce music therapy to our pets:

Music can be used to attend to a range of behavioral issues in our pets. It is an antidote for the common behavioral issues that owners sometimes face.

Though a dog doesn’t tap his foot as a person might, their internal organs do speed up or slowdown in accordance with external rhythms, a process called entertainment, and respond to the vibrations around them

Separation Anxiety:

Putting soothing music on before you leave the house can help to resolve anxiety issues in our pets.

Leave for a short time at first and gradually increase the length of time. This will give the animal an opportunity to get used to you leaving.

Fear of Thunderstorms:

The fear generated by changes in weather patterns can be tough to treat because animals instinctively know when changes will occur, usually long before they do.

Wild animals in particular need to have an excellent senses of smell, sight, hearing and even the ability to sense minute vibrations, because those senses help them survive.

If you might recollect, birds were seen heading for higher ground long before the tsunami struck in 2004. In Singapore, some squirrels went to the ground from atop the trees before a recent overwhelming haze coming from Indonesia struck.

Our pets know when they are about to occur, and you might observe your pet cowering long before.  If you cannot tell, check the weather forecast and if it bodes rain, get your music players ready.

Fireworks:

If fireworks are scheduled near your area and your little dog or cat gets tense when he hears them, get your music playing.  It can help to make the animal less tense.

Visitor excitement:

Dogs tend to have a problem being too excited about the presence of visitors. As owners, we can play some relaxing and soothing music before they come over.  The key to a successful social visit with our dogs around is to keep them calm.  This is true especially if the visitor is afraid of dogs.

Stressful times:

Stressful times for people can also be stressful times for pets. A stressful owner can be snappy with his dog when under duress.

Calming music that soothes both owner and pet can be very helpful.

Boarding:

If you run a boarding facility or are sending a dog for boarding for a holiday period, it is a good idea to keep soothing music for pets playing. Many such facilities already have this in place.

And bonding:

In today’s noisy world, full of sirens, motorcycles, or leaf blowers, and in households with multiple TVs, food mixers, tumble dryers, vacuum cleaners, dogs might just be overloaded with sensory input.

If there’s one thing we can learn, it’s that man’s best friend enjoys music in many way of the same ways that we do, which can only help the bond become even stronger.