Are U a Responsible Pet Owner?

By Terry Orr

February in National Responsible Pet Owners month and this is our 2013 follow-up to last years article. We love our pets and consider them part of our family - and often refer to them as our four-legged children.

They love us unconditionally and as pet owners, we must do our part in taking care of them.  While doing updated research for this article, came upon an different web site - Bikers Against Animal Cruelty (BAAC) follow the link below and please spend a few moments reading their "Are you a Responsible Pet Owner?"article.

At times, we humans get wrapped up in things and forget that our Pets need some quality "TLC" - often finding unique ways to get our attention.

I believe our Pets can teach us many things about life and love - if only we will take time and learn.

 
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References and Links:
http://www.bikersagainstanimalcruelty.org/RPOM.html 
 

 

Parental Controls

If it were but that simple.
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By Terry Orr

We have an awesome and challenging responsibility in providing our children with the right tools, guidance, love, respect, understanding and leadership to grow up to be the best they can be and to learn the important skills to help them raise their own children later in life.  The bad news – our challenges grow nearly every day and it is difficult to fully understand them and take the corrective measures needed. The good news – there are significant resources available to help us. We must be proactive.

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Parental controls are features which may be included in digital television services, computer and video games, mobile phones and software. Parental controls fall into roughly four categories, content filters, which limit access to age appropriate content, usage controls, which constrain the usage of these devices such as placing time-limits on usage or forbidding certain types of usage, computer usage management tools, which allow parents to enforce learning time into child computing time, and monitoring, which can track location and activity when using the devices. (Wikipedia)

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The Parent Coach Plan offers the following regarding Parent Responsibilities.

Nobody ever said that children were easy to teach your child morals and they don't come with guidelines or instructions, and they certainly don't come with a "pause" button.  What they do come with is a crucial set of physical and emotional needs that must be met. Failure of the parents to meet these specific needs can have wide-ranging and long-lasting negative effects.

The following outline provides eight essential responsibilities that parents must adhere to in order to foster their child's physical and/or emotional well-being:

1. Provide an environment that is SAFE;
2. Provide your child with BASIC NEEDS;
3. Provide your child with SELF-ESTEEM NEEDS;
4. Teach your child MORALS and VALUES;
5. Develop MUTUAL RESPECT with your child;
6. Provide DISCIPLINE which is effective and appropriate
7. Involve yourself in your child's EDUCATION; and
8. Get to KNOW YOUR CHILD.

For additional information on parent responsibilities, please visit http://www.parentcoachplan.com/article3.php.

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Parental Controls for Streaming Video (just another opportunity for us parent to over come)

Streaming video online is a wonderful and convenient way to watch all your favorite shows and movies – and it’s far less expensive than cable. Unfortunately, if you’re a parent, these services don’t often provide safeguard measures to block certain content from your children.

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Bottom line - we as parents, grandparents, caregivers and or adults must set the example for our young people.

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Scoop the Poop Day

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By Diane Forrest

For as long as I can remember I have had a dog.  They make great pets, and great company.  Snoopy, my shih tzu was a gift to my husband after his last pup died.  My husband loved his doggies and spoiled them endlessly.  I have never been much of a dog person, ours always stayed outside in the back yard, and I had been bitten, so I guess that made me twice shy.  This gave my husband much concern.  He always told me that if he died, he wanted Snoopy put to sleep and buried with him.  After my husband passed away, it was just me and Snoopy left.  He is great company, looks after me, comforts me when I’m sad, and alerts me if there is someone here.

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Owning a pet is a big responsibility.  Not only are you responsible for any damage they do, you also have to pick up after them. In some areas they have dog parks.  Places you can take your dogs to run and play, but, not poop.  You must be prepared to remove any waste they may leave.  This week is Scoop the Poop week, to bring awareness to pet owners to clean up after their pups.

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"Dog droppings are one of the leading sources of E. coli (fecal coliforms) bacterial pollution: One gram of dog feces contains over 20,000,000 E. coli cells. While an individual animal's deposit of feces will not measurably affect the environment, the cumulative effect of thousands of dogs and cats in a metropolitan area can create serious problems due to contamination of soil and water supplies. The runoff from neglected pet waste contaminates water, creating health hazards for people, fish, ducks, etc." according to gone-ta-pot.com.

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Wikihow offers several methods in which to Scoop the Poop.  They include:

• Plastic bag method.  This involves placing a bag over your hand like a glove.  Picking up the poop, then turning the bag inside out and tying it off.  Then place in a trash receptacle.
• Pooper Scooper.  This is for large messes like your yard.  If you don’t actually want to handle the poop, you can scoop it with one of these devices and dispose of it in the plastic bag manner.
• Delegate.  You may want to hire a service that scoops poop for you, hire a pet sitter service, or make your kids do it.
• Deal with Pet Rebels.   You may run across someone who refuses to scoop their pet's poop.  In that case, offer them one of your plastic bags, explain the importance of keeping the environment clean, and if all else fails, and report them to the proper authority.  Those who refuse to obey the laws, lose the privileges for everyone.

Be Responsible....Scoop the Poop!

Pets

National Pet Day/Week/Month

By Akindman

National Pet Month’s aims are to:

• promote responsible pet ownership
• make people aware of the benefits of pets for people and people for pets
• increase public awareness of services available from professionals who work with animals
• raise awareness of the role, value and contribution to society of working companion animals

Happiness is……time with your pet

Top Ten Tips for Responsible Pet Ownership:

1. Think carefully before getting a pet and learn about its special requirements.
2. Ensure your pet is sociable and well trained.
3. Provide a nutritious and well balanced diet.
4. Provide suitable housing and bedding.
5. Clean up after your pet and worm it regularly.
6. Protect against disease. Your vet can provide you with advice.
7. Prevent unwanted litters and neuter your pet when appropriate.
8. Groom your pet regularly.
9. Control your pet and ensure it is properly identified.
10. Take out pet insurance for dogs, cats, rabbits and horses to cover against unexpected veterinary fees and third party liability.