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Is trying to control your dogs barking getting a bit of a pain when all you want to do is get a decent sleep, leave your dog for 5 minutes, or have some respected guests round without having to get the earplugs out?

Training your dog to stop barking doesn’t have to be stressful, no one likes the loud barking sound coming from your dog, especially at 3 in the morning so lets go through some tips to control dog barking.

1. Need Attention huh?

Don’t give your dog the attention he wants from barking at you. if I was getting everything I wanted just for barking id probably do it too. You’ve got to teach your dog that barking won’t get him anywhere. If he wants something wait till he has stopped barking first.

2. Time to bark yet?

If your dog barks when you leave the house, 8 times out of 10 it will be because you’re making to much fuss over them when you leave. Dogs can’t fully grasp the idea of saying goodbye and may find it upsetting when you give them cuddles and play then go out the door and leave for 8 hours while you’re in work. For a dog that’s a good enough reason to bark and howl the house down for you to come back and play. Try leaving the house without any fuss, Leave the house without drawing any attention to yourself and the barking will lessen and stop.

3. Bored with nothing to do!

Dogs enjoy barking, it’s something they like to do. The barking sound might not be completely to your taste but dogs enjoy it and it’s a completely natural thing for them, so if your dog has nothing to do in his spare time then barking passes the time like nothing else. Keep your dog busy with lots of exciting toys if he seems to bark a lot at night, something to chew and play with when you’re not around will help comfort the dog and keep him from barking and waking the neighbours. With nothing else to do your dog will bark through the night until you wake up.

4. Visitor time

When visitors come round it’s an exciting time for your dog, new faces, new smells and more attention than usual. This often causes dogs to bark, they want all the attention they can get in the form of cuddles and play time. You can solve this by using the ‘Stop’ command, teach him this and praise him when he listens to you and you should have no more problems with your over excited dog.

5. Be Consistent

Unfamiliarity can trigger your dogs barking off a lot of the time so keep constant with the times he barks most, for a lot of dog owners this is at night time. Decide where your dog or puppy sleeps. If one night your dog is out in the cold and the next he’s all snug and warm in bed with you or your kids you can guarantee he won’t want to be back out in the cold getting no attention from anyone again. Stick to consistency with your dog and you won’t go far wrong, otherwise you may be in for another sleepless night shouting at your dog.

Keeping tropical fish is a great pastime that can bring immense happiness. Before doing so, however, there are several key points that you need to be aware of or the whole exercise could end up in great disappointment.

Before you set up a tropical fish tank, there are several guidelines that you should adhere to. If not, you may be endangering your tropical fish without even knowing it.

If you truly care for your fish you must act in their best interests, and no doubt you want to do exactly this. One common error that many people don't really understand is that there are some bacteria that you actually want in your aquarium (as they help balance the delicate biological life cycle). Do you know which bacteria I am talking about? I certainly didn't when I started out.

Katy's Tropical Fish Guide gave me a very good understanding into how to:

1. Set up my new tropical fish tank
2. How to introduce tropical fish to the tank
3. Caring for the fish tank
4. Feeding the tropical fish
5. Maintaining the health of the fish

Before reading it, I really had no idea on what was involved. Sure, the people at the store gave me some advice, but it was never pleasant finding my fish looking unhealthy, let alone, dead!

I wasn't overly impressed with the quality of other tropical fish books that are available on the market. I thought a lot of them were overpriced especially for the information they offered; and they generally didn't focus on telling you how to get the best results using methods that don't require a lot of effort and products that don't cost the earth.

Both of these things I believe take the fun and enjoyment out of keeping fish. After all, something that costs a significant amount of money and requires a lot of work on your behalf can't really be deemed as enjoyable.

Don't waste your time with other expensive books or videos that promise the earth. Katy's Tropical Fish Guide costs a fraction of inferior products on the market, but the advice I received was far, far superior. Without it, I would have spent a lot more money, lost a lot more fish and probably would have given away the idea of looking after a tropical fish tank. Instead, I'm now extremely happy and gain great enjoyment from my tropical fish tank.

Dog bathing is a must when living with a dog. Dogs naturally get smelly and are not like cats in being able to wash themselves well and be hygienic, this is why dog owners have to look after their dogs hygiene for them once in a while.

Dog bathing should take place when your dog starts to smell or is very dirty, some breeds of dog find it very hard to keep smelling pretty as you will quickly come to notice. Running around every day rubbing yourself up against trees, bushes, benches and rolling around on grass or getting drenched head to paws in rivers or puddles are all common occurrences in a dogs life and all contribute to dog smelliness.

It is important to make sure you brush your dogs coat and fur through before every bathing session to remove all bits of debris that may have got caught up in your dog’s fur since their last bath along with tangles or matted hair that may have formed. If you ignore this step any tangles and matted hair will get worse after bathing and make it an impossible task to rid of them.

You will need to use special pet shampoo and conditioner to clean your dog; human shampoo uses a different ph level and can be bad for your dog’s skin. Starting off by letting your dog get used to running water, warm water should be used to wash your dog, it is best to use a jug or container to gently pour water on your dog. Be sure not to put water directly on your dogs face to be sure not to frighten them off or scare them.

When your dog is wet, keep reassuring them and rewarding them if the behaviour is good to get the message across that bathing is not a bad thing. Rub the shampoo and conditioner onto your dog gently and being sure to do a proper job of getting all the smells and everything else out.

To finish off, rinse all the soapy water and shampoo of your dog and dry your dog in the same way you would yourself or if your dog has easily matted hair use patting only to dry your dog, when this is all done reward your dog with praise and rewards for being cooperative with you.

How to bath a cat easily!? Cat Bathing made simple for both humans and cats.

[1] Make sure that the Water Temperature is right for Bathing Cat.

The water should be luke-warm when going to bathe cat, more on the room-temperature side, because if you put hot water on your cat, it will get burned.
Cold water is always a better solution for bathing cats or kittens. Cats don't mind the cold. Unlike myself.

Yet water should not be tooo cold when bathing a cat-  you know what I mean - not so freezing cold that your poor cat shakes and its teeth chatter... Just pleasantly luke-warm, like for a baby bath.

[2] What Should You Bathe Cat In?

Choose a shallow bathing tub that your cat can easily stand in. Deep buckets might cause cats to panic and feel as though they're stuck in a narrow clastrophobic well.

Best would be a shallow plastic container or a small laundry bucket, that is safe for cats and not slippery.

We plan on introducing our cats to water in a gradual way and not throw them into a 6 foot/2m pool and have them get a heart attack from fright.

Place a towel around the dish so that your cat can stand on it afterwards and get dry. Also the towel aroung the cat bath will prevent your house from drowning under water. ;-D

You can also use a rubber mat for the bath bottom, so the cat won't slip, but it isn't a " must have ".

If it's a slippery tray, then the rubber mat is advisable, but if it is a plastic dish, then you don't need to worry about it. Anyway, it's a shallow cat bath so there is no risk.

[3] How Deep Should The Cat Bath Waters Be?

Start bathing your cat with just enough water to be above cats  feet.

For the time bathing kittens or washing cats, just place your cat in the tub and let cat play around in there. Cats will get used to the bath and think it is fun.

Tips For Playing With Your Cat In The Tub:

If you play with your cat inside the cats bath with a string, or with some other toy  your cat will enjoy bathing and want to get in there again.

Make it the place where you play with your cat with a certain item (like a mouse on a string or some kind of "cat bathing" toy.) you only use in bath. Your cat will be glad to jump in there and want to play with you.

Another cat bathing motivator is giving your cat a few yummy cat treats when he baths.

Next Stages Of Cat In The Tub

Don't worry if your cat makes a mess. The towels  you places around the bath tub will mop up most of it.

Gradually you can begin to increase the depth of the water.

Beware: For most cat types, water should never be deeper than cat's knees.

This should be enough water to give your cat a bath, without creating the fear of drowning panic in your cat's mind.

How to wash your cat in the cat bath?

Don't pour the water over your cat or dunk her inside, instead use a wet cloth and dab your cat with it over his or her fur while paying with it in the bath.

Some cats are amazingly expert swimmers, maybe you will have the next "swimming champion", but don't push your cat to be one...

For more information visit CatCamille's website: http://catlovingcare.com

Good luck bathing your cat!

Catscamille