Pop Art Pet Unleashed

Super Sunday is coming up.. That’s right it’s time for Puppy Bowl IV on Animal Planet!!

Be sure and check your local listings so you catch all three hours of this year’s Puppy Bowl this Sunday, Feb. 3rd!

What?! You’ve never heard of the Puppy Bowl? Well on Super Bowl Sunday for the past few years, Animal Planet has assembled the cutest teams of puppies you’ve ever seen, put them on a miniature football field, and let the games begin! That’s it, there’s no annoying commentary just hours of puppies, puppies, and more puppies, interrupted by the occasional  flag on the play when somebody makes some “unsportspup like” conduct on the field and a ref has to clean up the mess. Last year there was a half-time show featuring a crew of crazy cats, and you can even go online during the game and vote for the MVP, Most Valuable Puppy.

It’s the best three hours of TV you’ll see all year, so don’t miss it!

It’s 4:00 in the morning and you’re suddenly awakened by incessant meowing. Your cat is sitting on your chest, letting you know it’s time to get up and feed her. She’s determined to make sure you pay attention to that feline alarm clock, so you get up and put food in her bowl. What’s wrong with this picture?

What’s wrong is that kitty has trained you. She’s very smart and learned that her behavior got her exactly what she wanted. When you respond to her meows for food in the wee hours of the morning, you reinforce the very behavior you don’t want.

According to Yahoo Pets, there are three steps to correcting this.

1. Don’t respond. This sounds simple but is actually difficult when your persistent kitty wakes you early. It may take a few days before she gets the message, but you must stop reinforcing negative behavior.

2. Use well-timed play. Cats are crepuscular, which means they are most active at dusk and dawn. In the wild, that’s when prey is readily available. It’s understandable that in the early morning hours, your kitty is gearing up for anticipated prey/food. To reset her internal clock, do an interactive play session right before you go to bed. Make it a great one where kitty really gets to show off her hunting skills. Then, wind the action down toward the end of the game so your cat is left satisfied and relaxed. Additionally, leave out activity toys during the night — ones that are not available to kitty during the day.

3. Use food for training. After your pre-bedtime play session, offer kitty a portion of her meal or a yummy treat. If you schedule-feed, divide the daily portion in order to save one for after the play session. If you free-feed, take up food early in the evening and replace it after the play session.

If all else fails, consider using one of the timed feeder bowls so you can get some sleep!

For his book, The Intelligence of Dogs, psychologist Stanley Coren examined 141 breeds and discussed their performance traits with U.S. and Canadian dog obedience judges. He used “understanding of new commands” and “obey first command” as criteria in judging the responsiveness of dogs to commands.

When given a command five or fewer times, the following breeds performed the requested behavior 95% of the time or better:

• Border Collie
• Poodle
• German Shepherd
• Golden Retriever
• Doberman Pinscher

Although the breeds below have many fine qualities to recommend them, trainability and a desire to please is low on the list. These dogs may take 80 to 100 trials to learn a new command and then obey the command 25% of the time or less:

• Borzoi
• Chow Chow
• Bulldog
• Basenji
• Afghan Hound

Source: USA Weekend

Our pets need to keep their weight in line and stay in shape just like we do, and a great way to help them do it is to have them exercise.

Walking or jogging with them, playing fetch, having them play with toys, swimming with them, and agility classes are some of the fun pet exercise options suggested by The Early Show’s veterinarian correspondent, Dr. Debbye Turner.

She points out that obesity isn’t only a serious problem among humans — it’s a big one in the pet population, as well, and can shorten their lives by causing or worsening joint disease, liver disease, and diabetes.

Always consult with your veterinarian before starting your pet on any exercise program, Turner stressed.

Start slowly, also as people should; your pet should ease into exercise. Humans can’t run a marathon the first time we go for a jog; nor can pets. Start with just 10-15 minutes of light activity, such as moderately-paced walking. Take cues from your dog. If he starts excessively panting, lying down, etc., then give her some rest. Slowly build up to 30 minutes, 3 times a week. For very athletic breeds, you can increase that to an hour a session.

An alternative to walking or running is vigorous play with your pet. For dogs, a good game of fetch will provide plenty of exercise. Cats have a natural prey instinct, so they love chasing and hunting. Using a feather on a string or a laser pointer will keep your kitty batting, swatting, and getting a good workout.

Swimming is an excellent form of exercise for medium-size and big dogs. It’s no-impact, so isn’t harmful to their joints. This is particularly good for older dogs, and dogs suffering from arthritis or other joint diseases.

Enrolling pets in an obedience or agility class can provide great exercise for both your pet — and you! And, if you have the time and space in a fenced-in yard, you can teach your dog some agility moves yourself with the right equipment.

You can even put a pet on a treadmill!

Turner notes that you should provide plenty of fresh water before, during, and after the workout.

Be especially careful when exercising pets with “flat faces,” such as pugs, bulldogs, Boston terriers, and Persian cats. They’re particularly susceptible to respiratory distress. Also, be careful with dogs that have long bodies and short legs, like dachshunds. Some toy breeds aren’t suitable for strenuous exercise. And don’t over-do it with young puppies.

Conversely, be very careful when exercising an old pet. They just can’t take the physical demand like a young one can.

Turner also raised a caution flag about exercising your pet outside during extreme weather conditions, and also to avoid going outside when the humidity is high. Dogs don’t sweat like humans, so they aren’t efficient at eliminating excess heat. Plus, gravel surfaces can be uncomfortable for your dog.

Source: CBS News

Obviously you should try to keep dogs and cats indoors most all the time during the winter, especially when it’s especially cold. But here are some other common sense tips to get them though the winter months:

• When walking your dog, check the paws to make sure that ice is not building up between the toes and that salt from the roads is not irritating the skin. If you walk your dog on sidewalks that have been treated with de-icer, make sure to wash the dog’s paws when you get home; these chemicals can irritate the skin.

• Most outdoor pets need to be brought inside when the weather turns really cold. The ones that can stay outdoors should be given shelter that’s warm and dry, plus additional food for extra energy.

• They also should have fresh water put out a couple of times a day, or consider a special bowl that prevents the water from freezing.

• Brush their coats frequently to prevent moisture from collecting.

• Ingesting anti-freeze can be fatal for your dog or cat. It has a sweet taste and even a tiny amount can cause severe kidney damage and even death. If you spill some, soak it up immediately. (Clay kitty litter works well. Discard the litter once the anti-freeze has been absorbed.)

• When you take your pet outdoors for exercise and play, be aware of the temperature. Pets can get frostbite very easily on the ears, tail and paws.

• If your dog is a swimmer, keep it on a leash around open water or unstable ice. Hypothermia can set in quickly and the dog may be unable to get out of the water.

• To protect other animals too, before you start your car, you should honk the horn to make sure that a cat has not decided to nap in a warm spot under the hood of the vehicle.

Finally be sure and enjoy the season, play in the snow with your dog, then curl up with him by a warm fire - Spring will be here before you know it!

In this first week of the new year we have been fortunate to hear from several of our Christmas clients with warm stories of giving and receiving the dog portraits and cat portraits we created for them. Some of them were quite touching, so we wanted to share them here..

Palmer & Cooper

My husband absolutely LOVED the picture of the dogs….he was so surprised and impressed. He actually hung it on the wall that day! I will highly recommend you guys to my friends who come over and admire it. It turned out so cute!! Thanks for all of your hard work. It definitely paid off!

Katie

I am so happy to report that my parents loved their picture of Katie! It helped her memory to live on. It was particularly touching because this was our first Christmas without out beloved little dog. You all did a great job. Thank you.

Frankie

It was just the BEST! My family is one of those crazy ones that everyone just tears in to the gifts. There are a bunch of us and a bunch of gifts and it can just get wild!
I was sitting next to my sister.. and it was about to kill me that the painting was in the back of her gift pile. She was merrily chatting and showing everyone what she was opening, then she finally got to it and opened the box. She squealed then got really quiet. When that happen everyone else just stopped and looked a her and tears were streaming down her face. She said, “Oh I saw this on the net and wanted it so badly….how did you know? This is the best gift EVER.” She elbowed her husband who was talking and didn’t really catch what was happening.
“Look at what [they] got for us, honey.” He looked over and said, “A boxer print. Oh that is so nice.” She punched him in the arm and said, “NO LOOK!”
He said, “Oh my goodness, That really IS Frankie. I can’t beleive it. How did they do that?” The he looked like he was going to cry. (I told him you had magical elves working for you….shhhh..don’t give me away!)
..Thank you so very much! I know we will be working together again!

We were recently featured along with a handful of other pet portrait artists on Spoilspot.com. Spoil Spot is a site for all self-declared dog nuts! They are committed to scouring the earth to present “cool, new, and undiscovered stuff guaranteed to make your pooch happier and healthier.”

“Pop Art Pet
Forget about silly soup cans and get your pup into some pop art with these vibrant and fun Warhol-esque designs. Simply send in a picture of your pampered pup and the gallery will transform the photo into a contemporary pop art mutt masterpiece. The unique, quirky, colorful customized portraits come in the traditional 4-panel designs as well as many others. Available at Pop Art Pet.”

Coincidentally, according to Retro To Go, one of our favorite sources for all things Pop Art, B&Q, which is Britain’s oldest & biggest retailer of DIY and home improvement tools & supplies, has declared 2008 the year to go retro!

So apparently now, would be a very trendy time for you to make your pet into a Pop Art masterpiece!