Bringing home a dog involves much more than just providing it with love, care and other basic necessities. To make the dog a good pet, a great deal of training may be required, so that it behaves in a desirable manner. Some dog breeds can be easily trained, while some may require the dog owner to put a lot of effort and time into training the dog. Although, professional dog trainers can be hired to do the job for you, training the dog yourself can strengthen the bond between the two of you and can be a learning experience for both. Many tools for training dogs are available to facilitate this. Listed below are some of the easy to use and dog-friendly training tools.

Dog Training Leash and Collar
The simplest tool for training your dog is the leash and the collar. It might sound surprising, but the dog’s leash and collar can be the easiest to use, for training your dog when outdoors. As far as the dog leash is concerned, a shorter leash ensures better control over the dog. There are automatic recoil leashes available that can be used to adjust the length of the leash. Various types of collars like no bark collars, remote operated collars, beeper and tracking collars, chain collars, etc. are available for obedience training.

Dog Fencing
Dog fences are essential when you want to contain the dog to your premises, so that you don’t have to deal with annoyed neighbors. Apart from the conventional fences, electric dog fences can be very useful for this purpose. The invisible electric dog fence trains the dog to refrain from venturing out of home, by producing beeping sounds, and if the dog still tries to move out, a mild static shock is delivered.

Clicker
A clicker is a small plastic device with a metal piece inside, which when squeezed and released produces a clicking noise. This device can be useful when you train the dog to follow commands and instructions, as the clicking noise attracts the dog’s attention towards you. The dog will also be able to recognize this noise after a few days of use, which will enable you to track your dog, in case it goes wandering about.

Dog Crates
Dog crates are used to train the dogs in the housebreaking process. Dog crate training also enables the dog to have a place of its own in the house, especially when it is left alone in the house for long hours. You can place soft comfortable blankets, a bowl of water and something to chew onto so that the dog feels comfortable in the crate.

Dog Training Treats
Dog training treats encourage dogs to follow commands, so that they earn the treat. The treat should be something that is not included in the dog’s daily diet, like liver, chews, biscuits, cheese bites, etc. The dog would want to be rewarded with the treat, which will encourage it to perform the task well.

Muzzles
Muzzles are used to train dogs who incessantly barking, biting and chewing problems. The dog’s mouth is covered which prevents it from barking, biting and chewing onto anything that comes its way.

Apart from the above-mentioned training tools, a number of books are also available that can guide you, on providing your dog with effective training. To produce the desirable behavior, make the training an enjoyable experience for your dog and treat it with love and respect.

Anyone who owns a cat knows that they love the sunshine and the smell of the outdoors. However, as much as we love our feline friends, cats in the garden can be a real nuisance. They will end up digging your flowerbeds, which you have worked on for hours, and use them as a litter box. To add to the misery, tomcats will spray the foliage with their urine to mark their territory or just flatten all the plants as they loll around in your flowerbed, comfortably sunbathing while all your hard work goes out for a toss. The unfortunate, unappreciative behavior of cats towards flowerbeds and gardens, can result in misery and hostility towards the cat. However, instead of attacking the poor cat, try these simple and effective steps for keeping the cats out of your garden.

Tips on How to Keep Cats Out of Flower Beds

Cats are usually quite free-spirited, wanting to roam around the world, without hindrance. Since they are pretty agile and can seem to jump over or squeeze into anything, they usually manage to get into your home territory quite easily. However, there are a list of commercial as well as homemade cat deterrents, that seem to work effectively in keeping them away from your flowerbeds.

Tip 1: Before you can implement any steps to stop the cat from ruining your precious flowerbeds, it is advisable to talk to the owner of the cat and know if it is domesticated. However, if you are that unfortunate a cat owner, it is recommended that you look into options like cat proofing your garden or cat enclosures. Believe me, it will not only make your neighbors happy, but your cat will be safe as well. Building a toilet area for your cat, like a sand pit, is a great idea.

Tip 2: There are many commercial cat deterrents available in the market. Most of these chemicals contain the active ingredient, methylnonylketone, which should not be used near food crops. Any of these can be used to protect your flowerbeds.

Tip 3: This is one method that I am sure will work, even if for a limited time. As soon as you see the cats near your flowerbeds, just squirt some water on them. Since cats HATE water, they will probably just get flustered and not come back again. There are certain motion activated sprinklers, that use infrared to detect the animal and shoot a jet of water on it. If the cat belongs to someone you know, it is advisable that you tell them of the plan and assure them that you will not hurt the cat. This method is however severely limited by the fact that some weird cats might actually think you are playing with them!

Tip 4: A great way to keep the cats off the flowerbeds, is by spreading peels of lemon, orange or grapefruit on it. For some reason, cats seem to have a developed distaste for citrus smells. Drops of citrus oil or coffee grounds also seem to do the job just as well.

Tip 5: By installing a fine garden netting over the soil in the flowerbed, you can ascertain that the cat does not dig away the soil. Placing it an inch or two above the flowerbed ensures that they are not walking on it either. You can also try spreading pine cones, by adding it to the mulch on the flowerbeds. Since cat paws are sensitive, they would usually avoid such places. Alternately, you can cover the ground with rough-surfaced rocks or use the branches of a thorny plant.

Tip 6: Most gardeners around the world have the ‘perfect plant solution’ and it involves planting certain plants in the garden, that repel cats. Marigolds are a great option in this case. Not only do they look good and are fairly easy to grow, but they also possess a scent that keeps cats away from the flowerbeds. Plants such as geranium, pennyroyal, rue, lavender, garlic, lemon thyme, lemon verbena and other strongly scented plants are also unpleasant to cats. A weed originating in Europe, known as ‘coleus canina’, deters the presence of cats, by emitting an odor offensive to them (but not to humans).

Tip 7: High frequency sounds emitted by ultrasonic devices usually send the cat running, while causing no distress to your ears.

If these tips do not seem to work, try to make your garden less cat-friendly, by doing away with the huge cat magnets, like bird feeders and birdbaths. If you have catnip plants, please do away with them unless you want cats from miles away, swarming into your garden. There are people who also recommend getting a dog. However, I do not think it’s a good idea because if the dog attacks the cat, you could be fined. Also instead of the cat ruining the flowerbeds, a dog may destroy it in completely different ways and then you would probably end up reading an article on ‘how to keep dogs out of flowerbeds’.

The word flamingo comes from the Spanish word flamengo an earlier form of flamenco. These words were derived from the Latin word flamma, which means ‘a flame’.

The feather colors on different species of flamingos vary from pale pink to crimson or vermilion. The brightest plumage of crimson or vermilion belongs to the Caribbean flamingo. The Chilean flamingo is pale pink. The source of its fiery hues are its diet rich in alpha and beta-carotene. It feeds on blue-green and red algae, diatoms, larval and adult forms of small insects, crustaceans, molluscs, and small fish. Chicks are born with gray or white plumage, that gradually turns pink over the period of one, two, or even three years.

These birds live in both saline and freshwater habitat such as lagoons, estuaries, mangrove swamps, mud flats, and large shallow coastal or inland lakes tidal flats, and sandy islands above the low tide mark. Flamingos are found in warm, shallow, watery regions on many continents. Their vast habitats include estuaries and saline or alkaline lakes in Africa, Asia, North America, Central America, South America, and Europe. For example, the Caribbean flamingo can be found on the north coast of South America, the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, and a number of Caribbean islands.

Flamingo sizes differ in species, with the greater flamingo measuring between 36 to 50 inches in height, with a wingspan of about 60 inches, and weigh an average of 8.75 lbs. Flamingos have long sinuous necks, slender legs, and black-tipped bills that achieve a downward bend upon maturity. The also have a keen sense of hearing, and are heard calling out, which is some form of communication. They are willing swimmers who float of the surface of the water with comfort and ease. Their webbed toes helps them swim and stand in soft mud.

Flamingos are known for their curious, inverted head feeding technique. They start by stirring up the mud and water with their long legs and webbed feet. They then turn their head slightly upside down, so that their inverted bills are underwater, enabling them to suck up both mud and water. They then shake their head from side to side, expelling the excess mud and water, and keeping back the plankton, tiny fish and fly larvae.

Flamingos are a social bird and live in large groups called flocks or colonies. The large numbers provide safety against predators, especially while they feed with their heads underwater. Nesting is also done along with other flamingos, as rearing is a community activity. Male and females share equal responsibility in parenting. Both partners pile up mud to build a nest, in which the female lays one egg. After after about 30 days of incubating, which the to-be-parents take turns to do, the egg hatches to produce a chick. The parents regurgitate food which is fed to the baby, and both mother and father secrete a milk-like substance that provides their young with proper nourishment. This goes on till the baby’s beak has developed fully, and it is capable of hunting for food.

Flamingos are famous for their collective gestures before, during, and after breeding. One may witness several hundreds of flamingos of one flock simultaneously displaying ritualized postures and movements to synchronize breeding. This may include only one display, or an often seen sequence of head-flag, wing-salute, and twist-preen. Flamingos are commonly witnessed preening, which takes up a considerable amount of time everyday. The purpose of the preening is to use the bill to spread oil from a gland near the base of their tail through their feathers, thus waterproofing them.

A breathtaking sight of the natural world is a flock of flamingos taking to flight. They pick up speed by running prior to taking off and flap their wings almost constantly during flight. A flock can reach 31 to 37 mph. In recent times, changes in flamingo migration patterns have been witnessed due to environmental changes and global warming. These birds easily travel long distances and can cover over 300 miles at a stretch in a single night.

Flamingos face a threat from the destruction of their habitat by humans. Encroachment of their habitat, as well as indirectly causing changes in water depth, quality and salinity can adversely affect the birds.