Pet parents, otherwise known as pet owners and lovers, are more than willing to increase the knowledge they currently have regarding their pets and how to give the best care they can to their beloved pets. As such, they tend to read self-help books on how to go about training their dogs, or the dos and don’ts of caring for a cat. However, books are not the only medium that could transmit information.

If you’re a fan of radio stations, I guess you would not be able to miss this very popular radio program intended for pets and their beloved owners. Well, Pet Life Radio recently announced something big to all their avid listeners.

Pet Life Radio, the largest and #1 pet radio network unleashed its new online TV/Video channel today. Chommmp!™ Animal Television Network featuring high quality original pet and animal entertainment TV programming and videos for pet parents and pet lovers around the world.

That really is huge, isn’t it? The radio networks’ finally have made it into the mainline television. This calls for a celebration. At least, the network will be able to reach out more people and share the needed information on how to properly take care of their pets. Since television’s a big fad for youngsters today, it’s a great way to educate them about pets and pet care in a way that will not bore them to death.

Would there be any changes as to the format they will be using in the television version? Well, according to them, they will still be using the same format as on the radio version. In this way, their listeners could still enjoy the same old program they’ve come to love, of course, in a whole new dimension as it’s going to be on television. For their premiere episode, they’ve listed some of the topics they are planning to feature and tackle on air.

If you’re not the type who loves sitting on the couch and watch television all day, then there is still another option that they’ve put out. You could visit their website at www.chommmp.com or visit their original website at www.PetLifeRadio.com. In case you missed out some episodes, then watching them would be just a click away.

Now, just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!

While many of s think that the main reasons birds sing are because they are happy…this is not the case.

Contrary to folk wisdom and popular music, birds do not sing for joy. They sing to communicate.

Short, nonmusical chips, chirps and whistles uttered year-round convey information about location, food sources and social position. Other calls rally broods and indicate alarm, danger, aggression and annoyance. These “calls” are the sounds of daily conversation.

Calls may seem a dangerous way to communicate because sounds can lead hungry predators to tasty song birds. But part of the beauty of a call is its brevity. Once uttered, calls vanish into thin air, so predators can’t use sound to locate the callers. When danger threatens, birds simply stop talking until the threat passes.

So while they may indeed sing in joy chances are they are actually talking to their feathered friends.

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Puppies are really like babies in every sense of the word. Just like babies, they are very eager in exploring their environment. As such, they use the reflexes that are already developed in them (though not fully yet) to explore as much and as far as they want. However, do you have an inkling of an idea as to how they do their exploring?

Just like a baby, the most developed reflex that they have is their sucking reflex (correct me if I’m wrong with this). As such, they tend to explore their environment through the use of their mouth. As such, it is not a common fuss if they start or try to bite a lot or lick with whatever object that comes their way. And this thing is only normal. However, have you known that there is a fine margin with this normal behavior and the ones we could say as “too much”?

Yes, there is indeed a fine line between the normal biting and licking of a puppy to what some experts could consider as already beyond the normal. Well then, let’s take a look at what they have to say on this.

Licking begins when pups are born. Mother dogs lick puppies in order to clean them and to stimulate bodily functions such as defecation. As puppies grow, they in turn, begin to lick at their mothers to stimulate nursing. Later on, they lick at her face to obtain regurgitated food.

Dogs continue to lick at one another as they mature into adults. At times, it is a friendly social gesture and at other times, it is an appeasement signal that means, “I don’t want to fight.” It can also be part of grooming behaviour.

Licking becomes problematic when it bothers the owner or becomes compulsive and interferes with the dog’s quality of life. In those situations, redirect the dog to more appropriate options. Teach her to lie still next to you. Encourage other self-soothing options such as chewing a bone or licking at a stuffed busy toy. If the dog tries to lick at you, remove your attention by walking away.
Instead of chewing towels, the dog should be chewing bones. Owners need to ensure that their dog has access to a safe chew bone at all times. They need to reward the dog for chewing it. In this case, the dog needs to be rewarded for chewing its bone when lying on the towel.

Now that you have been made known of this, better try this at home if your pet is exhibiting the same problems as what they have presented here. If however, you want a more detailed explanation and demonstration as to how you’re going to do it, better yet read the website this article is linked to. Who knows? This might be the answer to your never-ending queries.

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A cute video of a parrot “playing” guitar.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

We have been made known since our elementary days that birds live in their humble abodes called nests. Since these creatures are also given the ingenuity by our creator, they also have the capability to build their own homes from raw materials. Yes, raw materials. They do not need to build very sophisticated homes to satisfy their needs.

When we see a nest high up in a tree, despite the fact that we do not hear or see any birds in the area, we instantly know that we should not touch them, especially if eggs are laid there. Mother birds are extremely protective of their young, and so we try our best not to be pecked in any area of our body.

Have you noticed that different species of birds have a different pattern of nests made? Well, if you’re still not convinced, let me show you some examples:

The most common type of nest that we are all familiar with is called the cup nest. This is a circular nest with a deep central depression to house the eggs. They are typically made up of grass, twigs, string and fibers along with mud and sometimes saliva from the builder. Robins, blackbirds and sparrows are common species that create these sorts of nests.

Eagles and osprey create very large nests that are called aeries or platform nests. Typically these are atop large trees and can be seen from quite a distance. They are literally made out of branches and sticks, reaching up to 10 feet across! Many times these nests are used from year to year with new material added each round, causing the nest to grow in size and potentially damaging weight.

Many of us are familiar with the spherical nest created by the barn swallows. These nests are completely enclosed in a ball form with a small opening in the side or bottom of the nest for entry. Many times we will spot them clinging to the undersides of bridges and awnings or clinging to the side of a house or other structures.

There you have it. Those are some examples of the nests that these ingenuous birds make, and examples of some birds that make such nests are also given. However, we are not here to memorize and associate every kind of nest with its owner; we are here to make the cycle of life go on.

Since nests are present in the vicinity of your garden area, it is almost imperative for you to note that there are eggs in there. In no time at all, these eggs will hatch, and the little birdies continually chirp for their mother to bring them food. Once they’re all grown up, they will find their mates, lay eggs, and have their own offspring. As you can see, the cycle of life continues, all because of a simple nest.

As humans, it is our duty to protect and help these creatures propagate (not in the way that you might be thinking). Since we are there to protect them, then its best if we make sure they have a safe environment to live in. also, since these nests keep their species alive, we better not touch or destroy them. Instead, help these birds find a good spot for them to build their nests and start a family. For indeed, the nest is the start of the cycle of a bird’s life.

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A new addition to “Angry Birds” on Facebook has arrived in “Angry Birds Friends”. The new addition offers weekly challenges against Facebook friends along with deeper social integration such as timeline high scores.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Have you ever wondered what specific type of personality you possess? The type of pet you own may help provide an answer…if a rather generic one.

Perhaps not surprisingly, dog people scored significantly higher on extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness and lower on neuroticism and openness than did cat people, regardless of gender. Findings revealed cat people as slightly more neurotic, but also as exhibiting more curiosity, creativity, artistic ability and nontraditional thinking (not a bad trade-off for a little neuroticism).

Put simply, dog owners are deemed more social, interactive and accepting while cat owners (those of us who own only cats) are deemed more introverted, self-contained and less social. (As an introverted writer, this certainly speaks to my experience).

Bear in mind the study findings are based on how respondents identified their animal preference and not on their actual animal ownership. Also, research findings are generalizations; not everyone will fit neatly into such categorizations. For example, my husband is an introverted dog person and one of my extroverted friends lives in a multi-cat household.

It seems that dog people are the extrovert, happy-go-lucky type of persons, while the cat people are those that are more introverted and somewhat the more reserved and artistic type of persons. Have we hit a mark here?

In that particular “study”…which was more of a poll…the researchers did not simply identify people to be their subjects and observe them from afar as to what their daily activities are and how they interact with others, particularly their pets. What they did was they simply asked their respondents as to what are their animal preferences, and from there, they went about with their study.

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Behavior is one of the many factors that wanna-be dog owners are considering before they purchase or adopt a dog. As such, they try not to look only at the appearance of the animal, but also to its temperament. Some things affecting temperament are:

One of the most influential factors on the behavior of our dog is of course genetics. No matter how hard we try to eliminate some unwanted traits associated with the breed of the dog, still, what’s deeply embedded in there cannot be easily removed. Just like a definition of personality, genetics is also something deeply embedded, thus, we cannot easily changed what has been given.

Another factor that affects a dog’s behavior is the current weather conditions. As we all know, dogs seem to be more irritable (thus, an increase in the cases of dog bites) during summer months. This is also another factor that we cannot do anything about. However, we can prevent the rising aggression in our dogs by simply managing or controlling the environment in our own homes. Provide a cool spot for your dog…or a fan/air conditioning if he lives inside…and a cool bath goes a long way also.

Last but not the least, food and nutrition has a say in the behavior of a dog. Have you noticed how a dog becomes aggressive or irritable whenever it is hungry? As such, it just gives us a hint that we should always feed our dogs with the right food and to make sure they get it at the right time. Another thing related to it is to make sure that they get the right amounts specific for their breed, size, and other factors to ensure that their needs will be adequately met. If these needs are not met, then behavior changes are most likely to occur.

So now, we have enumerated the top three factors that influence a dog’s behavior, you now have a guide as to how you go about in caring for your beloved dog. If you do not want to make your dog a stranger in the long run, better practice or enlist the help of these factors so that your dog will be constantly in a good mood and at it’s best behavior.

This has got to be one of the cutest kittens ever!!

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

While there are many things that make good prizes animals is not one of them. Alice Wright agrees with me:

Keith Lemon recently gave away a Pug puppy to a winning child on his show Lemonaid, which I and plenty of other dog-owners think is rather irresponsible. The show has racked up over 200 Ofcom complaints and a couple of protesting Facebook pages as well as plenty of calls to the RSPCA!

It also prompted various animal charities and bodies to respond. The Kennel Club said they were “extremely disappointed” and “Puppies are not commodities but are a lifelong commitment.”

The Dogs Trust said they were “shocked and disappointed”. Going on to say: “It is highly inappropriate to promote the frivolous gifting of dogs in this fashion and we are concerned that viewers may follow suit without giving any thought to the life-long commitment that dogs command… his poor attempt at entertainment was ill-judged”

Battersea Cats and Dogs Home felt the show was “highly irresponsible” and fear that “many children and their parents will be influenced by what they saw on this show and will have little understanding of the full responsibilities of pet ownership.”

Of course these are the charities that have to deal with the fall out when reality hits and the novelty of owning a pet wears off.

The rest of her article is HERE.