Pet Adoption

I have been very much surprised, when have visited an exhibition of cats for the first time. It was not similar to an exhibition of dogs. Exhibitions of dogs always pass very dynamically. All goes, all works. Some rings work. Owners and their dogs run on these rings, showing moving of dogs. All participants stop on a sign of the judge for survey of a bearing of dogs. And movements again to give the possibility for expert to compare dogs. Different categories of dogs replace on a ring each other. Puppies try to break all rules. Their owners try to calm down their pets. All rustles, all goes, all lives…
The exhibition of cats has surprised me with the calmness. Cats sit in the exhibition cage. Their owners talk with each other slowly near cages. Behind a separate table the expert works. The assistant brings him cats for survey. Everything is rather silent, respectable, slow… Velvet pillows for cats lay in cages. Cats play with motley toys in “small houses”. Owners are dressed very solemnly. Women in shoes on a high heel. They presume to make to themselves a solemn make-up and a solemn hairdress. There are no people in the sports suits which have sweated from fast run. I even have little envied cats. They should do nothing. Neither to run, nor to stand in the exhibition rack, to be obedient. Cats need to be oneself. To fun in cages. If it is became sad - to sleep. Cats should suffer only when they will be attributed to the expert for the description. Their owners do not demand anything from pets. They simply love the cats. I envied cats until have visited an exhibition of decorative rabbits. Rabbits do not get out of cages at all…. I have understood that everything is relative in the world.

The cynologic exhibition is not only holiday. It is also very intense day. But day before an exhibition is even more intense. You are preparing for an exhibition. You are trying to make all correctly. To prepare the pet correctly. To collect things it is correct. To find a correct way. I can not give advice on a question of preparation of your pet. Everyone has own requirements in this question. Especially I can not advise you in a choice of a route. But I can advise that it is necessary to take with you on an exhibition. Take care of the clothes for some days before an exhibition. Think, that you should dress. The clothes should be convenient, not prevent to move. It is desirable, that it would not be rumpled also it would not easy to smear your clothes. Color of clothes is very important. It should be contrast with color of your pet. It would be useful on a ring, that your pet would look on your background more effectively. But color should not be very bright. Not to distract attention of the judge from your dog. It will be useful to take with you an umbrella if the exhibition passes open-air. Very different unexpected situations can happen at an exhibition. It is necessary to be reserved by cloths and napkins. Do not forget to take a hairbrush for the owner and a brush for a dog. To take a bowl for a dog and a glass for the owner. Water for both of you. It is necessary to take a meal. Both for a dog, and for the owner. Laying and cell for a dog and a chair for the owner. A favourite toy for a dog. Medicines calming nerves for the owner. The camera or the chamber. Do not forget to take necessary documents, some money and your dog.

Comments of Kira: yes, do not forget your dog….

Question: How you think whether it is easy to walk a dog who loves dandelions?
Help: while all dandelions will not be smelled, we will not go home.

There have been already some cases in my practice. And they have been very similar. Before going on holiday, my friends had noticed small wounds on the dog’s paws. They processed the wounds, brought the dog to the hotel for dogs and left him for the holiday. When they returned they saw that the inflammation had spread to the body too. In hospital for animals the preliminary diagnosis was made - skin cancer. The doctors advised to put the dog down. My experience tells me that very often it is the incorrect diagnosis. The skin cancer meets very seldom at dogs. Such wounds (which consist of set of fine abscesses) are frequently an effect of a usual illness (staphylococcus). Skin inflammation can be cured simply. The course of antibiotics injections against the illness (staphylococcus) is necessary. It is also necessary to process the wounds with the eucolipt tincture (solutio chlorophylylipti). The improvement can be noticed on the 7-10 day. The dog recovers slowly. But good results are very steady.

Six years ago in our house French mastiff has appeared. Once phone has called and our friends have asked to rescue the puppy that eats nothing. It was examined by the doctor and he has found at puppy no illness. But the puppy eats nothing. In the age of two months the puppy of French mastiff weighed 2,7kg. This weight is considered low even for the monthly puppy of this breed. The puppy did not grow, did not develop and did not die. Nobody understood, what happened with it. We doubted for a long time, but eventually have agreed to try to correct position. Our friends should bring the puppy next day. To tell you the truth, we fairly worried expecting this puppy. We have not experience of the decision of such problems too. But there was nothing to lose and we have decided to try. We have fallen in love in her at once as soon as have seen. She has come not in our home. She has come in our hearts. We have named her Lada in honor of east Slavs goddess of love. Goddess Lada was considered as the promother of a life. Gods help was obviously necessary for us. We could make nothing some days. We simply helplessly observed of the baby. Most of all Lada liked to sleep on a palm of a hand. And Lada was not necessary for it more place. She held on a palm of the adult person. It was hard for her to go. Her head was too heavy for her body. Only eyes shined a life on her charming muzzle. We were close to despair. Lada seldom agreed to eat a small slice of cheese. She did not want anything more is. We tried to tempt her with meal. We fed of other dogs at her presence. Lada did not pay attention. Made other dogs elicit a meal. It did not make any impression on Lada. Put Lada on a lunch table and offered her delicacies during a dinner. Lada fell asleep among plates. I have decided to give her to drink a tincture of medicine plant (Artemisia) for fear and despair. I have made her drink fifteen drops of tincture. It was very hard to look at the puppy during this moment. She badly felt herself and tested awful bitterness in a mouth. And we did not allow her to drink. Lada was in desperate position. She has begun to eat dairy porridge. With huge effort, without any desire, but she began to eat. In the evening after five drops of tincture she already knew how to rescue herself - by meal. And Lada began to eat next day. Simply to eat. We were very helped by the following diet: a crude beef, a boiled rice and eggs of a small hens (coturnix). This mix has made a miracle. Lada has strongly changed in a week. It was a fountain of a life, the ordinary puppy who wanted to be simultaneously in several places. That she could learn more, and try, and eat. We had to watch, that Lada did not elicit a meal at adult dogs. Our adult dogs will always share meal with the puppy. And Lada used it with the great pleasure. We have understood, that Lada is our dog. When a month later there have arrived former owners, we have agreed, that Lada will live with us. So in our house began on one dog more. And our hearts began more for one more life.

Comments of Kira: it is necessary to remember: a crude beef, a boiled rice and eggs! And I shall demand it!!!

A lot of other animals, beside dogs, give us their friendship: cats, birds, hamsters, guinea-pigs, fish, snakes, and lizards. Beside dogs, fish and hamsters, cats also live in our house. The histories of their appearance in our life are different. My younger son in the childhood had problems with his heart. And we were advised to take a cat to the house. People say that the dialogue with a cat calms our nervous system very well, reduces the frequency of intimate impacts, and normalizes the pressure. My husband did not believe in it. He did not want a cat to live in the house where big dogs live. The first thing what the kitten did, after appearing in our house, was to drop a lamp on my husband. After that they became friends! We named the kitten Jupi. She was living with us for five years. During these five years we solved the problem of our son’s health almost completely. I do not know if it is a simple coincidence or the cat really helped us. We are grateful to Jupi for the friendship and that love which she shared with us. But we could do nothing with Jupi’s constant desire to have kittens. The cat was nervous, she felt bad. We had to solve this problem. So Jupi has been moved to another house. There she has the possibility to have kittens.

My experience suggests me, that three components are necessary for good growth and evolution of the puppy: good food, physical activity and constant brainwork of the puppy. And the owner should provide these conditions for the puppy. Many clever books about good feed have been written. We won’t talk about it in detail today. Just some main points. It should be high-calorie and provide the puppy with necessary minerals and vitamins. Physical activity is not the topic of today’s conversation either. Let’s talk how to bring up a clever dog. I always encourage curiosity of the puppy. The puppy should learn as much as possible in the childhood. It raises his chances of becoming a clever dog. But it is not enough for the puppy to be only curious. He should understand about what he sees. If the puppy has become interested in something, I try to keep his attention longer. For example, if his attention is drawn by a ball, I’ll show him that a ball can slide on a floor, jump, lie still in the corner of the room, or can be bitten. If the puppy is interested in a door, it is necessary to show him how the door closes, how it can clap loudly, what happens if he appears on its way when it’s closing. The puppy should learn different qualities of things. The process of training will consist of comparison. If you learn the puppy to compare things and phenomena, you’ll teach him to think. Dialogues are of great importance for the puppy too. It is very good, if these dialogues are various. It is necessary for the puppy to be able to communicate not only with adult dogs but also with the puppies of the same age. It is necessary for him to find and realize his place in the world of dogs and the world of people, to understand, that this place is not permanent. And it means that it is necessary follow (to see after) this place. For this purpose he should see after himself and his behavior. To do so means to (it is required to follow itself. To follow the behavior. Means, it is necessary to) think constantly. The result won’t wait longer: a clever, thinking dog will be near you. Your dog will never be condemned: “an unguided dog”.

Comments of Kira: each puppy is curious by nature. There is no necessity to encourage him. It is better not to prevent.

Kira has a big friend, his name is Gray. Big - because he is mastino.And because his attitude to Kira is very careful. He gives Kira a lot of tenderness and love. Gray allows Kira to do everything: to take away a toy from him, to run quickly and bump into him, to be disobedient and restless near him, to behave impudently with him. I think, that he knows, how highly Kira appreciates his friendship. Yesterday Gray turned out to have a big problem, a dangerous infectious disease (piroplasmosis). Gray went with his owner to the forest for a walk last weekend. It was bitten by an infected tick in the forest. The owner noticed the symptoms of the illness at his dog on the fifth day. His appetite has gone and his temperature had gone up. He became languid and stopped playing. Blood appeared in his urine. Gray was diagnosed in hospital. It was necessary to give him an injection of a special medicine. The problem was that the medicine could not only rescue Gray, but it could kill him as well. It can cause irreversible defeat of the central nervous system at some dogs. Very difficult problem was put before the owner of Gray. Gray could die without the medicine, but the medicine could kill him. Nobody could give any guarantees. And the time for decision-making was not enough. Each half an hour aggravated the illness. The real Russian roulette! The real one because the stake was Gray’s life. The injection was given. It was necessary to wait a day for the results. Believe me, it was a terrible day. Today Gray is much better. He has survived.

Comments of Kira: I want to hear nothing about it. I want to know nothing about it…

All of us have heard about heavy forms of dog or act wool allergy. And now about animal allergies. People realize the gravity of this problem. Therefore they attentively watch the animals’ reactions. But very few people know that animals, too, can have allergy. Allergy for the owner. The owner of the animal does not guess that he can be a source of problems for his pet. The smell of the owner can become the reason for itching at the animal, diarrhea, an allergic rhinitis and other problems. Sometimes it is enough for the owner to change his habitual shampoo or soap and the dog starts scratching its ears. The owner stops smoking - a cat stops casting its wool. One of my friends, an owner of a sheep-dog, suffered from heavy allergy. She noticed that after using aerosol to remove an allergic attack, her dog did not approach her some days. If the dog was made to join the master, next day he started sneezing heavily. It isn’t difficult for us to help our pets. That will do if you protect them from injuring situations. And for this purpose you have to be attentive to those whom you love, to our pets.

Cynologic Dog exhibitions! How tempting these words sound! How exciting! It sounds so romantic only until exhibitions don’t become a habitual part of your life. After that you’ll see some things from another point of view. I want to share my experience. First, it is not necessary to be in earnest to exhibitions very much. They change nothing in your dog. Whatever the judge says about your dog, however he appraises him, your dog won’t change. It remains your pet anyway. Certainly, it is very pleasant, when your dog receives the best appraisal. But you know without the judge, that your pet is the best! If the judge has not noticed the excellence of your pet, do not take offence. There’s only one first place! The first places will not suffice for everybody! Next time and at another exhibition the first place will be yours! And this time it is better to extract pleasure from dialogues with adherents. To share your knowledge. To listen to the recommendations of other dog-fanciers. To admire other dogs! To watch your dog’s pleasure from dialogues with friends! Have a nice holiday!