These tips are taken from PsyTech Inc. book Rabbit Care Secrets

This is absolutely critical information you need whether you already own a rabbit or you are just thinking about getting one:

Avoid pine scented beddings (the kind you’re most likely to buy at the pet store) like the plague! (Many studies show that they cause liver damage in small animals – and there’s mounting evidence that they may irritate your bunny’s respiratory system too). Opt for brands made with unscented wood shavings or compressed newspaper instead.

Cell Sorb, Care Fresh, and Yesterday’s News are all great brands. (we’re trying to set up a special discount for our readers… we’ll let you know if we’re able to do it).

Of course bunny rabbits love carrots, but you have to watch the quantity closely because there’s actually a lot of sugar in them. (Same with banannas and grapes, etc).

It’s OK to give small pieces a few times a week… but it’s dangerous to do much more.

If a bunny gets too heavy, their internal organs don’t function very well.

Before you buy a bunny rabbit from a pet store, please consider the frequent problems encountered including (1) unknowingly purchasing a pregnant bunny and winding up with too many rabbits to care for; (2) the high incidence of illness; (3) the frequency with which pet stores misidentify your pet’s gender (especially important if you buy 2 or more rabbits because not every gender pair gets along well).

Consider looking for a rescue (search Google for rabbit rescue) instead. (Over a million bunnies in rescues around the world are put to sleep each year because they can’t find a home – wouldn’t it feel good to save a life?)

Avoid wire mesh cage bottoms. They’re easier to clean, sure but they cause sores on your pet’s tender little feet. Opt for plastic bottoms instead! (Or even better, give your bunnies an entire rabbit-proofed room or two)

If you do purchase from a pet store, read about the proper diet and care for rabbits first. Generally a sales associate at the pet store is going to steer you toward buying products, rather than what is necessary and proper for your bunny to live a happy, healthy life. (Of course, there ARE some very ethical pet stores – but they’re harder to find)

Rabbit Care Secrets You can get the book here: http://www.rabbitsecrets.com/R.htm is the book with literally hundreds of word of mouth tips and tricks – secrets which are next to impossible to find in books and pet stores. This is the gold which only comes from years and years of hands on experience… including all the hard to find Rabbit information people just can’t locate with internet searches or trips to the library!

Buy dog toys like you are buying toys for your kids ? always put safety first. Dog toys need not necessarily be expensive, nor should they be cute. Dogs do not care how expensive or how cute a toy is. What they need is something safe, interesting and durable. Dogs basically carry around their toys to areas they feel comfortable playing in. They bite and chew these toys, and very squeaky toys tend to scare them off. If you are to purchase a dog toy, just make sure that it is practical, safe and entertaining for your pet.

The size of the dog toy matters a lot. And because dogs chew and bite, it is necessary to make sure that the toy is not too big to hinder your pet from carrying it from one place to another (nor is it too small to get stuck in its mouth or throat).

Durable toys are the best. Dog toys that easily get torn apart pose great risk of injuring the gums, getting stuck on teeth, and give opportunity to cases of accidental swallowing and choking.

The variety of dog toys lining market shelves include both hard and soft rubber balls, dental health toys, rope, fetch toys, talking toys, rubber rings and the puffy and furry ones. They come in assorted sizes and shapes that your pet dogs will love. Whatever dog toys you prefer to buy should not in any way present a health hazard to your pet. If you truly love your dogs, put their safety as your top priority.

Dog Toys provides detailed information on Dog Toys, Wholesale Dog Toys, Dog Chew Toys, Plush Dog Toys and more. Dog Toys is affiliated with Homemade Dog Treats.

One of the benefits of registering your pet with a pet recovery service is that in the event your pet should ever become lost, the finder can get information to contact the owner.

The main drawback to many of these services is that they use the information currently located on the pet tag to register the pet, and by doing this, the finder of the pet does not have a place to go to view the owners contact information.

Now these services are all right for rural communities that may have one veterinarian, and everyone practically knows each other, but they are not suited to medium or large metropolitan areas.

In these areas the chance of a pet being recovered decrease because it is an ever evolving society, and constantly growing. To take advantage of the benefits provided by a registration service in these areas, the registrar?s information has to be visible on the pet tag. One such company that provides a pet tag with its web address on the tag is RecoveryPets.com, and also on the tag is the unique registration number the pet receives when it is registered.

One of the major benefits of this type of registration is that no matter who find the lost pet, they will know exactly where to go to find the owners contact information. And, the RecoveryPets.Com website is designed to be simple to navigate, so that the finder can quickly retrieve the pet owners contact information. To view their site and see how simple it is to navigate visit them at: http://www.recoverypets.com

Thaddeus Collins is the owner of RecoveryPets.Com a company that specializes in the global recovery of lost pets using a unique tracking number that is registered on the companies website, and can be searched if the pet becomes lost. For more information visit http://www.recoverypets.com

No animal has done more for the advancement of humankind than the horse. That said, it’s hard to imagine ever using the horse as a source of food. But of course, that’s how the man-horse relationship began.

The history books contain many references to the horse as prey some 50,000 years ago, when Cro-Magnon man had to hunt for his food. Seems that no one knows for sure just when or how the horse first became a helper to man. But many have reasoned that when early Cro-Magnon man needed to move his encampments from place to place, he started using the more docile horses as pack animals. So that would mark the beginnings of horse domestication.

Historians also believe that as man progressed from hunter to farmer, he continued using horses for food but also as helpers for herding. This would have brought about the need to jump on the horse’s back and follow along behind the herd. And that would mark the beginnings of the horse as a means of transportation for humans.

Recent archeological excavations in the Ukraine unearthed horses’ teeth and evidence of the first bridle. These findings have brought the experts to conclude that the beginnings of horseback riding began with the nomadic tribes of what is now Eastern Europe, in about 4000 BC. However, riding wouldn’t really catch on until long after the invention of the wheel and the preferred use of horses as draft animals.

It is believed that the horse’s domestication as a draft animal began sometime between 3000 and 2000 BC. Faster than the oxen and equids that had first been used to pull wheeled vehicles, the horse soon took over and this spawned the ever-improving development of yokes, breast straps, collars, bits and bridles.

Inevitably the horse was to become a major tool of warfare. Around 1350 BC the Hittite king Suppililiuma decided to go to war against the Mitannians, bought large numbers of horses, and engaged the services of a Mitannian horsemaster named Kikkuli. After defecting from the Mitanni, Kikkuli turned the king’s horses into war machines that were ridden into battle until the king’s militia had totally destroyed the Mitanni.

Now the bonding of man and horse had truly begun. Still, horseback riding was not for the elite, much less the general populace. For hundreds of years, horses were bred to be warhorses. But when Xenophon wrote The Art of Horsemanship in around 400 BC, the time was approaching when people would ride horses for more than herding, hunting and fighting.

Although America’s wild horses had been tamed by the Indians, it is said that the Spanish explorers brought the first domesticated horses to North America in 1519 AD.

By the early 1700s, Rhode Island had become America’s principal horse breeding state. Horses became the primary means of transportation, soon carrying riders on their backs and pulling people and materials in wheeled vehicles across the vastness of the New World.

By the 1800s the horse was a necessity of urban and rural life. The horse helped us build cities, farm the land, fight wars and settle a continent. No animal has done more for humankind.

Copyright MBPCO 2006 and Beyond. Elizabeth Miller is an author/publisher. For more about horses just click =>horses.

The Anatolian Shepherd is usually a fawn dog with black points and mask that is quite striking in appearance. In the United Statees the standard is not quite as strict and the color may be a light cream with or without a facial mask. It was used as a guardian dog in Turkey for the flocks of sheep and goats and is a bold dog that will fend off predators without any fear or hesitation. The dog originally was known as the Anatolian Karabash until it was entered into the registry of the Kennel Club of Great Britain. It is a large mastiff type dog without any heaviness to the jowls as with some mastiffs, being of clean lines and heavy boned and solid in appearance through the body. This is a dog that can and should prevent predator attacks and also humans who have a bad intent towards its flock, but should not be overly aggressive, simply watchful and alert. He should be reserved when away from his own territory and not at all possessive or aggressive in those circumstances.

The Anatolian Shepherd has a tight, dense coat about one inch in length all over, although there is a variety called the rough coat with longer hair, it is much more rare and not as well known. The Anatolian has been known in Europe and Great Britain for many years but only recently (1996) was the Standard approved by the American Kennel Club. The A.K.C. has registered this dog as a member of the Working Group.

His movement is rangy and well balanced. The dog is a large dog, standing 27-29 inches at the shoulder with a weight of 110 to 140 pounds, but in movement he should be light on the feet and agile. This is a dog that is an easy care breed, relatively free of genetic problems and easy to groom, (especially the short coated variety.)

The Anatolian is an independent breed and not necessarily a house pet, although he is a faithful guard dog in the house he becomes bored easily and is happiest when doing outside work. He is a dog that should have a job to do. Most of the people who own an Anatolian, if they are not showing him, are actually using him for his intended purpose. He is becoming more popular in the southwestern and midwestern United States since his prowess as a coyote killer has become evident.

This is a breed that needs a great deal of socializing as a puppy since he is a thinking dog and not a follower. He is highly protective of his own people or flock. With children he may not recognize them as little people and may treat them more as members of his flock, this can lead to problems when strange children come over to play. It is necessary that the person who owns an Anatolian recognizes that this is a breed that has a purpose and a job, this is not a dog who is intended to be just a pet.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Dogs

It’s become standard for anyone wanting a glamorous aura to pick out their dogs like they pick out their shoes. Ooh – I’ll have that darling one in the corner, great color – matches my handbag too!

And they’re easy to find – anyone with enough money can pick out the doglet of their dreams.

Perhaps even scarier than the free availability of ‘designer dogs’ is the fact that almost anyone can create a new breed of dog. The sudden increase in dogs as fashion statements has meant that there are many unscrupulous breeders trying to make a quick buck from expensive dogs with cute names.

Unfortunately there are so many risks with these kinds of breeding practices. Anybody can mix any combination of dogs but few can master doing it in a way that is good for the dogs, and the humans who live with them. It’s about much more than genetics. Why create a dog that is very likely to have a painful future?

Imagine that your cute Yorki-poo puppy has a very expensive medical future before them. Or try to imagine that this adorable Puggle that you’ve just brought home might have to have his eyes popped back into their sockets at regular intervals!

Amateur breeders are unleashing all kinds of dangerous conditions upon dogs who are being bred to fit in with our lifestyles.

It can be argued that all dogs came to be as a result of interbreeding. Not only are all purebreds a result of mixing but in fact every single dog today has some history of crossbreeding in their past.

There is a well deserved stigma surrounding these new so called ‘designer mutts’.

Various Pug and Pekingese breeds have very sensitive eyes. Pugs are known to have problematic eyes as are Pekingese. You could end up with a dog whose eyes come out of their sockets. And fixing it could require expensive and painful corrective surgery.

Sounds like something from a horror movie rather than a happy family dog!

What about the mixing of some larger dogs? It can be just as harmful if two genetically inferior specimens are used. You could end up crossing dogs that are plagued by hip dysplasia and land up with a crippled dog.

It’s the lack of predictability that makes these dogs such a risk. You never know what you are getting. And while the odds might be in your favor – nobody can guarantee the health of your designer puppy.

The American Kennel Club is considering allowing some of the more established breeds into the list of accepted and recognized breeds. But this process requires some organization on the part of breeders.

In order to be officially recognized there needs to be evidence that the dogs have at least a three generation pedigree. The dog must also be widely spread across the United States – across at least 20 states.

Labradoodles are the most well known of the designer dog clubs. Labradoodles are also at the forefront of acceptance into the American Kennel Club. There are some breeders who have at least 15 generations of Labradoodles and claim they can predict with great certainty the look and temperament of the dog. There is much debate in the canine world about whether or not many of these new hybrids will be

Only time will tell whether these dogs will be accepted into the mainstream. Many people are enjoying the benefits of dogs designed to fit in a handbag or dogs designed to live in small spaces.

It’s important to remember that whatever you are looking for in a dog – you are looking for in the puppy’s parents too. With these expensive puppies you might be shelling out allot of money for a great disappointment.

Check as much as you can about the mix you are most interested in. Rather leave combinations that you can see might have similar weaknesses. Don’t buy puppies from people who seem to be more interested in your money than the wellbeing of their puppies.

At the end of the day – good puppies come from good homes. Knowledge about genetic disorders is as important as warmth and love when it comes to making great pets.

Until designer dogs become more widely recognized – it’s best to stick to the more traditional mixes. At least you will know what you are getting.

If a purebred puppy doesn’t really appeal to you – why not rather think about buying an adult dog from a shelter. At least this way you can have a bit more certainty about the dog?s temperament and looks.

At the end of the day your designer mutt might end up costing you more. If your dog has some suspect heritage you will need many tests to screen for a range of possible ailments. If your dog is your fashion accessory – you will be able to enjoy the added advantage of all kinds of colorful accessories for you little mutt.

Whatever you decide – giving them a happy home is more important above all else no matter what may come your dog’s way.

Steve Allison is a third generation of professional dog breeders along with his brother Gary. It all started with his grandparents in 1970 with the Boston Terriers and has expanded to Maltese, Yorkshire Terriers, Pugs, Shih Tzu?s and Pomeranians. He is also actively involved with dog rescue and has a website that showcases the puppies they occasionally has for sale at All My Puppies Online Steve is also the co-author of two consumer guides, Carpet Secrets and Moving Secrets Guide