TheRider'sPets

Monday, 6 May 2019

3 Dog Commands That You Can Train Your Cat

TheRider'sReins May 06, 2019 0

Cat's are never trained in the way that dogs are BUT they are just as smart. The problem with cats is that they don't care about pleasing you so they seem harder to train.

1. Sit

This is super easy to train your cat and is the first thing I taught my kittens Salvester and Marmalade. I use dreamies as my cat's treats which made it easy to train them.

First I hold the treat above the cats head so he has to look up at it. Then I slowly move the treat backwards towards the cat's tail. When the cat sits give him the treat.

If the cat jumps up to grab the treat while you are trying to treat sit, pull the treat away, wait for the cat to land then try again.

2. Lie Down

This was a little harder for my cats to understand but they got it eventually. I first get my cat to sit (which needs to be already trained) then I start to pull the treat across the ground away from the cat. I make it low so the cat has to at least bend down and I pull it just far enough away that he can reach it if he lies down.

I start by rewarding when the cat just slightly lies down and slowly build up to the full lie down.

3. Paw

First, get your cat to sit down and reward. Then say 'paw', pick your cat's paw up, pause and then reward. You will then do this a few times. You can then build up to touching the leg (which will hopefully make the cat life his leg) to just putting your out and saying 'paw'.

*Disclaimer*

I am not any type of animal expert but instead only an animal lover who wants to share her tips. Please consult relevant animal specialists and do not only take my advice.

The Rider's Pets

Cat Care Read more

Friday, 3 May 2019

4 Reasons Why Your Cat won't Use The Litter Tray

TheRider'sReins May 03, 2019 0

If you have indoor cats you know how annoying litter trays are BUT we put up with them for our cat's safety. What is WAYYYY worse is when your cat decides that your brand new carpet is a MUCH better toilet!

Luckily, your cat hasn't just decided to make your life worse, he's doing it for a reason. Here are some of the reasons that your cat isn't using his litter tray and some tips on how to fix this problem.

1. Marking

If you notice that there is cat pee that is off the ground and sprayed up walls it is because he is marking. This is usually because your cat is not spayed or neutered (females spray too). This is an easy fix by getting your cat spayed/neutered (which should always be done anyway) BUT some cats can still spray.

If your cat is fixed and still spraying this is usually because they are being territorial either with other animals in your home or if they can smell other cats outside. Give your cat at least one litter tray to himself and set up an area in your home for him to relax by himself. You should aim for at least one litter tray per cat but the more the better.

2. Dirty litter

I find that a lot of cat owner only clean the litter tray out once per day. To me, this is nowhere near often enough! I spot clean my cat's litter tray every time they use it and swap the cat litter twice per day.
If you leave the litter tray dirty for too long your cat will not use it.

3. Too Many Cats

As I said above, you need to have enough litter trays if you can multiple cats. I would say one per cat in the minimum to avoid problems. Some cats simply will not use the same litter tray as another cat. Others won't use the litter tray if their buddy has been marking near it.

4. Area Not Being Cleaned Properly

If your cat had an accident on the floor and continues to use that same area it is probably due to you not cleaning properly.

Cats are similar to dogs in the way they go to the toilet. In fact, most animals use this thought process. They will always go to the toilet in the same place. How do they find this place? They smell it. So if your cleaning isn't up to scratch, they will continue to use the same place.

Cat Care Read more

Wednesday, 1 May 2019

How To Feed Your Rabbit The Perfect Diet

TheRider'sReins May 01, 2019 0

Check the type of food you are feeding

Do you know what your rabbit needs? Have you ever checked the back of the food bag and had no idea what you were looking for? It is pretty easy.

So, rabbits need at least 18% crude fibre BUT the more the better. You will be aiming for 12-14% crude protein for an adult and around 16% for a growing rabbit. You always want to keep the crude fat/oil to below 4%.

So a perfect rabbit food should look like this -

Crude fibre 20%
Crude protein 13%
Crude Fat/oil 3%

You should also look for a forage based pellet, timothy hay pellets for adults and alfalfa pellets for younger rabbits.

Amounts for food

The main part of your rabbit's diet should be made up of hay. Offering unlimited hay and apple tree twigs will make sure your rabbit is completely healthy.

Pellets should be limited to only give him the right nutrients each day. The amount of pellets fed to your rabbit decreases as your rabbit gets older.

The amounts of pellets to feed your rabbit are as follows -

7 weeks to 7 months - unlimited pellets (unless the rabbit eats pellets over hay, then limit to encourage eating more hay).

7 months to 1 year - 170g per 3kg of bodyweight

1 to 5 years - 85g per 3kg of bodyweight

6 years + - Maintain 85g per 3kg of bodyweight unless the rabbit struggles to keep weight on. If this is the case, give unlimited pellets.

Fruits and Veg

Feeding your rabbit fruit and vegetables is great for increasing the nutrients that your rabbit gets and will help your rabbit get a varied diet. It is, however, important to feed the correct amounts and types to ensure that your rabbit doesn't become unhealthy or overweight.

Here are the amounts of fruits and veg you should feed your rabbit daily -

12 weeks to 7 months - Slowly introduce only vegetables from 14g to the adult amount.

7 months + - Feed 300g of chopped veg per day. You can also introduce up to 50g of fruit per day.

Rabbits Read more

Monday, 29 April 2019

4 Reasons Your Dog Isn't Listening to You

TheRider'sReins April 29, 2019 0

1. Your commands are Confusing your Dog

Different types of breeds take to commands differently. If you have been using different commands for the same wanted behaviour you are just making things harder. Before training your dog you need to plan which command you are going to use.

For example, will you use 'stay' or 'wait' OR use both of them for different reasons? I use 'wait' for waiting for food, waiting to cross a road etc. I use 'stay' for my dog to stay in place for a longer period of time.

Another important thing to consider is if you will use hand signals. I use my finger to point at my dog then point up to ask for sit. I use the same but point downwards to lie down. This is a good idea for in situations that your dog can't hear you or in case you use confusing commands.

2. Your approach is all wrong

There is a certain way to get a dog to listen to your every command and I see sooooooo many people who get this wrong. I know that when your dog isn't listening you feel like shouting and using strong body language but you will make it worse.

If your dog won't come to you, the best thing to do is to tell ask your dog once in a happy voice and then walk away or sit down.

Your dog will never want to listen to a negative person and he definitely won't want to come back to his angry owner.

3. Your dog is a slow learner

Sometimes your dog may just need extra time to learn a command. Certain breeds are slower to learn (like my mum's chihuahua!), some are just stubborn (my Bullmastiff Hugo!) and others are quick to learn (collies, spaniels etc).

hopefully, you will have already done your research on the breed of dog that you wanted and this is one of the things you need to think about. Do you mind a dog that takes long to train and is stubborn or do you want an easy dog to train?

4. He has learnt from other dogs

If your dog is around other dogs often enough he may pick up their bad habits. For example, if one dog starts chasing a cat they all will. I have noticed that a dog will copy how others act so if one doesn't come back to his owner, yours might try to copy.

It is best to try to avoid badly behaved dogs or try to find well-trained dogs for company and play time. Remember that dogs who don't listen their owners can be rude and mean to your dog too.

Dog Training Read more

Monday, 15 April 2019

How to Set Up A Humane Guinea Pig Cage

TheRider'sReins April 15, 2019 0

Size and Location

Firstly, you need to decide where you are going to keep your guinea pig and in what type of cage. You can either use a hutch or a small garden shed outside with a run OR keep them indoors.
If you choose to keep your pet indoors, they will need out of their cage for a lot of the day. I like to go between letting them run around the room where they can jump in and out of their cage and letting them outside in a run (depending on the weather).

There are so many different types of Guinea pig cages but they should have at least 10.5 Square feet (with lots of time outside the cage) for two guinea pigs.

Basics

Firstly, you need a water bottle, I prefer glass to plastic bottles and I also have one for each guinea pig in the cage. You will also need a hayrack. Me being a horse owner, guinea pigs are supposed to be eating from the ground (like horses). This means hayracks that are high up (like haynets for horses) isn't natural and I have found that hay got into my guinea pig's eyes so try to find one that is close to the floor, like a roller.
Lastly, are the food bowls. I like to have at least one for the Nuggets and one for the veg.

Extra

Toys -

You should get your guinea pig lots of toys to keep them from getting bored. There are lots of types of toys like wooden chew toys, hanging toys and foraging, boredom breakers.

Blankets + Beds

I like to buy lots of fleece blankets ao I can alternate them while I wash others. I also like the small guinea pigs beds to put into a corner. Another option is to place some tunnels in the cage.

Litter Tray -

If your guinea pig is litter trained or you want to litter train then you will need a litter tray, I like the corner ones because it takes up less room. You will also need a guinea pig safe litter like wooden pellets. You can then choose to use the fleece blankets over shavings for the bedding.

Guinea Pigs Read more

Wednesday, 20 March 2019

5 Things to do before Getting a New Puppy

TheRider'sReins March 20, 2019 0

Ahhh getting a new puppy. The best, most exciting thought ever! Sometimes we get so excited about actually getting the puppy, we forget to plan everything that needs to happen BEFORE the puppy comes home. Here is everything I have done in the past.

A golden lab panting while looking into the distance

1. Get Your Plan Sorted Out!

Usually, when you get a puppy it means that you will have to travel to get him! We personally drove 3.5 hours and his breeder drove 3.5 hours!

Essential planning for the day you get your pup -

clean out your car and chose how he is going to travel! We had a crate in the back seats of my car but we didn't even end up using it! He quite happily sat in the footwell of the car the whole journey back!
The Address that you need to drive to!
How long it will take you with and without traffic!

2. Puppy-Proof your house!

This is one of the most important things to do! You will have to make sure there isn't everything that could fall on your pup, nothing that they can chew and if you have carpeted floors then you may want to think about getting wooden floor instead! We have ripped up my old carpet and now have wooden floorboards that are painted grey!

3. How to schedule your puppy's life!

Getting your puppy into a schedule is really important for a lot of reasons! Getting food, water and out to the toilet at the same time is the secret to less (if any) accidents! It can also make the puppy more confident and relaxed!

A puppy crate with lots of dog toys inside and a mat bed

You will need to think about toilet breaks, crate time (I personally wouldn't put my dog in a crate for more than an hour at a time and only around 2-3 times a day), feed times and play times.

4. Buying A Supply Of Toys, Blankets And Puppy Pads!

So we have gone to pets at home a few times to pick up things for my guinea pigs and go a little crazy with new things for all of my other animals.

So I have put a list together for the items that I think you need for a new puppy!

1. A crate

I think crate training while your puppy is small and learning house training. You also need a crate when you are taking your pup home as sometimes puppies can get car sick.

2. Puppy toys

Puppies chew A LOT so I think its quite important to buy toys that your puppy can chew!

3. Collar and Lead

There is nothing better than getting a tiny collar to fit your new puppy (well there probably is). Remember that your puppy is going to grow a lot so you will have to buy another one in what feels like no time at all.

4. Bed or a Blanket

Now for puppies, I definitely prefer blankets as they are easy to wash in case of accidents! The one I got this time is called VetBed! Thing blanket controls bacteria, mould, fungi and a lot more! It also is great for accidents as it is designed to drain and keep your puppy dry and warm!

5. Puppy pads and cleaning supplies

This is an obvious one! Puppies have accidents and make a mess very often for the first few weeks! Cleaning supply's, puppy pads and poo bags are essentials for the puppy!

A bag of training puppy pads and a packet of dog poo bags

5. Check your Current Animal's Health!

It is SO important to make sure your current animals are happy, healthy and not got any undetected illnesses that they could give the puppy!

I started by making sure all of my animals were up to date with health checks and vaccines. I then made sure they were worm free and free of any flees.

*Disclaimer*

I am not any type of animal expert but instead only an animal lover who wants to share her tips. Please consult relevant animal specialists and do not only take my advice.

The Rider's Pets

Dog Care Read more

Monday, 18 March 2019

How to Give Your Guinea Pig a Balanced Diet

TheRider'sReins March 18, 2019 0

Crude Percentages

The first thing I like to look at is crude percentages. It is important to make sure the fat percentage is as low as possible. While looking at hay & nuggets, I would never buy anything that is over 3% crude fat (crude fat is sometimes called crude oil), who wants a fat guinea pig? No one! I personally like to find nuggets with 2% or lower fat.

Next, I look at the crude protein, Guinea pigs don't need a high amount of protein so look for 15-16% of crude protein.

Lastly, is the fibre which I like to find nuggets with 20%+ of crude fibre. If you can't find any this high, don't worry too much as the main diet of hay will provide most of the fibre that your guinea pig needs.

Three guinea pigs eating a stalk on grass

Amount of food

Guinea pigs need to eat mostly hay. In fact, I try to feed hay for at least 80% of the total diet (which is just as much as they want to eat). This is SO important because chewing on hay keeps their teeth from getting too long.

I like to feed my guinea pigs around 10% of their diet in nuggets. Nuggets are great for giving your guinea pigs the vitamins and minerals that they need and they avoid selective eating. However, you do need to find good quality food as some nuggets are high in fat or don't provide the correct crude percentages.
If you cannot find a good brand of nuggets you can mix multiple different brands together and calculate the percentages of your new mix to make sure they are correct.

Example of how to calculate your mixes of nuggets.

Brand 1 -

Crude protein 14%

Crude fibre 20%

Crude Fat 4%

Brand 2 -

Crude protein 18%

Crude Fibre 14%

Crude Fat 2%

Brand 3 -

Crude protein 14%

Crude fibre 26%

Crude fat 3%

Your Mix -

Crude Protein 15.3%

Crude Fibre 20%

Crude Fat 3%

So, brand 1 has too much fat and a lower protein and brand 2 has too much protein. Adding these two brands together sorts the fat and protein out but makes the fibre too low so we add brand 3 to get the fibre back up.

To work out the new percentage of the mix, you add the percentage numbers together and then divide by the number of brands you are using.

So here is how I worked out the new mix's protein -

14 + 18 + 14= 46

46/ 3 = 15.3% Crude Protein

A tan and white guinea pig standing in the grass

Fruit and Veg

Lastly, we have fresh fruit and veg. I like to give around 10% of the guinea pig's diet in fruit in veg. Getting even more into the diet, I feed about 8-9% of leafy greens healthy veg and only 1-2% Fruit or less healthy veg.

You can find a chart online for which fruit and vegetable guinea pigs can have and how often they can eat them. I choose an array of different veg and 1 type of fruit.

You can choose whatever you think is best but here is a quick example of what you could feed your guinea pig for a week.

Monday -

Romaine lettuce
Baby corn
Broccoli

Tuesday -

Kale
Celery
Yellow Sweet Pepper

Wednesday -

Watercress
Cucumber
Apple

Thursday -

Spinach
Green Sweet Pepper
Carrot

Friday -

Romaine lettuce
Asparagus
Broccoli

Saturday -

Green Beans
Red Sweet Pepper
Celery

Sunday -

Cress
Courgette
Sweet Snap Peas

Six small guinea pigs eating vegetables on a straw bed