Thursday, December 18, 2008

How to teach your dog to sit

In this How-to guide we will learn how to make ones dog sit on command.
So here goes.

What you will need:
* Your dogs favorite toy
* Or favorite doggy snacks

You can choose either but from personal experience I've found that the dog reacts faster to snacks.

Teaching your dog to sit might well be the easiest command you can teach it believe it or not, it is quite an easy and straight forward process.

1)
First of we will start by bringing the dog into an open space using either toy or snack to get it's attention.

If your pet does not heed commands yet doing this outside will not be the best of ideas as it will most probably just run of somewhere.
Choosing either toy or snack and sticking with it is important as consistency will be important to form a habit in the training.

2)
Now that you have your dog in the room with you bring the toy or snack in view of the dog to obtain it's attention, waving it around in the air might help in the start.

When the dogs attention is at you and the treat/toy you may begin the training.

3)
Bring the toy down to the dogs face letting it sniff/see the object and slowly bring the object up above the dogs head while using the command "
sit" until it starts craning it's neck to get a better view and naturally sits down to do this.
Praise and pet it as it sits down and make it understand the connection to the command as well as giving it the treat/toy as a reward.

If this should not work and the dog starts spinning around on the floor simply put your hand on it's hind part and gently push down on it's butt using the "sit" command and holding the object in plain view in front of the dog until it complies.
Proceed to praise and pet the dog when it get's it right and give it the toy/snack as a reward.


This is all that is needed to teach your dog how to sit but there is still a few things to keep in mind:

*First of never scream/yell at your dog as this will only be counter productive in teaching it anything.

*Be patient and keep up the training exercises regularly as the dog will need time to form a habit around the command and learn the concept.

*Don't overdo it, 10-15 minutes two times a day will be enough.

*Keeping snacks/the toy in your pocket to randomly test the dog throughout the day as it get's more used to the command is a nice way to keep the command reinforced.



This concludes my How-to guide on "How to teach your dog to sit", I hope you enjoyed it and do recommend it to others.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

How to build a squirrel house

In an earlier article we learned how to befriend a squirrel, in this we will learn how to make very simple and cheap little squirrel house to give them yet another reason to stick around your yard.

What you are going to need:

* An old tire
* Corn stalks and dried leaves
* A hammer
* A ladder
* 4 nails


1) Now find a descent sized tree in your yard that will fit the tire snugly on it's side and simply hammer it in place 14-15 feet above ground level, two nails on each side of the tire on top and on the bottom corners.
Make sure the nails are well into the wood so as not to risk injuring your little squirrel buddies by having it stick into the tire and them getting they're fur on it.

This height will provide sufficient elevation for the squirrels to feel safe while you will still be able to study they're daily behavior fairly easy from you window or porch.
It might be a good idea to mount the squirrel house on the south side of the tree so it can keep save up warmth for chilly nights.

2) Now place the corn stalks and dried leaves inside the wheel making a bed inside it's rim and you are done.
If you so choose you can also add a cover for half of the front of the wheel offering the squirrels extra protection and shelter.


Remember cleaning out your little squirrel house every fall or you it will start smelling quite foul and might well be a future source for disease in the squirrel population around your house.


This concludes my How-To guide on "How to build a squirrel house".
I hope you enjoyed it, do recommend it to others if you did.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

How to attract hummingbirds to your yard

If your one that enjoys being able to watch hummingbirds flutter around your yard, maybe you want to photograph them.
Then this How-To guide is for you so read on.

1) Purchase a readily made hummingbird feeder and fill it with nectar.
You can buy it from the store or even make your own by simply adding one part white cane sugar to four parts water, no boiling needed.

2) Now hang the feeder outside a window or on your porch.
Adding more then one feeder at different places around the house can be a good idea as hummingbirds tend to be quite territorial.

3) Plant flower beds near the feeders with flowers that they like such as:
Lantana
and Penta (red or pink are preferable)
A bird bath can also be a good idea.



This concludes my How-to guide on "How to attract hummingbirds to your yard".
Hope you enjoyed it, do tell your friends about this site.

How to make a squirrel friend

Making a squirrel your friend might not be the easiest task in the world, but well worth the work and patience it takes as you can have your furry little buddy greet you every time you walk around in your yard, might even get his family in on the bargain.

So here goes:

1)
For starters you will have to attract the squirrels attention so you will start by leaving peanuts (without the shell of course) lying around in your yard, make sure you dont use the salty kind.

Don't hang around at first tough because they pick up your scent and will not come just yet, start by watching them from your window.
Do this for about a week after you are able to spot the first squirrels.
But keep an eye out for birds as they will steal the peanuts.

2)
Once your little squirrel buddies get used to the idea of finding nuts in your yard they will begin to come around more frequently as a habit forms.

This is the point where you will start sitting outside with them as they eat, but don't sit to close and don't stare at them as this will scare them of.
Give this about a week as well and the squirrels will start to get used to eat with you present in the yard.

3)
Now you can start to flick peanuts in the general direction of your furry little friends, but dont aim for them as you will only scare them of.

As about a week passes you will start to notice the squirrels are sitting around waiting for you to throw them said peanuts as long as you try to to this at about the same time every day, making a habit of it for both of you.

4)
Now start throwing the nuts closer and closer to yourself, but do not rush it as they will get vary if it's not done slowly.

You can start talking softly to them as you would a scared animal to make them used to your voice at this stage.

5)
Now you will start holding the nut in you hand down to the ground so the squirrel can see it clearly, he most likely wont dare come over to grab it at first so flick it lightly toward him after you make sure he sees you holding it out clearly (about half a meter or less will do).

Continue this until he is comfortable coming to within half a meter of you.

6)
Now start holding the nut in your hand for longer and longer periodes of time until he finally comes to grab it out of your hand.

At this point it is important not to make any sudden noise or moves as it will scare him away and you will be forced to start at point one all over again.

Things to consider:

Bend down when throwing the nuts to make less of a frightening posture for the little fellow.

Some squirrels might well be carrying diseases that can transmit if they bite you so beware of this if you should choose to hand feed squirrels.

The squirrels will become braver as time passes and might even come looking for you at your window or porch, make sure your doors and windows are securly locked as they will wreck your house up quite badly when caught indoors.

Don't do this if you have birds regularely in your yard, or cats or dogs at home.
They do not mix well

This concludes my How-to guide on "How to make a squirrel friend".
Hope you liked it and do tell your friends about this site.

Monday, December 15, 2008

How to attract butterflies to your garden

This how-to guide will tell you how you can attract butterflies to your garden with the help of herbs.

For people who like butterflies it is good to know that certain things can be done to attract them. Having certain plants around is a good way to do just this.

1) You have your garden but it just doesn't seem right with nothing else there. You might be wondering where all the butterflies have gone of to.
They are around, it just depends on what you have planted in that garden of yours.
One way of getting them to come in is by planting herbs.

2) If you can get all of these herbs it would be a major attraction to the butterflies you want to inhabit your garden.
The herbs that I would recommend are:
Anise Hyssop
Campion
Comfrey
Hemp Agrimony
Mallow
Marjoram
Nettle
Loosestrife
Oregano
Sweet Rocket
and Thistle
Planting suggestions are to lightly rake the seeds into the soil.
It may be possible for you to buy the herbs already grown and plant these.


3) Other plants and herbs may work just as well so this is just ro be considered something to get you started.
You can then see what works really well by which ones are attracting them.

Things to consider:

Bothering the butterflies will scare them away.

This concludes my How-to guide on "how to attract butterflies to your garden", I hope you found it useful and will tell of this site to others.

How to attract bluebirds to your backyard

Many people want to know how to attract bluebirds to their yard.
Bluebirds are one of the most beautiful songbirds native to the United States.
Competition for nesting sites and food have hurt their populations in the past.
You can be a part of bringing them back by attracting them and giving them a safe haven in your backyard and benefit from the pleasures of having these beautiful birds at your home.

This guide will tell you how, so lets get to it:

1) Habitat.
If your yard has a good mix of open areas so the birds can hunt, high perches so they can spot insects as well as their enemies and a place for a nest box, you have a good chance to tempt a bluebird to stay in your yard.
Complete these next steps to make your yard a bluebird yard.

2) Shelter.
Unless you have woods nearby with lots of possiblities for nesting, it is usually a good idea to provide a bluebird specific birdhouse.
Bluebirds have specific requirements as to their personal preferences and their need to be protected from enemies.
You can either build your own house or buy one pre-made .
Searching Google for "Bluebird specific birdhouse plans" should yield building plans.
Always provide more than one birdhouse on your property because if you have only one, other birds will come and fight over it and your bluebirds will loose that fight (meaning a normal bird house, not bluebird specific).
If you have more than one, they most likely will co-exist peacefully.
Place them about 20 feet apart.
Mount the birdhouse on a pole, fence post, out building or tree.
Provide appropriate protection from marauding House Sparrows, Cats, Snakes and Squirrels.
Baffles or greased poles work well for most of these.

3) Food.
Providing the birds with something to eat when they arrive in the spring could be the single most important factor in attracting bluebirds to your place.
Following all of the other steps will convince them to stay there.
Some people buy mealworms and offer them to the bluebirds in a tray or dish, the birds will also eat suet as well as normal bird food.
Fortify it with bits of raisins or currants, some like it with peanut butter mixed in.
Plant crabapples - Profusion" a variety of Crabapple that holds on to it's small fruits all winter.
It is a
very important food source for the returning birds in the spring.
They
flock to it like moth to a light.

4) Water.
Provide a water feature of some kind in your yard.
A pond, half-barrel with a drip fountain, a birdbath, spill basin, gurgling brook, anything would be appreciated by your birds.


Things to take into consideration:

Clean your birdhouses out after baby birds have fledged

Keep a journal on the activities of you bluebirds and their success in raising their families.
Provide this important data to organizations that keep track of the bluebird population, like: The Project Feeder Watch, by Cornell University.


Join the North American Bluebird Society.

Keep house sparrows away from your yard.

Multiple houses will not keep house sparrows from killing your bluebirds.


This concludes my How-to guide on "how to attract bluebirds to your backyard" hope it was helpful and that you enjoyed it and do tell your friends about this site.

How to toilet-train your cat

This article will teach you how to easily and practically toilet train your cat so that you will never have to clean another litter box again.

The general idea here is that the transition from litter box to toilet be done in several stages, giving your cat the time to adjust to each new change before making another so as not to confuse and discourage the cat and loose what progress have been accomplished so far.

The most important point for you to remember from this point on will be:
Lid Up, Seat Down.
Tape a note on the underside and top of your toilet lid to remind yourself and possibly others of this fact so that this is not forgotten.
And if you are in the habit of closing the bathroom door when done you will be wise to post a note on it as well, reminding you and others to leave it open.

With these rules in mind lets begin:

1) Begin by moving the litter box from wherever it is at the moment to right beside the toilet, let it stay like that until you are sure your cat has gotten familiar with the change and started to use the litter box on a regular basis.

2) After waiting for your cat to adjust to the change and get used to it, place a stack of newspapers/a phone book etc under the litter box and raise it approximately one/two inches above the ground.
It is important to not use anything with a slippery surface because if the litter box moves around while the cat is using it it will most probably get scared and abandon the use of it.
Now before doing anything else you will as before give the cat time to adjust to the new change and become familiar with it before moving on.

3) Continue the process in step 2 with periods for the cat to adjust to the changes in between until the bottom of the litter box is level with the top of the toilet seat.
Taping the litter box to the books/magazines used might be a good idea to reduce the risk of it slipping.
You might use a cardboard box at the bottom as the stack gets bigger.

At the beginning of this process your cat could simply step into the box, and as the height grew it will have started to jump on the open toilet seat to get into the box which has trained it to get used to move around on the open toilet seat and become familiar with this as well.

4) Now comes the transition, you might want to start by having the litter box half way over the toilet seat, then all the way in two steps with a few days in between before completely removing it to make the adjustment smoother, remember to give the cat time to get used to the new change.

Now you lift the toilet seat and measure the inside diameter of the top of the toilet bowl and acquire a metal bowl that will fit snugly in the toilet bowl under the seat without falling into the bowl (A plastic bowl wont do as it will collapse under the weight of your cat and fall into the toilet spooking the cat away from the entire idea.

5) Fill the metal bowl with about two to two and a half inches of litter (all of this is much easier if you have the tiny granules of litter that can be scooped out and flushed down the toilet).
And fit the metal bowl into the toilet bowl lowering the toilet seat on top, of course removing the bowl when using the toilet yourself.

From this point on will be the hardest part and require the biggest amount of active interaction from your side, but if you feel it is tiresome and not worth it keep in mind that you will never have to clean another litter box again after you finish with this.

6) Watch your cat as it is using the metal bowl.
Count the number of feet he/she gets up on the toilet seat (as opposed to down into the bowl of litter).
The higher the number, the luckier you are and the easier your job will be.
Next you have to teach him proper squatting posture, catch him beginning to use the bowl as much of the time as possible and show him where his feet are supposed to go.
Just lift them right out of the bowl and place them on the seat (front legs in the middle, hind legs on the outside).
If he starts out with three or all four feet in the bowl, just get the front two feet out first.
Praise him all over the place every time he completes the activity in this position, treats every now and again can be helpful but don't overdo it.

7) When he/she is regularly using the toilet with his front feet out, begin lifting a hind foot out and placing it on the seat outside the front paws.
The cat will probably find this awkward at first and try to replace the foot in the litter.
Be persistent.
Move that foot out repeatedly, until it stays there.
Praise and optionally give the cat a treat for a job well done.

8) Repeat with the other hind foot, until your cat learns to balance in that squat.
Once he/she is getting all four feet regularly on the seat, it's all downhill from there.
Which is fortunate, because the last bit is also the most unpleasant.
It would be advisable to have the responsible party home for a week or so for this part as the bowl will need emptying so as not to stink up your entire house.

9) Begin reducing the litter in the bowl.
Go slow so the cat can have time to adjust and get used to the change, and beware that as the litter decreases, the odor increases.
You'll want to have the responsible party home at this point so that you/they can praise the cat and dump out the contents of the bowl immediately after he/she is finished, to minimize both the smell and the possibility that your cat, in a confused attempt to minimize the smell on his own, tries to cover it up with litter that no longer exists and ends up dragging unpleasantness into the rest of the house.

10) By the time you're down to a teaspoonful of litter in the bottom of the bowl, you will probably be aware of the precise instant your cat has used the toilet.

This is as bad as it gets.

The next time you rinse out the metal bowl, put a little bit of water in the bottom.
Increase the water level each time, just as you decreased the litter level.
Remember — if at any point the cat looks nervous enough about the change to give the whole thing up and take it's business somewhere else in the house, back up a step or two and try the thing again more slowly.

Once the water in the metal bowl is a couple of inches deep and your cat is comfortable with the whole thing, you're almost done.
Take the metal bowl away, leaving the bare toilet. (Lid Up, Seat Down.)


You now have a toilet trained cat and will never have to clean another litter box again, just remember to flush.

This concludes my How-to article on "How to toilet-train your cat, hope you found this helpful and do recommend it to your friends.

How to make your dog stop barking

In the world of dog owners it's quite common to have dogs that just cant seem to stop barking at any given time, be it while they are outside, inside our just on a walk.
We'll be dealing with that problem here today.

But first of there is a few things we need to make sure we understand before starting as there can be several reasons to your dogs barking tendencies.
What you have to understand is that the dogs only way of speaking and communicating lies in his bark, so single barks and sounds are not to be considered as irritating behavior as the dog has as big a need to be heard as you and me in his/her own way.
It might be that your dog is trying to communicate a problem or a desire to do something so have this in mind as well.

If the dog is standing outside a lot you will have to take the environment into consideration, be it dogs or other animals barking or making a ruckus, kids bothering the dog etc, these things will have to be dealt with beforehand.
In the case of other animals aggravating the dog it is possible with these same techniques to rid it of the habit of barking at them.

To get started, first of there is a few thing you'll need:

1) A spray bottle
2) Tap water
3) A whistle (optional)
4) Dog treats (optional)

Instructions:

1) For your dog it will take about 30 days for something to become a habit, so as you might have figured out it will take your persistence and determination to train your dog and accomplish the wanted results.
There is no excuse for hitting or manhandling your dog and I want you all to have this clear in mind as you train your dog.

2) Now, every time you are able to catch your dog barking consecutively and irritatingly you will be using the spray bottle and squirt water in the dogs face and the whistle (optionally a high pitched use of your own voice) to signal to the dog that this is wrong, a pointed finger might be added.
The reason for the whistle (or high pitch) is to not give the dog an association to a bad feeling when it hears your voice as is what screaming and yelling to the dog will result in.

3) When the dog calms down and stops barking you will be wise to stroke and praise it and optionally give it a treat, it's important to remember never to give it praise, petting or treats if it continues to bark but resort to point 2 in this guide.
If the dog is standing outside barking you will go outside and do exactly the same, to learn the dog that this is not an accepted way to obtain your attention.
After a while it will be enough to simply whistle when the dog barks as it is learning the meaning and association of the sound.
However if the dog is left outside alone for a long period of time it will be only natural for it to bark as it's need for attention is as great as any of ours, a long walk with the dog every now and again might fix the problem all by itself in such a case.

4) This is really all that is needed to make your dog stop barking, but if your dog is generally disobedient you will be wise to use the treats and whistle for other training as well.
As sitting, laying down etc so that your dog will gain a greater level of respect and obedience for you.
It is important to remember not to use the whistle when the dog is not doing anything wrong, and (while in training for a command or other) not pet or give the dog snacks when it's not done something correct after a command.
And this does not mean not to feed your dog, just don't give it the special snacks without reason.

Things to take into consideration:

A dog that barks and growls and shows his teeth in a threatening way is getting ready to bite you. Do not squirt water up his nose. Do not threaten him. Consult with your veterinarian or dog psychologist.

In the case of dogs barking when left alone at home these methods will enforce the habit of not barking in the dog but probably not solve it entirely.
In this case you will be wise to leave the dog with a TV or radio on (not to loud) so that the dog can hear human voices and other sounds then those from the outside that it might react to.
Saying goodbye, petting and assuring the dog that you will be back soon is counter productive as you enforce the idea that it is a big deal for the dog to be alone.
Make as little fuzz as possible and the dog is likely to do the same.


This concludes my How-to guide on "How to make your dog stop barking", I hope you found this helpful and will recommend it to others.

The start

Welcome to my blog.
This is where it all starts, from today onward I will be posting different How-To guides for the common public.
I will not let myself be restricted to a single theme but try to cover as many possible subjects as humanly possible in the time I have available so that I can provide the best possible service and comprehensible guides for you, my readers.
I am completely new to the use of blogger and blogging in general so you will notice that this site will evolve as time goes on as I expect my ability to post useful guides will to.
So i hope you enjoy this blog and recommend my site to your friends.
That is all for now, on to the guides.