Entries Tagged 'Dogs' ↓

Another great travel tour is the Scenic Granada Tour. Located in Honduras and Nicaragua—as part of Central America, you can visit such sites as the Mayan site of Copan and its remarkable stone sculptures and Roatan Island, where you can snorkel, enjoy the colonial architecture in Leon and other fantastic sites.

Tour Highlights

An example of a tour highlight of the Scenic Granada Tour is Antigua—a beautiful, colonial town that is surrounded by huge volcanoes. Another site you won’t want to miss is Copan. This is in a southern location of the Maya sites where you can discover fantastic pyramids, sculpture and hieroglyphics. Then, you can also visit Granada. This is a lovely colonial town where you can relax for awhile and let the business of life go by. During the Scenic Granada Tour you can also visit Ometepe Island. This is an intriguing island; an island you may want to explore. Here you will find many sites to see. In addition, check out San Jose. This is Costa Rica’s cultural capital and here you will find many cafes, restaurants, theatres and museums that you will want to explore.

The food of Granada is various and delicious. You will find in this area wonderfully prepared vegetables, specially made stews, soups and pottages. In addition, you will find fresh seafood and delicious hams and sausages—meats that are cured in Granada’s high Sierra Nevada mountains and wonderful spices that add zest to any menu—such spices as coriander, cumin and saffron.

Don’t Miss EL Zanion De Granado

In addition, you may also want to check out El Zanjon De Granado. This is an archeology/museum that more than a museum. During this tour you will travel through a museum that has been turned into a tenement building and as you walk along you will see underground tunnels, gaze at beautiful adobe walls and glass kitchen tiles, view an open water cistern, brick arches and much more. You will get a wonderful and eye-catching view of what it was like centuries ago.

Anyone who has purchased a puppy has been faced with the task of finding the best place for their puppy to sleep and this can be a little daunting. The easiest thing to buy for your puppy in the very beginning is a doggie crate. Crates are useful for dog owners because you will have peace of mind in knowing that your dog is in a safe and secure place while you’re sleeping at night and also during the day when you’re away from your house. Dog’s also love crates too because the crate becomes their own personal space that they can retreat to if they ever want to get away from the action in the house.

Dog Supplies

You can easily purchase your pet supplies at most local stores or online where you will have a bigger selection of supplies to choose from. A company that I like to purchase all of my pet supplies through is Nutrecare. I’ve found Nutrecare dog supplies to be high quality, affordable and the best for my dog.

Leash & Collar

The most important things that you will ever buy for your dog are a dog collar and leash. Buying a good leash and collar are important because they are vital to ensuring that your dog will stay safe when you take your dog on walks or are away from the house. There are many adjustable nylon dog collars available that you can buy online or locally. As for the dog leash you should buy a leather leash because leather leashes are stronger than nylon, easier on your skin and harder for your dog to chew through. Many people might be tempted to purchase a chain leash for their dog because that’s what they have seen other dog owners do in the past and this is the wrong thing to do because chain leashes can injure you or your dog and are not an effective dog training tool.

Socializing dogs with other dogs is a crucially important aspect of raising a puppy. Dogs learn from other dogs how to communicate with each other. Communication in dogs is not as subtle as you might think once you know what to look for.

Most of us acknowledge when a dog does a play bow (front end down, rear end up) it is a friendly gesture that invites another dog to play. But did you realize when two dogs approach each other from a distance and begin sniffing the ground they are actually communicating friendliness ?

Turid Rugaas, a dog trainer from Norway has spent years observing dogs and the ways they tell each other through their body language that they want to get along. She believes that dogs, like their wolf cousins, are dependent upon their communication skills to cooperate with other members of their pack. Cooperation, not aggression or conflict, is the key to survival for any canine species.

Dogs have inherited this way of communicating through body language from their wild ancestors. This language is further developed within their litter and later with dogs they meet and play with. Eventually, they become fluent in being able to communicate their intentions with any other dog.

If dogs are not socialized with other dogs or are taken away from their litter too young, they never become fluent in their own language, becoming social outcasts. These are dogs that “go nuts” when they see another dog, either in exuberance or aggression or fear. They behave inappropriately and are not able to read any of the calming signals exhibited by normal dogs.

If you don’t socialize your dog with other dogs of all breeds and ages he will never be a normal dog. These are the dogs that attack other dogs without warning and seem uncontrollable even when the other dog is displaying very obvious calming, friendly signals. Dogs as a group are supposed to get along with members of their own kind. If we would only socialize them more (with lots of different ages and sizes of dogs) their quality of life would be that much better. Some examples of calming signals dogs use to communicate peaceful intentions:

Yawning- how many times has your dog yawned at the vet or when you’ve yelled at him ? Dogs yawn to calm themselves or you or another dog and to communicate no harm.

Sniffing the ground- how many times has your dog started busily sniffing the ground when you’ve called him in a harsh or worried voice? It may have made you more angry but it was meant to calm you down.

Sneezing – have you ever watched two dogs playing somewhat roughly and then one dog starts to sneeze as he plays? That sneeze is not the same as an itchy nose, it’s a signal that tells the other dog that this is play and helps keep it from escalating into something more serious.

Head turning- when your dog greets a strange dog or person have you ever seen him turn his head or eyes to the side or even turn completely sideways. This head turning isn’t snobbish behavior it says “I mean you no harm”.

Pawing – have you ever met a young puppy that was insistent on greeting you by raising it’s paw? All this while you thought you were teaching it to shake, when in reality the pup was teaching you how to be friendly and inviting you to play.

This is just a handful of all the neat ways that dogs communicate with us and with each other. Once you start observing dogs interacting with each other you will never look at dogs the same way again. It is an exciting peak into the world of canine language and is a joy to watch in an experienced dog.