Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/79154
6C Daily News – Saturday, August 18, 2012 healthPetsactivities & Dog's odd behavior makes scents BY MARC MORRONE 3-year-old English springer spaniel, hunts slugs every summer evening in our back- yard. What's strange is that she doesn't eat them — rather, she rolls over on top of them, squishing them into the ground and her fur. Have you ever seen or heard about this? Answer: Most likely this behavior is the same as when a dog finds a dead animal or some other odoriferous object and rolls all over it so the dog is coated in the scent. Newsday (MCT) Question: Molly, our say I have noticed much of an odor emitting from slugs, but Molly's nose is much stronger than mine. I personally cannot Q: Years ago, we used to see bats flitting about our yard at night and took comfort in their hunting down mosquitoes. However, we have not seen any bats now in a few years, so we bought a bat house from a garden center and hung it up in a tree. Now it has been two years and still no bats — just tons of mos- quitoes. Is there any- thing else we can do? A: I have been fascinated by bats and I have kept them for educational purposes for many years. It is nice that other people are starting to appreci- ate bats as well, and they are not as vilified as they had been in the past. always Some people say this is an old behavior left over from when dogs were wolves and wolves would do this to hide their scent to fool any prey animals they were sneaking up on. However, this sort of thought cognitive process really is quite rare in any mammal and most likely wolves — and dogs like Molly — do this just because they enjoy the smell of what- ever it is they are rolling in and want to preserve it as long as possible. A disease called White-Nose Syndrome has killed many North American bats. Com- bine this with the loss of old buildings and other places they used to call home and you can understand why you never see them any- more, and why mosqui- toes are now eating us alive. A bat house is a great thing for them, but it must be constructed in the right way and must be mounted at the cor- rect height. If you go to batconservation.com, you can see exactly what it takes for a bat house to provide a good home for a family of bats. You also have to understand that even if the bat house is just right, it can't attract bats if there are no colonies of them in your area. Be patient. By chance, some bats from another colony may wander into your neighborhood and see the bat house in your yard and stop to investigate it as a future home. Q: Whenever we are eating ice cream, our two cats will beg us for some and will not leave us alone until they get it. Is there anything wrong with us giving it to them? I know cats are carnivores and should only eat meat, but they enjoy it so much. With summer here, we have ice cream almost every evening, so we are not sure what to do. any of my cats craving ice cream, but I have seen cats that ate stranger things. The old saying, "Everything in moderation," applies here. It is true that cats do not digest milk prod- ucts very well, but just like some humans, there are cats that do digest milk better than others. Chocolate is not good for animals, so be sure they do not get any ice cream that has choco- late products in it. As long as the cats are OK and you do not see any A: I cannot imagine and you could help pets that have been abandoned in our community issues in the litter box that may be caused by their not digesting the ice cream very well, I see no reason why a bit here and there would do them any harm. O THER WISE OCCUPIED, BIRDS AREN'T SINGING You know it is high summer when you go out to your car in the early morning darkness and hear nothing at all. For weeks I had been serenaded every morn- ing with song from native birds greeting the coming day. Now that the breeding season is over, their hormones have settled down. Songbirds are now molting their plumage to get ready for the fall migration, and singing is the furthest thing from their minds. The same thing hap- pens to pet birds when they molt. A canary that is molting will no longer sing, and even parakeets and parrots are quieter and a bit less social while going through the annual changing of feathers. Even though the morning is now quiet, I still can look forward to coming home to the sounds of crickets and other insects that will be singing all night long. Talking Dogs: Withhold attention while dog is Sandy has adopted a dog from an animal shelter. The 8-month-old Chihuahua mix is feisty, bright and a lot of fun. In addition to having been taught a few tricks by his mom, Sebastian has come up with a few tricks of his own, and one in particular is causing Sandy some distress. Sebastian becomes frustrated when Sandy turns her atten- barking to curb habit (MCT) tion elsewhere: the computer, the newspaper, the television, the telephone, etc. It seems Sebastian wants her total atten- tion, all of the time, and has developed a habit of barking at her to get it. Everything she has tried to correct it — scold- ing him, putting him outside, shaking a noise can at him — has failed. failed is because they all result in giving Sebastian some form of attention, which is what he is seeking in the first place. Dogs will settle for negative attention over no attention at all, and Sebastian is getting some satisfaction from his incessant barking. Fortunately, there is a way to extinguish this behavior. The reason her attempts at correcting the problem have Luckily for Sandy, this is a relatively new behavior, so it will be easier to overcome than a habit a dog has practiced for months or years. First, she must outthink Sebastian, and set him up for success when she needs to focus on things other than her puppy. Fortunately, there are lots of options here. The first is to dedicate 15 minutes prior to sitting down to her computer for intense play and activity with Sebastian; the goal is to really wear him out. Once he is clearly spent, give him a few minutes to recover, allow him access to water, and then place him in his crate — in another part of the house. Then Sandy can focus on her computer. Chances are that Sebastian will voice his complaint at this turn of events for a few minutes, but he is safely contained in his crate, and Sandy can ignore his pleas for attention. He will give up, and will eventually fall asleep; Sandy is only to release him from his crate when she is ready, and he is quiet. Another option is to give Sebastian something special to keep him occupied while Sandy's attention is focused else- where. Attaching him to a leash, and then placing the handle of the leash under a heavy piece of furniture in the room Sandy is in makes it impossible for him to get to her and directly demand attention. Leaving him with his own special project like a Kong with some peanut butter in it or a nice meaty bone to chew on should be adequate to keep him focused and on the task of enjoying his goody, rather than barking. to Providing Essentials for the Tehama Shelter to benefit the Tehama County Animal Care Center make a $500 donation If we receive 1,500 "likers" on Facebook by Sept. 15 we will NOW AT $1,000+ LIKERS Go to www.facebook.com/rbdailynews in the look-up bar near the top of the page, then click to "Like" our Facebook page when you get there