Category Archives for "Teens"

2 Why are ticks attracted to dogs?

Schnapsie asks: Shirelle, why are tics attracted to our kind, that is the canine family?

Oh Schnapisie, did you have to ask this?!  Now I’m going to have nightmares all night!

For a dog, ticks are just about the worst thing there is.  They latch onto us, spread disease, drink our blood, and are impossible for us to scratch off!  While we always appreciate what our humans do for us, handling ticks is one of the most important and valuable things people can ever give us.  So please:

–       Do what you can to prevent our getting ticks

–       Find ticks as soon as possible when they’re on us

–       And when you do find them, get them off of us in a big big hurry!

But your question is about why ticks are attracted to dogs in particular.  Well, the answer is… Continue reading

What people should consider before buying a pet.

Schnapsie asks: My wife and I are thinking about getting a new pet for our home. How do we know when we have the right suitable pet? What criteria shall we use?

Hi Schnapsie –
Boy that’s a great question!  In a lot of ways we pets seem to pick out our people, but in the end, it is the person that makes the actual decision to purchase an animal, and that decision needs to be taken very very seriously.  Handsome always says that the single smartest thing he ever did in his life was getting me, and of course I agree all the way!  But people make the wrong decision all the time, and that can result in a lot of misery – for the person, and especially for the pet!
There are lots of good websites to give you specific advice about how to buy pets, such as the Humane Society (http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/puppy_mills/tips/buying_puppy.html) and (one of my favorites in general) About.com.

But there are some important questions to ask even before you think about where or how to buy one.  Here are some biggies:

  • 1) Do you, or anyone in your home, or any friends you have or want to have, have allergies?  Handsome, for example, has always been allergic to cats.  Now there are things he can do so he can spent time around them safely, but buying a cat isn’t something he’d normally choose to do!  Meanwhile, he has friends who can’t hang out in our house because they’re allergic to my fur.  But for them, there are non-allergenic dogs (a Portuguese Water Dog is one, which is why President Obama chose that breed when he bought Bo).  Other people have problems with bird feathers, or even rodent fur.  I’ve never heard of anyone being allergic to a fish, though, so I think you can get one of those no matter what!
  • 2) How much room do you have?  When Handsome decided to get a dog, he moved out of his nice apartment and found a tiny house, just so I could have a yard to run in.  If you live in an apartment, it’s okay to get a dog, but you’ll have to walk it a few times a day, and your neighbors might get really peeved when we bark, or even just walk around on hardwood floors with our toes click-click-clicking all day and night!  If you have a small place, that’s great for a cat or a small dog.  But are you one of those people who doesn’t like having an animal have full run of your home?  If so, maybe you’ll be better off with something that stays in a cage.  Mice, rats, birds, guinea pigs…   Hmm, my mouth’s watering and my pulse is getting fast!  That leads me to think of…
  • 3) Do you have any other pets?!  If you have a cat and you buy a bird, the odds are high that you’re creating a Tweety-and-Sylvester relationship in your home!  Similarly, if you have a dog, you might want to think before you buy a rabbit or kitten.  Tragedy might well ensue!!  On the other hand, if you have a dog and buy a fish or lizard, that shouldn’t be a big problem.  Or of course, if you have a bird and buy a ferret – no problem!   But be sure and think first – is one animal going to hate another?  Or worse, is one animal going to looooooove the other, especially as a snack?!
  • 4) Do you have time for the pet?  Animals are pretty easy to live with as a whole, but we do require work.  Dogs need to be walked, cats need clean litterboxes, fish need their water changed.  Handsome got a turtle once, thinking it would be easy to keep; eventually he found it took more work than I did, what with cleaning out its aquarium, changing water filters, and all.  So be sure you don’t get a pet who requires more work than you can spare.
  • 5) Can you afford to care for the pet?  Nothing is sadder than someone buying a puppy and building a beautiful loving relationship with it, and then having to give it away because they can’t afford to feed and care for it.  Most pets are pretty cheap to care for (except for medical bills, which I’ll come to later).  But not everyone can afford a pony, or even a python.  Whatever you get, it’s very important to be sure you can keep the pet for as long as you both shall live.  Does that phrase sound familiar?  It should:  Buying a pet is like getting married!  You two beings plan on staying together “till death do you part.”  So it needs to be taken that seriously!
  • 6) Should you get insurance?  Pet insurance is a pretty recent thing, and Handsome and I have had great luck with it.  True story: the day after my policy began, I broke my toe while jumping on the fence to talk to the neighbors.  Boy did that insurance help with the medical bills!  Of course, just like any other insurance, it’s possible that you might regret throwing cash away by buying it.  I mean, if your pet stays healthy till the day it suddenly keels over, you’ll have lost money on the deal.  But that’s why they call it “insurance;” it’s there to ensure that you can afford anything that comes along.  It’s certainly not a necessity, but if you don’t get insurance, you should plan with your family for anything that might happen.
  • 7) Okay, the biggest question of all to ask:  What do you really want?   Most people like all sorts of animals, but that doesn’t mean every pet is right for them.  Turtles sit and float and don’t do a lot more.  Gerbils run on wheels all night.  Malteses like to sit in laps.  Snakes eat live mice for dinner.  Labrador Retrievers like to swim.  Cats like to keep to themselves a lot and only show affection when they’re in certain moods.  Monkeys like to swing a lot, and tend to bite when they get older.  The best thing about having a pet is the joy of having nature in your home, but having that should make your home feel better, not like that scary movie where they chant “Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!”  So when you think you know what you’d like to get, do a lot of research.  Go to websites, go to the library, and find out everything you can about the kind of animal you’re thinking of getting.

After all, you wouldn’t marry someone without knowing all about them, would you?!  Yikes!!

Okay, Schnapsie, there’s my long long advice.  I hope you and your wife are able to make a decision that pleases you both.  And I also hope you’ve noticed just how nice and tolerant I’ve been here.  Because I’ve gone this whole way without saying…
SOME people are just GOOFY, and they go out and buy a CAT!  Who in the world would want one of those nasty stinky things in their home?!  Meowing, Yowling, oh they’re just….

Whew, okay, that’s out of my system.  The truth is everyone’s different, and that’s what makes the world a great place.  After all, some people don’t like big friendly knuckleheads like me!  Handsome likes to sing an old song to me, that really is what you and the right pet should sing to each other forever: “To each his own, I found my own, one and only YOU!

4 What’s Shirelle Been Up To

LovesBlackCats asks: Hi Shirelle, So I see it’s been really quiet on the website for a couple of months… What have you been up to? Hugs!

Boy are you right, my friend!  We’ve been working really hard to improve all the things that weren’t working just right here, and because of that, we got a lot less productive.  Now I could make a lot of excuses, like about my friend Dilla, a very rambunctious Boston Terrier, needing two foot surgeries, and my having to bring him lots of chicken Continue reading

4 Why Does School Teach So Many Useless Things?

Lovesblackcats asks: Why don’t we learn really useful things in school like how to fix a flat tire or balance a checkbook? Why do we need to spend time finding the diameter of a circle or doing calculus?

Hi LovesBlackCats!

Boy this question gets asked all the time. I’ll bet they asked it in Ancient Egypt, and it’ll still be asked a thousand years from now. “Why do I have to study stuff that means nothing to me?”

When I was a puppy, I really cared about a few things. Biting, chewing, playing, food, making friends, and whether Handsome liked me as much as I liked him. That’s about it. I wanted to spend all my time pursuing those things. If I could have had my way, I wouldn’t have even slept! And Handsome would ruin my good times every day by insisting on Continue reading

When people feel ignored in relationships

Sheba asks: Oh my, how do I get my male owner to behave? He keeps disobeying the female who feeds me!!! She is irritated because he plays video games and seems to be able to curl up in one place for hours at a time, just like us. Personally, I don’t understand why that’s an issue. But she’s weirdly into “social interaction,” I think.

Hi Sheba –

First, please check out my earlier post about kids and video games.  Though it sounds like you might be talking about an adult in this case!

You make a very good point, when you say that pets can curl up in one place for hours at a time, just like video-game players.  But the difference is, we’re not Continue reading

How to deal with someone who rejects your friendship.

JLL asks: I take a drama camp and there is this girl named Emerson. At first she was really nice to me but, one day my friend Bailey and I went up to her and asked, may we please look at your necklace? She said no! in a very rude way. The next day a girl named Sue was wearing a very similar necklace , I asked Emmerson, is Sue wearing your necklace? She said, don’t talk to me! in a very rude way. Later, I told the teacher and I asked Emmerson, what did I ever do to you? She simply said, your annoying. She also said that she didn’t want to be friends. And I’m fine with that but I have the feeling that she will still be mean to me and turn people against me. I don’t want to be friends but I still want to get along with her. What do I do?

Wow, JLL, this is a tough one.  I don’t know if you’re still in drama camp (Handsome left town for a while, and I wasn’t able to post anything while he was gone – sorry about that!).  But even if you’re not, this sort of problem will happen again – it happens to adults all the time.

What you’re dealing with is that you’re trying to “play by the Continue reading

Advice for kids and teenagers on how to deal with having to clean their room.

Crooner62 asks: Why is it so hard to clean up my room when I know the mess will just get worse if I don’t?!

Crooner, I don’t know exactly how old you are, but I can tell you that things like this get easier when you get older.  When you’re a puppy, it’s just so hard to concentrate on something as BORRRING as cleaning!  I’ve written elsewhere on here how much I hate getting baths, but that’s not Continue reading

How to keep dogs from begging from, and even biting, guests at dinner

2cute4wordz12600 asks: My friend has two dogs that constantly beg under the table. They have gotten so used to human food they are begging under the table to the point where they bite guests who don’t drop food. Her family is so embarrassed. How should they get her to stop?

Wow, 2Cute, that’s a doozy! Your friends really have two problems. One is something I regard as minor (begging), and the other is huge (biting guests!). I’m hoping you mean that they’re Continue reading

How to deal with houseguests whose children break things

DeuceDog asks: Hi Shirelle – There is a neighbor boy (7 years old) who we love to have pay us a visit, but every time he comes by – he breaks something. Whether it’s a toy that we have for him and other children, or one of our gardening tools that he likes to slam onto the ground. His father is a nice guy, but a little slack on discipline – I don’t want to overstep my bounds and I don’t want to frighten this nice little boy – but his path of destruction is getting a little difficult. What would you say to him and his father to help appease the situation? Thanks.

Well, DeuceDog, if I haven’t made it clear enough, I was just like this boy!  I was a very destructive puppy, and just loved getting into Continue reading

Why people (especially teachers) are mean

Crooner62 asks: Why are some people so mean (like certain teachers) and what is the best way to not get my feelings hurt when they yell?

Mean teachers?  Like the ones who think the way to treat dogs to sit is to swat our hynie and yell at us?!

Mean people scare me.  I’m scared when they scream at me, I’m scared when they act like they’re going to hurt me, and I’m especially scared when they really do want to hurt me.  I guess that’s the definition of a mean person – someone who wants to hurt me in some way, whether it’s physical or not.

But I think it’s important to point out that there are different sorts of Continue reading