It's never too late to strengthen your bond with your furry friend. Whether you've been together for a few days or over ten years, you can always do special things to enrich your closer relationship with your dog. From eye contact to occasional play times, there are hundreds of activities that can bring you two closer.

So, how do you know when you've bonded well with your furry friend?

An article on Rover.com points out that;

If your dog makes regular, visual contact with you in new environments, it means your bond is strong. Similarly, a bonded dog is far less likely to run away. Bonded dogs tend to have a strong recall response and make sure their person is close by in new situations.

If you’re wondering about it, here are some tell-tale signs:

• They readily make constant eye contact
• They cling to you when walking or in a new environment
• They're thrilled to see you when you get back home from work or study.
• They're relaxed with or around you.
• They snuggle your stuff like carrying your shoes around in their mouth
• They listen and respond to you
• They seek out your affection

10 Best Tips to Build Stronger Bond with Dogs

Here we have compiled a list of ten different activities that will help to build an even stronger bond with your dog.

Exercise Together

Exercising together not only helps to shed the fat but also brings you two closer. Indulging in any physical activity together is known to boost Oxytocin, a hormone associated with empathy, trust, and bonding. Here are some ways you can exercise together.

• Take a hike to the nearby forest, hills, or trails.
• Go for a trail run if your dog is agile and very athletic.
• Go for a swim together. Many pools allow dogs to swim.
• Indulge in catch and let-go, Frisbee, chase and hide & Seek games.
• Jog or walk together to the park.

Exercising is often the most preferred method of bonding because it stimulates both of you physically and mentally.

Be careful about taking your pup and older dogs for a run. They're often better with occasional, less-strenuous exercises.

Train them every day/Teach them Tricks

Dogs crave mental stimulation, and they love having a job. It's your job to keep them indulged in physical and mental training that boots their neurological development.

If you're wondering, dogs have an aptitude for learning from an early age. This is why trainers always recommend teaching them new commands from an early age.

Learning new tricks and training is an enriching experience for dogs; hence you should use this opportunity to strengthen your bond with them.

Start with teaching basic commands like Sit, Run, Stop, Rollover, etc. Teach new tricks every time after they've learned one. Dogs who have to stay all by themselves often indulge in reenacting tricks; hence, you should teach them new tricks by using positive reinforcement techniques.

Give them a Massage and Brushing.

Grooming is equally essential to dogs' health: regular grooming and massaging help combat stress, physical ailments, injuries, and vein blockage.

You can either take them to a professional groomer or even groom them at home using the right brushes and tools. Grooming them by yourself is a great idea to boost your bond. Your dog will always look forward to a brushing session from you.

Consider massaging them on a regular interval. It is incredibly beneficial for your dog’s health, flexibility, and circulation. It will help increases oxygen flow to the blood, relieves pain and muscle tension, alleviates anxiety, and remove the chances of hip or joint dysplasia.

Older dogs will enjoy frequent massages because of bone and joint ailment that is more common in the older age.

Engage in playtime

Schedule a little fun for every day. Playing games will stimulate your dog's mood and body and strengthen your bond with them!

You can indulge in a great many games with them, including playing game of tug, building an obstacle course, catching Frisbee or balls, or other mind-stimulating games.

Experts suggest indulging your dog in mentally stimulating games at home to beat stress and boredom and help for neurological development.

Regular, active play can also help cut down on problem behaviors, according to a study released by Bristol University.

Feed them personally

Your dog will love to eat out of your hand. Although it isn't possible to feed them by hand all the time, you can make sure to feed homemade dog treats occasionally, and a piece of food by hand, like when you go out, after a play, after a bath, and on other occasions.

Hand-feeding your dog is another way to build a special bond with your dog. They'd love to slurp the treat of your palm.

Create and stick to the routine

Your dog will love to hang out with you, play with you, or cuddle when you're home. Creating a daily schedule will keep your dog on its toes at all times. They'd look forward to going for a jog every morning, eat alongside you in the evening, and cuddle together while you're watching a movie.

Dogs are creatures of habit, so creating routines for several different behaviors can help you play a role in their regular habits. This will help you spend more time with them each day.

Pet with Purpose

Petting a dog symbolizes your affection and love towards them. Unlike us, dogs very well know this fact, and they encourage you to brush your hand on their head, neck, and around the belly.

Many pet owners casually brush their hands on their dog's heads, but this isn't enough to get their full attention and affection. You'd need to pet them as you mean it.

Take some time and make an extra effort to pet them every day. Start with gently brushing their head, and then move your hands around their fingers leading down to their neck and under the chin. You can end it with a gentle belly rub. Dogs love a belly rub.

Understand their body language

Dogs' can't tell what they're feeling or suffering; hence it's your job to comprehend their physical cues.

Dogs speak a lot through their body. When they’re afraid, they'll often look for comfort in the corners or under the blanket. When they're joyous, they'll wag their tails. Their ears will point down when they're concerned or sad.

You can take up the challenge and study their behavior to communicate with them more accessible. Sometimes, their eyes would tell you a lot about the state they're in!

Create some Cuddle Time

Dogs love to cuddle! Maybe it's their favorite time pass. It's nicer to show them that you care by cuddling with them.

Let them cuddle with you when you're chilling on the couch, sitting on the bed, meeting your best friend, or just lying around.

Cuddling helps boost the release of dopamine and oxytocin in dogs that helps to prevent an increase in stress and depression. They'll also feel safer when cuddling!

Give them a Quiet Space

It may come as a surprise, but yes, you should give them a quiet space from time to time. Dogs often love to sit by themselves, watching over the chores, peeping out of the window, or lying just lying around. You can preserve your bond by letting them enjoy their private time occasionally.

Make a private space where they retreat to, such as a crate or a dog bed in another room. Let them get away for a while if they feel overwhelmed or want to stay away from loud houseguests.

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Taking the time to be mindful and cater to your dog's needs will help to prosper your bond with them.

Want to learn more about animal wellness and building a stronger bond with your pet? Get in touch with Urban Pet Hospital & Resort, the best doggy daycare in Urbandale.

Who doesn't love the season of blossoming flowers, butterflies, chirping birds, and green leaves? Spring is probably the most awaited season, especially for your dogs.

Dogs love to wander outdoors in spring. Frolicking on the green grass, jumping into bushes, splashing pond water, and scouring the forest are a few of the many activities dogs love to do in spring.

While it's fun to let them run hither tither outdoors, it can prove to be fatal to their health. Spring is known to bring flea and ticks. The warmer weather also invites heartworm diseases along with other malice.

Your furry friend is likely to attract diseases in spring than another season; hence you should be wary about administering preventive care on time to keep them safe.

Spring Season Dog Care Checklist

Urban Pet Hospital & Resort, the best pet hospital in Des Moines, has prepared a thorough checklist for spring dog care. Please download the spring dog care checklist (PDF)or spring dog care checklist (Word)into your device (smartphone, PC, or laptop) to start using it.

Flea and Tick Infestation

Flea and tick infestation is rampant during the spring season. These parasites feed on your pet’s blood and cause health problems ranging from allergic reactions to tick-borne severe illnesses.

Fleas are more common during the warmer months that may last until the winter. Female fleas can lay 40 to 50 eggs a day, leading to an infestation within few days. The infected pets can spread illness to their human counterparts as well.

Be wary of these tell-tale signs of fleas and tick infestation:

• Flea droppings, which look like dark specks, in the fur
• Flea eggs, which look like white specks, in the fur
• Excessive licking or scratching
• Scabs or hot spots on the skin

Flea and tick shampoo, flea collar, medication, and skin treatment are preventive measures for flea and tick infestation.

Say No to Heartworm

Heartworm disease is a common heart disease in dogs. Known as DilofilariaImmitis, heartworm disease spreads from an infected mosquito's bite. It takes about seven months for larvae to mature into adult heartworm that looks like parasitic roundworm. Once it grows bigger, it lodges into the heart, lungs, and blood vessels and starts reproducing.

Adult heartworm can grow up to 12 inches in length and survives for 5-7 years. If not treated in time, heartworm can even cause death.

Check for tell-tale signs for soft and dry cough, inactivity, lethargy, sudden weight loss, bulging chest, difficulty breathing, etc. Administering heartworm preventive drugs will keep your dog safe around the year.

Safety First

Prepare a first-aid kit or purchase a kit, so you have it handy for the spring season. Dogs are more likely to get injuries and infections in the spring because they often spend more time outdoors.

If you regularly indulge in spring hiking, excursions, and a trip to nearby forests and ponds, you better carry the first-aid kit with you at all times. You'd never know if your dog will fall into the bushes or from the rock, injure its paws, get bites or scratches from wild animals, and other common pet-related emergencies.

Also, check with your vet to make sure your dog's rabies vaccination is up to date.

Primp your Dog

Consider getting a thorough spring cleaning to help your dog feel refreshed. It's an excellent idea to groom your dog's fur before it starts getting warmer. Do not entirely shave off your dog because they will need the undercoat to keep them safe from flea and mosquito bites.

Schedule an appointment with the groomer for a wash and trim. You can set up your groomer at home too.

• Start with giving them a clean wash.
• Thoroughly clean their ear, under ear, and nose.
• Give nail trimming
• Trim off top-four using a proper grooming tool.

Clean your Dog's Bed, Bowl, and toys

While you're in the cleaning mode, consider washing off their bed and mattress and cleaning their toys with disinfectants so they can keep using them year-round.

If you see visible wear and tear in dog beds, mattresses, bowls, and toys, it's time to replace them.  Check the dates on your dog's medications and treats.

Freshen up their wardrobe with a new collar, ID tags, and other accessories.

Take care of your Lawn and Driveway.

Spring is also the time to trim and fertilize your lawn. It’s essential to keep your pet safe from fertilizers, chemicals, and other toxins easily found in the lawn. De-grime your driveway of anti-freeze, lubricants, and salts, so your dog doesn’t accidentally ingest toxins.

Spring Fever

You’d notice a change in your dog’s behavior with the arrival of spring seasons. While most dogs love to wander outside, only a few would choose to stay inside. Dogs love everything about spring; flowers, grass, leaves, woods, squirrels, water, and so on.

It would be best if you allowed your dog to enjoy the spring fever but with proper precautions. It’s a bad idea to let them wander outside alone, burrow the unmarked holes, and scavenge into the woods. Wandering all by themselves in the forest can attract wild animals like raccoons, skunks, chimps, and foxes. It’s a good idea to supervise their outdoor activities.

Help Your Local Shelters

It’s never late to help your local animal shelter with food, cloth, volunteering, and money. To find out what your community shelters need, give them a call and in the meantime, set aside these often requested items: kennels, carriers, cozy pet beds, bedding and blankets, towels, and cleaning supplies such as bleach sponges, and laundry detergent.

 Check this infographic for more information. 

Urban Pet Hospital & Resort is a premier pet hospital and daycare in Des Moines. We offer pet care consultation, medical and surgical services, daycare, and boarding services. Get in touch with us to learn more about how to keep your pet safe in spring.

Animals have served a specific purpose for human benefit since the dawn of humankind. Humans first started domesticating animals 10,000 years ago, specifically dogs, for hunting and safekeeping. Since then, animals and humans have formed an integral part in each other’s life. It’ll be hard to imagine pet animals like dogs and cats thriving without human intervention and vice versa.

While many people treat animals like other beings, most people treat them solely for their benefit, including entertainment and eating. This very inhumane treatment of animals highlights the need and importance of animal rights.

It wasn’t long before humans started capturing non-human animals and using them for different forms of entertainment such as for zoo, caged decoration, and circus) or transportation such as cart pulling, safari, and carrying loads. These inhumane treatments of animals by humans for centuries highlight the need for recognizing the interests of animals, including legal rights and protection.

Moreover, animal rights (like human rights) also highlight animal protection from inhumane activities such as climate change, deforestation, factory farming, and hunting.

Let’s talk more about the prevalent animal rights movement worldwide and the importance of animal rights.

What is Animal Rights Movement?

Animal rights, the animal rights movement, and animal liberation are all synonymous with each other. It advocates a social movement that seeks to end different forms of animal slavery and animal abuse. Although the movement highlights many different animals' rights, they mainly emphasize legal rights and legal distinction to animals.

The case of the "world's saddest polar bear" is one of the recent examples of animal rights abuse. A young polar bear named Pizza was found living in a deplorable condition at an aquarium inside a mall in Guangzhou, China. Millions of people signed petitions calling to release the polar bear to its natural habitat to the city government. The mall temporarily sent back the polar bear to its mother living inside an aquarium inside Tianjin.

The animal rights movement plan is plain and straightforward, with no more harm to animals.

Animal rights advocate that certain things are wrong as a matter of principle; some things are morally wrong to do to animals.

1. Human beings must not do those things, no matter the cost to humanity of not doing them.
2. Human beings must not do those things, even if they humanely do them.

For example, animals have a right not to be bred and killed for food, so humans should stop relying on animals for a food source.

Check out this infographic for more information. 

What do animal rights highlight?

• No experiments on animals
• No breeding and killing animals for food or clothes, or medicine
• No use of animals for hard labor
• No selective breeding for any reason other than the benefit of the animal
• No hunting
• No zoos or use of animals in entertainment

On a philosophical level, human beings and animals have rights because they are both 'subjects-of-a-life.’

• They have similar levels of biological complexity
• They are conscious and aware that they exist
• They know what is happening to them
• They prefer some things and dislike others
• They make conscious choices
• They live in such a way as to give themselves the best quality of life
• They plan their lives to some extent
• The quality and length of their life matters to them

People who defy equal rights to animals support their opinions with such examples;

• Animals don’t think like humans, nor are they conscious.
• They’re put on earth to serve humans, such as for food, transportation, and entertainment.
• Animals don’t behave morally, and they lack free moral judgment.

While many people hold this to be accurate, few people defy this and work to serve animal rights. This leads to the animal rights movement and a fight against the inhumane treatment of animals.

Significant achievements made by Animal Rights Movement

In 1992, Switzerland amended its constitution to recognize animals as beings and not things. A decade later, Germany guaranteed rights to animals in a 2002 amendment to its constitution, becoming the first European Union member to do so.

New Zealand granted fundamental rights to five great ape species in 1999. Their use is now forbidden in research, testing, or teaching. Some other countries have also banned or severely restricted the use of non-human great apes in research. On 17 May 2013, India declared that all cetaceans have the status of “nonhuman persons."

In the United States, the Animal Welfare Act initiated in 1966 protects animals in research, transportation, and sale. Generally, animals are protected from any torture, neglect, or killing.

PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) was founded in 1980. With 6.5 million supporters, PETA has helped prevent animal abuse, mistreatment, and sale in an astounding number.

6 Most Prevalent Animal Rights Issues

These are the most prevalent animal rights issues around the world.

Climate change                                           

A human-made disaster is destroying the environment and destroying the habitat and living conditions of wild animals. Its most extreme example can be the Arctic's melting snow and ice. With global warming rising every year, the polar bear’s natural habitat is gradually vanishing. The depleted snow has pushed the polar bear population further inside.

The unpredictable weather from climate change has impacted migratory birds by disrupting their breeding habitats.  Human activities such as fuel-driven cars and factories have primarily impacted the global rise in temperature.

Loss of habitat

Loss of habitat because of suburban sprawl has pushed animals even further inside the forest. It has also increased human and animal encounters causing accidents, deaths, and communal killing of wild animals. In Nepal and India, the wild animal encounter is more frequent because of their habitat loss. More people enter forest areas to collect fodder, which previously used to be the Bengal Tiger habitat. The incidents of the Bengal tiger attacking villagers are heard numerous times a year.  

Illegal fishing practices

Illegal fishing by foreign vessels without permission, bottom trawling, bycatch, ghost fishing, explosives, and overfishing is causing the depletion of sea animals. Illegal fishing affects fish and other sea animals like turtles, whales, and dolphins that often get trapped in human-made traps.

Factory farming

Factory farming of commercial animals like chicken and cow is often highlighted by animal rights activists. The slaughter of animals for their meat, and byproducts such as skin, milk, and eggs, is considered outright animal abuse. Thousands of farm animals are held inside captivity and raised in a deteriorating condition for their as food animals, injected with hormones for rapid growth, and fed cheap grain.

It not only highlights animal abuse but the environment caused by factory farming. The methane produced by cows is one of the significant contributors to global warming. The run-offs from the farm often pollute the nearby water sources.

Euthanasia

Euthanasia in animals is mainly associated with overbreeding of pets such as dogs and cats. Thousands of dogs and cats are abandoned in the US every year. These non-human animals end up in shelters and later euthanized because they never get adopted.

Spaying and neutering your pet is a good idea to control overbreeding. Closing pet farms is another great idea to control overbreeding and prevent animal suffering in form of euthanasia.

Animal experimentation

Voicing against animal experimentation in the labs has been going on for ages. Most animals experiment with new drugs, vaccines, diseases, or cosmetics before the product is released from human use.

Approximately 100,000-200,000 animals suffer and die every year in animal testing for cosmetics. Many large corporations, including pharmaceuticals and cosmetic products, enjoy animal testing because of the lack of strict laws.

Animal abuse for financial gain is often the most highlighted animal rights issue. In the United States alone, the pet industry topped $221.1 billion in 2015; the live animal trade accounted for $3.5 billion in 2016; in 2020, animal agriculture is forecasted to bring in $185.8 billion in cash receipts.

The corporations trying to protect their profits and avoid controversy often lobby for legislation or laws to conceal their activities from the public and media.

How to prevent animal abuse?

1. Non-human animals with rights must be treated as ends in themselves; others should not treat them as means to achieve their ends.
2. To bring in public concern, you should discourage using animals for entertainment, food, products, and transportation. Ensuring a non-abusive environment for all kinds so of animals will undoubtedly boost happiness in you.
3. Specialism must fade away, along with outdated scientific and philosophical ideas that animals are nothing more than mindless automatons.
4. Discouraging the use of cosmetics and drugs used for animal testing can help curb animal abuse in the long run. Many animal rights advocates have managed to introduce a law that prevents the use of lab animals.
5. Countering climate change is an essential goal for ensuring the rights of animals in the long run. Choosing a sustainable lifestyle method; electric cars, low carbon emitting appliances, cycling to work, avoiding using firewood, and animal products made from skin can help curb animal abuse to a greater degree.

Urban Pet Hospital & Resort is the best doggy daycare in Urbandale. Get in touch with us to learn more about caring for animals, animal protection laws and animal welfare issues, and how you can chip in for animal rights societies.