Dog training choke collars also known as choke chains, slip collar, correction collars or training collars are one of the most common collars use for dog obedience training and leash manners.

Listed below are some of the common rules to take note while using the dog choke collar.

1. Fit of the dog-training collar

The proper fit of the collar makes it safer and easier to use. The dog training collars work best when fitted properly. The dog training collar is the ideal size if it fits snugly, but comfortably over the dog's head. You don't want it too tight, but you don't want it too loose either. If it is too tight, it will be difficult to take off and put on. If it's too loose it may accidentally slip off the dog's head when the head is lowered.

2. How the training collar is put on.

There is a right way and a wrong way. Always look for correct instruction when putting on the collar, there should be clear instructions on how to put on the collars for your dog, if you are unclear, consult the shop keeper immediately.

3. When to use the collar

Your dog should only wear the collar during training sessions. Use the collar only when you plan to enforce commands. Putting the collar on the dog tells your dog, "you need to pay extra attention to me for what we're doing next." Do not use the collar on everyday, meandering walks, when the dog is unsupervised, or without a leash attached. A choke collar chokes. An unattended animal could get caught on something and then choke himself.

4. How the collar is used

It should be used as a sharp reminder or as a guide; it should not be used with constant heavy pressure, such as to choke the dog. A choke collar is used both to remind your dog you need his attention and to correct the dog. The former is simply a matter of procedure and routine. The latter is the "choke". Don't think that choking is going to leave your dog coughing and wheezing. Worn correctly, the collar releases very quickly. The device is meant to simulate the way in which momma-dogs grab troublemaking offspring by the back of the head with a little shake.

To perform a correction, the trainer pulls the collar or a leash attached to it firmly and quickly. Say "No!" while doing so in a firm voice. The trainer then releases the tension just as soon as they apply it. The release is the difference between a humane, effective correction and literally choking the dog.

By following the four rules above closely, it will go a long way to make sure that you are using the dog training collar in a safe and effective manner.

Chickens, just like any animal, cannot vocalize when they are feeling a bit under the weather. Therefore we need to be a bit more observant towards our flock to be sure that they are not falling ill. One sure fire sign to tell if a chicken is falling sick is if their daily habits are beginning to change, but what other signs should one look for to be able to tell if their chicken is getting sick?

1 – Is your chicken acting unusual or out of the ordinary? Often times when a chicken is feeling ill they will act sluggish, or lethargic, just as you would if you were not feeling 100%. They may not want to be around the other members of the flock, and may stay cooped up in their chicken coop. Your chicken may shiver, or become withdrawn. If your chicken is showing any extreme signs, contact your veterinarian immediately.

2 – Their eating habits change or stop. If your chicken is not eating as much as it would normally, or is not eating at all, that is a big sign that something is wrong. As they cannot talk, chickens will display their feelings through their behaviors, and feeding is naturally one of the first behaviors that will alter.

3 – Look at physical signs that your chicken may be displaying. Is your chicken hunched over, or slouching? Are their eyes runny, cloudy, or dim? Are feathers easily falling out, or falling out in clumps? These are all physical symptoms that your chicken may display if severely ill.

Additionally, monitor your chicken’s restroom behaviors, or any discharges that may be coming from them. Diarrhea and vomiting are both signs that something is wrong with your chicken. Lastly, check for any bumps, scabs, or open wounds throughout your chicken’s body, be sure to check for any signs of infection such as swelling, or pus.

4 – Monitor your chicken’s movement or motions. If you chicken is staggering or swaying to one side these are both signs that something is amiss. Additionally, if your chicken is wheezing, coughing, or displaying any abnormal breathing habits then this could be tied back to a respiratory problem. If any abnormalities are being displayed through breathing contact your veterinarian immediately.

Whenever a chicken is found to be displaying any symptoms of illness these chicken should immediately be separated from the rest of the flock until you are sure that whatever they have fallen ill with is not contagious to the rest of the flock. Also be sure to monitor the remainder of the flock to catch any symptoms early on.

If the symptoms are severe or continue for too long, contact your veterinarian immediately to seek medical attention. Regardless of what the illness may be, one should speak to a veterinarian to be aware of the best way to cure and treat any illness or injury. And last but not least, always be aware of your flocks normal day to day habits so that you may catch any illness early on.

Grass pollen is one of the major irritants for those who suffer with hay fever. But not to worry, here are 5 things that you can do to survive comfortably during grass pollen season.

Choose Outdoor Time Carefully-Grass pollens are generally higher during early morning hours. Try to enjoy outdoor time after about 10:00 a.m. or after heavy rain when the air is clearer. Avoid excessive time outdoors on dry windy days as huge amounts of airborne pollen can be carried for miles.

Check Pollen Count Daily-The American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology has spore and pollen monitoring stations across the United States, Canada, and Argentina. By submitting your email, you can have daily counts delivered to you.

Knowing the pollen count in your area before the day begins allows you to plan your day so you're inside if the count is high, or to be able to enjoy outside if the count is low enough. Local weather is another resource for up-to-the-minute conditions.

Know the Season-Since the arrival of grass pollen is not only seasonal, but is greatly determined by your region, know when the season happens in your area, and be prepared. Use air conditioning rather than window fans, avoid use of the whole house fan that brings in air from the outside, and travel in your car with the windows up and vents to the outside closed.

Rework Your Garden-There are approximately 1,200 species of grass in the United States, but only a very small percentage of them are responsible for triggering pollen allergies. The most common offenders are Bermuda, Johnson, Kentucky bluegrass, Orchard, Sweet vernal grass, and Timothy. Consider sending a plug of your grass to be analyzed by an extension center of your local university.

If you find your lawn is planted with one of the grasses that is most like to trigger your allergies, have someone else mow the lawn, mow the lawn yourself but only when using a HEPA mask, or think about replanting the lawn with one of the other 1,199 species that are available. This obviously won't prevent the wind from spreading the pollen, but at least you won't feel as though you're stepping into a mine field each time you step outside your home during pollen season.

Remove Pollen Indoors with a HEPA Air Purifier-Unfortunately, regardless of how many precautions you take, grass pollen can still get into your home on shoes, pets, clothing, and air currents that are unavoidable when entering or leaving your home.

Using a high efficiency particle arresting (or HEPA) air purifier that is specifically designed to remove pollen can virtually eliminate pollen inside your home, and make home a safe haven where you can relax and rejuvenate.

Trying to get cat urine out of carpet is for some people in the same category as having a root canal.
Yes, it is distressing and it is easy to get angry with the cat. Who wants a smelly house?

Cat urine is one of the more challenging odors to remove especially when not using proper cleaning products.

When cat urine is allowed to dry in a carpet, amino acids in the urine actually bonds with the fibers of the rug.

Salts in the urine form crystals that causes another type of bond with an ionic charge. The longer the urine has been on the rug, the stronger these bonds become.

Using a homemade cleaner will not dissolve these bonds, nor does steam cleaning your carpet. Sometimes steam cleaning will make the problem worse.

Some commercially available “pet odor removers” work by masking the odor by masking the foul smell caused by the bacteria that is using the urine as it’s source for fuel.

Other products use compounds in the attempt to absorb the smell.

These products, along with the home made remedies, may have short term results, but in order to completely eliminate the odor, (and to not encourage your cat to soil in the same place) every trace of the urine needs to be removed by cleaners that can undo the strong bonds between the fibers of your rug and the urine.

So, you have a wet spot, what do you do first?

1.Mop up as much of the urine as you possibly can. Use absorbent paper towels or old towels. Lay them on the spot and blot until there is no trace of wetness. Recognize that you may only see a small part of the spot as the urine soaks into the padding under the carpet. Be careful adding water to the spot. You don’t want the spot to spread out into the padding underneath.

2.Use an enzymatic cleaner that you can inject into the padding underneath the carpet. Inject the cleaner in order to cover a spot ½ a foot in diameter, then spray the surface of the spot with the cleaner.

3.When using a proper cleaner, that is all you need to do. No rinsing needed. Keep your cat away from the area until it is completely dry which can take a few days.

Remember, even though it may be easy when you are “in the moment”, do not scold your cat. Cats are fastidious about cleanliness and do not want to eliminate where they eat, sleep or play.

Inappropriate urination is a symptom that something is not OK. You may need to investigate what caused your cat to not use the box along with some enticement to use the box again. Not correcting the reason your cat is not going in the box may keep you cleaning your carpets and furniture over and over again.

Armed with the correct information and the proper products cleaning the urine from your carpet while preventing the behavior to re-occur, you are well on your way to have a happy purring kitty and a clean smelling home.

"My cat is awake all night, full of energy and is stopping me from getting any sleep. It's driving me nuts!

Most cats spend a good part of their daylight hours sleeping, they like nothing better than finding a warm spot and enjoying a little snooze.

The trouble is that some cats are wide-awake when night falls and are full of vim and vigor, if your cat is one that could mean broken sleep or even entirely sleepless nights for you. And that's no joke, you need your sleep so you can be bright eyed and bushy tailed for work in the morning. You are embarrassed about being constantly bleary eyed and yawning at your desk!

So, are you sharing your home with an evil feline, a cat that has a secret agenda to torment you with sleep deprivation? No, it's not really your cat's fault. In their natural state cats are nocturnal hunters, they stalk their prey at night. Centuries ago cats ventured into human settlements because where there was humans there were rodents. This arrangement was good for both parties, good hunting for the cats and the humans had the rodent problem solved for them.

Years later the rodent problem was not so acute for humans but many found that they enjoyed the company of cats. Cats began to be kept as pets and the humans fed their feline pets so there was no need for them to hunt for their food. But the hunting instinct remains with the cats to this day .. . and so does the nocturnal instinct.

"OK, cats are naturally active at night but I really need my sleep. What can I do?"

This problem most usually affects "indoor only" cats because cats that have access to the outdoors via a pet door can slip out at night and satisfy their hunting instincts. But you may have many reasons why you prefer to keep your cat indoors.

Do you play with your cat? You should, playing is fun both for you and your cat and helps increase the bond between the two of you.

If your cat's night energy is causing you to lose sleep try a play session with your cat shortly before you go to bed, this may just tire out your cat so she or he is not so active.

Involve interactive cat toys, the fishing pole type and the toy mouse on a string variety, roll a ball for your cat to chase. Don't overdo it the object is not to exhaust your kitty but get rid of excess energy. At first your cat may only be interested in playing for a few minutes, that's okay try playing a little longer the next night.

The energy that your cat spends playing represents the energy a cat would spend hunting, and at the end of a hunt, a successful one anyway, is a meal. So feed your cat a small meal after the play session. In this way you are recreating your cat's natural nocturnal habits and it just may mean she or he will be a little less active at night.

Don't expect this to work instantly, you will need to patiently keep trying, good luck.

Milk allergies are a reality for millions of people. One major problem is that milk products and derivatives of milk are in so many of the food products we consume. It is very difficult to completely avoid milk products and byproducts as we go about or day to day life as food consumers. It is a very real problem for parents of children. Once they are out their sight treats like a caramel apple or milk chocolate can bring on an allergic reaction.

Symptoms can manifest themselves in a variety of maladies. Vomiting, diarrhea, hives are three of the most common. Bloating, gas, watery eyes, skin rashes that can also include acne are among others. An asthmatic who also suffers from milk allergy can have complications with their asthma condition as a result or his or her allergy to milk. Another reaction is ear infections and hyperactivity, particularly in children. Minor milk allergy symptoms can go undiagnosed for years.

As a result of ongoing research more information is being made available for those who suffer from milk allergies. Also more and better alternatives to milk are being made available. Milk allergy sufferers are denied this valuable source of calcium in their diet and more palatable alternatives are important in replacing milk and milk productes for the allergy sufferers.

Soy products that were once ghastly are now quite delicious and soy milk itself is now do to improvements quite delicious and resemble milk quite well. Tofu is a great alternative to cheese. With products like these, milk allergy symptoms can easily be avoided. Take a short trip to your supermarket and you'll find plenty of alternative dairy products. No longer will you have to avoid the common foods that you like the most, easy alternatives can be used.

One ingredient in milk is lactose, or milk sugar. Lactose intolerance is a type of milk allergy where the person experiencing the allergy is intolerant to the lactose in the milk itself An enzyme called lactase is responsible for breaking down lactose in the digestive process. It is estimated that up to seventy percent of the worlds population is lacking in this enzyme and some have none at all. This has caused problems in the past when international care packages of food relief were taken to countries on the African continent to fend off starvation and the milk products in the food was consumed by lactose intolerant people there.

Avoidance is the most common treatment for milk allergies. But as I stated previously that can be difficult. Anything containing the word casein should be avoided. Careful screening of preprocessed food labels is a must. Beyond that there has been some buzz about energy based allergy treatments. Many people have claimed to have been completely cured of all symptoms of milk allergy after undergoing an energy based allergy treatment. Energy based allergy treatments are quick and are not long and ongoing. They are an entire topic in themselves so I can only brief you on the topic here.