Rockwall Veterinarian says tt does not matter where you live, I am sure that you experience storms at some time of the year. In the north of the northern hemisphere, we tend to get lots of rain in winter and spring. In the tropics, there may be monsoons. Whatever you call them, they give off lots of wind and lots of rain in a short space of time – it is basically a storm.

The fact is that, if you know that a storm is approaching, you can take safety measures and save your precious fish, whether they are expensive or just dear to you. It might be useful to distinguish between minor and major storms, but that is only helpful if you can trust your weather announcer.

Minor Storms: the first thing to do is to stop feeding your fish, if you have enough notice of the storm. Fish can easily live for weeks on the insects and plant life in the water, so do not be concerned. The reason for stopping feeding is that if the storm damages your filtration system, the quality of the pond water will not deteriorate so much, if there is no uneaten food in it.

Take out some of the water to allow for the rainfall, but do a partial water change too, because otherwise the reduced water level will contain greater levels of toxins until the rain comes.

Remove items from the vicinity that can blow over and fall into your pond. It is a good idea to put a net over the pond to prevent debris being blown into it too. Flying twigs or branches could alarm or even spear your fish.

Major Storms: we are not talking about hurricanes here. If a hurricane looks likely to hit, you should evacuate your fish to a temporary tank somewhere safe – maybe a 50 gallon barrel in the basement or somewhere like that.

If you want to be completely certain that your fish will be ok, you could ask your local pet shop to take them away to look after them otherwise proceed as for a minor storm but with the following extra safety measures.

Disconnect all the electrical apparatus in and around your fish pond. Make certain that there is no way that a live wire can fall into the pond and electrocute your fish. Remove all the plants from your pond as they could be damaged by the wind and waves, but leave any stone hiding places that your fish will surely look for while the storm is raging. If you reckon that perhaps you do not have enough ‘caves’, build some provisional ones from bricks or blocks.

Put a double layer of netting over your pond and tie it lower down than normal, say only a few inches above the water line, but not so low that if a fish gets out, it cannot get back in. Lastly, build a wall of sand bags at least two feet high all the way around your pond. This will allow the water to get in and drain away, without taking your fish with it, which is why the net must be high enough to permit the fish to get back into the pond.

Tweet This Post

Rockwall Veterinary Hospital says keeping the attention of your dog while training is not always easy. Dogs are easily distracted, and it is important to not allow the dog training sessions to be sabotaged by boredom. Making dog training fun for the dog and the human alike is vital to creating a happy, well adjusted and well trained dog.

You should provide random positive stimuli during the day in order to maintain the interest of the dog. Doing things the dog enjoys, like walking in the park, riding in the car, and playing with other dogs, are good ways to keep the dog’s attention, but you must give him rewards for his successes.

For instance, to thank the dog for coming to you when you call him, tell the dog to come to you, without giving any clues about going for a walk, a car ride, or other treats.

After your dog has come to you and obediently sat down, attach the leash and start the reward. This can be either the afore-mentioned walk in the park, ride in the car, or anything else the dog likes to do.

Providing some kind of reward, whether a treat, a special outing, or just a scratch behind the ears, every time the dog does something you want, is a good method to keep your dog motivated while you are dog training.

If your dog knows something great is going to occur every time he obeys your commands, he will be more motivated to do want you want every time.

Distraction training.

When training a dog, it is vital to not allow distractions disrupt the training. The dog must be trained to ignore distractions, such as other people, other dogs, other animals and loud noises, and focus on what is being taught These types of distractions can even be used as rewards when training the dog to come when told.

For example, if your dog like romping with other dogs, whether it be in the park or with the neighbour’s dogs, let him play with those other dogs. Then go into the park or yard and call your dog.

When he comes to you, give him lots of praise, treats and other rewards, then immediately allow the dog to go back to playing with his friends. Repeat this several times and praise the dog each time he comes over to you.

The dog will quickly learn that coming to your call results in good things (treats and praise) and not bad ones (being taken away from the park).

So-called distraction training is one of the hardest things to teach, because dogs are naturally social animals, and breaking away from the pack is one of the most difficult things you can ask your dog to do. Most dogs will be understandably reluctant to leave their canine companions, but it is important to persist in dog training.

Training the dog to come to you when you call may take some thought on your behalf at first. For example, waving one of his favourite toys, or a lure, is a great way to get your dog’s attention and put the focus back on you. If your dog has been clicker trained, a quick click can be a good motivator as well in dog training.

Once your dog starts to become used to coming when called, you can start to reduce and then stop the visual cues and focus on making the dog respond to just your voice. It is important that your dog obeys voice commands alone, as you will not always have a toy or lure to hand.

Tweet This Post