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Play - The Most Effective Way to Learn

When we look for new and exciting ways of teaching our children, many parents invariable overlook the easiest and proven, most effective learning method of all time: PLAY.

Consider this true life scenario.

Watching the TV news just last week I saw pictures of young boys in war torn Afghanistan, laughing with glee as they kicked a football amongst the ruins of their homes. Their joy in this simplest of activities was evident; their play was natural and not a performance for the camera. After all of the trauma they had experienced they were using a simple activity to get their lives back on track.

This joy in simplicity is evident in our young children too.

How often, like me, have you found your little ones playing with the gift wrapping paper rather then the expensive gift inside? Or after the initial excitement of Christmas or birthday morning, have you seen them clutching an ‘old favourite’ and ignoring the new shiny toys?

All too often we overlook the power of simplicity in learning opportunities for our children and try to replace them with something bright, shiny and new. But new isn’t always better and familiarity brings the feeling of comfort, security and confidence; the perfect springboard for a young child’s learning experience. You don’t need expensive toys and games to give your children the best learning opportunities, and the latest gadgets will often, only serve to impress their friends.

What they do need; and what is far more valuable than anything you can possibly buy - is you, your time and your love. You are their first and most important teacher. They spend far more time at home with you than they spend in nursery or school. You are the one that can make the greatest, lasting, impression on their attitude to learning.

You are the one who can make a real difference to what they achieve in life. Having kids that are bright, inquisitive and eager to learn is not just a result of inherited genes. They will blossom from the fact that you create the time and opportunity for them to learn and offered them love and praise for their efforts.

Yes, your most powerful weapon is the simplest – and one that will cost you nothing at all. So make them a special gift quality time spent with them – guiding them to an understanding and embracing with confidence, the world in which they live.

And to help you make this quality time count, topkidz has brought you the wealth of our experience and knowledge. ‘Topkidz’ activities are not designed to ‘baby sit’ your kids. Learning takes place at a more powerful rate when parents and siblings join in. Some of our activities are there for you to enjoy as a family, while other demand that you just ‘get them going’ and then keep watch.

Our ‘101Tips’ series of ebooks offers you simple, step by step ideas that will literally take you by the hand and lead you along the pathway to success for your child. Don’t miss the opportunity to guarantee their success – you only get one chance to shape their early years, so act now and give them the chance of a brilliant future.

Barbara Fyles has been a teacher for over 30 years and is an expert in the understanding of

Discover the Best Dog Grooming Tips From a Top Expert

All dogs require grooming, how frequently depends on the coat type of the dog. When you bring your new puppy home the last thing you might be thinking about is getting the grooming kit out, especially with his lovely soft puppy coat. However, introducing your dog to grooming early in his life is essential if you want a dog that will find the process of grooming tolerable – if not pleasant. At this stage of his life it will also strengthen the bond between puppy and new owner.

Get him used to his feet and nails being held, examined and gently squeezed and gently open his mouth and check his mouth, teeth and gums. Lift the ear flap and look inside and lift his tail to check the anal area. As well as him being conditioned to letting you examine him regularly, these checks will ensure an easier and less stressful time at any forthcoming parlour visits or veterinary examinations.

This is particularly important for the high maintenance breeds that require regular grooming either at home or at the grooming parlour. In addition to regular home handling it is wise to get the dog used to being placed on a table, but do ensure that grooming sessions for the younger dog are not too lengthy or you run the risk of him becoming bored and restless. Shorter sessions are best, and inviting other members of the family to take over will increase his confidence in being handled by different people.

Introduce him to a soft brush at an early stage, just a few strokes at a time before he becomes restless or tries to chew the brush. Reward his patience with praise or a small treat gradually increase the amount of strokes you apply to the coat. A little time in the first few weeks of your lives together will make a great difference to the way he can be handled in the future.

Keep him comfortable and support him on the table making sure that nothing loud or scary occurs. To be spooked now might affect his confidence in the future. Use the correct command “stand” and praise as necessary.

Regular grooming allows you as the owner to assess the condition of your dogs’ coat through inspection.

The coat should be glossy and healthy looking, the eyes should be bright and alert, tail held aloft and wagging with a spring in his step. A good healthy balanced diet, the right amount of exercise and regular grooming contribute to the condition of your dog’s coat.

Choosing a particular breed of dog suits our personalities and possibly our own personal image. To choose a stylish dog and to keep it looking stylish a great deal of work is required on the owner’s part or a great deal of money to send him to the groomers!

When a dog has had his weekly groom or visit to the hairdressers, it makes both him and us feel good.

Madeleine Harding is a dog grooming expert who runs a successful dog grooming business in Chichester, West Sussex, UK. She trained at the renowned Brinsbury College and works with all kinds of different dog breeds. She uses her specialist skills to groom each dog according to their individual needs.

The Cat’s Mastery of the Present Moment

Cats are masters of the present moment. Have you ever seen your cat wringing her paws over what to do about a problem or sprinting around the house multi-tasking? The only crazed feline I see in my household is Lexie Lee chasing her favorite feather toy until she pounces on it with sheer delight.

I have been the caregiver of six cats in my adult life, and I have learned about living through them. They taught me one important, life-altering lesson. All the cats focused on the present and enjoyed life immensely when doing so. My beloved cat, Tatianna, savored food when she was hungry or even when she thought she was hungry. In fact, when her face was in the food bowl, nothing else mattered. She was not worried that the last can of food had just been served.

She appreciated the dappled sunlight and could lie for hours with its warmth enveloping her body. She learned quickly when and where the sunlight would be streaming into a room. Then moment by moment she moved to follow the sun rays and entertained me with her antics. Light breezes that caught the lace curtains always captured her attention. She liked to stretch out on the window sill and let the curtains flirt and flutter around her. Movements, such as a bird washing in the birdbath, a squirrel foraging for food or a raccoon crushing leaves under foot, caused her to focus intently on the outside and what was happening that moment in her environment. Then when I arrived home, she focused on welcoming me properly by kneading her paws on the top of my shoes the minute I sat down. I, in turn, offered up a kind word, a caress, or a scratch under the chin to acknowledge our special moment.

Cats are not enamored with the past — “Wasn’t that a tasty mouse I had last week?” They certainly are not focused on the future — “When are they going to board me again?” They do not know they are not going to live forever. Cats do not worry about when the next medical breakthrough will help them or save them. They do not know the warning signs of their deteriorating health like you do and do not flop restlessly about during the night agonizing about what will happen next.

From the time you rise in the morning to the time you retire in the evening, you are surrounded by a myriad of blessed moments. Most are ordinary moments such as the car starts, the cereal box is not empty, and the traffic flowed smoothly. Every once in a while you experience extraordinary moments such as your 25th wedding anniversary, a job promotion, or an elected position.

Neither ordinary nor extraordinary moments should ever be taken for granted. Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s inspirational quote “What a wonderful day I think, turning it over in my hand to its starting point again,” can guide us to focus on the moments of the day. So I made it a practice to acknowledge the day by simply saying, “This is a special moment” or “This is a blessed moment.” Simply ordinary occurrences — Tatianna crawling in my lap, a wink form Tatianna, or Katarina licking Tatianna while she got her fluids — precipitated these frequent comments. Confronting and conquering medical odds were extraordinary accomplishments and also gave us reasons to celebrate and give thanks every day.

When being a caregiver to a cat with a terminable disease as I have been, the present moment is truly all you have. It is all you can really be sure of. This is actually a good thing. That mindset allowed me to be grateful for each day that we started our day together. I was grateful that Tatianna had an appetite and had an interest in household activities. I was grateful she played with her companion, Katarina, and enjoyed spooning with her in the morning sunlight. Once again, it was the present moment that mattered — not that she had become ill or that someday she would have to give up the battle.

So I learned to avoid focusing on the past or future thoughts. I could not change the past events and I would deal with the future — when the time came, when that present moment arrived. Tormenting myself by wondering “Will it be next week? Next month? Six months from now? Will it be when I am on a trip or teaching a class? Will the ultimate surrender be unexpected or will there be guideposts along the journey?” were paralyzing thoughts. Tatianna’s way of approaching life always brought me back to the present moment.

Eckhart Tolle believes “when your attention is fully in the Now, that Presence will flow into and transform what you do. There will be quality and power in it. There is joy and aliveness in what you do.” Brian Narelle’s theory is humans live our lives in horizontal time. “This is a plan upon which our lives are stretched out like railroad tracks running across the Great Plains. As I walk along, I often stop to look back and remember events and things that happened to me. These events serve to fuel my paranoia when I again face my future, projecting these memories onto other imagined events to come.” Animals live on vertical time and teach us to stand, to be, to breathe, in this very moment. Keith Smith suggests that “creatures listen to ancient voices that only whispers to us. Their instinct to survive and exist in the moment, to fully attend to the sights, scents, and sounds that surround, speak to an old way of being.”

Throughout Tatianna’s life, she exemplified centered peacefulness — whether she was eating, dozing, playing, hiding, snuggling, or sleeping.

Remarkably, her centered peacefulness was with her in dying as well. Her powerful teaching to me was to slow down and smell the catnip! There is an old saying, “The past is history, the future is a mystery, and today is a gift. That is why they call it the present.” Enjoy today with your cat!

Linda A. Mohr is the award-winning author of Tatianna

Cat Eye Care - Is It Important?

Cats eyes have often been used in horror films. But as a pet owner, you will know that the cats stare is really the complete opposite of what is portrayed in films. That is why cat eye care, is so very important for you to know.

How do cats say I love you? well this is through their eyes, of course. This is why you should never be frightened by there gaze. So how does this work? First of all, the cat stares at you for a long time. And after that, it blinks its eyes slowly. Some people call this the cats kiss. But you should also know that this is your cats way of showing you that it loves you.

But how do you return the favor? This is easy, all you need to do is follow your cats lead. Stare at it for a long time and then slowly blink your eyes. See? Cats eyes have also be used for romantic films as well.

Do not believe the horror films you see. Cats do not and never have had a third eye. Their eye sight is really far better than a humans. Instead of a third eye, what cats have is a third eyelid. This is called a nictitating membrane.

This inner eyelid protects the eyes of the cat from harm and also from dryness. You will always notice that when a cat is sick, this membrane will be some what closed. This should always alarm enough for you to call your vet or get your cat to them fast as possible.

But this third eyelid will also show once a cat is happy. So you will know what kind of mood your cat is in just by looking at the membrane.

You should always observe the pupil of your feline friend. A change in size of one of the pupils can often be an indication of an inflammation. It can also be a sign of a kind of a neurologic, disorder, this is called Horner’s Syndrome. Or worse, it can also indicate tumors or injuries in the central nervous system.

Never believe what others say that cats are color blind. They do see some colors. They may not see them as clear as human do, but its not true that they cannot see any colors at all.

Cats can also see clearly over long distances. There vision is very different from peoples. There vision will blurry if they are looking at objects that are very close to them.

Yes it is true, cats do have the nocturnal vision. But they can not see in complete darkness. Do you see the muscles on their iris that surround the pupils of their eyes? They are constructed in a way that it narrows into a vertical split when they are exposed in the bright lights. And it opens fully when they are in a quite dim light.

This feature of the cat may be traced back to their roots. They can use this feature to hunt for food during the night, that is if they were left out in the jungle or left with no one to care for them.

So you must forget about the horror movies that you have seen. Now it is time to put some effort into your cats eye care. Never let a minor ailments worsen. Always call your vet immediately when you think there is something not right or amiss. You do not want your cat to lose their sight or even worse lose their lives. Just remember it is always better to be safe than blind.

Graham Williams is an online author and maintains a site devoted to Caring For Your Cat. So if you would like further FREE information on Cat Care. Then please visit my site.

How To Manage Teenage Stress Effectively

If you are a parent of a teenager, then you must know that teens today are facing far more pressure than teens years ago. Their demand for time has becoming increasingly greater and the pressure to succeed and to get ahead of their peers is enormous. Then, if you factor in the stresses of simply being a teenager who is trying to find your place in society, it is no wonder that teens today constantly feel overwhelmed and tired out by their work. Giving your children and loved ones advice on how to manage teenage stress effectively is important, as most are never willing to ask for help and suffer bad consequences as a result.

One of the first things that you should do for your teen is to give them an outlet to relief their stress. Your teenager is constantly bombarded with text messages, cell phone calls, emails, IM’s, and My space requests, just to name a few. Everyone needs time to recharge and this is especially true for your stressed out teen. You should get him or her interested in another form of activity that completely enables one to be away from their otherwise more stressful demands or work. Such activities can range from reading a book, participating in a sport, to any other extracurricular activity such as choir or perhaps the band.

If you are unable to find an activity which your teen finds interesting, then you should consider making it mandatory that all work and stress come to a pause for at least one hour each evening at home. Your children may complain that they do not have the time to stop working; however, giving them the time and the space to relax is very important. It is definitely an effective way of helping them manage teenage stress.

Another thing you can do is to ensure that your teen knows that you are always there for him or her. Keeping all lines of communication open, between you and your child is extremely important. Remember to listen carefully and let them vent whatever frustrations they have when they do come to you. This is because, research shows that one of the biggest complaints from teens is that their parents either minimize their problems or do not make any effort to understand what they are saying or where they are coming from.

Also, let your child knows that if he or she feels uncomfortable talking to you about certain things or events that have impacted their lives, then he or she should seek advice from another trusted adult. You could always suggest a guidance counselor at school, a youth pastor at church, or perhaps a favorite Aunt or Uncle. This gives them the sense that they can always get help through other means even though they do not wish to tell you what the exact problem is. This will be effective in managing their stress as they will not end up bottling too many emotions or think that they are suffering alone in the situation.

Teenagers today face an immense amount stress in their daily lives. There is constant pressure to do well in school, get accepted into college, get scholarships to pay for it, keep a part time job as well as keep a social life. Many teens cannot handle stress on their own, so parents who know how to manage teenage stress effectively will help to eliminate some of the problems that they are facing.

Ian Spencer is an expert in solving anxiety and stress problems at http://www.What-Is-Stress.org . Where he provides anxiety help advice to treat stress issues and severe anxiety. Click Here to get your FREE stress analysis done online today.

3 Ways Of Helping Children Cope With Stress And Deal With Feelings

Life is not always as simple and easy for children as one may think. Children need to meet the harsh demands of school top on of their personal and social lives. In addition, many parents also send their children for supplementary classes for enrichment purposes and attempt to discover their children’s talents by having them engaged in cultural activities at the same time. Pressure from within the home and from people around contributes to the high levels of unnecessary stress that young children are facing today. As such, it is crucial that parents know the 3 ways of helping children cope with stress and deal with feelings.

The most basic thing to do to help your child cope with stress is to understand what stress actually is. Stress is our body’s way of reacting to specific events or changes in our lives that are taking place. Some children are brought up in an environment that encourages and guides him or her to deal with stress in a positive way. Thus, it is important that parents learn the skills to teach their children how to respond to stressful and tense situations in a more optimistic manner.

The first people that children usually turn to for support are their parents. As such, parents should always ensure that they are there to provide a listening ear to their children. They should also be prepared to share good advice when the need calls for some. The goal of the parents in such situations is to guide their children and help them develop skills to cope with stress effectively. Avoid making the mistake of over questioning and adding unnecessary pressure on them.

The second and most obvious step towards helping your child deal with stress is to be a good role model. This is because children watch and learn from what their parents do. If you are easily anxious and defeated by issues that take place in your life, those negative feelings may be transmitted down to your children eventually. Instead of becoming upset over every little thing, you should instead teach your children how to properly deal with them. Reflecting on your behavior and actions will actually improve your overall health in the process. Thus, try to encourage everyone in your family to cope will stress well so that your children will be able to develop the necessary skills to do so in a good environment.

Knowing when your child gets stressed is another way of helping him or her cope with feelings. As a parent, you need to build a strong relationship with your child so that you are able to know what his problems are and what methods best suit him. You should also try to find ways to help your child relax more and encourage him or her to take breaks when necessary. This is because children nowadays tend to give themselves so much pressure that even their bodies cannot handle. To help your child get his or her mind away from work or pressure, suggest going for a walk or playing light games. This keeps him distracted from work and instead replaces stress with lots of fun and enjoyment. Although simple, most parents do not realize how effective this method is for helping their children deal with their feelings and stress.

To know more about your child, make sure that you communicate with him everyday. At night, before heading off to bed, ask your child what they did during the day and what their feelings were. Share with them advice on how their behaviors could be improved and commend them for good work done.

These 3 ways of helping children cope with stress and deal with feelings are essential for parents to know, so that they will be able to help their children develop skills in handling stressful situations in the future.

Ian Spencer is an expert in solving anxiety and stress problems at http://www.What-Is-Stress.org . Where he provides anxiety help advice to treat stress issues and severe anxiety. Click Here to get your FREE stress analysis done online today.

Cheap Home Owner’s Insurance Companies in Arizona

If you’re in the market for cheap homeowner’s insurance you’ll be happy to know that there are several such companies doing business in Arizona and you’ll be thrilled to know that there are a couple of simple things you can do that will save you even MORE money month after month and year after year.

Paying your premium automatically from your checking or savings account every month saves your insurance company the considerable cost of sending you a bill and they pass that savings on to you.

Having a retired person living in your home means there is someone at home most of the time who can respond quickly to a fire or to a broken water pipe or any other emergency, potentially saving your insurance company a considerable amount of money - and they will pass a portion of the savings along to you.

Making your home less vulnerable to burglars can also save you some money. Taking the simple steps of adding deadbolts to all exterior doors and adding locks to every window as well as trimming bushes back away from windows can all save you money. You can save even more by simply adding exterior floodlights that are motion-triggered.

Most homeowners simply accept the standard $500 deductible on their homeowner’s insurance, but were you aware that if you were to double your deduction to $1,000 you could save as much as 30% on the cost of your premium each and every month for years to come?

And you can save a huge amount of money right off the bat if you simply purchase your homeowner’s insurance online rather than from a brick and mortar location. Online insurance sellers have very little overhead and so they are able to pass a substantial savings on to you. One of the surest ways of saving money on your home insurance and making absolutely certain that you find the most affordable homeowner’s insurance in Arizona is to buy your policy online. Online insurance sellers offer the deepest discounts on homeowner’s insurance that you can possibly find ANYWHERE.

You can save even more with your online purchase if you take the time to review the prices from multiple homeowner’s insurance price comparison websites rather than just looking at the prices you get on only one site. Then all you need to do is to review all of the prices you’ve found and then choose the most affordable one from a company that you trust - then sleep easy at night knowing that you’ve saved money month after month by doing everything you could to lower your price and by buying your homeowner’s insurance online.

Then just review all of the prices you found and pick the cheapest homeowner’s insurance from a company you trust and - you’re done! You’ve found the best possible price on your homeowner’s insurance and you can look forward to saving a ton of money year after year for a long time to come. Now that you know how to save money on your homeowner’s insurance you can spend your time doing something fun with a little extra cash instead of trying to find ways to cut back.

My Recommended Sites: Home Insurance in Arizona Cheap Home Insurance

MAX-imize Life’s Potential With Philosophy From a Dog Named Max

As I look back on my life, I can honestly say it wasn’t always easy. I mean I was abandoned by my first family when I was just a pup. I had a big sister who was always biting my head. I got cancer and a bad back later in life. And I inherited an annoying little sister who also tried to bite my head. So I could have spent a good part of my life whining about something.

But I ascribe to the philosophy that “you can let life happen to you or you can make your life happen.” I wrote down much of my philosophy in the book I wrote with my mom, “Life to the Max: Maxims for a Great Life by a Dog named Max.” But here’s another Top 10 Ways to MAX-imize Life’s Potential:

1) Keep a positive attitude. Bad things are bound to happen, but thinking negatively just makes things worse and worrying won’t change anything. Get up everyday and wag your tail!

2) Be creative. There are lots of ways to solve a problem. If something stinks in your life, sniff out new opportunities.

3) Relieve your stress. Sometime you just have to bark about stuff, but after that, let it go. Have a good stretch and relax.

4) Keep the faith.Things will happen that are beyond our control. Dig up as much information as you need, but then you have to have faith that things will work out. No whining!

5) Always work hard. You get a great sense of accomplishment from work done well. Being successful takes dogged determination.

6) Take time to play. Recreation is just as important as work —you need to exercise your mind as well as your body. When you play well with others, you learn how to be part of a pack.

7) Take care of your friendships. Friends will be there even when family can’t. Occasionally let them bite your head without retaliation. It means they trust you enough to show you how they really feel.

Laugh freely and often! Laughter is critical to our well-being. Get together with your friends and howl!

9) Take care of your health. It is one of your most prized possessions. If you have the basis of good health, you can lick anything!

10) Take time to “paws” and reflect. Life can be filled with noise and distraction. Sometimes, you just have to sit down and chew things over.

I think if you try out some of these things, you’re going to have a doggone great life. And if you need a reminder from time to time, you can either turn to my book —just a little reminder, it’s called “Life to the Max: Maxims for a Great Life by a Dog named Max” or you can just take a look at your dog. If you watch him carefully, you’ll realize he knows a lot more than you think. And no doubt, he can teach you some new tricks.

Robin Reynolds is an award-winning writer who has more than 25 years of experience writing in a variety of formats. An Airedale Terrier lover since youth, Robin lives in Tempe, AZ with her husband, teenage son, and two Airedales. Visit Nice Creative and Life to Max.

The Current Real Estate Market is Killing Us

There are more victims in the recent economic and housing downturn and they’re buddies of mine: the family dog. You see, as houses are foreclosed, people are being forced to either move in with other family members who cannot accommodate dogs or relocate to apartments who don’t allow pets. Some of these folks are under so much stress that they wait until the last minute when they do not have time to think about what to do with their pets. In many of these cases, these pets are simply left in the abandoned homes where they will starve to death if not discovered.

At this time of crisis, my mom and I have seen many animal shelter groups on TV, encouraging people to turn their pets in to them. But my mom has been reading Nathan Winograd’s book, “Redemption: The Myth of Pet Overpopulation and the No Kill Revolution in America” to me and I say, “Not so fast!”

I was shocked to hear that many shelters have routinely euthanized healthy adoptable pets in staggering numbers. Shelters will tell you that their cages are crowded, their intake is greater than demand and they lack the money to care for these animals long-term. If you ask me, many animal lovers have blindly drunk the “pet overpopulation” Kool-Aid that many animal organizations have been peddling for years.

But in interviews, Winograd points out that if pets are killed because a shelter doesn’t have a comprehensive foster care program, that’s not pet overpopulation. That’s the lack of a foster care program. If adoptions are low because people are getting those pets from other places and the shelter isn’t doing off-the-premise adoptions, that’s a failure to do outside adoptions, not pet overpopulation.

If animals are killed because working with rescue groups is discouraged, that’s not pet overpopulation. If dogs are euthanized because volunteers and staff aren’t allowed to socialize them and they went “cage-crazy,” that’s a failure to have behavior rehabilitation program in place, not pet overpopulation.

Of course, I am not advocating for people to abandon their dogs in empty homes. Good grief! Dying of starvation is a very cruel and painful death. However, if you or someone you know is facing foreclosure and needs to relocate a dog, maybe you should consider contacting a rescue or a no-kill shelter. Rescue groups already have foster care systems in place and work very hard to match the right animal with the right home. When our family adopted Krissy, our most recent addition from Southwest Airedale Rescue, my mom and dad had to fill out a comprehensive questionnaire, undergo a home visit so that the rescue coordinator could make sure the home was safe and after a meet-and-greet with Krissy, we were finally approved for adoption.

As I think back on my own rescue from the local humane society, I am so grateful that a rescue group knew that I was going there so I didn’t have to stay too long. Who knows what would have happened to me? I just might have been another victim of the real estate market and when the economy is bad, it just kills us.

Robin Reynolds is an award-winning writer who has more than 25 years of experience writing in a variety of formats. An Airedale Terrier lover since youth, Robin lives in Tempe, AZ with her husband, teenage son, and two Airedales. Visit Nice Creative and Life to Max.

Dog Chew Bones, The Good and the Bad

When it comes to giving your dog a bone to chew on, the main attitudes are either for or against the action, because of all the different benefits, or problems that come from dogs gnawing away on a bone. On the one hand, many people fully believe in the benefits, as well as the fact that dogs have been chewing bones… since there were dogs. On the other hand, others argrue that now that more people are aware of what kind of damage animal bones can inflict on a dog’s internal digestive system, the idea of giving your dog a bone is practically sadistic. One view is more extreme than the other, and there are happy mediums that can be reached here, somewhere in the middle. First we’ll go over the benefits, then the issues, and finally, which bones should be selected based on facts, rather than speculation.

Benefits

- Bones give your dogs something to chew on that isn’t your new shoes, the curtains, or the garbage; it’s simple, and effective on the doggy to-do list. A chew bone is a dog’s healthy alternative to your furniture, clothing, or other household items. If he or she has a designated chewy, then the chances of him or her going for the couch legs are much slimmer.

- Contrary to rumours, bones actually do improve dental health. Chewing a bone scrapes away tartar and plaque buildup, which fights the growth of bacteria, which in turns prevents gum disease and bad breath. It will also improve the whiteness of their teeth.

- Puppies that are teething especially appreciate having a bone to chew because it eases the pain of new teeth coming in, just like a baby chews on a cold teething ring. Give your puppy the same treatment by keeping his bone in the refrigerator when he’s not after it.

Problems

- Some people are concerned with whether or not a dog’s teeth will hold up to the tremendous pressure of chewing on a hard bone; the dog’s teeth may crack, or chip. Despite the validity in this concern, an dog’s teeth are specially formed to withstand crunching, and chewing hard objects; this is part of their genetic makeup as predators.

- Another major concern is the bones splinter and crack in the dog’s mouth, and later, the pieces may be choked on, or cut up the animal’s mouth. Or even worse, if swallowed, will pass through the animal’s digestive system, creating cuts and tears in the throat, stomach or intestinal lining.

Which Bones To Choose For Your Dogs

Many of the more extreme disbelievers in the benefits of dog bones prefer to give their dogs absolutely nothing even resembling a bone; better safe than sorry, but there are other options. The hard exterior of a good chew bones is good for teeth, –the same as the hard dog food or treats that is the staple of the majority of dogs’ diets. Instead, you can use healthier and safer hide chewies; you’ve seen them before, usually they’re hard pieces of white or red rawhide, –you know, the slimy drool covered things that you’ve seen stuck to your friends carpet? Those are great for dogs because they’re hard enough to provide good chewing, which means puppies can use them for teething relief, and bigger dogs can safely chew without cutting their mouth. Other bones are sold specifically for dogs as well, found in pet stores, that are treated with vitamins and flavouring, and big enough so that they don’t chip or splinter.

Find out everything you need to know about Dog Treats, including where to buy them at Cosmos Dog Treats and Cosmos Dog Treat Store. Article written by Russ Hancock

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