Would my dog feel sad if I bring another dog home?
There are no set rules about good dog matches because all dogs – even within the same breed – are individuals. So it’s not necessarily true that female dogs match well with male dogs, younger dogs or older dogs make better second dogs, or that two puppies always do well together.
Trainers recommend walking your dog and the potential new dog together. Called parallel walks or proximity walks, these low-key activities allow dogs to get used to each other while doing something fun in a neutral space.
This requires that:
*Both dogs are on a leash
*There is one person per dog
*You keep the leashes loose, especially if/when the dogs choose to interact
*You keep the first meeting brief (several seconds)
*You praise both dogs constantly and in a light-hearted tone
*Have your dogs sit or lie down to practice self-control, especially if one dog seems nervous or excited. While walking, allow one dog to sniff the other. Let your current dog sniff first, while feeding the potential new dog some treats. Then, switch. If the walk goes well, take the dogs to a safe, fenced-in area to relax and interact.
How should I defend myself if a monkey look as if he is about to attack ?
Never heckle or tease a monkey. They are irritable and afraid of you. So if you anger or annoy a monkey it will bite, scratch or inflict other bodily harm upon you.
Avoid eye contact as this is a threat as well. Look away. Try to focus on their hands or something other than the face. Never show your teeth. To a monkey, a big toothy grin means a challenge.
If you can, you should remove items like food, shiny jewellery, glasses or toys that the monkey can see. Monkeys are attracted to things that shine, smell good and make noise, so be aware of what you may be dangling in front of their faces.
Stay calm in the unlikely event that you are attacked. If the monkey charges you, don’t fight back. The monkey can run, jump and climb better than you. Find something to get in between you and the monkey – a book, bag lid, a car or a door – anything you have that works. Unless you’ve really angered or annoyed the monkey, it should lose interest within minutes and go away.
A good tactic for scaring away a monkey if all else fails is to pretend to throw something at them or to carry a couple of small rocks to throw at the ground near the monkey’s feet. Never throw the stone directly at the monkey unless you are in serious danger.
I don’t have enough money to donate but I still want to help my local animal shelter. What should I do?
You can contribute a lot even without giving donations. You can volunteer on fixed days at the shelter. You could help through Facebook and Twitter to adopt animals out from the shelter or to get donations for them. You could rescue animals and feed the ones in your area, report cases of animal cruelty. For more information, log on to www.peopleforanimalsindia.org
Sparrows have formed a nest on my air conditioning duct. What should I do?
How lucky you are. I envy you. It has been several years since I saw a sparrow and to think that they have come to your house thrills me. I hope they have made a nest and lay eggs. I know it is a botheration for you but have patience and use some other form of cooling.
The fact that they are using your unit means that you were not using it anyway so don’t make a fuss now. After the babies hatch and go away then you can find a way to seal it and put a net around it so that the birds don’t come. Remove any leftover nesting material and cover the holes with pieces of plywood or fine mesh.
Fasten a board or piece of cardboard on top of your unit at a 45 degree angle so the birds can’t land on top of it. When they land on the angled side, they will slide off. Remember that the birds’ development period in the nest is short.
They need only three weeks at the most. If you find a nest in your unit, be patient until they are through with the hatching process. Eliminate any pieces of the nest after the young birds take flight and take immediate measures in preparation for spring of next year.
If I were you I would make another friendly place so that they can roost there. Sparrows are almost extinct so it is important that we try and keep them alive wherever we can.
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