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Rhinos rank among the most endangered species on Earth. Valued for their horns, they face a serious threat from poaching.
Look For: The rhinoceros is a large, primitive-looking mammal that in fact dates from the
Miocene era millions of years ago. A wide, powerfully built, animal with a barrel-shaped body,
thick legs, and three-toed feet. The hide is thick, folded at points, and hairless.
Upper lip hooked or pointed and flexible.
Length: 4.5 to 6 feet tall
Weight: The white rhino is the second largest land mammal next to the elephant.
The five species range in weight from 750 pounds to 8,000 pounds
Habitat: Rhino habitat ranges from savannas to dense forests in tropical and subtropical regions.
Range: Rhinos are found in parts of Africa and Asia.
As the human-animal bond becomes stronger, we share more of our lives,
our leisure time and our living space with our companion animals,
and they become exposed to the same environmental hazards that we do.
Many of our habits, including smoking, can affect our pets as they
would affect any other member of our household.
Studies show a correlation between second-hand smoke and certain forms of cancer in pets.
A study found a strong correlation between second-hand smoke and an oral cancer in cats.
Cats living with smokers had higher incidence of this type of cancer, and cats living with
more than one smoker had an even higher incidence of this cancer.
Why mouth cancer? Since cats groom themselves quite diligently, cats in
smoking households can lick up carcinogens that have been deposited on their fur.
Daily grooming over a long period of time can expose the delicate skin in the mouth to
hazardous amounts of carcinogens.
In dogs, second-hand smoke is significantly associated with nasal sinus cancer
and there is also an association with lung cancer. A study found a higher incidence
of nasal cavity tumors in dogs exposed to second-hand smoke than in dogs that
lived in non-smoking households. This higher incidence was specifically found
amongst long-nosed breed dogs such as Collies, and there was no significant
increase in nasal tumors amongst short to medium nosed dogs.
Longer-nosed dogs may have a higher incidence of tumors for two reasons.
1) Smokers inhale smoke through their mouths, and it ends up depositing in the lungs.
Bystanders, on the other hand, usually inhale second-hand smoke through the nose.
Long-nosed dogs' nasal passages have a greater surface area on which carcinogens may
be deposited before reaching the lungs.
2) Since a longer nose has nasal passages with a greater number of cells, there is a
greater chance that one of these cells can be mutated by carcinogens into a cancer cell.
Although short to medium nosed dogs exposed to second-hand smoke do not have a greater
incidence of nasal tumors, they do have a slightly higher incidence of lung cancer, possibly
because their shorter nasal passages are less effective at filtering carcinogens out of
inhaled air before it reaches the lungs.
Designating a smoking area outside or in a physically separate room of the
house may be one way to minimize second-hand smoke exposure for pets
and other non-smoking family members.
positive reinforcement for doing so, from being left too long out in the yard, or from separation
anxiety when the owners are gone. He says owners should "avoid falling into the practice of
noticing the dog only when it misbehaves." Randomly throughout the day, notice when your dog
is quiet. Tell it "good quiet," and give it a treat. The dog will figure out what gets rewarded.
When the dog barks too long, use the SWRR technique. Tell the dog "off," and blast it with a
stream of water or depress an air horn or ultrasound device. The key is to startle and then correct.
A dog's anxiety is reduced if it's able to smell its owner. Dogs should be sleeping inside with
their owners to help reduce pack-isolation anxiety.
For a nuisance barker, never look at, pet, speak to, feed or play with the dog or let the dog
in or out if it vocalizes in any way. Only give the dog attention when it's not seeking it.
This positively reinforces quiet behavior.
If an animal has invaded your dog's territory, or someone rings your doorbell, the dog should
be allowed to bark a warning. Dogs should get a six-bark limit—enough time for the prowler to
ascertain that you have a dog and/or for you to investigate. Beyond that, the dog should be
told, "Off!" If it doesn't stop barking, try SWRR. After five full minutes of quiet, have the
dog sit and reward it with praise and a treat.
Owners with nuisance-barking dogs must better integrate them into the family and also give
their dogs something to do when alone. Give it three Nylabones or Redi-Gimborn Natural
Sterilized Bones. Chewing serves as an anxiety-lowering activity.
Shock collars and de-barking (a surgical procedure in which a dog's vocal cords are cut)
are extremely cruel. If a dog is barking because of anxiety or fear, such treatments make
it worse, and the dog will instead try digging, chewing, destruction or self-mutilation.
We must change the root causes to successfully eliminate the problem.
For more information, contact Dr. Larry
Lachman at P.O. Box 22151, Carmel, Calif.,
93922; by phone at 831-643-2635; via e-mail
at drlarry@familyanimal.com or
dociam2@msn.com or online at
http://www.familyanimal.com.
A man walks into a bar with his dog. He asks the bartender, "If I can make
my dog speak, will you give me free beer?"
The bartender says, "Show me what he's got."
The man says to his dog, "What's on top of this building?" The dog
barks, "Ruf."
The man says, "Who is the best ball player of all time?" The dog
growls, "Ruth."
The bartender turns sharply to the man, points to the door and says,
"Get out. Your dog is not speaking." The man turns to leave the bar,
and his dog looks at the bartender and asks, "Ripken?"
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Rhinos rank among the most endangered species on Earth. Valued for their horns, they face a serious threat from poaching.