“Maintaining peace between dogs and kids - CNN” plus 1 more |
| Maintaining peace between dogs and kids - CNN Posted: 08 Feb 2011 05:49 AM PST Be honest about whether your dog is good with children. If not, you should find her a new home. STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Editor's note: Morieka Johnson writes about pets, fashion and money-saving ideas for MNN.com. You can follow her and many other green writers on Twitter @MotherNatureNet. (MNN.com) -- Recently my inbox has been flooded with news of one awful attack after another from various breeds, particularly pit bulls. While these stories make the nightly news, the more common situation is when a family member or friend gets nipped -- not seriously, but enough to get everyone's attention. In either case, proper training and socialization are vital to ensuring a good relationship between all pets and people. Amber Burckhalter, a certified professional dog trainer and owner of K-9 Coach and Bed & Bark in metro Atlanta, offered some great tips to help avoid dog bites. I got to see Burckhalter in action through the Humane Society of the United States' End Dogfighting campaign, which offers free training classes for pit bull owners. Burckhalter skillfully keeps the peace each week like a middle school band director guiding a bunch of unruly teens. (Trust me, it's no easy feat.) As a mother and the owner of an energetic boxer, she offers advice to help maintain the peace between pets and pint-size people in your home. MNN.com: Dog outperforms lab test at detecting cancer Never leave children and dogs unattended. "People often forget that their family dog is an animal and animals do not have a moral compass," she said. Kids should never touch a sleeping, sick, eating, strange or mommy dog. Parents often expect dogs to simply deal with kids pulling their ears and tails or taunting them. Children should be taught to respect the dog and give it space. Create kid-free zones: Family dogs should have a kid-free zone to go to if they want space. Crates provide a separate area for the dog to be alone. Don't view it as punishment. The crate is a safe refuge, especially when the house is filled with relatives and strange noises. Establish house rules: The family should never allow rough play with the dog. Burckhalter also suggests distributing food and treats away from the child. Do not allow the dog to eat from the child's plate or play with the child's toys. Kids also should not play with pet toys; they lack the same safety standards. MNN.com: Winter health tips for your pets Train and socialize the dog: Burckhalter shared a terrible tragedy that occurred in her neighborhood. A child was mauled by a dog that had spent its life tied up outside. Children screaming and running past had caused years of pent-up frustration in a dog that already lacked proper social skills. When the chain finally broke, Burckhalter said, frustration turned into attack. The dog was euthanized and the child spent months in the hospital. All dogs should be trained to handle various distractions such as children, small animals and bicycles. During the weekly pit bull training sessions, Burckhalter uses an air horn, funny hats and other distractions to test dogs' concentration. Enroll your dog in obedience training and make it a family affair. The American Kennel Club also offers a Canine Good Citizen certification program for well-behaved dogs. It can be a valuable asset for dogs and owners, who might qualify for lower homeowners' insurance rates. Also, involve children in positive training methods as much as possible. Make sure the breed fits your lifestyle: Research the type of dog you have and respect those instincts, she said. Understanding the traits of Cleo's breed will help you become a better pet owner. I know that my dog Lulu is a high-energy pit bull. Without long daily walks to help burn all that extra energy, she becomes bored, destructive and a threat to my shoes. The AKC has helpful descriptions of most breeds on its site. Be honest with yourself about Cleo's needs and whether you can meet them. Get your dog spayed or neutered: Most dog attacks come from unaltered males, Burckhalter said. Get your dog spayed as soon as possible. The ASPCA offers a database of free or low-cost spay/neuter options around the country. Simply enter your ZIP code to get started. Teach kids to ignore stray dogs: Remind kids that every dog is not friendly. If a dog approaches while they are walking to school, kids should not make eye contact or try to run. Instead, they should stand still (like a tree) until the dog loses interest and walks away. If kids are on the ground when a stray approaches, they should curl up into a ball and cover their head until the dog passes. MNN.com: Is your dog fat? Chances are you are, too New parents, help dogs prepare for the baby Before my nephew was born, I hired a trainer to help my dog and my sister's dog get acclimated to new baby scents and sounds. (A crying baby sounds a lot like Lulu's favorite squeaky toy.) Burckhalter has this advice for those who need help preparing furry babies for the arrival of a real baby. Make any lifestyle changes before the baby arrives: If your dog requires long walks, start doggie daycare as an outlet for exercise. Establish a no-furniture rule and enforce it. Install baby gates well before duty calls and you have to stumble out of bed at 2 a.m. for a diaper change. Get the dog acclimated to baby sounds and scents: Let your dog smell the baby's blanket and other gear. Set up the pack 'n' play and car seat weeks early. Make the baby's room a dog-free zone. Start obedience training: Be honest about whether your dog is good with children. If your dog does not like children, Burckhalter said, you should find her a new home. © Copyright 2010 Mother Nature Network This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| In-app purchases in iPad, iPhone, iPod kids' games touch off parental firestorm - Washington Post Posted: 08 Feb 2011 12:13 AM PST Over the winter break from school, 8-year-old Madison worked to dress up her simple mushroom home on the iPhone game Smurfs' Village. In doing so, she also amassed a $1,400 bill from Apple. The Rockville second-grader didn't realize the Smurfberries she was buying on the popular game by Capcom Interactive were real purchases, much like buying a pair of shoes from Zappos or movie tickets from Fandango. After all, lots of children's games require virtual payments of pretend coins, treasure chests and gold to advance to levels. But like a growing number of parents, Madison's mom, Stephanie Kay, was shocked to find very real charges from iTunes show up in her e-mail box days later. "I thought the app preyed on children," she said. "Note that the Smurf app states it is for ages 4-plus." The games are part of a category of applications on Apple's iTunes store that are free to download but let companies charge users for products and services when the application is launched. Following Apple, Google this week introduced these so-called "in-app purchases" for Android mobile phones and tablets, which experts say could create a new economy for newspapers, record labels and movie studios that have been struggling with ways to thrive online. The in-app purchases have also catapulted children's games such as Smurfs' Village and Tap Zoo, by San Francisco-based Pocket Gems, into the ranks of the highest-grossing apps on iPods, iPhones and iPads. But the practice is troubling parents and public interest groups, who say $99 for a wagon of Smurfberries or $19 for a bucket of snowflakes doesn't have any business in a children's game. Though a password is needed to make a purchase, critics say that the safeguards aren't strong enough and that there are loopholes. "Parents need to know that the promotion of games and the delivery mechanism for them are deceptively cheap," said Jim Styer, president of Common Sense Media, a public advocacy group for online content for children. "But basically people are trying to make money off these apps, which is a huge problem, and only going to get bigger because mobile apps are the new platform for kids." Apple said it tries to prevent episodes like Madison's by requesting a password when making in-app purchases. And parents can change settings on Apple's gadgets to restrict downloading and transactions, Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller said. But parents say changing those settings isn't easy or obvious. Madison's mother let her download Smurfberries with the help of her older sister, who knew the family's iTunes password. From there, Madison went on a Smurfberry binge on the family iPad. Arlington second-grader Leyla Ulku figured out her parents' password and recently racked up a $150 charge from buying buckets of stars and snowflakes to build a safari out of sea turtles and giraffes on Tap Zoo. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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