Taking my cue from my home town Portland’s reputation as a green city, I’m writing a book for Wiley Publishing about how to “do pets” as eco-sensitively as possible.

“Pets and the Planet: A Practical Guide to Sustainable Pets” will help pet owners select, feed, and care for their pets with a focus on what’s best for the environment. Here’s where you come in. I’d like your questions and tips about “going green” with pets. To earn your help, I’ll give you this sneak preview tailored for Portland area residents.

Dog poop disposal is a big topic, but Portland residents will get a break after 2009, when curbside residential food waste recycling starts. The commercial composting temperatures will allow us to compost dog poop safely. Until then, no composting dog waste, even if you have compostable bags. It’s not the bag, it’s the parasites in the bags.

For dog waste disposal, the bag to use is the “BioBag.” or an equivalent that is biodegradable and compostable. Look for the green logo (see photo) to assure the product you buy is 100% biodegradable and compostable. This certificate is based on the strictest standard, the European one.

Certificates that look like the logo below show that the bag is intended to be composted in a municipal or commercial facility and meets U.S. standards (read “not as strict as European standards” for composting. [Insert white logo]

Cat friends, please know that clay-based litters are strip-mined, with all that implies; the top layer of earth removed, and clay stripped off. Use a plant-based litter if your cat can adapt. The gel-pearl litter also works well and lower quantities are needed. However, the litter is expensive and does not adhere to the main principle of recycling, which is to reuse. In either event, if you use kitty pan liners, look for the green logo above.

If you just don’t “do” poop, Alan Pietrovito, a professional pooper-scooper, owns Portland’s Doody Calls. Passionate about protecting the environment, Alan believes he has a responsibility to show leadership, so he looks beyond his current business in proposing a local methane digester for pet waste in Portland.

Opportunities exist to make green choices other than about pet waste disposal. We also make choices about the type and source of our pets, what we feed them, how we supply their daily needs, what kind of services we use (vet, groomer, daycare), how we exercise our pets, and how we mange our interior environment for household health. I’ll be writing about these topics in the months ahead.

I need your help in making this book as useful as possible. Please post your questions and tips below. For posting tips or suggesting stories I can use in the book, you’ll receive a pet-related prize.

Last week my best friend Bette got the dreaded call.  A neighbor confessed she was ready to strangle Bette’s dog for barking, barking, barking.  A horrified Bette explained she didn’t know her dog was barking when home alone.  Many of you are like Bette.

Barking dogs are serious problems.  Not only does your dog suffer, but your neighbors suffer mightily. Worse, there is no “quick fix” for the barking dog.  Sorry folks, but that’s the truth.

You need to take immediate and decisive action about a barking dog, whether you’re the neighbor or the owner of the persistent pooch.

The first issue is discussing the barking issue.  If you’re the dog’s owner, let your neighbors know you’re aware of the issue and you’re working on it.  If you’re the neighbor, the dog’s family may not know about the incessant cry for attention. 

In Multnomah County, Oregon, where I live, continuous noise lasting 10 minutes or intermittent noise lasting 30 minutes is unlawful, and is punishable by a $100 fine.  Worse is the ill will of those around you.  These are consequences that can force you to give up your dog.

For those neighbors who can’t summon the courage to discuss this problem with their offending neighbors, Multnomah County Animal Services will send a “barking dog letter” to your neighbor, along with a brochure designed to help the neighbor understand and correct the problem.

Dogs bark for a variety of reasons.  If your dog woofs when he’s home alone, he’s bored, uncomfortable, or anxious.  Keep your dog inside when you’re not at home.  Make sure your dogs’ basic needs for food, the opportunity to pee and poop, and something to do during the day are met.  I use the Kong treat dispenser when I’m away from home for more than a couple of hours.  This electronic device rolls out a treat every couple of hours, enough to keep my dog occupied for a few minutes between naps. 

Exercise before you leave home and after you return keeps your dog ( and you) in a more relaxed state of mind.  As trainers say, “A tired dog is a happy dog.” In the same way you’d take your child to play in the park before you put him to bed, take your dog.  Exercise is necessary, not optional.

Bark collars, including a “strong shot of scent” citronella, the high-frequency sound, and the mild shock collars, can be aids but do not solve the whole problem. Dog daycare may be expensive, but can be an excellent short-term way to increase your dog’s exercise (and keep your neighbors calm) while you continue to work through the steps to solve your dog’s noisemaking.

Dogs are social animals.  You brought this dog into your home to provide companionship. This is a two-way relationship.  You have a responsibility to provide companionship to your dog.  We all fall down in our responsibilities from time to time.  When we do, we simply start again.

Do yourself a favor and print the information at http://www.co.multnomah.or.us/dbcs/pets/BarkingDogAdvice.pdf.  Excessive barking is a major reason that dogs lose their homes. Ask your neighbors for help.  Maybe someone in the neighborhood would baby-sit your dog, or walk her at lunchtime.  Regardless, your neighbors will be thrilled to let you know when your dog is and isn’t barking and they will be glad to know you’re trying to be a responsible dog owner.

My friend Bette now has a crate, a citronella collar, and a regular appointment at the doggy daycare.  She also has told her neighbors what she’s doing about the problem and asked for their help in solving it.  I’ve got my fingers crossed.  Bette adopted a 9 year old Golden Retriever—one that needed a home and has a loving one now.  Let’s hope they can hang on together—my friend, her dog, and the neighbors.

Need a trainer to assist you with your barking dog?  Find one at http://www.thiswildlife.com/links/trainer.  Have a “stop the barking” story? Post at http://www.thiswildlife.com/pets/nature_science/more/155/ to enter this month’s drawing for a “Scat Mat,” a sure-fire way to keep pets off your antique chair or away from the front door.

If your pets are like mine, they thrive on household hustle and bustle.  Over the summer, our bustle index was high—kid and dog visitors, hikes and swims.  That’s over. Starting this week, we’re at work and school. Our faithful companions are dozing through Judge Judy and Oprah so they’re fresh as daisies with enough energy to make our homecoming memorable.

The companion and family arrive home late in the afternoon, fresh as a scrap of last month’s rawhide chew. Even before the door opens our pets greet us at the top of their lungs.  Even fish flap their gills, creating a tsunami in the aquarium.  Staggering to the kitchen for a cold drink and a potato chip, your last nerve exposed, you discover someone has chewed the window sill.

Someone else has mangled the chair seat.  (The tooth marks are distinctive, as we learned on CSI). Your birds’ calls, your dogs’ barks, and your cats clawing become louder, more incessant. Every fiber of your being screams, “SHUT UP. LEAVE ME ALONE.” Every claw, paw, tail and vocal device of your pets screams “.  I’VE BEEN HOME ALONE ALL DAY, WAITING FOR YOU, OH EPICENTER OF MY UNIVERSE.”

Since we opposable-thumbed caretakers evolved to be more intelligent than our pets, try planning “Home Alone” preventive pet routines.

Before family members fly the coop, heap attention on your pets.  When you distribute breakfast bars and bag lunches, feed a snack or two to your birds. Be sure to feed the dog and cat. Talk with your pet (and your children), using their names.  If you can’t remember their names, sound happy and drink another cup of coffee.

Because birds communicate through calls, set up a radio or CD player for daylong bird entertainment. Some cat owners provide aquariums (with sealed tops, of course) or window-viewable bird feeders as cat daytime entertainment.  Provide a chew toy and toss a Kong with a frozen treat inside to busy your dog as you leave the house. A busy brain equals a happy dog.

When you dash home before soccer practice, grab a leafy celery stick for your avian kid and talk to him.  He may know where your kids’ soccer shoes are.  Pet him, and say bye-bye.

Put your dog in the car and take him (and the soccer shoes) with you.  You can spend the time walking the dog in the adjoining park and chanting mantras.

“

When the family returns to the roost in the evening, greet your pets first.  Get everyone in the family to help you. If you haven’t taken your dog outside since you left home, get him right outside.  If your bird is comfortable out of the cage, take him into the bathroom, while you wash your face and brush your hair.

Check your messages via speakerphone while you play ball with your dog or bird. They want to do what you are doing. Only your cat knows what she wants to do, and telling you ruins her mystique. After dinner your bird or cat (not both at once, of course) love to perch near your recliner or on your lap while you watch television or do homework.  Remember, dogs have difficulty perching anywhere.

Smooth your back to school routine into soothing pet practices. When companions provide what pets need, both go to the head of the class.

Have a home alone routine that works with your animals? Post a comment below to enter this month’s drawing for a “Scat Mat,” a sure-fire way to keep pets from your antique chair or away from the front door.

Next week: a home-alone problem with teeth:  barking dogs

As my readers know, my house is full of “restless pet” syndrome. I had a chance to get away to Seattle for a day and took it. My father spent the day with my animals. He arrived at 9 am and left at 10 pm watched television and read. He reported, “Your dog did not bark and the birds did not make noise.” I considered the possibility that he had slept through chaos, and then shrugged the animals’ reaction as appropriate to a new person in the house.

Two days later, my dog Onyx regained her obsession with the activities of the next door neighbors and every other person and car that passed the house. Since I live on a busy street, she alerted every 30 seconds all day long. Birdie playtime erupted into an all-out fight. Feathers were yanked and my sweet but not-so-bright cockatiel was battered in the crossed beaks of Nick the angry Senegal and my exasperated African Gray.

My Dad and I took the three birds for a post-dust-up physical. The diagnosis was bruising and broken feathers. No internal injuries. The vet and I discussed the avian hormones and caging and playtime options to keep the birdie tempers in check.

On the way home, my Dad observed that he hadn’t had any discontent while he was in the house, but I seemed to be having quite a bit of trouble with the animals’ behavior. He politely suggested that perhaps the problem was me.

I admitted, as I had in last week’s column, that I had failed to give my animals enough exercise. He suggested exercise wasn’t the only issue. Maybe the problem was that I was “all nerved up.” He followed up with a suggestion that I try to do too much. I don’t know where he gets this idea.

My next book project is with the agent and may or may not sell. I haven’t heard from a client whose assignments I depend on for a living wage. I have a class coming up and I’m worried about leaving my animals. I’m working hard on my physical fitness. My yard looks like the jungle. The house needs new siding. I can’t make any progress on my novel for reasons that are not clear to me.

My father is right and irritating. Animals pick up on our moods. If I’m tense, the dog is tense. The birds are tense.

Exercise is helpful, but we also need fun and relaxation. Me. You. Our pets. It’s a whole household kind of thing.

I asked my Dad to help out by grilling salmon for dinner while I swim at community center pool. After our dinner, the birds and the dog will enjoy tiny tidbits of salmon afterward. Tomorrow I’ll focus on the new project and try to forget about everything else. Lucky for me my father can help solve the problem as well as identify it. Could your kids or your parents help, even in a small way? Maybe you’d feel better with a picnic dinner and a walk. As summer comes to a close, maybe we need more enjoying and fewer projects. Just a thought.

If you have suggestions on how to relax more with your animals, post a comment. We need all the help we can get.

My pets’ spring fling has morphed into a full scale summer assault on my good will.  Last night, I composed my ad:  “Pet writer seeking peace and quiet seeks loving home for three parrots and one dog.”

Between a new book project and my father’s move to Portland in May, I’ve been spending the minimum time with my pets. Onyx, an active six-year-old Doberman, has been reduced from two walks a day to three long walks each week and liberal use of the fenced backyard.  My birds, used to long days outside and plenty of stimulating interaction, have been subjected to a grumbling “Here’s your food and please be quiet thank you very much” twice each day.  Maybe it’s been a little better than that, but not much.  The results—overload barking and screeching that may bring Animal Control to the door at any moment.

When life intervenes, we spend less time than we should with each other. Nerves fray. The situation escalates until someone makes a move.

As usual, my pets were ahead of me.  Before I could place the ad, they staged an intervention.

They demanded my presence downstairs at 5:45 a.m.  My dog danced that cute ballet dance she does every morning.  “I’m so glad to see you.  How about a pee and some food?” I growled at her.  She slunk off to her bed.

The birds twisted my ears with their version of the dawn chorus. (Think the sound of a thousand rusty gates swinging.) Their heckles broke the sound barrier, necessitating closing the windows, shutting off the flow of cool air.

I got hot and I don’t mean just the air temperature. My dog is a sweetie, anxious to please, but anxious in general when she doesn’t get enough exercise.  The birds don’t give a rip about my ability to write in peace and quiet. They began ripping my ear drums this morning.  I considered the headline on KGW.com, “Pet columnist strangles pets….” Not a good role model for my readers.

Once in awhile, each of us who take care of pets must reexamine how we’re doing-- especially those of us who dispense pet advice for a living. 

Nick, my Senegal parrot shouted in his unnaturally shrill mechanical voice, “Pet writer, heal yourself!  Check out Chapter 6 in your own darn book.”

So I did.  I opened “Conures,” my book on parrots, and to the section “Solving Behavior Problems.”

“It may be difficult to see, but the root of … behavior problems is almost always the … human companion. Giving your … attention each day will help prevent behavior problems from developing.”

The chapter lays out strategies for keeping your parrot happy.  Onyx placed a well-manicured forepaw on page 89 and cocked her head as if to say, “Are you doing these things?” She doesn’t talk, but then she doesn’t need to.

Nick the Senegal screeches, “No. No. No.” The African Gray, his feathers fluffed, looks inscrutable and irritated. Pili the Cockatiel bleats in her incessant way that makes me want to end my life.

“Okay, okay.  We’ll go back to the regular schedule.” I opened my daybook and scheduled the dog walks (even ten minutes, twice a day for a dog that has access to a back yard will help).  I resolved to get each bird into the outdoor cage for an hour of breeze and nature watching each day.  I scheduled the time to chop my special bird salad mix once a week.  I added ten minutes to bathe the birds each afternoon.

This is the basic stuff pet caretakers need to do.  Honestly, an hour a day for four animals is not too much to ask.  I can give the time five minutes here and ten minutes there, between other commitments during the day.

Sometimes it takes the intervention of the resident pets to rein us in.  “Good work, boys.” Call off the ads.  Call off the lurid “pet writer goes crazy headlines.” I’m going back to the basics. 

If you need the basic “regain control” list because your pets are driving you crazy, sign up for my free e-newsletter. If you have a tip to turn around pet overload please share by posting a comment.

You: Backyard planting, trimming, adding cool furniture and features.
Your dog:  Planning a home-alone assault on your backyard improvements.

You share your back yard with your dog. You may resist this notion, train her to stay out of your heirloom tomatoes and place “scat mats” on that extravagant chaise lounge that you had to have.
The fact is, your dog has nothing to do except break your resistance. And you will break. You will re-think your yard design. As my Doberman said when I delivered her peanut butter treats during a stay-out-of-the-tomatoes training session, “You all crumble, eventually.”

My dog Onyx’s advice (and I have come to agree) is to plan your back yard around your dog. Like yours, dogs’ backyard preferences come from genetics, personality, age, fitness level, and early life experiences.
Most dogs achieve greatness in basic backyard sports —the nap, the popular “poop and roll,” and the “watch the world go by.”
Some dogs excel at guarding (against the dangerous flying crows and jays), hunting (the irresistibly flapping, scurrying and slithering flies, mice, and garter snakes), excavating (a tunnel to the cute female dog down the street), collecting (sticks and stones), and gardening (a.k.a. destroying prized foliage by shredding and trampling).

Whatever your dog’s natural choices, don’t fight if you want to cling to your sanity. If your dog is a digger, give him a place to dig. If he collects sticks and stones, give him things to collect. If he’s a shredder, give him something he’s encouraged to shred as an alternative to specimen roses or the drapes around your gazebo.
If your mother-in-law expects to see the Victorian garden globe on her next visit, build an enclosure and secure the globe inside. Unsupervised dogs violate their training, as surely as we cheat on our diets. Dogs are better than people, but not that much better.

For dogs that dig, design a dig pit. Use sand which gives your dog a visual cue about where you allow digging and where you don’t. Try a half-barrel planter as dig spot for a small dog. For larger dogs, try logs, cinder blocks, or stock fencing lined with tarpaulin as your “pit architecture.”
As to location, get a jump on your dog’s thinking. Locate dig pits in the shade, since your dog will try to dig a cool place to lie in summer.

Dogs favor different elevations in the back yard. Dogs love to lounge atop a picnic table or chaise lounge, a pile or rocks, or a berm, and watch the neighborhood from a different vantage point.
Some backyard athletes prefer swimming, or at least splashing as cross training. A kiddy pool could provide hours of summer entertainment.

Remember, dogs want to be with us and most dogs don’t exercise themselves. Twenty minutes of play with your dog, fetch or playing keep away, provides more exercise than most dogs get in the yard alone. Play also builds your bond with your dog. When you have a dog, it’s about compromise. When you have a dog, you need to give the dog time, not always in the form that you want.

My dog said, “You all cave, eventually.” I call it compromise. Look how well I’ve done. Berm: check. Dig pit:  check. Stick pile: check. Kid pool:  check. Oops, look at the time. If I don’t show up for playtime as agreed, Onyx is into my heirloom tomatoes.

If you have a backyard story you’d like to share, please do make a post.  Share the wealth of ideas (and dog humor).

Toilet Train Your Cat? You’re Kidding, Right?

Katie Cline, President of Brothers Cat Products, offers something you might not believe —The “Scoop No More!™ Cat Toilet Training System. I thought this looked like something you’d buy from the shopping channel after too many Martinis.  However, I was wrong.  (See how to win one at the end of this article.)

Ms. Cline’s company provided her product, an instructional DVD, in the Cat Writers’ Association Conference I attended six months ago. (No jokes, please. This is serious!)
The DVD jacket copy put me off. “Train Your Cat To Use A Human Toilet.” (What other kind is there?)

Okay, I put the DVD in the player one Saturday night, having nothing better to do than peek into the glamorous world of kitty toilet training. Our hosts, a pretty and slim woman accompanied by a burly young handyman. I wondered, “Why a handyman?” Turns out that the perky female trainer tells you the steps. The handyman demonstrates how to attach your litter box to a toilet and then modify it until the litter box disappears. This process is less David Copperfield than duct tape and dremel tool.

The video convinced me that this trainer, using a soft toilet seat, four months, and a dedication could toilet train a cat. Our DVD trainer emphasized the positive and explained how to cope with setbacks, and solved practical problems, such as your cat facing bottom out instead of bottom over the toilet. (A watchful eye and Bonita flakes apparently do wonders.)

For multiple cat households, turns out that an auto flusher, like the toilets at the airport have, is useful. Cats don’t like using an unflushed toilet either. The camera shows a close-up of the cat leaping down after a successful toilet use. The auto flusher kicks in. Wow, the noise was like the sinking of the Titanic. Terrifying. Pass the Bonita flakes, please.

Best was the DVD trainer’s simple approach to problems and the emphasis on the cat’s need for tidiness that comes from a sense of smell much more powerful than our own.

Like videos about slimming abs, anything is possible with the camera and enough retakes. Can normal people with normal lives accomplish this? I picked up the cat phone and called my friend Mieshelle who spends her life consulting with people about cat problems. Mieshelle, a veterinary referred feline behaviorist who does consultations all across the U.S., is my gold standard for “would this really work.”

Mieshelle says, “There is a lot to think about when toilet training. If most cats had to choose between the toilet and the litter box, they would choose the litter box… But I do think they learn rather quickly that the water hides their scent from predators.”

Mieshelle says her clinic (http://www.thecatbehaviorclinic.com) also has clients whose cats toilet trained themselves just by watching the owner.

10. No more litter waste in plastic bags piling up in land fills
9.  Many cats dislike the feeling of litter on their paws and sometimes stop using the box. 
8.  Urine and stool odors are much reduced.
7.  No more scooping the litter box! 
6.  Maintains a cleaner home.
5.  Save $200.00/year on cat litter
4.  Cats perch high on the toilet seat, helping them feel more secure in a multi-cat household (or household with dogs).
3.  No more litter box “snacks” for your clever canine.
2.  You can even “clicker train” your cat to flush when he’s finished doing his business.
1.  Cats don’t care which way the toilet paper roll is facing.

10.  If you have only one toilet and several cats, then toilet availability could be an issue.  (Not to mention the people?  Hey dude, get in line behind your cat.)
9.  Elderly, overweight cats, or cats without jumping ability may have problems getting onto the toilet.
8.  Some cats do not like the “splash” when their poop hits the water.
7.  Some cats like to have separate areas for urinating and defecating. 
6.  Owners tend to rush toilet training steps.  You must let your cat move at it’s own pace. 
5.  Tiny kittens should use a toddler toilet that is lower to the ground with no water. Later, consider a kitten life vest when he graduates to the adult potty. (Just kidding.)
4.  When vacationing, many owners put out litter boxes, in addition to letting their cats use the toilet.  This can undo all the progress you’ve made . 
3.  Some cats prefer a litter box no matter what you do. ,
2.  Marital friction
1.  Lid up, seat down, always! You must train human household members, usually trickier than training your cats. 

1. Have a night light in the toilet area.  It’s a myth that cats can see in total darkness. They can see six times better than humans can in low light.
2. Remove your fluffy bathroom rug!  A cat may choose to eliminate on this in the beginnings of toilet training and this can quickly become a habit.
3. Don’t hover.  Let his bathroom time be private. 
4. Never reprimand a cat for having an accident.
5. If your cat does have an accident, do not angrily sit him on the toilet.  He will only associate the toilet as a negative place and avoid it in the future.
6. Do not feed your cat near the toilet area. 
7. Keep in mind that showers, blow dryers, steamy bathrooms and wet floors cause kitty to look elsewhere to relieve himself.

The Top Ten Lists are adapted from an interview with THE CAT BEHAVIOR CLINIC’S Mieshelle Nagelschneider. An associate of the IAABC, Mieshelle is a veterinary-referred feline behaviorist and columnist for Pet Magazine. Located in Portland, Oregon, Mieshelle does in-home and phone consultations all across the U.S.  Visit the clinic website at http://www.thecatbehaviorclinic.com to schedule a consultation.

Katie Cline, President of Brothers Cat Products, offers something you might not believe —The “Scoop No More!™ Cat Toilet Training System. I thought this product looked like something you’d buy from the shopping channel after too many martinis.  However, I was wrong. 

After watching the DVD and contacting my best friend in the cat training world, Mieshelle, who assured me that Ms. Cline is right, this does work, I called Ms. Cline.

Ms. Cline’s company provided a copy of her DVD as a prize for our contest.  Although we don’t usually encourage potty humor, training cats can be a difficult experience.

Post a your kitty potty humor story by attaching a comment.  Our panel of judges will select a winner and award the instructional DVD as a your prize.

For more information about potty training kitties, including Mieshelle’s “Top Ten Reasons To Potty Train Your Cat,” click here.

“The expression, ‘curiosity killed the cat’ has some truth to it,” says Dr. James R. Richards, Director of the Cornell Feline Health Center, Cornell School of Veterinary Medicine. “The little guys, kittens, are like adolescent kids. They don’t have a lot of judgment and experience. Think like a kitten when you look around the house to detect danger areas, advises Richards.

The feline perspective, five feet below your eye level, may not be what you’re used to, so ThisWildLife.com asked experts to advise us one room at a time.

Cat Behavior Specialist for the San Francisco SPCA, Mikel Delgado suggests you confine your kitten in a small room for several days to allow him to adjust to the new environment. Delgado recommends a bathroom. “Bathrooms generally have no electrical cords to chew or places a kitten could get stuck,” Delgado says. “In addition, you can make cabinets safe either by removing cleaning supplies, or by securing the cabinet from prying paws with a childproof latch.

Diana Engelbart, Cat Fancier Association (CFA) Purebred Rescue Coordinator and Birman breeder agrees that a kitten needs confinement to a small room to adjust, but she suggests the bedroom.Once your kitten relaxes in the safe room and you have begun to discover your kitten’s personality, increase its territory a room at a time.

“Cats,” says Dr. Richards, “have difficulty with household poisons or cleaning substances not because they chew the container (although they can) but because they walk through things. Cats lick their soiled feet to remove the substance. For this reason,” Richards, explains, “you must wipe up spills very quickly as well as securing cleaning products.

“Problems common to cats are amplified in kittens because physically smaller more curious, kittens investigate many situations adult cats would not,” Dr. Richards says.

Engelbart makes the point that the kitchen trash and recycling, where you’ve disposed of substances the kitten shouldn’t have, needs a secure cover or should be stored behind fastened doors. She also cautions, “Test your latches for heft.  Not all closing hardware keeps kittens from opening cabinet doors.”

Kitchen hazards include the stove. “Kittens can’t distinguish between a stove that’s off and one that’s on,” Engelbart says. “Check your pots before you turn on burners,” she advises. “New cat owners can’t imagine that a cat would curl up in an empty pot atop the stove, but they do.”

The San Francisco SPCA suggests adopters block access to the space behind the refrigerator and stove. These warm places are cat-attractive, but danger from electrical cords and broiler heat intensify problems of a trapped kitten. “Until you know whether your kitten goes for cords, cover the cords with PVC pipe or apply a bitter tasting but nontoxic substance to discourage chewing,” Delgado advises.

“The washer and especially a dryer with warm clothes,” says Englebart, “make attractive places for kittens to sleep, so keep the doors closed. Besides the electrical cord danger of these appliances, many washers actually change position during the spin cycle. An inch could be fatal for a kitten curled up behind for a nap.

Laundry products including soap, fabric softener (sheet or liquid) and all forms bleach pose toxic threats. Protect your kitten by replacing these items in overhead cabinets and wiping up residue each time you use them.

Engelbart teaches buyers of her Berman kittens that open shelving and tablecloths invite trouble. “A hutch displaying china and knickknacks entices a curious kitten. Not only could the kitten destroy your prized porcelain figurines, but also falling dinnerware could injure your tiny pet.

Dangling tablecloth ends provide a climbing wall for your kitten.  Your kitten claws up and the tablecloth slides down. Candlesticks and carving sets clatter to the floor and may strike your frightened feline.

Most kittens chew plants. Check your indoor plants against a list from your veterinarian or the ASPCA (available on the web) to ensure that your kitten’s first plant meal is not his last. If you are not sure, rehome your plant until you can determine its safety.

A place of relaxation for you, the family room can be deadly for your kitten without kitten proofing. Venetian blind cords make great toys from a kitten’s perspective, until a claw becomes hooked and the frightened kitten struggles, tangled in the cord. Secure the cords out of reach on cleats. A kitten imagines the woodstove temperature represents comfort rather than a second-degree burn when it jumps up for a nap. Fireplace flames flutter like a shiny toy. Your kitten may try to jump into the fire to play, so do keep your fireplace screen closed, your woodstove door latched, and your kitten supervised if you use any heat source other than a furnace behind a protective door.

Gliders and recliners promise kittens a dark, comfortable place to sleep, but their mechanisms work with a scissoring motion that can trap or injure. Keep the mechanisms locked unless you are present to protect your kitty.

If you notice your kitten licking the carpet, restrict the kitty’s access. Kitten intrigued by a new texture can have a toxic reaction to chemical finishes or cleaner residue. The fibers can cause intestinal blockage.

Linda Brackett, a Massachusetts adoption coordinator working with PetSmart says you cannot make a garage safe for a kitten. “Even if you close every substance harmful to a kitten typically found in garages (e.g. paint, antifreeze, fertilizer, gasoline, lubricants) in a locked cabinet,” she says, tools fall, kitty walks through oil or grease from the floor and after grooming, naps on your engine block. “Garages are no place for cats,” Brackett says.

Kittens, like curious people, prefer good vantage points and the best views come with altitude. “We have the impression that kittens can jump from significant heights as a matter of course. Some cats can, but most can’t,” Linda Berg, a breeder of Persians cautions.
“No cat, she says, “should be expected to survive a fall or leap from a second story landing or a window down to an entry hall or the ground.” Berg suggests her clients install barriers to prevent falls or leaps. “If appearance matters, use an unobtrusive material such as Plexiglas.”

Secure windows screens, particularly on upper floors. The San Francisco SPCA warns adopters that kittens can exert considerable force pushing to get a bird or a squirrel outside. Dr. Richards agrees adding, “Within the home, kittens misjudge distances and can easily be injured trying to jump from a balcony or a tall cabinet onto a hard surface.”

Shiny, wiggly, or small objects kittens can push around preoccupy kittens. If your children are past the age of swallowing small objects, remember when. Bag or box small game pieces or doll accessories or spaceship parts and store out of reach.

Decorations from the birthday party or junior dance team tryouts, anything-resembling tinsel or cellophane fascinate kittens. Put these out of reach. While it might be okay to play what Dr. Richards calls “fishing pole type toys” with a shiny object on a string while supervising your kitten, put these toys away after your play session.

Dr. Richards and Mikel Delgado each mentioned the classic image of a kitten with a ball of yarn as their worst nightmare. “Although kittens might like to play with yarn or string, this behavior can be deadly,” says Delgado. Dr. Richards explains, “Cats get in trouble when yarn or string or cassette tape gets into the mouth. Because their tongue barbs point backwards, they can’t get them out. 

In addition to yarn, Berg cautions that kittens swallow such unlikely objects as threaded needles and pins that are removable only through surgery. Dr. Richards agrees. “Linear foreign objects [like pins, strips of plastic or aluminum] can be terribly dangerous. Hung up in the intestine, the objects scissor back and forth and cuts through the intestine creating a terrible emergency.” The solution, putting materials away, keeps your animals safe.

Behavior specialist Delgado adds rubber bands and paper clips, lead the group of home office concerns. Again, neatness counts. Put these away when not in use. Bundle computer wires in PVC or other barrier, or apply aversive apple spray.

Use care in cleaning the litter box. “Remove all traces of the bleach based cleaning product you use to disinfect,” suggests Engelbart. Delgado adds that many veterinarians suggest non-clumping litter as kittens tend to “ingest to much of it when grooming, which can cause a deadly intestinal blockage.”

Linda Brackett reminds us that individual kittens prefer different “dangerous activities.” Learning which activities your kitten selects helps you focus your guardianship. Not all kittens chew wires. Not all kittens like high places. Restrict access to rooms that you cannot make safe for your individual kitten, and you will sleep more soundly at night.

Brackett also reminds us that kitten’s physical and social development means reaching hazards develops. For example, the six to seven weeks old kitten may climb the drapes. Kittens four or five months old could leap to the space above the kitchen cabinets and crash onto granite countertops on the way down.

Mikel Delgado from the San Francisco SPCA says, Get on your hands and knees and ask ‘What does your kitten see?’ Look under everything.” Berg and Brackett mention constant awareness to put away plants and foods or medications, special hazards people sometimes forget.

Dr. Richards reminds adopters to pay special attention to escape routes that lead to the outdoors, such as back doors, dog doors, garage doors, and window screens. “Even if the escape doesn’t hurt your kitten, the domestic kitten can’t handle the hazards out of doors.”

Once you’ve read the cautions, crawled through your home and addressed the hazards you can, love and enjoy your kitten. “Cats have lived with us for many years, and most of the time they do just fine,” says Dr. Richards.

Why Crate Train?

An overwhelming majority of dog professionals suggest crate training when you first acquire a puppy or adult dog. Most suggest active use of a crate throughout your dog’s life (1) to ease the process of training positive behaviors (2) to restrict or transport when necessary and (3) to prevent formation of bad habits.

Training dogs new to the home, (or retraining dogs with unsavory habits) in what is acceptable behavior requires constant supervision.  Puppies or poorly trained adult dogs unsupervised are a poor idea.  Crates are a safe place when your dog cannot be supervised, until supervision can be resumed or the necessary training is provided.

Dogs need to be separated from dangerous household items, some visitors, including fragile adults or children afraid of dogs, and household activities that might be hazardous for the dog, such your painting the bedroom or baking sheet after sheet of holiday cookies
Preventing negative behaviors includes things such as bolting out open doors.  Especially during holidays, the coming and going can be a strain for some pets and a door is an escape route to the great outdoors. Other behaviors that can be prevented include chewing furniture or relieving bowels and bladder during your reasonable in length absences.

“Crate training works when a dog associates his crate with comfort, security and enjoyment,” according to the American Dog Trainers Network.  Dogs, like their wolf ancestor, are raised in a den.  “Mother feeds the puppy in the den and keeps the den clean of feces until the puppy is old enough to defecate away from the den.  Because of this, dens are a place the dog associates with warmth and safety; dogs seek dens (any small, cozy, safe and secure place) throughout their lives. “

The crate becomes the den in the modern home.  Critical is that the den never be used for punishment.  Also important is that the crate is only for the dog.  Ensure the dog does not need to defend his crate from children or other animals in the home.  Make sure your dog thinks of the crate as a safe place and one where he is happy to spend time when necessary.

The Humane Society of Denver suggests the following process for crate training.  Not rushing these steps is important. Expect the training to take days or weeks depending age, past crate experience and temperament.

Position the crate where you spend lots of time.  Line with a soft towel.  Fasten the crate door open so it won’t hit and frighten your dog.  Encourage the dog to enter the crate with treats and favorite toys, and allow him to leave. 

Place his food dish all the way back in the crate.  If your dog is reluctant, place the dish as far in as the dog goes freely. Move the dish back each day.  Once your dog is eating comfortably, close the door while he eats, and open the door as soon as he finished.  With each feeding, leave the door closed longer, until he’s in the crate ten minutes after eating.

Practice confining your dog for short periods while you’re home.  Use a treat and a command, such as “kennel up”. Sit near the crate for awhile, and then go out of sight.  Return and sit nearby for a short time.  Then release your dog from the crate.  Gradually increase the time in the crate and the number of sessions to several times each day.

Praise your dog and give a treat for entering the crate.  Keep your arrival low key.  Continue to crate for short periods when you’re home, so that crating does not mean being your dog is being left alone.

Put your dog in the crate using the command you chose and a treat.  In the beginning, you may want to put the crate in your bedroom so that the crate is not socially isolating.  Remember that puppies need to go outside during the night, and you want to hear your puppy when he whines to be let out.

Make being in the crate pleasant.  Use carpet, towel or dog bed on the crate bottom.  A toy or two and a chew bone, available only in the crate and rotated weekly, provide fun, essential for any age dog.  The crate is a refuge for your dog and a tool for you to ensure his safety and comfort.