I wanted to share with my members this great and fun review of Petpav.com that was on “Nikki Knows Pets.”  Nikki Moustaki writes weekly reviews on different pet products or in my case, a pet social network.  I was thrilled to have such a great review on such an amazing platform.  Here is the review:

Petpav.com Review by Nikki Moustaki

I recently came across a cool pet social network called Petpav.com, short for Pet Pavilion. It's kind of like Facebook for pets. The pets and pet businesses on the site are friendly and often funny, and it’s a great way to meet other furry companions, which I typically do through Facebook and Twitter, but on Petpav.com they're concentrated, and no worries about their profiles being taken down by the Facebook pet police.

As social networking has become insanely popular, it seems like we didn't know how we managed to stay connected to our friends, family, and co-workers before! But now our pets have their very own platform where they can connect with other pets and pet guardians.

A Warm Welcome

When you first sign onto the site, you fill out a profile for your pet or pet business (like other similar sites, no surprises) and then you're welcomed by Sammy, a sassy orange tabby cat and the site administrator.

Once you build a profile for your pet, like I did for one of my dogs, Pearl, you navigate to the "petworking" wall, similar to the newsfeed on Facebook, and introduce your pet, ask questions, meet other pets and their owners, etc.

You can brag about your pet by uploading photos, videos, and making comments on the petworking wall. Pearl likes to brag (and beg for cyber cookies), so I'm sure she'll be on her well, imploring other members to send her photos of yummy eats. I have found that the other members on the site are fun, passionate, interesting pet people.

Also, if you have a problem with your pet, you can ask other pet guardians for advice. If you want to find a good veterinarian nearby, you can ask if anyone has a recommendation, or give you some tips for your overweight dog (poor chubby Pearl, she'll be getting some advice in that area).

Pet businesses can promote their business for free to an all-pet audience. Pet businesses can also become Pet Business of the Week, and who doesn't like to win that kind of award? The Pet Business of the Week is featured in PetPav's weekly newsletter and is promoted on Facebook, Linked-in, and Twitter.

Weekly Articles on Pet Care

PetPav also has some interesting articles that help pet guardians with pet health issues, announces local pet events, and breaks pet news. Once you join, you get a weekly newsletter with the top articles of the week. I get TONS of newsletters and junk mail, but I don't mind getting this one since it's literally only once a week and doesn't clog up my inbox.

With Facebook getting so big, it’s nice to find another place for pets that they can call their cyber home. It's a great concept.  I’m interested to see how Peptav.com continues to grow. See you there?

For more reviews on different pet products, make sure to visit Nikki Knows Pets:

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Does your pet have a profile?

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Does your pet have a profile?

We all love our dogs immensely and know how they not only shower us with love and affection, but can also teach us how to care.  We learn every day that taking care of our dogs not only helps them function, but we also benefit from having a pet in our lives.  Our pets teach us love, compassion and selflessness as they become our companions and family members.  And, we LOVE it even more when we can adopt a pet and save his or her life.

Imagine now how wonderful it would be if we could not only save a dog’s life from a high-kill shelter, but also help jail inmates rehabilitate at the same time.  That’s exactly what Georgia Jailhouse Dogs provides for dogs and inmates and I think it’s brilliant!

I had the opportunity to speak with Gordon Panter of Georgia Jailhouse Dogs about their wonderful program.

A Win – Win for Dogs and Inmates

Georgia Jail House Dogs (GJHD) is a non-Profit organization that was started to help rehabilitate Georgia's county jail inmates and their local shelter dogs through a well thought out good behavior incentive program.  The concept behind the non-profit is for inmates to gain a new, optimistic outlook while helping train at-risk shelter dogs to become more caring and adoptable.

GJHD teaches prisoners new skills

The inmates, in teaching and working with these dogs to become more sociable, are learning wonderful and practical life skills.  These inmates will be able to look for employment in the dog arena having gained the knowledge of dog care, grooming, and training.   This has proven to help the recidivism rate and give the inmates a goal to pursue.

Further, in caring for the dogs, the inmates have learned how to love again and gain an instant companion in the process. By helping these dogs, they are in turn helping themselves.

GJHD gives at-risk shelter dogs a real chance to get adopted

GJHD gives their community’s homeless dogs the chance to become the top choice for a caring home. The dogs undergo a three to six week program of humane training and upon completion become Canine Good Citizens. When a dog completes the program, there is an actual graduation ceremony held for each class of dogs and the dog becomes certified as a highly trained canine citizen.  Who wouldn’t want to adopt one of these dogs!

Further, these dogs are taken from every county’s euthanasia list to give them a second chance at life.  The program puts much thought and time into matching the dog and inmate team.

GJHD wants to expand the program further

GJHD’s goal is to have as many Georgia county jails participate in this type of program that can rehabilitate both inmates and dogs.  As it continues to grow and flourish, I would hope that other states can implement a similar program.  But, until that happens, I encourage you to take a look at their website:  Georgia Jailhouse Dogs and like them on Facebook: GaJailHouseDogs to see how wonderful this program is.

Come and join all of the other dogs and cats:

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I had the pleasure of speaking with Andrea Arden, owner of Andrea Arden Dog Training, one of the most respected Dog Training schools in the nation. Her reputation proceeds her as she was named the best dog trainer in New York by New York, W, Time Out and Quest magazines and the Daily News.

I provided the questions and Andrea gave me her answers.

What made you decide to go into dog training?

My father was passionate about all types of animals.   I grew up with an array of pets: fish, hamsters, dogs, cats and horses.   I inherited his passion for animals and loved being surrounded by them.  I also rode horses and eventually learned how to train them.

I then moved to New York City where I started training dogs.  I apprenticed for two years with a dog training school called “City Dog”.   I started to train dogs on my own and then opened my own dog training facility.  But, that didn’t happen overnight.  It took years of hard work and schooling.  I have been in the business for twenty years now and feel fortunate to have made a career out of my passion.

What makes a good dog trainer?

A good dog trainer is one who loves dogs, first and foremost, and makes dog training fun.  The goal is for dog training to be a great, fun experience for dogs and their owners.    A good dog trainer is one who has studied and trained for many years and hopefully under a great mentor.

I was fortunate enough to study under Dr. Ian Dunbar, who is really the pioneer of what is now termed “positive reinforcement training”.  He should be credited as the man who changed dog training techniques from punitive, negative reinforcement training to fun positive behavioral training. I was lucky enough to learn from the best.

Andrea is a Certified Pet Dog Trainer through the Certification Council for Pet Dog Trainers as well as a Certified Pet Partners Team evaluator for the Delta Society and the AKC’s Canine Good Citizen (CGC) test.

Do you have a specific technique that you use for training?

1. Management – Doing all you can do to set up the dog for success so he or she doesn’t fail.

1. Training – Motivating dogs to learn training because they want to do it and it is fun.

Our approach solves and prevents new problems before they arise while rewarding the owner’s efforts with the joy of taking a positive approach to working with their dog to build a lifelong bond. We’re advocates of user-friendly and dog-friendly dog training.

What do you think is the biggest misconception among dog owners?

The biggest misconception among dog owners is what we call the “Lassie Syndrome”.   In other words, a dog comes to you as perfect.  However, we all know that dogs come in different shapes and sizes with a multitude of personalities and temperaments.  Dog owners can’t expect any puppy or dog to be perfect or that training can be done overnight.

As dog trainers, we need to work with both the dogs and their owners to create behaviors that are beneficial to both of them. And, we can do this in fun, interactive environment as long as the owners are ready to work!

Is it ever too late to start training a dog?

It is never too late to train a dog.  I prefer to start with puppies as they are much more open to the world and haven’t yet learned any negative behaviors.   However, as long as both the dog and the owner are ready to put in the time and effort, it is never too late to train a dog.

Tell me about your charity work

I am so glad that you asked me about my charity work.  I am currently on the Board of Directors of “Animal Haven” which finds homes for abandoned cats and dogs.   I just joined two new organizations that I am really passionate about:

The first is called “Dogs for the Deaf” which rescues and trains deaf dogs and also helps provide autistic and deaf kids with dogs to help them.

The second charity is called “Pets for Patriots” which advocates the permanent placement of adult dogs and cats with every available, able and willing military family in the U.S.

Andrea and I could have spoken for hours about her love of animals and training.   You can learn more about Andrea as she is currently on Animal Planet’s hit shows Dogs101, Cats101, Pets101, America’s Cutest Dog and America’s Cutest Cat.

If you live in New York City, please visit Andrea Arden’s dog training school.  You and your puppy will be happier for it!  Her website is: http://www.andreaarden.com.

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