Recognizing, Preventing, And Handling Dog Aggression

A dog is an instinctively aggressive creature. In the wild, aggression came in very handy: dogs needed aggression to hunt, to defend themselves from other creatures, and to defend resources such as food, a place to sleep, and a mate. Selective breeding over the centuries has minimized and refined this trait significantly, but there’s just no getting around it: dogs are physically capable of inflicting serious harm (just look at those teeth!) because that’s how they’ve survived and evolved. And Mother Nature is pretty wily – it’s hard to counteract the power of instinct!

But that doesn’t mean that we, as dog lovers and owners, are entirely helpless when it comes to handling our dogs. There’s a lot that we can do to prevent aggression from rearing its ugly head in the first place – and even if prevention hasn’t been possible (for whatever reason), there are still steps that we can take to recognize and deal with it efficiently.

- Different aggression types -

There are several different types of canine aggression. The two most common ones are:

- Aggression towards strangers

- Aggression towards family members

You may be wondering why we’re bothering categorizing this stuff: after all, aggression is aggression, and we want to turf it out NOW, not waste time with the details – right?

Well … not quite. These two different types of aggression stem from very different causes, and require different types of treatment.

- Aggression towards strangers -

What is it?

It’s pretty easy to tell when a dog’s nervy around strange people. He’s jumpy and on the alert: either he can’t sit still and is constantly fidgeting, leaping at the smallest sound, and pacing around barking and whining; or he’s veerrrry still indeed, sitting rock-steady in one place, staring hard at the object of his suspicions (a visitor, the mailman, someone approaching him on the street while he’s tied up outside a store.)

Why does it happen?

There’s one major reason why a dog doesn’t like strange people: he’s never had the chance to get used to them. Remember, your dog relies 100% on you to broaden his horizons for him: without being taken on lots of outings to see the world and realize for himself, through consistent and positive experiences, that the unknown doesn’t necessarily equal bad news for him, how can he realistically be expected to relax in an unfamiliar situation?

What can I do about it?

The process of accustoming your dog to the world and all the strange people (and animals) that it contains is called socialization. This is an incredibly important aspect of your dog’s upbringing: in fact, it’s pretty hard to overemphasize just how important it is. Socializing your dog means exposing him from a young age (generally speaking, as soon as he’s had his vaccinations) to a wide variety of new experiences, new people, and new animals.

How does socialization prevent stranger aggression?

When you socialize your dog, you’re getting him to learn through experience that new sights and sounds are fun, not scary.

It’s not enough to expose an adult dog to a crowd of unfamiliar people and tell him to “Settle down, Roxy, it’s OK” – he has to learn that it’s OK for himself. And he needs to do it from puppyhood for the lesson to sink in.

The more types of people and animals he meets (babies, toddlers, teenagers, old people, men, women, people wearing uniforms, people wearing motorcycle helmets, people carrying umbrellas, etc) in a fun and relaxed context, the more at ease and happy – and safe around strangers - he’ll be in general.

How can I socialize my dog so that he doesn’t develop a fear of strangers?

Socializing your dog is pretty easy to do – it’s more of a general effort than a specific training regimen.

First of all, you should take him to puppy preschool. This is a generic term for a series of easy group-training classes for puppies (often performed at the vet clinic, which has the additional benefit of teaching your dog positive associations with the vet!).

In a puppy preschool class, about ten or so puppy owners get together with a qualified trainer (often there’ll be at least two trainers present – the more there are, the better, since it means you get more one-on-one time with a professional) and start teaching their puppies the basic obedience commands: sit, stay, and so on.

Even though the obedience work is very helpful and is a great way to start your puppy on the road to being a trustworthy adult dog, really the best part of puppy preschool is the play sessions: several times throughout the class, the puppies are encouraged to run around off-leash and play amongst themselves.

This is an ideal environment for them to learn good social skills: there’s a whole bunch of unfamiliar dogs present (which teaches them how to interact with strange dogs), there’s a whole bunch of unfamiliar people present (which teaches them that new faces are nothing to be afraid of), and the environment is safe and controlled (there’s at least one certified trainer present to make sure that things don’t get out of hand).

Socialization doesn’t just stop with puppy preschool, though. It’s an ongoing effort throughout the life of your puppy and dog: he needs to be taken to a whole bunch of new places and environments.

Remember not to overwhelm him: start off slow, and build up his tolerance gradually.

- Aggression towards family members -

There are two common reasons why a dog is aggressive towards members of his own human family:

- He’s trying to defend something he thinks of as his from a perceived threat (you).

This is known as resource guarding, and though it may sound innocuous, there’s actually a lot more going on here than your dog simply trying to keep his kibble to himself.

- He’s not comfortable with the treatment/handling he’s getting from you or other members of the family.

What’s resource guarding?

Resource guarding is pretty common among dogs. The term refers to overly-possessive behavior on behalf of your dog: for instance, snarling at you if you approach him when he’s eating, or giving you “the eye” (a flinty-eyed, direct stare) if you reach your hand out to take a toy away from him.

All dogs can be possessive from time to time – it’s in their natures. Sometimes they’re possessive over things with no conceivable value: inedible trash, balled up pieces of paper or tissue, old socks. More frequently, however, resource-guarding becomes an issue over items with a very real and understandable value: food and toys.

Why does it happen?

It all boils down to the issue of dominance. Let me take a moment to explain this concept: dogs are pack animals. This means that they’re used to a very structured environment: in a dog-pack, each individual animal is ranked in a hierarchy of position and power (or “dominance”) in relation to every other animal. Each animal is aware of the rank of every other animal, which means he knows specifically how to act in any given situation (whether to back down, whether to push the issue, whether to muscle in or not on somebody else’s turf, etc etc).

To your dog, the family environment is no different to the dog-pack environment. Your dog has ranked each member of the family, and has his own perception of where he ranks in that environment as well.

This is where it gets interesting: if your dog perceives himself as higher up on the social totem-pole than other family members, he’s going to get cheeky. If he’s really got an overinflated sense of his own importance, he’ll start to act aggressively.

Why? Because dominance and aggression are the exclusive rights of a superior-ranked animal. No underdog would ever show aggression or act dominantly to a higher-ranked animal (the consequences would be dire, and he knows it!)

Resource guarding is a classic example of dominant behavior: only a higher-ranked dog (a “dominant” dog) would act aggressively in defence of resources.

To put it plainly: if it was clear to your dog that he is not, in fact, the leader of the family, he’d never even dream of trying to prevent you from taking his food or toys – because a lower-ranking dog (him) will always go along with what the higher-ranking dogs (you and your family) say.

So what can I do about it? The best treatment for dominant, aggressive behavior is consistent, frequent obedience work, which will underline your authority over your dog. Just two fifteen-minute sessions a day will make it perfectly clear to your dog that you’re the boss, and that it pays to do what you say.

You can make this fact clear to him by rewarding him (with treats and lavish praise) for obeying a command, and isolating him (putting him in “time-out”, either outside the house or in a room by himself) for misbehaviour.

- If you’re not entirely confident doing this yourself, you may wish to consider enlisting the assistance of a qualified dog-trainer.

- Brush up on your understanding of canine psychology and communication, so that you understand what he’s trying to say – this will help you to nip any dominant behaviors in the bud, and to communicate your own authority more effectively

- Train regularly: keep obedience sessions short and productive (no more than fifteen minutes – maybe two or three of these per day).

Why doesn’t my dog like to be handled?

All dogs have different handling thresholds. Some dogs like lots of cuddles, and are perfectly content to be hugged, kissed, and have arms slung over their shoulders (this is the ultimate “I’m the boss” gesture to a dog, which is why a lot of them won’t tolerate it.) Others – usually the ones not accustomed to a great deal of physical contact from a very young age – aren’t comfortable with too much full-body contact and will get nervy and agitated if someone persists in trying to hug them.

Another common cause of handling-induced aggression is a bad grooming experience: nail-clipping and bathing are the two common culprits.

When you clip a dog’s nails, it’s very easy to “quick” him – that is, cut the blood vessel that runs inside the nail. This is extremely painful to a dog, and is a sure-fire way to cause a long-lasting aversion to those clippers.

Being washed is something that a great many dogs have difficulty dealing with – a lot of owners, when confronted with a wild-eyed, half-washed, upset dog, feel that in order to complete the wash they have to forcibly restrain him. This only adds to the dog’s sense of panic, and reinforces his impression of a wash as something to be avoided at all costs – if necessary, to defend himself from it with a display of teeth and hackles.

Can I “retrain” him to enjoy being handled and groomed?

In a word: yes. It’s a lot easier if you start from a young age – handle your puppy a lot, get him used to being touched and rubbed all over. Young dogs generally enjoy being handled – it’s only older ones who haven’t had a lot of physical contact throughout their lives that sometimes find physical affection difficult to accept.

Practice picking up his paws and touching them with the clipper; practice taking him into the bath (or outside, under the faucet – whatever works for you, but warm water is much more pleasant for a dog than a freezing spray of ice-water!), and augment the process throughout with lots of praise and the occasional small treat.

For an older dog that may already have had several unpleasant handling/grooming experiences, things are a little more difficult. You need to undo the damage already caused by those bad experiences, which you can do by taking things very slowly – with an emphasis on keeping your dog calm.

The instant he starts to show signs of stress, stop immediately and let him relax. Try to make the whole thing into a game: give him lots of praise, pats, and treats.

Take things slowly. Don’t push it too far: if you get nervous, stop.

Dogs show aggression for a reason: they’re warning you to back off, or else! If your dog just can’t seem to accept being groomed, no matter how much practice you put in, it’s best to hand the job over to the professionals.

Your vet will clip his nails for you (make sure you tell him first that he gets aggressive when the clippers come out, so your vet can take the necessary precautions!). As far as washing and brushing goes, the dog-grooming business is a flourishing industry: for a small fee, you can get your dog washed, clipped, brushed, and whatever else you require by experienced professionals (again, make sure you tell them about your dog’s reaction to the experience first!)

For more information on handling aggressive and dominant behaviors, as well as a great deal of detailed information on a host of other common dog behavior problems, check out SitStayFetch.

It’s a complete owner’s guide to owning, rearing, and training your dog, and it deals with all aspects of dog ownership.

To get the inside word on preventing and dealing with problem behaviors like aggression and dominance in your dog, SitStayFetch is well worth a look.

Dogs versus Cats: Which makes the Best Pet?

For years a sometimes fierce - but mostly fun - and vocal debate between dog and cat lovers has ensued over which pet is best. Of course, many pet lovers have both animals in their household or at times have owned one or the other, but like many stereotypes there is an element of truth to determining the difference between a ‘cat’ person and a ‘dog’ person.

Dog lovers will say that dogs are interactive and fun whereas cats are passive at best and totally indifferent at worst. ‘What is the fun in stroking a cat that purrs and dribbles on your knee?’ say dog lovers, ‘when you could be out in the great outdoors having fun with your pet.’ ‘You can’t train a cat,’ says the canine lover, ‘so therefore it must possess less intelligence than my clever pooch.’ ‘Felines also don’t love mankind in that way that the loyal and grateful hound does’ is another argument of the ardent dog lovers.

However, those devoted to cats will say that canines are high-maintenance creatures whereas felines are highly independent and therefore require little owner care and attention. A cat will take a cursory glance out of the window when the weather is atrocious and decide to curl up into a ball until it is more pleasant for an outing. No such luck for dog lovers as their faithful hound will always demand a walk, whatever the conditions outside! Additionally, dogs are only loyal and obedient because they know their place in the pack and that love would be easily transferred to another owner or leader of the pack, according to the cat devotee.

The debate rages on and many points could be considered moot by both sides. Most are made only in jest and the most important consideration as to which pet is best would actually be determined by the personality and lifestyle of the owner. People who are rarely at home would have problems keeping a dog happy, whereas they could easily care for cats. On the other hand those at home alone may love to have a dog to keep them company and also be in a position to be able to adequately look after their pet.

However, one thing on which responsible dog and cat lovers both agree is that they are passionate about the care of pets. Many will obtain a pet insurance quote when taking a puppy or kitten into their household and subsequently take out a pet protection policy. They know that their ‘little baby’ will immediately become one of the family and therefore want the same access to healthcare for their pet as they would expect for their children.

The cat versus dog debate will continue forever, but not open to debate is to treat a pet with care and love, whether they are moggie or pooch!

Isla Campbell writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.

Home Organization Ideas To Save You Money

In these tough economic times, trying to get your house organized is probably one of the last things on your mind. But getting your house organized can actually help your budget and save you money.

Here is how home organization ideas can save you money:

1. You will never buy another duplicate of something that you already have. How many times have you come home from the store with something only to realize either days or months later that you already had the exact same thing? When you are organized, you know exactly what you have at all times so you never waste your money buying something you already own.

2. No more late payments on any of your bills. When you get organized, you have a system for going through your mail and paying bills. These home organization ideas mean that you will never have a late payment on a bill because you lost it or didn’t know when it was due. Late payment fees can add large and unnecessary expenses to your budget.

A suggested mail/bill organization system: Get a desktop file organizer and create different folders for the mail that you get in. Make one of those folders “Bills” or “Action.” Make sure that all bills go in that folder and that you go through it at least once a week and pay what needs to be paid.

3. Saving money on eating out. When you get meal-time at your house organized, it means that you will not have to eat out because you forgot to go to the store or are too tired to think of what to cook for dinner. Getting your meals organized means that you will know what you are cooking for dinner every night before you even step foot in the door. It also means that you have organized your grocery shopping trips so you know exactly what you are getting before you ever get to the store. An added bonus of having a list when you go grocery shopping is that it tends to cut down on impulse buying of things you don’t need so yet another way that being organized can save you money. These are great home organization ideas that not only save you money but time as well.

A suggested meal/grocery organizing system: Have a weekly meal planner. On it write down every meal you are going to make that week and all of the items needed to make it. Then go through your cupboards and cross off the items you already have. Then write down what is left on your grocery list. A little grocery shopping tip: Write down the items on your list in the order that they are in the store. That saves you time in the store.

All of these home organization ideas involve putting a few simple systems in place to not only get you organized but to also help your budget. And who couldn’t use some help with your budget right now? For more free home organization help, go to http://www.YourHomeIsOrganized.com

Related Articles - home, organization, ideas,

How to Minimize the Stress of Moving

Regardless of whether it's across the country or across town, moving is a stressful, expensive and time-consuming event. It requires extensive planning, organization, and a lot of physical activity. While there is no easy way to move house, there are several things you can do to simplify the process and reduce the amount of stress on yourself.

First things first: identify a target moving date. You'll want to take a variety of factors into consideration when determining your moving timeframe, such as work schedules if you're changing employment, school schedules for your kids, housing considerations such as rent or lease terms, and even the weather. A good rule of thumb is to give yourself a two-to-three week window to complete your entire move, from packing and cleaning your current residence, to moving itself, to unpacking and organizing in your new home.

Summer is always a peak moving time—particularly for families, as it provides for minimal interruption in kids' school schedules—but it’s also typically the hottest and least physically comfortable time of year to be doing all that heavy lifting. While unpleasant, blistering heat is not likely to be a deal breaker, but it is worth taking into consideration (scheduling your move for late May as opposed to mid-July, for example, could make a significant difference).

Once you’ve worked out a timeframe for your move, it's time to take inventory of your home. The most important part of this process is identifying what to keep, and what to get rid of before the move—there is no sense in moving items you don't plan on keeping long-term. A good way to determine what to keep and what to lose is to divide your household into three categories: 'Must Keep,' 'May Keep,' and 'Don't Need.' Once you’ve gotten rid of the 'Don't Need' items, go back through the 'May Keep' piles and eliminate everything you can.

If you're having trouble knowing when to let go of something, apply the six-month test: If it hasn't been used in the past six-months, you don’t need it (the exception here, of course, would be season items like winter coats, box fans, etc., that aren't intended for use year-round). Tip: Don’t automatically throw things you no longer need away—there are plenty of charity organizations that are constantly accepting donations of all kinds to help others in the community, and they would be happy to have your unwanted items. Plus, you can write off the donations for a nice tax break next April.

Now that your household is organized and you've done a thorough inventory of everything that will be making the move with you, it's time to start thinking about the logistics of actually moving it all. The easiest way to do it (but also the most expensive) is to hire a full-service moving company (*Note: Be sure to shop around for the best rate, and check out customer reviews online to make sure you choose a reputable company that won’t rip you off). They’ll come to your house, pack everything up, ship it off for you, and unpack at your new home. The next option—a bit more time consuming and work-intensive on your part, but certainly less expensive—is to pack and unpack yourself, but hire movers for the heavy lifting and physical transportation part of the process. All you have to pay for is the time they spend physically moving your possessions.

A third option would be to rent a truck and pack, lift and move everything yourself. There are plenty of truck rental services designed just for these kinds of projects, and their rates are typically very reasonable (although rising gas prices may make this option slightly less appealing). Finally, if you're determined to spend as little as possible, get a group of kind-hearted friends—and their cars—together and make moving a group activity. You can typically get away with a small payment to each helper, or the cost of dinner for the group. This is certainly the most labor-intensive option, but it won't cost you much at all.

Once you've chosen the right moving method for you, get everything planned out and scheduled at least 4-6 weeks in advance. Also, it's a good idea to begin the organization and overall move-out process as early as possible, so as to avoid having to cram it all—packing, cleaning, moving—into a few days or a weekend. Hit your local grocery or wholesale store to pick up empty boxes for free and pack up seasonal items and other things you don't use on a daily basis early on—fancy china, extra bedding, etc. While prolonging the moving process isn't exactly fun, spacing the massive task out will significantly reduce your stress level and help you feel more relaxed, prepared and in control of the process.

No matter how well you prepare, moving is always at least somewhat stressful, so do what you can to reduce that stress ahead of time, breathe deeply, and remember: it will be over before you know it.

Ki provides information on Austin real estate for buyers and sellers investigating the Austin market. His site has a search of the Austin MLS and information on Austin area neighborhoods.

Related Articles - moving, move, real estate, homes, houses, relocating, family, school, neighborhoods,

Kitchen Organization Help for Your Worst Problems

Is your kitchen a constant mess? Does no one in your home clean up after themselves or put things back where they belong? Here are some quick and easy tips to make sure that kitchen organization is part of everyone’s routine in your home.

The kitchen is one of the places in the home that is most used and because of that also one of the most abused places. Because it serves as meal-making central, it is vital that this area of the home stays clean and organized. A day or two of chaos here can mean hours of cleaning and organizing time. Here are a few ideas to help you get the worst of your kitchen organization problems under control.

I know that a problem in my own kitchen is making sure that everyone cleans up after themselves. To help with this, we have a house rule: If you make a mess in the kitchen, you clean it up. This applies to food-related messes as well as other messes in the kitchen. So if you bring a stack of schoolwork or mail into the kitchen in order to do homework or pay bills, make sure that you bring it back out of the kitchen as well. In order for your kitchen organization to go smoothly, you will also need to make sure that cleaning up counters and putting dishes in the dishwasher is part of this rule.

But as is the case with any house rule, making it is never the problem, enforcing it is. An appropriate consequence for not following the rule could be that whoever does not follow the rule gets stuck on kitchen cleanup duty for a week. To help make sure that everyone knows what the rule is, post it on a brightly colored piece of paper in the kitchen and make sure that you clearly define what defines a mess and what appropriate cleanup is in your house. In order for kitchen organization and cleanup to be part of your house rules, clean needs to be defined clearly and consequences for not following the rule need to be in place.

Make sure that everything has a place in your kitchen and that everyone in your house knows where that place is. If things do not have a specific place in your kitchen, it is going to be hard to get anyone in your home to put things away. Part of this means making sure that similar things “live” together in your kitchen.

My one caution in this is that different people have different definitions of what “like” things are. If you are the one who has done the initial kitchen organization job, make sure that everyone in your house is clear on what your definition of “like” things is. So if you have organized all of your daily use items together, make sure that everyone in your home knows that and knows where those items are. If you have organized all of the cups and mugs in one area, make sure that everyone in your home knows where those items are.

As with many things in life, making sure that kitchen organization is part of everyone’s routine in your home is about communication. You need to make sure that you appropriately communicate your expectations of what a clean and organized kitchen looks like. For more ideas to get your kitchen organized, go to http://www.yourhomeisorganized.com/KitchenOrganization.htm

Related Articles - kitchen, organization,

Marriage problems: Are power struggles destroying your relationship?

In the past you were single…

…and you could make decisions without having to check in with anyone.

Your favorite color was red and you liked small, fast cars (as in Cherry Red Sports Car, beloved even though you wrenched your back getting in and out);

The one bedroom apartment felt "cozy" and "just right," so you signed the longest lease you could get;

You decided to get a tattoo … a few Margaritas later, "I love Hank" was scrawled across your shoulder. (Unfortunately, you don't know any Hanks.)

Then "you" became a "we"…

…when you fell head over heels in love and made a commitment to another person (and a commitment to the relationship). And suddenly the two-seater is inadequate because it can't hold groceries; the apartment is woefully too small for the visiting in-laws; and your significant other gives you a gift certificate for the newest boutique in town: "Tats: You Get 'Em, We Strip 'Em."

You probably wouldn't argue with the fact that certain responsibilities come with being part of an intimate, committed relationship (you now exist as part of an "us," in addition to being a "me"). You could even make the argument that these responsibilities are part of what make being in love so rewarding.

One such responsibility includes consulting with your partner whenever you're faced with an important decision. The thinking here is that big decisions impact both of you, so it only makes sense to ask about your partner's opinions and feelings regarding any potentially important decision.

Major problems can arise when…

…you equate consulting with your partner with a loss of freedom and control in your life. Relationship problems arise when you fail to learn the give-and-take two-step, the relationship dance all couples must become skilled at in order to create a harmonious relationship.

Here's the basic premise of the give-and-take two-step (don't worry if you have two left feet, it's pretty simple, at least on paper):

Step 1: You give to your partner by acknowledging and meeting her/his wishes and needs.

Step 2: You take (receive) when your partner acknowledges and meets your wishes and needs.

Step 3: Repeat steps 1 and 2 often.

Here's the great thing about the give-and-take two-step: there will be moments when there is no difference between giving and receiving. If it's meaningful to see your partner happy and content, you will experience the gift of receiving every time you give to your partner. No one loses in this dance!

Unfortunately, many fail to learn to do the give-and-take, and there's another dance that many couples start doing instead.

Enter the power-struggle shuffle

The power-struggle shuffle feeds off a destructive "I'm right, you're wrong" energy. In this dance, your ego fights for top billing and equates the idea of "giving to" your partner with "giving in" or losing.

Rather than experience the joys of "giving to," the ego runs on the treadmill of illusion, seeking areas of the relationship where it can feel in control and claim victory. Needing to win or feel in control is the death-knell to compromise and intimacy. When one of you loses, so does the relationship. As long as the "win-lose" tempo keeps the power-struggle shuffle alive, the gifts of intimacy will never be realized.

The playing field of power struggles: Making decisions

Power struggles often emerge when couples have to make decisions. It doesn't matter if you and your partner are butting heads over how much to tip the wait-staff, what school to send Junior to, or where to buy a new house, power struggles reflect the need to feel in control.

Mutuality and compromise: the antidote to power struggles

Many factors contribute to a successful marriage. A major contributor to success is learning how to become a team player, replacing the selfishness of the ego with an "us" and "we" mentality. Becoming a team player doesn't mean you abandon your identity and forgo opportunities to get your own needs met. What it does mean, however, is that you've made a commitment to another person and to something bigger than each of you—the relationship.

3 steps to compromise:

The first step in learning to compromise is to acknowledge (to yourself and your partner) that the person you fell in love with is a unique individual with his/her own wishes, needs, preferences, and experiences.

The second step in learning to compromise is to accept your partner's uniqueness. Needing to be in control of decisions is a major block to accepting that your partner's perspective is both different from your own and valid.

The third step in learning to compromise is to create enough space so that each of you has a voice in the decision-making process. This space is created when judgment is suspended and you and your partner take the time and effort to understand each other's perspective—even when you disagree with him/her.

Why can't I compromise?

If you find that you're having trouble compromising, it's important to understand your own struggle and resistance (rather than focusing your energies on what you perceive to be your partner's unreasonableness). A period of self-reflection in these moments can lead you down a path of self-discovery. When you find yourself resisting and unable to compromise, reflect on the following questions:

Why is this so difficult for me? What is fueling my resistance (e.g. fear, anger, resentment, etc.)?

What would happen if I give in a little?

What would I have to let go of in order to compromise?

One surefire way to drive a wedge between you and your partner is to begin making decisions as if you were single again. This is guaranteed to make your partner or spouse feel marginalized and before you know it, you'll be single again and you won't have to consult with anyone except your lonely self.

To discover ways to create a deeper, more intimate relationship visit http://StrengthenYourRelationship.com/ and sign up for Dr. Nicastro’s free monthly Relationship Toolbox Newsletter.

As a bonus, you will receive the popular free reports: "The four mindsets that can topple your relationship" and "Relationship self-defense: Control the way you argue…before your arguments control you."

Richard Nicastro, Ph.D. is a psychologist and relationship coach who is passionate about helping couples protect the sanctuary of their relationship. Rich and his wife founded LifeTalk Coaching, an internet-based coaching business that helps couples strengthen their relationships.

Related Articles - marriage problems, marriage advice, relationship advice, marriage help, relationship help,

Lost Luggage Compensation - Dealing With Lost Luggage

Ah, vacation, we look forward to a few glorious days away from the nine to five. We save for the trip, plan our leisure activities and happily pack our swim suits. Ideally, vacation times should be a stress free time and they usually are, but then sometimes things go wrong.

Maybe you are one of the unlucky few who are victim to the loss of your precious belongings and luggage. Luggage can go missing due to a luggage identification tag that has gone missing or an airline's luggage organizational problems. Either way walking around in the same clothes for five to ten days is not appealing for most people.

So can you get lost luggage compensation in for the inconvenience and loss of your belongings? Each airline will have there own policies on luggage compensation. Check their website or ask your agent.

Many airlines don't consider luggage lost until it's been missing for over 7 days. Airlines typically have a maximum value assigned to lost luggage; ask what this maximum cap is when checking in. You may wish to purchase extra insurance at the time. Also ask the airline about their reimbursement policy. Usually you'll need proof of your luggage contents to be able to collect. Keep receipts if possible. If your luggage fails to turn up, they may reimburse you only 50% of your replacement purchases upon submitting receipts. Don't neglect to also check with your home owner's policy. Some home insurance policies cover a portion of personal items lost during travel. Lastly, remember airlines won't accept liability for many items like cameras, jewellery, cash, computers and artwork.

Before leaving, hope for the best but prepare for the worst. When packing for your trip, consider packing an outfit or two in your carry-on luggage. If you're travelling with a partner consider placing some clothing items in each others luggage bags, just in case one bag makes it but the other doesn't. Also when packing, lay out all your items and photograph them with the luggage. Then create a list of your items, this helps you to prove the contents of your luggage. Make sure you label your luggage preferably inside and out with your home and destination details. Use a strong luggage tag that won't easily fall off. When you check in, make sure the agent places their tag on all the luggage pieces before sending them down the conveyor belt. And hopefully that trip down the conveyer belt isn't the last you'll see of your luggage.

Eve Duncan is a freelance writer, researcher and web publisher from Canada. If you're looking for new unique luggage visit Luggagegoodies.com where you can find popular polka dot luggage sets and vintage Hartmann luggage.

Related Articles - luggage, travel, trips, flying, airlines, baggage,