MyPetCareTV.com, a new interactive website, offers pet owners tips and advice for the pet back-to-school blues.

Pets become depressed when the new school year rolls around and the kids are not home. New interactive pet website, MyPetCareTV.com, offers tips, advice, and access to top veterinarians. More than 71 million American households have at least one pet. That is sixty-three percent of U.S. households, many of whom consider the pet or pets integral members of the family. Like family members, every pet presents unique challenges, surprises, and endearing, disgusting, or harmful behaviors.

For example: Dogs and cats are creatures of habit; they love routines and they love their owners. During the lazy dog days of summer, it is not unusual for a pet to become overly attached to children through hours spent romping, playing ball, going for walks and generally just hanging out with each other. When the routine is broken at the start of the school year, separation anxiety often ensues. Separation anxiety can occur when any caregiver, child or adult, is absent more than the pet is used to.

MyPetCareTV.com, a newly launched, unique community-based website for pet owners and veterinary clinics, offers pet owners sound advice to help pets adjust to the coming school session.

Dr. Bernadine Cruz, DVM, one of the resident veterinarian advisors on MyPetCareTV.com, says that signs of separation anxiety for a dog can range from refusal to eat to excessive barking, chewing up of clothing, shoes, toys or furnishings. Severe cases of separation anxiety are best likened to panic attacks. These unfortunate dogs will experience vomiting and diarrhea, often coupled with constant pacing and whining. Dogs have been known to destroy baseboards, chew through doors, and break through windows in their attempts to reunite themselves with their owners.

"However," assures Dr. Cruz, "concerns over potential separation anxiety should not deter children and caregivers from forming strong attachments with their pets." A Companion Animal Medicine Expert at Laguna Hills Hospital in Southern California, and author of The Secret Sex Life of Dogs and Cats, Dr. Cruz suggests these simple steps to decrease the incidence of this behavior in dogs:
1. Start with goodbye. Don't make a big deal out of coming or going. Don't fuss over the dog. Give it a specially designed toy stuffed with bits of kibble, bits of rice cakes, or peanut butter. Your dog will be so intent in getting all the goodies out of the toy, it will be some time before your absence is even noticed. When you return home, don't smoother your dog with attention. Go about your routine for several minutes before giving your pet lots of attention.
2. Vary your routine. Collect all of your school books or your jacket and car keys and then put them down. Your dog will initially think that you are going to leave only to find that you were staying home.
3. Become a drill sergeant. Reinforce basic behaviors such as come, sit, and stay. Make your dog work for attention or food. Make it sit and stay before it gets anything. This helps the pet to realize that it works for you.
4. Safety in surroundings. A dog's ancestors were den-dwelling animals. A crate is not a cruel and unusual punishment; in fact, dogs can feel very secure in a crate but should not be confined in one for more than 4 to 5 hours. If you need to be gone for longer than 5 hours, have a neighbor or pet sitter come and let the pet out to stretch its legs. You can also make one room in your home a safe haven, with a comfy bed, food and water. Care needs to be exercised to insure that your dog can not injure itself or damage the room.
5. Keep them active. Lots of exercise will keep your pet healthy and tired. It is harder for a pooped pup to get into trouble.

More great tips like these (and for more types of pets) can be found at MyPetCareTV.com, an interactive website that brings pet-owners and veterinarians together in an all-in-one free online resource. With features from social networking to health advice from peers and professionals, MyPetCareTV.com is Facebook for pets, inviting owners to be a friend to their pet and find community for themselves.

Unlike other pet community sites, MyPetCareTV.com provides full access to valuable educational resources on pet health and wellness, including veterinarian blogs and a virtual on-demand library of pet-care videos developed and hosted by veterinarians such as Dr. Jeff Werber, national pet-care spokesperson, head of the Century Veterinarian Group in Los Angeles, CA, and vet to "Lassie." Pet owners who register at MyPetCareTV.com and create a member profile can also participate in a variety of groups and forums as well as post their own pet videos and photos.

Members at MyPetCareTV.com can make friends while participating in topic-centric forums from Ethics to Nutrition, and join veterinarian-moderated groups specific to their pet or animal care concern. (There is no cost for membership or any of these benefits.) Other features include:
- personalized calendars for tracking pet needs;
- a News Feed that is constantly updated with issues of interest to pet-owners;
- pet-centric blogs;
- format to start a group on any pet-related topic.

MyPetCareTV.com recognizes that aging and ill-health are serious concerns for pet-owners and addresses this source of worry with an Older Pets group that, like every group, allows creative solutions to surface and medical interventions to be discussed.

For dogs, cats, birds, horses, small mammals, reptiles, exotic pets, and other species blog posts and on-demand videos answer questions related to their ailments, such as:
- Obesity;
- Immunization;
- Heart Disease;
- Arthritis;
- Parvo Virus;
- Periodontal Disease;
- Fleas, Ticks and other Parasites;
- Kidney Problems;
- Pain Management.

And, how many people wonder about pet exam schedules, how to best travel with their pet, pet death, basic training and nutrition, what happens when pets and babies meet, and how to manage the first few days of a new pet in their home? Pet owners will find all their questions answered at MyPetCareTV.com.