Working Animal

Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Working Animal shopping experience:

1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Working Animal offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Working Animal at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.

2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about

3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Working Animal? Wrong! If the Working Animal is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.

4. Questions - Got a question about Working Animal then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....

5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Working Animal? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Working Animal and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.

6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Working Animal wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.

7. Feedback - happy with your Working Animal then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.

8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Working Animal site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

9. Contact - got a question about Working Animal, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.

10. Payment - ready to pay for your Working Animal, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.

A working animal is normally an animal other than a human, that is kept by humans and trained to perform tasks. They may be close members of the family, such as guide dogs, or domestications such as logging elephants. They may also be used for milk, or at the end of their lives for meat or other products such as leather.

The history of working animals may predate agriculture, with dogs used by our hunter-gatherer ancestors. Around the world, millions of animals work in relationship with their owners. Domesticated species are often breed to be suitable for different uses and conditions, especially horses and working dogs. Working animals are usually raised on farms although some are still captured from the wild, such as dolphins and some Asian elephants.

Animals used for their strength A draught or draft animal is an animal used for its physical (i.e. muscular) power, as in transport and haulage, such as pulling carts or sleds, hauling goods, and plow fields.

Animals are also used for animal-powered transport, for movement of people and goods. People ride some animals directly as mounts, use them as pack animals to carry goods, or harness one or a team to pull vehicles. Such animals are sometimes known as beasts of burden.

===Riding animals or mounts===They include equines such as horses, pony, donkeys, and mules; elephants; and camels. Dromedaries (with one hump) live in arid areas of North Africa and the Middle East; the far rarer Bactrian camel inhabits Central Asia and East Asia; both are used for transportation and haulage.

Some mythical creatures are believed to act as divine mounts, such as garuda in Hinduism and the winged horse Pegasus in Greek mythology.

Pack animals These often belong to the same species as mounts or harness animals, though animals such as horses, mules, donkeys, or the Arabian camel may be of specialized breeding for packing. Other species are only used to carry loads, including llamas in the Andes Mountains, and the Bactrian camel in Central Asia.

Bovines include water buffalo (as distinct from bison and the extremely dangerous Syncerus caffer both of which cannot be domestication), oxen, bullocks, and yaks (the latter adapted to extreme conditions in the Himalayan Mountainss). Other species include dogs, reindeer and goats.

Homing pigeons transports material, usually messages on small pieces of paper, by air.

Harness animals An intermediate use is to harness animals, singly or in teams, to pull (or haul) sleds or wheeled vehicles.

Draught horse are commonly used in harness, but pound for pound are often not as strong as draft mules for the heaviest pulling.
Mules have been considered to be very tough and strong draught (UK) or draft (US) animals who require less feed than horses, but a separate breeding program must also be maintained because, being a hybrid animal, they are infertile
Pony and donkeys are often used to pull carts and small wagons, historically, ponies were commonly used in mining to pull ore carts.
Several breeds of medium-weight horse, including the Standardbred and ancestors of the "warmblood" breeds are used to pull lighter wheeled carts, carriages and buggies when a certain amount of speed or style is desirable. For example, the Amish make extensive use of buggy horses, and the Windsor Grey horses are an integral part of any pageantry involving the United Kingdom Royal family. Other light and draught horses are seen pulling carriages for tourism purposes.
Dogs are used in some countries for pulling light carts or, particularly, sleds. (e.g. sled dogs such as Huskies)
Reindeer are used in the Arctic and sub-Arctic Nordic countries and Siberia.

Other draught animals Animal power is also used to drive machines and devices, and for ploughing, especially oxen. Water buffalo in tropical, or very wet subtropical, areas help in rice-growing. Elephants are still used for logging in South-east Asia.

Animals used for their senses or instincts Hunting As predatory species are naturally equipped to catch prey, this is a further use for animals and birds. This can be done either for sustenance or sport, to reduce the population of undesired animals (Pest (organism)) that are considered harmful to crops, livestock or the environment.

Hounds and other dogs are used to kill and fetch prey. Certain breeds have been bred for this task such as Pointer (dog) and setters
Ferrets prey on creatures living in burrows, such as rabbits and hares
In falconry, birds of prey are used as hunters in the air
Aquatic birds, such as cormorants in China, can be used to catch fish

Searching for people

Hounds, with their highly developed sense of smell, are used to catch human 'prey', such as escaped prisoners or people lost in remote areas.
Dogs are used to find people who are trapped, such as in avalanches or collapsed buildings.
Horses are used in remote areas to help human searchers cover large areas of rugged terrain. Their natural awareness of their surroundings will often alert human handlers to the presence of anything unusual, including lost hikers, hunters or other

Assistance animals

The best-known example is the guide dog or seeing eye dog for blind people. Miniature horses are also occasionally used for this purpose as well.
Trained capuchin monkeys or golden retrievers have been taught to provide other functions for impaired people, such as opening mail and minor household tasks of the same like.

Herding A very close working relationship exists between a shepherd, his sheepdog, and the flock of sheep. Certain breeds of horses also have an innate "cow sense" that allows them to effectively carry a rider to the right place at the right time to round up a herd of cattle or other animals.

Gathering

Dogs and pigs, with better smell sense than humans, can find valuable products, such as truffles (a very expensive subterranean mushroom). In France mainly pigs are used, in Italy mainly dogs. See Truffle hog.

Other uses The defensive and offensive capabilities of animals (such as fangs and claws) can be used to protect or to attack humans.

The guard dog barks or attacks, to warn of an intruder
Battle elephants used as soldiers
Horses in warfare have changed over the millennia but still continue, including for police horse work.
Sniffer dogs and pigs can detect contraband, such as illegal drugs
Dolphins carry markers to attach to naval mines
On land, dogs can be trained to find landmines. Rats, which are lighter and less of a risk to set the mines off, have recently been used more frequently.

See also

Animals in sport
Donkey rides
Working dog
Military animals
Animals trained for entertainment, such as circus acts, dolphinarium or Animals on television

References

{{cite book

| last = Falvey | first = John Lindsay | authorlink = Lindsay Falvey | year = 1985 | title = Introduction to Working Animals | id = ISBN 1-86252-992-2 | location = Melbourne, Australia | publisher = MPW Australia -->

A working animal is normally an animal other than a human, that is kept by humans and trained to perform tasks. They may be close members of the family, such as guide dogs, or domestications such as logging elephants. They may also be used for milk, or at the end of their lives for meat or other products such as leather.

The history of working animals may predate agriculture, with dogs used by our hunter-gatherer ancestors. Around the world, millions of animals work in relationship with their owners. Domesticated species are often breed to be suitable for different uses and conditions, especially horses and working dogs. Working animals are usually raised on farms although some are still captured from the wild, such as dolphins and some Asian elephants.

Animals used for their strength A draught or draft animal is an animal used for its physical (i.e. muscular) power, as in transport and haulage, such as pulling carts or sleds, hauling goods, and plow fields.

Animals are also used for animal-powered transport, for movement of people and goods. People ride some animals directly as mounts, use them as pack animals to carry goods, or harness one or a team to pull vehicles. Such animals are sometimes known as beasts of burden.

===Riding animals or mounts===They include equines such as horses, pony, donkeys, and mules; elephants; and camels. Dromedaries (with one hump) live in arid areas of North Africa and the Middle East; the far rarer Bactrian camel inhabits Central Asia and East Asia; both are used for transportation and haulage.

Some mythical creatures are believed to act as divine mounts, such as garuda in Hinduism and the winged horse Pegasus in Greek mythology.

Pack animals These often belong to the same species as mounts or harness animals, though animals such as horses, mules, donkeys, or the Arabian camel may be of specialized breeding for packing. Other species are only used to carry loads, including llamas in the Andes Mountains, and the Bactrian camel in Central Asia.

Bovines include water buffalo (as distinct from bison and the extremely dangerous Syncerus caffer both of which cannot be domestication), oxen, bullocks, and yaks (the latter adapted to extreme conditions in the Himalayan Mountainss). Other species include dogs, reindeer and goats.

Homing pigeons transports material, usually messages on small pieces of paper, by air.

Harness animals An intermediate use is to harness animals, singly or in teams, to pull (or haul) sleds or wheeled vehicles.

Draught horse are commonly used in harness, but pound for pound are often not as strong as draft mules for the heaviest pulling.
Mules have been considered to be very tough and strong draught (UK) or draft (US) animals who require less feed than horses, but a separate breeding program must also be maintained because, being a hybrid animal, they are infertile
Pony and donkeys are often used to pull carts and small wagons, historically, ponies were commonly used in mining to pull ore carts.
Several breeds of medium-weight horse, including the Standardbred and ancestors of the "warmblood" breeds are used to pull lighter wheeled carts, carriages and buggies when a certain amount of speed or style is desirable. For example, the Amish make extensive use of buggy horses, and the Windsor Grey horses are an integral part of any pageantry involving the United Kingdom Royal family. Other light and draught horses are seen pulling carriages for tourism purposes.
Dogs are used in some countries for pulling light carts or, particularly, sleds. (e.g. sled dogs such as Huskies)
Reindeer are used in the Arctic and sub-Arctic Nordic countries and Siberia.

Hounds and other dogs are used to kill and fetch prey. Certain breeds have been bred for this task such as Pointer (dog) and setters
Ferrets prey on creatures living in burrows, such as rabbits and hares
In falconry, birds of prey are used as hunters in the air
Aquatic birds, such as cormorants in China, can be used to catch fish

Searching for people

Hounds, with their highly developed sense of smell, are used to catch human 'prey', such as escaped prisoners or people lost in remote areas.
Dogs are used to find people who are trapped, such as in avalanches or collapsed buildings.
Horses are used in remote areas to help human searchers cover large areas of rugged terrain. Their natural awareness of their surroundings will often alert human handlers to the presence of anything unusual, including lost hikers, hunters or other

Assistance animals

The best-known example is the guide dog or seeing eye dog for blind people. Miniature horses are also occasionally used for this purpose as well.
Trained capuchin monkeys or golden retrievers have been taught to provide other functions for impaired people, such as opening mail and minor household tasks of the same like.

Dogs and pigs, with better smell sense than humans, can find valuable products, such as truffles (a very expensive subterranean mushroom). In France mainly pigs are used, in Italy mainly dogs. See Truffle hog.

Other uses The defensive and offensive capabilities of animals (such as fangs and claws) can be used to protect or to attack humans.

The guard dog barks or attacks, to warn of an intruder
Battle elephants used as soldiers
Horses in warfare have changed over the millennia but still continue, including for police horse work.
Sniffer dogs and pigs can detect contraband, such as illegal drugs
Dolphins carry markers to attach to naval mines
On land, dogs can be trained to find landmines. Rats, which are lighter and less of a risk to set the mines off, have recently been used more frequently.