Dogs Archives - Page 27 of 29

2 Activities Your Dog Will Enjoy

June 4, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

If we want our dogs to do things for us, we need to know how to make them feel good. Below are two positive inducements that can win the heart of any dog.

Get A Ball: Preferably, use a tennis ball because it bounces and is easily controlled by the owner. In training a dog with a ball, the more powerful the dog’s attraction to it, the faster he can learn how to obey his owner and the more irrelevant distractions he can exclude from his attention.

Praise Our Companions: Our dogs will work well for us if we can make them feel good by being with us. Praise must come from the heart and be deeply felt.

The sound of our voice, the touch and stroke of our hand, should be capable of raising our dog’s spirits to a joyous state.

When a dog is part of a group that heightens his drive, he becomes stimulated to maintain his good work.

Is A Professional Dog Obedience Training Necessary?

May 28, 2010 by admin 1 Comment

Obedience training for your dog is an important part of responsible pet ownership.

While common puppy behavior problems and housebreaking are discussed in many books and publications, here we’ll discuss your options for basic obedience training and whether you want train your dog yourself or hire a trainer.

Training can begin as early as three to four months if yon train the dog yourself. Most trainers believe puppies aren’t mentally or socially developed enough to benefit from group obedience class until they are six months old.

Any sincerely interested dog owner can train his or her own dog, provided your dog hasn’t already acquired a lot of bad habits.
————————————————————–

Training Tips To Get Your Dog To Obey!

If you’d love to discover EXACTLY how to get your dog to stop urinating on your carpet and actually ring a bell when he needs to potty. . .

Train puppies to NEVER chew on furniture or expensive rugs – even when you aren’t there to supervise. . .

Learn simple techniques for getting any dog to stop barking at strangers or from begging you to let him back inside – Plus a TON more step-by-step dog obedience strategies THOUSANDS of regular people are already using,
check out –
The Hands Off Dog Training Method

————————————————————–
You and your dog may want to attend a couple of lessons at a good training club. You may also want to arm yourself with a good dog training book.

Wait until your dog is six months old before taking him to a group obedience class, which is a popular option for many dog owners. Obedience groups not only provide an excellent
source of training, but also helps socialize your pet with other dogs.

When you first visit an obedience training class, make sure the instructors treat their pupils kindly – no punishment or yelling should be taking place or be permitted by those in charge. Your local parks department or school district may sponsor an obedience group.

If you’re having trouble finding one, ask your veterinarian.

Professional training is a good option for some larger breeds or for dogs that have acquired bad habits. If you are looking for a professional obedience trainer, find one who favors working with your dog in your own home.

No matter how appealing it may seem to send a problem dog away to be trained, the reality is that this often is a waste of time and money.

The dog may behave perfectly with the trainer and then ignore you once it arrives home. A professional obedience trainer will
equip you with the knowledge and confidence you need to train your dog.

The best way to find a good professional trainer is through a veterinarian or breeder’s recommendation.

Also, if you have any family or friends that can refer you to a reputable trainer then this would be the most ideal option. Arrange for an exploratory meeting with the potential trainer, you, and your dog.

Then, make your decision.

Training takes time and patience and a capable trainer will stress this fact. Length of training depends not only on your dog’s intelligence, temperament, and age, but also on how many bad habits he has acquired.

Obedience training requires you to take the lead, both as teacher and enforcer. After your dog has been trained you must not let him drift back into bad behavior patterns.

When It Comes To Dog Training, There Is No Such Thing As A Perfect Dog

May 18, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

As any reputable trainer or dog training book will tell you, canine learning is based largely on repetition. When a behavior is repeated enough times, dogs develop habits, or conditioned responses. Assuming that those habits are positive ones such as eliminating outside, coming when called, lying down and staying when told, and others – you will have what you want: a trained dog. That’s because dogs are creatures of habit. Once you set up a routine of various signals and conditioned responses (sit, down, stay), the dog will do exactly what you tell him every time. Right? No exactly…

No conditioned response is infallible. Creatures with advanced brains can think. They can defy conditioning. They also can make mistakes. Think about two of your own conditioned responses. You have a habit of answering the telephone when it rings, but one day you decide not to take any calls. The telephone rings but you keep reading your book. You know what you usually do, but today you decide not to do it. You also have a habit of stopping your car at a red light. But one day you are tired or distracted and you roll through an intersection. Even the most experienced drivers sometimes make mistakes.

Similarity, there will be times when even the best-trained dog will either defy conditioning or make a mistake. Therefore you must avoid becoming complacent or overconfident about learned behavior. Do not rely on conditioned responses in potentially dangerous situations. For example, you should never unleash even the best-trained dog near a busy road. One mistake could result in injury or death to my dog.

Owners need to reinforce their dog’s conditioned responses. Certainly the more practice and proofing you do with a dog, the more reliable his response will be. Skilled human beings, from tennis pros to typists, need practice to stay in top form. This is because all learned skills need reinforcement.

When you feel you have achieved a well-trained dog, continue to practice obedience exercises once in a while. It can be fun for both you and the dog. Plus it reinforces the good behaviors you worked so hard to achieve. When you need to call on those skills in real situations, such as doing a stand-stay at the veterinarian’s office, you will be more confident that your dog will comply. Your dog will be more confident by doing something that is familiar – and for which he can earn your praise.

4 Important Tips When Feeding Your Dog

May 13, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

Rule 1: A dog should be fed by the same person at every feeding. This rule is not nearly as important where a couple of house pets are being fed by several members of the same family, as it is where large numbers of dogs are being fed by numerous different kennel personnel.

It is particularly applicable where dogs are in strange environments such as boarding kennels, veterinary hospitals, or show arenas. Dogs that have become accustomed to one feeder may exhibit all sorts of erratic eating behavior if that person is changed.

Rule 2: Every dog should have its own food and water container. This precaution is not only sound behavioral psychology, it also is just plain good hygiene. It is especially wise to assign food bowls on an individual basis when your feeding containers are noticeably different from one another.

Besides improved feeding technique, certain practical benefits are to be gained from following this rule.

In racing stables, for example, where maintenance of body weight is so important, feeding instructions can be written on the bottom or the side of each dog’s feeding container, right next to its name or number.

Rule 3: A dog should be fed in the same place every time it is fed. Whether it be the corner of the kitchen, beside the back-door steps, at the rear of a kennel run, or along the left-side wall of a cage, the site where the food container is placed should remain the same every day.

In fact, everything that’s done with the food container should be identical at each feeding. lf you use a push cart or wagon to carry the tub of food to the dogs, always use the same cart and tub. lf you pre-fill food bowls in the diet kitchen and carry them on the cart, don’t decide one day to carry the tub of food on the cart and fill each bowl as you reach the dog.

It may have become boring to you, but to your dog it has become the way of life. A change only serves to disrupt his way of life and to create cause for insecurity.

Rule 4: No dog should ever have its food changed without a good reason. Contrary to popular opinion, dogs do not need a change in food from time to time to keep them from growing tired of the same food all the time.

Many dogs have lived normal, healthy lives by eating the same food throughout their entire lifetimes. In many instances where a dog owner thinks a dog has gotten sick and tired of a food, the dog has just gotten sick from the food. Not so sick, perhaps, that it really showed, but sick enough to stop eating.

When a dog food is deficient, it is not uncommon for a dog eating that food to lose its appetite. Of course, nutritional deficiencies are not the only thing that will cause a dog to lose its appetite.

Housetraining Schedule: How To Housetrain Your Puppy In 7 Days Or Less

May 7, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

It is quite alright if you are a new puppy owner and feel clueless about how to initiate housetraining for your dog. Many new dog owners make the mistake of scolding and punishing their dogs when they make a mess.

I made this same mistake with my first Chihuahua. Every time she would go potty inside the house I would take her over to the messy area and scold the dog with a loud voice with the occasional tap to her rear.

Soon enough, I noticed something strange happening. My puppy was still refusing to use the bathroom where she was supposed to go, but she started pooping and urinating underneath the bed and in closet areas. I caused my puppy to be afraid of going to the bathroom!

She did not understand why I was angry all of the times before and all her little brain knew was that every time she used the bathroom, I would yell at her. I realized that she started to be fearful of going potty and was basically trying to hide it by going in places that I could not see in plain view.

The Positive Approach Always Works Best

The moral of the story here is that you must take a positive approach to housetraining and totally eliminate any negative scoldings or punishments. The best thing to do is to supply your dog with a schedule each and every day. This schedule must be adhered to without fail in order to produce the quickest results possible. Here is a sample schedule:

6:30 AM: Immediately upon waking, remove your puppy from his crate, leash him up, and take him to his potty area, wherever that may be. Allow him to focus by staying quiet as he sniffs and circles the area.

When he starts to eliminate his wastes, offer praise and start repetitively giving a potty command such as “Go Pee, Go Pee”. As soon as he is done, offer more praise and a treat if you like. Now take your puppy back to his crate.

7:30 AM: Exactly one hour later, give your dog breakfast and then take him outside to the potty area approximately 20 to 30 minutes later. Immediately return him back to his crate until the next potty break.

10:30 AM: It’s time for another potty break.

12:30 AM (Noon): Take your puppy outside to his potty area and follow the same routine. Afterwards, come inside and feed the dog lunch and then some playtime.

3:30 PM: It’s time for another potty break.

5:30 PM: Take your puppy outside for another potty break and then back inside for some dinner. You do not have place him back in the crate until the next bathroom break.

During this time at night, try to play with your puppy as much as you can. This is a good time to tire him out a bit for his nighttime sleep. But keep a close eye on his behavior in case he starts to sniff and circle an area in the house before using the bathroom. If you cannot keep a close eye on him, simply put him back in his crate.

9:00 PM: If your puppy is sleeping at this time, wake him up for one last bathroom break. Follow the same potty routine and then put him back in his crate until the next morning potty break. Start the entire routine all over again.

Dog Care Tips for Grooming Your Dog

April 30, 2010 by admin 1 Comment

The best way is start grooming your puppy is when he first comes home with you, but if you have an adult dog who balks at grooming here are a few dog care tips.

The first time you bring out the nail clippers hold the clippers in your hand next to the dog’s paw and give him a treat with praise. The next time hold the dog’s paw and place his nail in the nail clipper but don’t cut. Again praise him and reward with treats. When the dog calmly accepts you holding his paw and bringing the clipper to his nail, and placing the nail in the clipper, then cut the nail quickly and confidently. Don’t be nervous because your dog will pick up on that emotion. Praise your dog and give him a treat.

Do this with the other dog grooming tools as well. The dog will associate being groomed with praise and treats. Keep your first grooming sessions short. Right before his dinner is a good time. Your dog will be alert and hungry which means he’ll be more motivated. He’ll start to associate grooming with dinner as well as treats.

Don’t lose your temper. Keep a smile on your face and the sessions as pleasant as possible.

Most dogs don’t mind having their teeth brushed and actually like it. If your dog struggles, use the same method with the toothbrush as you did with the nail clippers. Your first session, hold a treat in one hand and the toothbrush with a bit of dog toothpaste by his mouth. Give him the treat and lots of praise. Then gently lift his lip, again reward with a treat and praise. Finally lift his lip and gently scrub his side teeth. The dog should get a taste of the toothpaste and your struggles will be over. Don’t overdo the toothpaste, a little is enough.

Veterinarians say that the most common pet health care problem is their teeth. If your dog has tarter it could turn into a serious problem resulting in infection, loss of teeth, and at the very least, very bad breath. Tarter is that yellowish soon to turn brownish hard build up next to the gum line. Prevention by brushing is much easier than getting rid of tarter. Most of the time that means a professional cleaning and it’s expensive. Dogs don’t sit still to have their teeth cleaned like people do, so they have to be under a general anesthetic and that’s costly.

One method that seems to work with some dogs to get rid of a mild case of tarter is gently swapping their teeth with a piece of gauze soaked in medicinal strength (not hair bleach strength) hydrogen peroxide every day.

When brushing your dog’s coat, hold the hair with one hand on the skin side of a tangle and use the brush with your other hand to brush out the tangle. That way your dog won’t feel the pull of the brush as much. Use a people hair detangling spray to make the brushing even easier.

Use these dog care tips for grooming your dog and the sessions should be fun for both of you.

Find more about dog grooming tools. Dee Power is the author of several nonfiction books and the novel “Over Time.” She is the proud companion of Rose, the Irish Setter, and Kate the English Springer Spaniel. Read Rose and Kate’s blog.

Article Source: ArticleSpan

Recent Blog Posts