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How to Help a Stressed Dog
We often recognize stress related behaviour in members of our own species but do we recognize stress related behavior in dogs? Once we learn to recognize indicators of stress in dogs, we can help a stressed dog. Dogs can feel stressed by a variety of things. Stressors can include threatening or aggressive behavior (perceived or real) from other dogs or from people, use of punishing equipment, play periods that are too long and overwhelming, or too much or too little activity day after day. Stress can also be caused by pain or illness, hunger or thirst, or nutritional deficiencies. … Continue reading →
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How to Handle Dog Barrier Frustration & Aggression
We often use barriers for the dogs’ protection but at times these barriers can have side effects; one side effect is barrier frustration. The challenge to owners is missing the right cues and trying to fix the wrong component. Barrier frustration can be stressful for dogs and owners alike. In this article we’ll take a look at one common barrier and its side effects. Leashes are used to keep our dogs safe and near us as well as to respect the space of others and their dogs, etc. Many places have leash laws requiring dogs to be on leash in … Continue reading →
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Should Your Dog Sleep In Your Bed With You?
As a trainer, I get this question all the time: “Should I let my dog sleep on my bed (or couch)?” In general, my answer is always – “It is up to you.” However, I also advise that there may be a few situations when you may not want to share your resting space with your dog. If you have a Great Dane puppy or other large breed puppy, you need to remember that the pint-sized pup will eventually be an enormous adult. Your sleep is important to maintaining a healthy life and you may not be able to … Continue reading →
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Dog House-Training, Potty Training, Housebreaking, Oh My!
A common source of frustration for the puppy or newly-adopted dog owner, let’s simplify potty-training! Potty training, house-training, the traditional term “housebreaking…” It’s all the same thing, isn’t it? It means teaching new puppy (or dog) – we’ll call him Bellhop for the purposes of this article – to eliminate in some places, and not to eliminate in others. As a general rule of thumb, you can assess that your puppy can probably “hold it” for the number of months old he is, divided by two. (So a two month old puppy can probably only hold it for about an … Continue reading →
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9 Common Reasons Your Dog is a Poor Traveller
All sorts of issues can contribute towards your dog being a less than happy passenger in the car, but if you can work out what these are, then it will be easier for you to determine the best course of action to take. The underlying cause may be something relatively simple and obvious or might be more obscure, requiring you to turn detective. Below is a list of common causes of our dogs being poor travellers. Health Issues Certain health issues such as vestibular disease and middle or inner ear infections may cause difficulty in balancing and predispose to … Continue reading →
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10 Reasons Why You Should Walk Your Dog
10 Reasons Why You Should Walk Your Dog Walking the dog sounds so common, so normal, like everyone must do it right?... right? Wrong. Did you know that somewhere in the range of 38 - 40% of dog owners do not walk their dogs? I know, I was surprised as well. But it's true. Given a small percentage of those people I'm sure have a good reason, but what about the rest? Here's what some people have to say: "I can't walk my dog because I work." "I don't have enough time." "There is no where to walk my dog." "He doesn't need walks, we have a big yard." "My dog is not overweight, so he doesn't need to be walked." The list goes on, believe me... Now before anyone gets upset with me, I want to clarify - I do realize sometimes people have no time in their day, and we get busy, and yes, sometimes where people live there is just no place to walk the dog. And I'm not trying to judge anyone's methods with their own dogs. But... I am an avid believer that walking the dog has many benefits, and exercise is only a small part of what these benefits are. Let's Go Over 10 Reasons Why You Should Walk Your Dog: 1. Bonding. Taking your dog out for a nice evening or early morning walk is a great bonding experience. 2. Exercise and muscle building. Even if your dog is not overweight, exercise is an important part of keeping your pooch healthy. 3. Walking your dog will tire him out. A tired dog is a well-behaved dog. And a much less destructive dog! 4. While having a good size yard is beneficial, it doesn't supplement for walks. The yard is the yard. Not many new smells, not many new sights, just the same thing every day. Getting your dog out and about provides him with mental stimulation. Smelling new smells, seeing new things, exploring. 5. Great training opportunities. While your walking, teach things like heel. Or teach him to sit before crossing the road, the opportunities are endless. 6. Socialization. Walking your dog is a great opportunity to meet other dogs. 7. Walking your dog is great for their digestive system. And can even help with constipation. 8. The more you walk your dog, the more energy you burn, therefore you have a much less hyperactive dog at home. 9. Walking your dog can become a wonderful routine, and helps us humans get out of the house as well! 10. Finally, last but not least - walking your dog isn't only beneficial for him, but also for your own health! Even if you don't have a chance every day to walk your pooch, he will be happy with a short 15-minute walk every couple of days. Hey, it's better than nothing! So what are you waiting for? Get outside and walk that pooch!! Your turn!! We want to know what your favorite part of walking your dog is! Jenna Drady Hi, I'm Jenna Drady AKA HuskyCrazed - author and creator of ownedbyahusky.ca. I am a mother of two beautiful daughters and of course my 3 huskies. Being a husky mom for a long duration of my life, I was inspired to begin writing about them. In doing so, I started doing massive research on dog behavior, and all things dog in general. I am inspired every day by my family, and love to bring my readers valuable information as well as a little laugh while I'm at it. I created my own business partnered with my lovely mother while blogging called Pawz N Clawz Jewelry N Things. We currently sell handmade jewelry with added pet charms, as well as a few dog toys too! As an animal rights activist, and huge believer in helping pets who have been stuck in shelters, we donate a portion of our sales to local shelters throughout Canada. :|zpendofcontent|:
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5 Tips for Polite Leash Walking Like a Pro
5 Tips for Polite Leash Walking Like a Pro Has walking your dog become a battle of wills over who will be dragging who in what direction? Polite leash walking can be a frustrating endeavor for many dogs and owners but the good news is by following a few tips, you can help your dog learn how to make walks more enjoyable for the both of you. 1. Walking outside with all the new sights and smells can be highly distracting for dogs who are working on their polite leash walking. To help your dog focus on what you are trying to teach them, try working in a more neutral environment where there are less distractions such as in the backyard or even in your house. 2. Dogs need to be motivated to have good manners and that means you need to plan ahead by bringing high-value treats along. A treat pouch offers a great way to easily be able to reward good choices. When choosing a treat make sure that you pick something that will be motivating for your dog even when distractions are present. Typically moist treats are your best bet and they can be cut to a small size (fingernail size) so that you can reward a lot without overdoing how much food your dog is getting. 3. If getting the leash put on sends your dog into an excitable frenzy, the likelihood that you will then be able to go for a calm and well-mannered walk drops. Often times the best way to start preparing for a polite walk is by practicing “getting dressed” (putting your dogs walking leash and or collar on). The key here is to not continue to go for the walk until your dog has calmed down sufficiently and can listen to instructions. So if you have put the leash on and your dog is acting wild, simply ignore them and wait for that behavior to stop before starting your walk. At first, this may take some time while your dog tries to understand these new rules but in no time they will learn that the only way they get to go on their walk is if they keep their cool. 4. Sniffing is an incredibly important part of being a dog and dog owners who attempt to prevent their dog from sniffing are really setting themselves up to fall short. This doesn’t mean however that your dog should be dragging you to go check out exciting smells. Instead, have your dog earn sniff breaks by responding to a command like a sit or come. When your dog performs the command successfully, give them a cue like, “go sniff” and allow them to get their nose on their ground to investigate. By utilizing sniff breaks you can allow your dog to be a dog while also developing a relationship where they don’t just pull you all over the place to check out their surroundings. 5. The last tip is easily the most important… make sure pulling doesn’t work! If your dog has learned that by pulling towards things, they get access to them you have inadvertently taught them to pull. Whether it’s to greet a person, dog, go through a door or whatever your dog wants to pull you towards, make sure that you don’t allow them to drag you where they want to go. Instead, turn and go the other way or simply stop until your dog gives up and then you can practice walking towards the thing that they want with a loose leash. Each time your dog pulls, you show them that pulling is not effective by stopping or turning around. Yes, this requires some patience and consistency early on in training but that dedication will be rewarded during the lifetime of your dog through relaxing walks. As Spring brings sunshine and nicer weather, it’s definitely the time of year to get outside and start walking our dogs! Keep these tips in mind to ensure your walk can go smoothly and that your dog is practicing good manners with you rewarding their positive choices as you go! Erin Kramer Erin Kramer is a professionally certified dog trainer who works as the owner and lead trainer for Tug Dogs a dog training business located in Sacramento, CA that specializes in behavior modification for dogs with fear, aggression, and anxiety issues. Erin has a lengthy canine training resume including training and handling dogs for use in TV and film, training for competitive sports such as AKC obedience, livestock herding, protection sport, and scent tracking, working as an evaluator for both service and therapy dogs, testifying in court as an expert witness in canine aggression and training, and working internationally as an instructor and now owner of trainer’s school. Erin is known for offering clear and easy to understand advice that helps dogs and their owners meet the challenges of helping dogs who are facing problem behaviors at home in a thoughtful and effective manner. You can learn more about Erin, her business Tug Dogs, and see training updates in action by visiting the Tug Dogs Facebook page at: facebook.com/teachtraintug :|zpendofcontent|:
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Why I DON’T Train My Clients’ Dogs to Heel
In the basic obedience classes I teach as a dog trainer, I don’t spend hours training the dogs to heel. I don’t even spend much time on loose-leash walking as a trained behavior. I simply direct my students to the smorgasbord of anti-pull gear at the local pet store (front-clip harnesses and head halters), and move on to other items on the curriculum, like safety recalls, jumping up, and leave-it. It’s not that training dogs to heel isn’t fun–it certainly can be, if we toss the out-moded leash-pop and use a modern training plan. But few of my students actually … Continue reading →
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Can Pet Parents Be Helicopter Parents?
If you are a parent to human children, you are probably familiar with the term “helicopter parent”. If you do not have human children, you may not be familiar with the term. “Helicopter parents” are parents that constantly oversee their children. They often are hesitant to leave their children at school, they are involved in everything the children are doing (even when they are at home playing) and they rarely allow their children to do anything without them. Most children with these overly involved parents will either become extremely dependent on their parents to do anything or they rebel … Continue reading →
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How to Choose the Right Puppy For Your Lifestyle
Many people pick fluffy, cute puppies; when in fact they should be choosing a puppy that fits their lifestyle the best. This is the most common mistake when looking to make a puppy a part of your family. Some families are looking for a dog that will lie around the house with them and their children, while others are looking for a puppy that will be able to go hiking with them on their weekend camping trips. Although this task of choosing a puppy may seem easy, it is something that be done with a lot of thought and research … Continue reading →
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6 Tips for Keeping Your Car Clean From Dog Hair
If you ever read my blog, My Kid Has Paws; you know that Rooney is the kind of dog who loves to swim in mud puddles as much as he loves to swim in swimming pools. Not to mention, he sheds, a ton! So, one would imagine that my car isn’t always in the best shape. However, my car is new, so I try not to let the dog hair in my car get out of control. Today, I would like to share with you some tips that you can use to keep your car clean from dog hair. … Continue reading →
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Why Guard Dogs Should Not Be Aggressive
I own a Cane Corso (Italian Mastiff) named Zeus. If you are unfamiliar with the breed, think 100-pounds of muscle in the form of what many think looks like a giant Pitbull. People constantly cross the street, pick up their small children, and shoo their dogs away when we are walking by. I know this is because people are afraid of Zeus, they assume he is aggressive and would harm them. If only they knew how well behaved he is and that he will not attack at any given moment. When most people think of a typical guard dog … Continue reading →
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