Doggy Mentor

Archive for April, 2009

So, you’re thinking about getting a pet dog to bring home, eh? Well, in choosing breed of dog, you also need to consider a lot of things like what kind of dog is best when you have kids, what kind of dog breed is best when you are living in a very rough neighborhood. If you’re the extrovert type, maybe you would like showing off your Shih Tzu or Pekingese to your circle of friends. And yes of course, budget can also a big reason to consider. If you’re hard up and still, you want a dog, go for the little ones. Maybe a Chihuahua or a Jack Russell Terrier might do. You don’t want to spend a lot of hundred dollars of dog food to a 200-lb. St. Bernard, correct, while your family is suffering from hunger, correct? That is why, it’s important that you should think about it a couple more time after thinking about it a couple of time.

But if you just rely on your personal information or knowledge in choosing dog breed, you can end up choosing not at all. You need a guide that will teach you how to exactly choose the right dog for you and your family. Sometimes, what you can choose might be very expensive for you or you might choose a dog breed that is not good for your health. A neighbor told his friends that his sister called up and informed him that they decided to sell of their German Shepherd as per advise by her doctor. She was struck with allergy and she keeps on sneezing and sneezing until her nose bled and all because of the hair of the dog.

“So, what’s the best dog breed for me?”, you might ask. As what have been said, it all depends on many factors and to help you out, better go to this site called “choosing-a-dog-breed dot com” and get a copy of this guide called “Choosing The Right Dog Breed”.

Lots of people choose to buy organic dog food out of concern for their four-legged friends. The offer for organic dog food is incredibly large. The health issues affecting improperly fed animals are just as serious as those in the case of humans. A pet fed on organic dog food will show a lower incidence of skin diseases for instance. The reason for the positive health impact is the lack of pesticides, additives, colorants and other chemicals. Organic dog food contains only high quality protein and very good grain extracts.

Organic dog food also brings more nutrients, and this aspect is reflected in the most relevant of ways in the higher levels of energy and the healthy weight of the pet. Regular dog food is often behind obesity and diabetes with all the additional problems that accompany these illnesses: poor mobility, bone ailments and organ failure. What’s the trick about organic dog food here? Well, organic food items for pets are free of bulk fillers, these products are packed with nutrients to generate energy and not fat. Yet, it is best and a lot easier to prevent health issues than to treat them afterwards.

The summary of the benefits brought by organic dog food are a good immune function and a better and healthier digestive system. While the chemicals in dog food often make the dog vomit or cause it diarrhea, such problems will no longer be the case with organic dog food. A healthier metabolism is thus what you will mainly achieve with a constant healthy diet. Then, the risk of infections is also much lower thanks to the stimulation of the immune system by the nutrients available in organic dog food.

To put it in a nutshell, veterinarian experts claim that with organic dog food, your dog will gain in longevity and the ravages of old age will not be that difficult to cope with. Most of the time, pet owners that choose organic dog food, are also interested in applying the same health rules to their own diet, sticking to clean natural products that boost up body functions and keep intoxications and disease away. Ask your dog food provider about organic dog food, and if you don’t find what you need with the local shop, try the online order. There are plenty of web pages that sell such products at fairly decent prices.

With nicer weather coming, its a great time to get out there and enjoy some walks with your favorite pooch. Are your dog walks resembling a marathon – with you in 2nd place behind your dog? These tips are for you!

Change Your Direction

Abruptly changing the direction you’re heading in may be enough distraction to make your dog understand that he needs to follow you. Every time your dog begins to run or walk ahead of you, quickly turn around and begin walking the other way. When he does the right thing and returns to your side, immediately reward your dog with praise and a small dog treat. Don’t scold your dog for pulling ahead, simply catch him off guard and redirect him.

You may have to repeat this many times , even if it means your “walk” is only a few steps at a time, back and forth. The idea is that you want your dog to be paying attention to you and your movements. Repeating this process and giving praise and treats when he responds positively, quite often fixes the tug of war game some dogs like to play.

If you already own a remote dog trainer that has both positive and negative reinforcement with tones, now would be a great time to use it.

Always Be Consistent

Once you’ve made up your mind that you want your dog to walk obediently beside you, don’t give in! Dogs can be easily confused when the rules aren’t consistent. Think of this like you would any other dog obedience training.

The best way to practice your new walking skills is in a familiar place like your driveway or backyard. Once you’re confident your dog understands what’s expected of him, begin taking longer walks in less familiar places.

Perfection Comes With Practice

As with all dog training, teaching your dog to walk properly on a leash is an ongoing process. Don’t expect instant understanding. Your dog may need more than one training session to fully understand what you’re trying to teach him. You’ll want to continue to use this technique occasionally to keep your dog on his toes and reinforce his new behavior.

Be lavish with your praise! Dogs love being rewarded for doing the right thing. Heap on the rewards and praise when he is obeying you, and he will pay more attention to your actions.

You must first understand why your dog is digging in order to stop him from continuing. It could a few things that could be behind this reason.

Trying to hide something could be a reason why your dog is interested in digging. Is it possible that your dog is a terrier breed that digs instinctively? It is possible that your dog is just looking for a cooler place to lie down in the heat. If you can understand why your dog digs, you can come up with a better solution to the problem.

A dog being bored is also a really big reason behind digging. Is your dog primarily left outdoors? If this is the situation, boredom may be the reason for your dog digging. Imagine what might happen if a child were left outside by themselves. Many kids would immediately look for something to do and would end up playing in mud, digging it up and tossing dirt around.

A dog is really quite the same. Soil on a dog paws is a great feeling. It is a fun thing that keeps them occupied. Therefore, if you wish to stop dog digging, you have to offer them an alternative activity that is even more enjoyable.

If your breed is an instinctive digger, then it will take more time to train. For breeds of dogs that dig instinctively, rather than getting them to stop dog digging altogether, perhaps you should provide them with a specified area where they are allowed to dig.

Section off an digging area can also help to control digging instead of trying to stop it. This will prevent your garden from being destroyed, and it will let your dog continue to follow his instincts.

Providing the pet something to do can help him or her to stop digging. Devote lots of time to spending with them, and if necessary, provide them a special spot where they are permitted to dig, and keep them busy at all times.

When you can not be at home spending time with them, fun toys can keep your dog occupied. This could take some time, but with a little patience and the tricks mentioned here, in a short amount of time you can stop dog digging at your house.

Dog leash training and learning how to stop undesirable dog behavior are all critical elements of being a responsible dog owner.  For additional stop dog from digging tips, go to www.StopDogFromDigging.com

A common mistake that many people make when training their dogs, whether house training, obedience training, or teaching them entertaining tricks, is using various forms of punishment when the animal doesn’t do what they want. Shouting at the dog, hitting it and even closing it away on its own for hours are too often forms of punishing a dog used by pet owners who have been misinformed.

This is very detrimental to the pet-owner relationship, and to the dog’s emotional wellbeing. Respect from your dog is essential if you want it well training and using these punishment methods will take you in totally the wrong direction with regards to building trust. If you happen to have gotten your dog from a shelter it can take a while to build up the required level of trust as they have often sadly been abused.

Not only is punishment damaging to your relationship and your pet’s emotional health, it’s not effective either. More often than not, punishing your dog leads to defensive, aggressive behaviors. Once present, these types of behaviors will be hard to change. Utilising positive reinforcement will get you and your dog to where you want to be faster.

Instead of punishing your dog for unwanted behaviors, reward them for good behaviors. This training technique works wonders, and is effective in every situation. If you spot your dog weeing indoors then give it a quick “no” and remove it straight away outside. You will need to ensure that you keep an eye on your dog. When you spot them correctly using the right location for the toilet five loads of praise using a happy tone of voice.

It won’t take long for your dog to make the connection between the bad behavior and your disapproval, and the good behavior and your praise. Dogs thrive on making their owners happy, and see you as the leader of their pack. This natural desire to earn your praise works for you during the training process.

The same principle applies to any situation, be it unnecessary barking, chewing on furniture or objects, jumping on or licking people, or any other of a host of annoying and potentially dangerous habits. Patience is very much a virtue when training and along with consistency is key. You will very quickly see that your efforts have paid off

In today’s world, it is important and a joyful treats to have pets in the house. Maybe, right now, you’re searching for a house pet that best suits you and your surroundings? How about having a Shiba Inu dog for a companion? They are cute and fluffy and are fun to be with but if you don’t know how to train Shiba Inus dogs effectively, they can also be a pain in the neck. They bark profusely without any apparent reason and neighbors would start complaining and they would love to “dirty up” you house with a playful gesture but who could just turn down an angelic face like that of a Shiba Inu? If you decide to have one for yourself, you need to learn first some good Shiba Inu information then from there, you can be able to appreciate the joys of having this very cute and caring dog as a loyal companion in your house.

If you have kids around, Shiba Inus are the best companions and playmate for little children. According to a friend, her own pet Shiba Inu has a way with kids and it seems that it has this kind of patience and tolerance with hyperactive kids. He don’t even have some problems for an ample space inside his house because having a Shiba Inu doesn’t require big space for playing and running around. However, the first time he brought the little pup into the house, he had the same problem as with any other dog owner and that’s how to learn how to care and discipline them. But because of a Shiba Inu training book guide he has seen on the Internet, he had successfully trained his own Shiba Inu without much difficulty. The best part is, he has saved a lot of money as compared to hiring a professional dog trainer and what’s more, he added that training your own doggie can create better and closer relationship between him and the dog and his whole family as well.

Are you experiencing bad days with your Mastiff? Do he or she always get into chewing all of your shoes or are they trying to make a potty seat out of your house? How would you like tolearn how to train and care for your English mastiff? Surely, this is the first thing that you have in your mind right now if you want to have a happy home and an obedient mastiff dog. You remember the first time you took your pet home and thinking how cute and lovable he is although he could weigh around 200 lbs. when they are fully grown but you’re wrong. The moment he steps into your nice abode, he will really make himself comfortable as in annoyingly comfortable. Well, you can’t blame your dog. English Mastiff dogs are dogs. But you can somehow learn by yourself how to give them proper care and training and for now, this is the only thing you need to know first.

So, how do you care for a Mastiff? Bear in mind that these are gigantic dogs and they need more than just the natural way in taking care of it. According to a neighbor who has his own pet Mastiff, you have to make sure that you have more-than-enough supply of dog food around. Aside from a very hearty eater, Mastiff dogs gets hungry easily. From time to time, they need to be fed. They’re not the same with any regular-sized dogs which you only need to feed two or three times daily. His own Mastiff eats all throughout the day. After breakfast, there are at least 3 in-between meals before lunch. Before the day ends, his Mastiff can be fed up to three times more and after dinner, it’s cookies once again. He also added that he had learned a lot of things on how to take care of his Mastiff with the help of a book guide which he had purchased through the Internet.

He added that it’s usually easier to train and care for these gigantic dinosaurs if they are still Mastiff puppies. As younglings, these canine friend of yours are just any other regular dogs with regular size. But they can grow twice or thrice as big than any other dog when they reach the age of about a year.

Basic Puppy Training

Crate training has been around for quite some time, but there are people who still do not understand the importance of crate training in the successful house training of a dog.

Crate training is an integral part of basic puppy training, and knowing exactly how to carte train is very important.

Crate training without knowing what to do is just as good as not crate training at all. In fact, if a puppy is crate trained the wrong way, there would be no advantages gained, the puppy would not have learned or been taught anything good and the puppy may have been given a bad habit or two on the other hand.

Crate training is not something we do on reflex, gut feelings or intuition. It has its set advantages if done the proper way. There is a specific purpose in crate training, and to gain those ends carte training has to be done properly.

The basic and most important part of crate training is the size of the crate. The size of the crate used has to be directly proportionate to the size of the dog.

The uppermost need for crate training is to prevent the dog from peeing in the house, or in places he is not supposed to pee in.

By nature and basic instinct a dog will not lie down or sleep in its own urine or faeces. It will never pee or make its business in a place it has to lie down in. A dog is confined in a crate to prevent it from doing these things inside the house. While confined in a crate of proper size a dog will restrain itself from urinating or moving its bowels.

To achieve this, the crate has to be big enough for the dog to make a full circle while standing. It should be just a few inches longer than the body of the dog from the tip of the nose to the end of the rear rump, and a few inches taller than the standing height of the dog,

The crate should be big enough for the dog to stand up without bumping its head on the top, and spin around without any part of its body touching the sides of the crate, BUT no bigger. If for example, a large crate is used for a small dog, it would pee at one end and sleep at the other.

What to put in the crate and when not to confine the dog in the crate is another very important part of crate training.

The only thing that should be in the crate is the puppys chew toy or play toy and nothing else. No food or water should be placed in a crate.

It is important not to confine a puppy in a crate for lengthy periods at a time.

The dog should not be sent to the crate or confined in it because it has done something wrong. The crate should not be used to punish the dog. If we use the crate to punish the dog, it is going to distrust the crate and become anxious about it

The dog should regard the crate as a place of safety and security, for it to be happy in it while it is alone and its owners are away from the house.

Crate training also involves us knowing how and when to release the dog from the crate

A dog has to be released from the crate periodically in an area where it can relieve itself.

The dog will relieve itself immediately it is let out from the crate. Once the dog has relieved itself it should be praised or rewarded to reinforce that peeing iside the house is not allowed.

The type of crate is another important aspect of crate training.Most all crates are steel wire cages. There should be no rough or sharp edges anywhere in the crate.

After being confined for a few hours the first time a dog will get agitated and try and escape. In attempting to do so it should not scratch, cut or hurt itself on the crate.

Crate train your puppy properly and you will have it house broken in no time fulfilling your task of basic puppy training.

To learn more about crate training your puppy please visit www.basicpuppytraining.net

Basic Puppy Training

The new owner of every little puppy should devote the first few weeks it is with them to certain basic puppy training tasks.

Training the puppy when it is very young is very important. Crate training and two basic commands are the aspects of training that I will deal with in this article.

It is also very important that all to be dog owners equip themselves with this knowledge on basic puppy training BEFORE they go out and buy or adopt their new puppy. They must know what to do in the first few weeks of the puppy’s life with them and be confident about doing it.

Puppies learn fast. Puppies are keen, attentive and very sensitive. Some breeds better than the other, but all puppies would pick up habits and form behaviour patterns as they grow older.

While dogs have certain traits peculiar to their breed, they learn most everything else. Their habits and behaviour patterns are formed as they grow. These habits and behaviour patterns are influenced by their surroundings, and the way they are treated.

It is because of this we must make sure they learn the right things from the start, if we don’t we may be in for rude shocks as the puppy grows older forming bad habits and developing problematic behaviour patterns in the process.

The most beneficial training a puppy can get in its formative years is crate training. The benfits of crate training cannot be underestimated. It is instrumental in helping your dog form good habits.

Please do not be like the humans who feel that placing a puppy in a wired cage like box is imprisoning it. By placing a puppy in a crate you are not imprisoning it or punishing it.

The very first benefit of crate training is that the puppy gets to feel secure and safe from outside harm.

It gets the feeling of ownership because it will automatically collect all its toys and stores it in its crate. It tells the puppy that he has its own place.

Crate training helps us potty train the puppy. By using a crate we can teach the puppy that it cannot do its business anywhere or everywhere inside the house. Crate training is beneficial for transporting the dog. It is used to the crate, hence will not object or feel agitated when moved while inside the crate.

Puppies love to jump up onto anything and everything. They love standing on their hind legs and paw away at everything that gets their attention. We must control this urge in the dog. The best way to do that is with the two verbal commands ‘SIT’ and ‘STAY’

Teaching the puppy to sit and remain where he is seated is a very import aspect of basic puppy training.  We must get the puppy to understand those two commands and obey them, because if we don’t we will have a grown dog that jumps up at people, which can be rather problematic, especially if a person is scared of dogs.

Another important benefit of enforcing the SIT and STAY commands is they can be associated with training the dog not to bark unnecessarily, and further advanced training as it grows into a full grown dog.

For more tips on basic puppy training, please visit www.basicpuppytraining.net

Basic puppy training

One should never attempt to train a dog if they have no knowledge about basic puppy training.

Anyone could learn how to train a dog, there are so many sources of information, but the fear of information overload is very likely to deter one. Learn how to train a dog, before to attempt to train one.

Dogs by nature, love to please and love to be rewarded. This basic nature of a puppy makes dog training quite an easy task. Communicating with the animal is the most difficult part of puppy training.

Three fourth of the dog training battle is won if you can get the dog to understand your intentions, actions and commands

The cardinal rule in dog training is ‘TRUST’ ‘RESPECT’ and ‘LOVE’ and definitely NOT FEAR. You can never train a dog properly if he fears you. Fear breeds mistrust. Dogs never trust a person it fears.

Avoid striking the dog al all costs, whether it is with your bare hand or with an object like a leash, cane or anything.

Avoid loud repetitive and harsh scolding al all costs.

To convey your disapproval a single stern verbal NO is more than enough, anything else would be over doing it.

Be positive from the very start. Use rewards and praise instead. If the dog realizes that it will get no praise or reward if it does the wrong thing, it will soon try and remember the things HE SHOULD NOT DO

Rewards are a very important part of basic puppy training.

Remember that any praise or reward will reinforce correct behaviour. Hugging and petting or lovingly stroking the dog when it does the right thing is OK, BUT a reward with a small treat goes a longer way in reinforcing correct behaviour.

Food is the prime motivator with all animals, and the dog is no different.

The next best thing in dog training is your body language. Learn to communicate with your body and not with words. Right from the very start try and establish body movements that mean YES and movements that mean NO. Establish a relationship with a verbal command and each particular movement of your hand or head.

Puppies are very alert, attentive and sensitive. Body language can go a long way and achieve just as good response as verbal commands.

The best way to perfect your body language is to start with accompanying each basic verbal command with a particular action of the head and hand. Co-ordinate the movement with the verbal command.

Once you are happy with the response to the verbal command, try only the body movement instead. Reward the dog on a positive response and establish in its mind what that body movement meant.

To succeed at dog training you must be persistent. You must persevere if you want results. Teaching or training can be very frustrating. Everyone will get frustrated with the lack of results. Keep at it.

Everything takes time. Do not expect results overnight. Do not have unrealistic time frames. Place no time frame. Work at achieving results instead. As a trainer, you must learn to be patient.

Keep at it and you will be rewarded with a well behaved, well adjusted happy and healthy dog.

For more tips please visit on www.basicpuppytraining.net.