Just About Jacks

Archive for May 6th, 2009

Some people like having pets, others don’t. Then there are people who don’t know that they are pet people because they simply have never experienced the joy that having a pet in your home can bring.

Dogs aren’t known as ‘Mans best friend’ for no reason. They can be the best and most loyal companion you ever need. Of course they won’t be able to give you advice or help you move house but they can do a whole lot of other things. From my own point of view my own dogs have given me so much in my life, here are some examples:

Companionship

Before I got a dog I would need to find a reason to go for a walk or for someone to come with me. My dog now accompanies me every time, without fail. I have always enjoyed my walks out with my dog.

Motivation

Most people have those days when it’s difficult to motivate yourself. If you have a dog you have to. Every morning, my dog will make his way upstairs at around the same time and nuzzle his head under the covers to greet me. Sound like a nightmare? I just can’t be angry with him. When they are visibly so happy to see you and are always in a good mood, how can you?

Safety Outdoors

Going back to my walks, there are places I enjoy visiting that I would never have visited on my own but having my wonderful loyal canine companion at my side provides that element of security. I know that even though he quite happily licks everyone to death, if presented with a situation where he senses danger he will turn into a protector. Although I think that I would also become a protector of him too! That is what friends are for right?

Safety at Home

In this day and age when few people feel 100% safe in their homes, having a dog is an excellent deterrant. Even dogs not trained as a guard dog will bark if they hear a noise they aren’t expecting or see a person too close to the house that they don’t know when you are not in the room. Mine does and he wasn’t trained to do it; it’s instinct. As long as the ‘would be robber’ doesn’t catch on that my dog would simply jump at him and except some kind of praise, we’ll be ok!

Entertainment

I have to say I am never bored in my house. You know those days when you are a little restless. Nothing to read, nothing on television, don’t want to do housework. Well, your four legged canine friend will only too happily provide entertainement for as long as necessary. Play catch, teach him some tricks or take him for a long walk in the countryside. Boredom eliminated!

And I got all this for the price of an adoption fee from the local dogs home and a bag of dog food every month. My canine best friend; I wouldn’t trade him for anything.

Keep in mind that having a dog is almost like having a child. You do need to take good care of him. He requires medical checks, a good healthy diet and plenty of guidance to grow into a good, well behaved adult dog. So find a good local vet, a good pet supplies shop and read some dog books too because there are plenty out there.

Spring is here and that means nicer weather and more opportunities for taking your dog for walks. Are your dog walks resembling a marathon – with you in 2nd place behind your dog? These tips are for you!

Mixing It Up

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 his attention is averted and he returns to walk next to you, follow up immediately with lots of praise. A small dog treat helps, too. Don’t scold your dog for pulling ahead, simply catch him off guard and redirect him.

To begin with, your walks may only be a few steps at a time. That’s OK! You may need to repeat this process several times. The idea is that you want your dog to be paying attention to you and your movements. Be generous with your praise and rewards and repeat this process several times. Your dog will slowly give up the tug of war game he’s been playing with your.

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

Consistency is Important

Now that you’ve made up your mind to leash train your dog, always be consistent. Be consistent in your application of rules so as not to confuse your dog. Treat your leash walking exercises as you would any other obedience training session.

Initially its best if you stick to familiar places, like your backyard or driveway, to practice your new leash training skills. After your dog has mastered his new leash walking skills, you can experiment with longer walks in unfamiliar places.

Keep Up the Good Work

As with all dog training, teaching your dog to walk properly on a leash is an ongoing process. Your dog may need several of these training sessions to fully grasp what you’re teaching him. Even after your dog has learned what is expected, you’ll still want to reinforce the behavior by occasionally using the distraction technique given above.

Be generous with your praise – act as though your dog just did the smartest thing ever! Dogs love being rewarded for doing the right thing. Being lavish with your praise and rewards will help your dog to know when he is doing the right thing.

If you think you are the only one suffering from bad breath, you may want to think again. Although halitosis is a condition common to human, your dog may also have the same fate. Incredible as it may sound; your dogs are also at risk of having bad breath.

But, you don’t have to worry that much. There are now lots of halitosis products for dogs available for your dog’s needs. In fact, most of these are products for home remedy; saving you from visiting the vets too often just to restore your dog’s pleasant breath.

Read also our selected articles on Cure for Bad Breath.

Now, there are lots of home remedies for your dog’s bad breath. And since people have different interpretation of bad breathremedy for dogs, it is up to you to decide which one will best suit your pet dogs. The following are some remedies to try to keep your doggy’s breath always pleasant;

Dog Toys

Perhaps you won’t believe this, but some of your dog’s toys are not just designed to help you in training it. Some of these are also effective in cleaning the teeth of your dogs. Dental chews are among them. These are usually designed to massage the gums of your dogs as well as clean its teeth, removing plaques and food particles in between. Greenies and Nylabone are two of the most popular brands when it comes to doggy dental chews. You may want to watch out though, because most dental chews are not meant for dog with stronger chews.

Dental sticks are also great for your dogs. This is also designed to massage the gums and get rid of food particles and plaque between the teeth. You can fill the sticks with treats to make your dog happy while keeping yourself satisfied at keeping your dog’s breath pleasant.

If your dog likes bone for playing, it is fine because bones can actually help keep your dog’s teeth clean. However, you should be aware that giving your doggy some cooked bones is not a good idea at all. Why? It is because cooked bones can crack while they are playing with them and can cause serious injury to your dogs especially in the mouth. Instead, give your dogs some raw bone to play with.

Water Technique

If human needs plenty of water to keep anaerobic bacteria at bay, well so are your dogs. You need to provide your dogs with lots of water to keep its mouth moist and its mouth free from food particles. You also have to make sure that your dog’s water are always clean; thus, you can be sure that no food particle or bacteria will get back to your pet’s mouth. Or you can buy oxygenating solution meant for dogs; by mixing this to the water, you can be sure that bacteria are destroyed and your dog’s breath fresh.

Brushing

If you need brushing to keep your mouth and teeth clean, so are your dogs. There are brushes especially designed for your dogs. Just make sure that you brush your doggy’s breath properly and regularly and you can be rest assured that no visit to the vets is necessary.

Aside from these home remedies and halitosisproducts for dogs, you can also keep your pet’s breath fresh by choosing what it eats. Experts advise that you give your dogs some mixture of dry dog foods and canned ones. You can also consult your vets for guides on how to keep your dog’s breath pleasant all the time.

Please visit: http://1st-Bad-Breath.com where you can get your FREE Report on “Discover How You Can Combat Bad Breath!“, videos, resources, and discover more on Causes Bad Breath.

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.

It is important to train the puppy early. 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. It has many basic advantages and helps in forming good habits for the dog.

Some of us humans may feel that confining a little puppy in a small cage like box is like imprisoning it, and if you feel that way you are wrong.

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. Puppies love jumping up onto people they see for the first time, or see after an absence of time. 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

Patience and dedication are a must when training a dog. To achieve the desired results in rescued dog will take double the dedication and patience. It’s a lot of work, but in the end it will be worth the effort.

Unplanned litters continue to be common even though the practice of spaying and neutering has been around for decades. Because of this it is hard to find loving homes for all of these newborn pups.. When we add the number of dogs that get lost or wander away, rescue missions and shelters everywhere are filled to capacity. For many of these dogs being euthanized will be the sad reality.

For a some lucky dogs, there is a second chance. They could be adopted from shelters or missions or taken in off of the street and into the care of a willing family. However, these generous souls often find themselves at a loss with their new companion.

By the time dogs find their way to a shelter they are usually in poor shape. It is not uncommon for them to be victims of neglect, abuse of even terrible living conditions. Other times, for a number of different reasons, these dogs were released into the wild to fend for themselves.

Dogs are pack animals. Even wild dogs don’t do well on their own. A domesticated dog that has been released into the wild and no longer has human or animal interaction do poorly. However, with some training, these ‘wild’ dogs can learn to tolerate human touch and stop barking at the smallest noise.

The first thing you should do after you have rescued a dog is to get a full health examination. You will not be able to start training your new dog if he is sick or in pain. It is very important to give the dog enough time to regain weight and energy.

It may be a tall order, but whenever possible try to get the dog’s history. Your training efforts will be helped if you have information on the dog’s past abuse or medical history.

Slow and steady is the order of the day when establishing trust with the dog. It is important not to force yourself on the dog. The dog needs to learn to trust you and will then seek you out. Many dogs are food driven so using treats to build trust can help. Place a treat on the floor and back away a few steps. Avoid direct eye contact. When the dog takes the treat, praise him enthusiastically.

A few dogs that are rescued look for physical interaction from the beginning. Some can take weeks or more. Once established you can try to roll them onto their back and place your hand on the chest. Dogs that tend to be aggressive may resist but a passive, fearful dog may accept . Neither behavior is good. An aggressive dog would be forced into submission under normal training. A rescued dog will not respond well to this. Take your time and establish trust. Make sure that a fearful dog understands that being on its back is not a punishment by given it a belly rub and talking in a calm voice.

In the case of a rescued dog training can be slow and difficult. The challenge often comes from their age, temperament and history. You can do it . Your perseverance will pay off.

Feeling sorry for the dog can actually do more harm than good. Training can be hindered by doing this. You will want to be loving and caring when appropriate but still be in control. Be a pack leader and let the dog know that you are in charge.

Your rescued dog will reward you with unconditional love.

Stefan Hyross writes for the site All About Dogs ‘N Puppies. Read about dog behavior problems and learn how to correct them. Visit the site to  discover proven puppy potty training methods and other tips and trick for you and your pooch.