Dog Training

Archive for October, 2008

Dog news today: It may be a little early for Christmas, but if you were thinking of getting the family a new four legged best friend, then there are dozens of dogs that need new homes, as a Tulsa County breeder surrendered them to the Sheriff’s Office on Thursday because she could no longer care for them.

26 purebred boxers were taken by animal control deputies. Most of the animals are still puppies.

Deputy David Long says the breeder is suffering from health and financial problems. She did not believe she could provide for them through the winter. “Rather than turning it into an animal cruelty situation and the animals suffer, she realized it would be better for the animals to
be adopted out to good homes,” says Long.

Four of the dogs were adopted before the shelter closed Thursday night. Anyone interested in taking one home can stop by the Tulsa Animal Shelter.

All the dogs will be spayed or neutered before being handed over to new owners. The Animal Shelter is located at 3031 North Erie Avenue. It is open weekdays from 10 am to 6 pm.

Story source: Purebred dogs need good homes

Related Reading:

Endless barking can not only get a dog into a spiral of annoying behaviour that he can’t get out of without your assistance, but it also leads to irritation and stress to both owner, dog and surroundings. Apart from this when your dog barks excessively it can cause damage like ulcers and other medical problems.

How can you help stop your dogs chronic barking problem? Well, first realize that regular barking isn’t unfavorable but unnecessary barking is. A dog barking to warn you that someone’s trying to break into your home is great! Barking about a gas leak, a baby crying, smoke or a fire is also a fantastic. But a dog that barks because a bee landed on a fence in the next street, isn’t a good thing. If the dog is still barking ten minutes after the postman delivered the mail, or if he won’t stop barking when you tell him to, you’ve got a real problem.

Teaching your Dog to be quiet

Behavioral therapy to control barking is not only easy, but fun too. It’s normally very successful and it’s very long-lasting. Teach the dog that the word “quiet” means to stop barking. The easiest method to use is to have the dog with you, getting him to bark by playing with him – for instance you could bark and the dog will mimic you. Once your dog has barked a few times, hold his mouth gently at the same time as you say – quiet.

He has to be quiet because you’re holding his mouth shut. Praise your dog well for being quiet – for example by saying – well done quiet, good quiet. Do this again several times and your dog will soon learn how to be quiet when you give the command.

This may also be the first time the dog was praised a lot for being quiet. As soon as your dog knows what the word quiet means and it’s being well rewarded, you soon find that you’re able to communicate effectively in situations as they happen. When the dog begins to bark at something, the first thing you say is, “Good dog, that’s it!” “Good speak!” This will probably confuse the dog at first as it may be the first time you praised him for barking.

In this situations, your voice should be excited and full of praise. You immediately follow that with a neutral, “okay” and then a firm “quiet”. Then, of course, you reward the silence by praising your dog for being quiet. The entire routine sounds like this: “Good dog, good speak!” “Okay.” “Quiet.” “Good quiet!!!” Goooood quiet!” There! Good dog!. What you’ve done now is successfully communicate exactly what you mean to the dog – that it’s okay to bark at the stranger, but after the initial alert, to stop barking.

Beginning this routine when your dog is young and just beginning to bark at things, you can avoid a barking problem by conditioning the dog to let out one burst and then be quiet automatically. That first barking burst told the postman or intruder that there’s a dog inside and it also told you that someone is outside. That’s it. More than this and you will risk losing control of the vocal process between you and your dog.

With adult dogs use the same procedure. Naturally it takes longer to break a bad habit than train a new one, but it’s done successfully all the time. A dogs age is no obstacle in controlling a problem, as long as it isn’t a physical or medical problem.

Finally, your efforts to control your dog’s barking will be most successful if you determine why your dog is barking excessively in the first place, so you can improve on those circumstances.

An overly dominant dog can be a prime candidate for an excessive barking habit. If your household has no authority, your dog will dominate everything in his path with his pack role and superiority and simply rule the household in whichever way he can.

There are so many circumstances where barking is OK so all you need to do is control barking – not eliminate it. Don’t teach the dog that all barking is bad, because that’s simply not true. Control is the key here, and this may be the first and only time that it’s necessary.

With barking your goal should be to teach your dog discrimination. You’ll never be glad your dog bit you (and heaven forbid that he does), but there sure will be times you’ll be glad he barked. Click Here to learn more about how to stop your dogs chronic barking – simply and easily.

Related Reading:

If you are a pet owner, you know one of the most important factors in your relationship with your pet is their health. Your pet can add a lot of fun to your life as well as being a great companion and keep you safe.

You will need to keep an eye out for any changes in your pet’s behavior such as loss of appetite, drinking excessive amounts of water, gaining or losing weight rapidly, behavior that is strange for your particular pet, Read the rest of this entry »

Pet services have come a long, long way in the last few years. With the popularity of pet daycares, spas, pet clothing, and much more, pets and their owners have never had it so good! There are a lot of options for pet owners out there – no matter what it is that they want to do with their pet. However, there are still some difficulties in certain areas when it comes to pets, and traveling is probably the biggest area in which there are barriers for people with pets.One of these travel barriers is the fact that all restaurants – even truck stops – do not allow pets inside. Unless your pet is a working dog, he or she will have to wait in the car while you dine! If you feel bad about this, consider buying your pet a treat at the restaurant and giving it to them afterwards.

Another travel barrier is paying extra cash for flying with your pet. Most airlines allow pets to fly, but not with their owners. Granted, the animal’s airfare will not be as much as the owner’s, but it is still an extra fee that some people do not like paying. Before you complain about the cost of flying with your pet though, call around to your local kennels and do some research on kennel costs these days. Add that to your guilt about leaving him or her behind, and paying that extra flying fee suddenly won’t seem so bad.

When you travel with your pet, you tend to be very limited on where you can go. A lot of the popular vacation destinations are just not animal friendly, and many places will not even allow pets – especially at hotels. If you search hard enough though, you will eventually find a few places that might be pet friendly, but they will not likely be any of the places that you have seen advertised on the media.

Even if you do manage to vacation at a place that is pet friendly, you will not be able to take your pet sight seeing at many places, and this can definitely put up a barrier to your travels! It is no fun to have to call around and try to get someone to pet sit for you while you are on vacation, or even just traveling from one destination to another.

Another travel barrier that you may encounter when you elect to bring your pet with you is the matter of bathroom breaks. You can’t exactly pull over just anywhere, and you won’t always have a litter box or newspaper handy. This can be the most frustrating part of traveling with your pet, and there is really no good solution to this issue. The most you can really do is keep a careful eye on your pet and monitor when and how much he or she eats and take bathroom breaks accordingly.

Relocating pets can cause some problems and difficulties, but some people would just rather have these issues than be without their pet for a long period of time. If you fall into this category, make sure you do your research before you make any decisions as to where you want to go, and you will be fine.

PremiereVanLines wants to make the transition as smooth as possible when relocating pets, by providing information and tips on the moving. We are a top movers company with over 25 years experience.

Related Reading:

In the news: A new $15 million veterinary hospital for four-legged military personnel opened Tuesday at Lackland Air Force Base, offering a long overdue facility that gives advanced medical treatment for combat-wounded dogs.

Dogs working for all branches of the military and the Transportation Safety Administration are trained at the base to find explosive devices, drugs and land mines. Some 2,500 dogs are working with military units.

Like soldiers and Marines in combat, military dogs suffer from war wounds and routine health issues that need to be treated to ensure they can continue working.

Dogs injured in Iraq or Afghanistan get emergency medical treatment on the battlefield and are flown to Germany for care. If necessary, they’ll fly on to San Antonio for more advanced treatment — much like wounded human personnel.

Story source: Military Dog Hospital – Discovery

Related Reading:

Agility training for dogs is great fun for both you and your four legged friend. Agility training started during the late 1970s in the UK, where it made it’s debut at the Crufts Dog Show in 78 and is built up along the same lines as horse show jumping.

Both agility training for dogs as well as horse jumping build a strong bond between the owner and their animal. Agility training also helps to develop a combined strategy and teamwork. Agility training for dogs is one of the fastest growing sports for dogs throughout the world and without doubt this relatively new dog sport is not only a good source of fun for the dogs but for their owners as well.

Dog agility is a sport in which a dog runs on a course, laid out with intermittent obstacles, where the dog is under the supervision of its owner or trainer. You can train your dog on obstacles separately or train him on a dog training course, either option is fine but you will probably find that a course is much better in the long run. Jumping over obstacles, running through tunnels, dodging weave poles, negotiating see-saws – your dog will enjoy this.

Competitions are judged based on time taken and the dog’s ability to clear the obstacles. Although the sport is loved mostly by its competitors it is also a treat for spectators too.

Keeping your dog healthy and happy involves good feeding and providing them with mental and physical stimulation and as some dogs are not happy with just a walk it’s a good idea to consider more strenuous exercises such as agility, where they would most likely be much happier.

Dog agility training has that to offer and the training and learning of a course will also help to educate your dog too. One other advantage of dog agility training is that every dog loves the attention and the praise they receive so they will strive to do well and show off.

Basic dog training is easy to learn, and will make a huge difference in your dog’s behavior and draw your dog into becoming a true member of your family. Basically agility training is great for any kind of dog as long as they are physically fit and they can move around without problems and they enjoy doing things with you.

Breeds with short legs, such as Dachshunds or Bassetts, can have a hard time clearing the jumps, but are members of agility groups. Breeds that are particularly good at agility include German Shepherds, Cocker Spaniels, Cattle and Sheep Dogs and various other breeds of similar size and nature, although most dogs can easily manage the dog agility training course.

If you are considering agility training for your dog – it’s not as hard as you may think. It’s actually easy, although it does require some patience on your part. There’s most likely a dog agility training club in your region

Related Reading:

Dogs are human’s best friends. They are loyal and are loving animals who would like to delight their owners most of the time. All The Same, dogs can be rather challenging to train too. Teaching a dog to become a good dog citizen requires a lot of patience, creativity and love from the owner. If you are a beginner dog owner and you want to have some very tremendous times with your dog, you should get the right dog training aids to assist you train your dog. With the right dog training aids, you and your dog will be working as a team in no time.

Getting Started

There are so many dog training aids being promoted and sold in the market today. These dog training aids are designed to various purposes so you should be careful when buying training aids. If you are not very familiar with the various dog training aids, it would be a great idea for you to purchase a dog training book or CD first and find out how things are done when training your dog.

Aside from purchasing books and CDs on dog training, it would be best for you to find an individual who knows all about dogs and ask for some advice. The breeder of your dog will be able to help you a lot on this matter so give that breeder a call and ask for some advice. You may also visit the breeder and take a look at the dog training aids that he has. In most cases, breeders also sell dog training aids so you might as well buy some of your dog training aids from the breeder to save time and effort hunting for training aids.

Preparing For Training

You will need to train your dog to obey to your commands. Depending on the type of dog that you have, this task may prove to be quite a challenge. For instance, Labrador retrievers are very intelligent, even tempered and easy to train. In most cases, this type of dog follows instructions easily.

When it comes to bulldogs can be quite stubborn and contrary. Yes, bulldogs are very clever too and lovable but most of the time, they would like to do things their way so you better be prepared. Buy a lot of toys and goodies before you begin training your dog. Dogs love goodies and they will be more eager to follow your commands if they know that they will be rewarded for their good deeds.

Related Reading: