TRAINING A DOG

Fast Tips To Get Your Dog On His Best Behavior!

A dog or puppy could steal the hearts of many. If you already have one or are thinking of getting one, that's great! A properly trained pet is key to a great relationship. Read on for great tips on developing a wonderful owner/pet relationship:This will allow your dog to have a positive with the crate.Food can't be the only reward that you offer your dog for correct behavior. Dogs need food for survival, so it cannot be withheld and only used as a reward. In addition to rewarding with treats, you should pet your dog and give it praise.Consistency is of the utmost importance when it comes to crate training puppies.

When you let the puppy out of his crate he will need to relieve himself. The dog will grow his bladder so he can hold it for longer and use the restroom.Begin the training with something that your dog will be able to learn easily. This ensures that success comes quickly and serve as a building block for your dog learns to love training sessions. This way you awesome results throughout the course of your training process.One of the first things to teach your dog is to come back to you. Your dog should return when called.

Dog Behaviour

Build this behavior in steps and your dog will obey despite distractions. Recall may one day save the life of your dog, but it can also be life-saving.Dog training takes time and energy to be successful.Dogs learn best through repetition and repetition. Spending even a small bit of time consistently with your dog lets him know he can show it that you are reliable. These two qualities can help you into a pack leader.Never yell at your dog that is barking.

Shouting will cause your dog may encourage them to bark more because they think that you are reacting positive to their behavior.You must practice the behaviors you want your dog on a consistent basis.Don't expect to get it right from the beginning. Anything worth having takes practice and effort. This applies to training your dog.Continue training throughout the dog's entire life to make sure that its good behavior persists. You should not have to stop training them as a puppy. If you provide positive reinforcement for desirable behaviors, your dog will continue to be obedient, and by continuing to discipline your dog, you will prevent negative behaviors from appearing.Dog training takes time and energy to be successful.

Dogs learn orders after you repeat them for a while. Spending even a small bit of time consistently with your dog can show it that you are reliable. These are qualities can help you the leader.One of the first things in training is teaching your dog is to come to you when called. Your dog should return when called. Build up this behavior step-by-step or distractions will obey you despite many distractions.

Recall could save your pet's life, but it can also be life-saving.If you don't have the knowledge that is need when trying to train a dog, you may be on your last straw with your four legged family member. Although, now that you have read this article and obtained this information, you can train your dog to be a great part of the family.

DoGGy SmOOthies!

Doggy smoothies are absolutely wonderful for your dog and great for the environment!

We all are guilty of wasting food at one time to another, good thing you have a garbage disposal on four legs that doesn't charge you!

Doggie smoothies allow the dog to get some extra nutrients and us to clean out our fridge without dumping fruits, veggies or meat in the garbage and letting it go to waste just because it's not looking too appetizing anymore.

WHAT'S IN THEM?

Just today I made a zucchini, carrot, banana, strawberry, green leaf and beef smoothie. Just cut up the items and throw them in a food processor or blender with some liquid - I just used water as I tend to stay away from chicken/beef broth unless I make it myself and has no salt in it.

After some pureeing, you end up with something that looks like wet dog food. You can add rice in it to thicken it up.

For all the extra, I just freeze them in muffin tins and take them out and put them in a Ziploc bag. Each day when I give Luna one I just leave it on the counter over night to dethaw.

BENEFITS

I've been doing this for 2 years for Luna and her coat is silky and shiny, she's a incredibly healthy dog that recovers from cuts and scrapes overnight (oh yah, she's a little daredevil in the bush). All the veggies are raw so you don't loose nutrients by cooking them, plus it's ground up small enough where it's easy for the dog's stomach to digest it and you won't see little bits of veggies come out in their poop.

Doggy Smoothies are NOT meant to be a dog's only diet, this is just for added nutrients paired with a quality grade kibble or raw diet.

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Why Yawns Are Contagious: Calming Signals in Dogs and How We Can Use Them

We all know that dogs can’t talk (whether or not we care to admit it is another thing altogether). What they do rely on is body language – lots and lots of body language. While we might approach a stranger and say, “Hey, I’m new here. It’s nice to meet you,” a dog might walk up to another dog in an arc with a slow, circular wagging tail, its ears back and drop into a butt-up, front down stretch. They are both ways to express “I’m friendly and mean no harm.”

Calming signals are just what they sound like. They are behaviors offered by a dog in an attempt to keep a situation calm. We aren’t completely sure if they are used by one dog solely to calm another dog, solely to calm themselves, or a combination of both. My feeling is that the latter is true, especially since calming signals are often both offered and returned. We can help our dogs feel comfortable by learning what their calming signals are and respecting them, and even by responding in kind, repeating their gesture as best we can (tail wagging obviously excluded).

Before getting into what calming signals can be, I want to emphasize that context is important. Think of how a person telling another “you fool!” can be issued as an insult or an expression of teasing affection. Context is important, regardless of species. For example, ears held back on a dog’s head can be a calming signal, a sign of fear, or even just the physical nature of the breed.

You may or may not notice calming signals with your own dog. Unless you recently adopted your dog or have a new puppy, chances are your relationship is fairly established. Your dog may not feel the need to offer these signals on a regular or frequent basis. Unfortunately we can also extinguish calming signals in our pets, even without intention. If a dog offers calming signals that are repeatedly ignored or corrected, eventually they will stop trying. Think about people – if your partner brought you flowers after a fight and you always responded with snide comments about wasting money or stinking up the house, chances are your partner would stop buying flowers – at least for you! Since we are frequently our dog’s entire world, our response (or lack thereof) to their behavior is critically important.

Calming signals may include:

• “Look aways” (turning the head to the side, away from the other dog or person)

• Yawning

• Sniffing (becoming very interested in not much of anything)

• Paw raises (raising one of the front paws off the ground)

• Shake offs (can be a slight shake off or entire body, as if wet)

• Scratching (like they are itchy – a sudden case of “fleas”)

• Blinking

• Lip licking (or nose licking)

• Moving in an arc (approaching or leaving in a semi-circle, not a direct path)

• Sitting or lying down

• Stretching (particularly into a play bow position, though not quite the same behavior)

• Making a “soft face” – ears back, soft eyes, etc.

There are a few signals that you may want to try, either with your dog or a dog you are just meeting.* They can help a dog feel more comfortable, and may even be offered back to you.

Blinking is pretty universal between species – go for slow, deliberate blinks (not fast fluttering). Lip licking is also simple to duplicate. Again, make it slow and obvious. You can actually lick your lips or even just stick your tongue out a few times. “Look aways” involve turning your head to either side, away from the dog. You may then look back, without making eye contact, then look away again. A paw lift is a little more difficult (largely since we don’t have paws and walk on two legs, not four). But if you are feeling daring you can try it with one arm, holding it as if you were imitating a hurt paw.

You may have figured out now how yawning can be contagious. Offered as a calming signal between dogs, or even from dog to human (and human to dog), a yawn is much more than feeling sleepy. It can be offered back and forth, and maybe that's why we feel the urge to yawn when someone near us yawns.

For additional information on calming signals, read On Talking Terms with Dogs by Turid Rugaas. Rugaas is an internationally acclaimed dog trainer from Norway who has done extensive studies on calming signals in dogs. You can visit her website at http://www.canis.no/rugaas/index.php . A good visual example of using calming signals with dogs can be found in KikoPup’s collection of YouTube videos (http://youtu.be/MgnLgHFRJu4 ). While you’re there check out her other videos – Emily has produced a goldmine of how-to videos on clicker training everything from cool tricks to problem behaviors.

Video: KikoPup's How To Communicate With Dogs in Their Own Language

* Offering calming signals doesn’t make it safe to approach an aggressive dog. When in doubt, keep your distance.

New Age Pet Tags

It seems like everything these days revolves around our smart phones. Don't expect our pets to be left behind. Some things are very high tech (and expensive!), like GPS tracking that can give you the exact location of your dog - or at least his collar - if he gets lost. But there's a new one that's a little more realistic for the average pet owner.

Pet Hub, a Washington based company, offers dog and cat ID tags with a QR code - that funky square barcode that can be read by your smart phone. When someone scans the code they are taken to your dog's very own web page. You keep this page updated with their current information.

The individual web page gives you room for a lot more information than would fit on a tag. You can list the typical name, address and phone number, and also your veterinarian, any medications, allergies, important behavior issues (like "can climb fences!" or "doesn't like cats"), reward info and even photographs. Update the information anytime you want - if you move, if their medications change or anything else - you are in charge. The Pet Hub tag also features a unique web address that can be manually entered, in case your pet is found by someone less technically inclined.