Dog Training

During the summer months, there are many activities we entertain ourselves with to keep us cool. Water provides an element that is both fun and cool. We enjoy swimming, boating, fishing and just running through the sprinklers at home. Regardless of what water activities we entertain ourselves with, it is important to remember our four-legged friend’s safety. They want to enjoy some time in the water, and it’s up to you to ensure their safety.

Boating and fishing

Taking your pup out into the ocean with you can prove to be an exhilarating trip. A cool breeze in the face and cool water all around is quite the experience for anyone. Remember that safety is always first though. You, your children, and even your pup should be kept safe from the dangers water can sometimes present. Even the best swimmers can be caught off guard by undertows and water currents. When a pup unexpectedly falls into the water, just like a human, they too can panic. Anxiety can kick in and disorient a pup’s bearings. Breathing shortens and he becomes exasperated. This is a dangerous situation for your pup and can be for a person trying to save them.

Life jackets for…Everyone

Using life jackets for you and your family is always important during a trip like this. So why not have one for your four-legged friend as well. They’re sharing the trip with you, and now they can be kept safe as well. Doggy life jackets are becoming more popular in usage. They are designed specifically for pups and can save their life if they happen to fall (or jump in trying to chase a fish) into the water. They come in a variety of bright colors for easy spotting and have straps designed to make it easy to grab them and pull them back on board.

Size matters

Getting your pup sized for their life-jacket is vital to their safety. Dogs vary in size (like us humans) and although there are vests made for pups your size, it is best to try a few on to ensure that everything is secure. If the vest is loose, your pup could slip out when they fall in a body of water and the vest would do little, if anything.

Strap your pup in the vest and make sure that everything fits right. You don’t want anything to be too restrictive though, make sure that your pup can breathe and still move around okay.

Life jackets also add protection during water sports. Playing and interacting with other pups in the water, your pup can find themselves bouncing and smashing into their playmates. The life jackets can act as a security vest that prevents them from injuring themselves, while keeping them above the water. They can enjoy chasing you across the pool or playing with you down by the river.

Wherever you are, remember that safety is always first. Life jackets save the lives of people every year, so why not let it be there to offer the same safety for your pup as well. Whether they are out enjoying the ocean with you, or playing with your kids in the pool, your pup can be kept safe.

Your plans are going to separate you from your pup, but only for a short time. Finding someone to care for you pup while you are away on either your extreme vacation or on a business trip can put some pressure on you. You want to ensure the safety of your canine friend, so choosing a person that you can depend on will take some investigation.

Consider your trusted friends

If you don’t already have a trusted puppy-sitter, you will need to find someone that you can trust. Consider friends that also have canine companions. These people will understand the needs of a pup and your dog would have a playmate. Locate someone who has a pup that seems to get along fairly well with your dog. This can be a great starting place for locating a trustworthy person.

Plan an interaction before you leave

Finding a sitter that is professional or certified may be another option. Invite them over to your home to see how your pup interacts with them. If everything goes well, set up an appointment for your pup to stay with them for the day. Let your pup decide whether they like the person because it is they who will be staying with them while you are gone. You will want the experience to be good for them, not depressing.

Considering that you find a professional puppy-sitter, check their history. Ask around about their credentials and get opinions from people that have used them previously. It will help if those you ask have a pup similar in breed and nature to yours. Dogs are like people and present different personalities. Someone may be good with certain breeds, but not with others.

Your place or mine?

You will have to decide where your pup is going to stay- your home with the sitter or with someone else at their house.

If you decide your pup will be better off at your house with all the familiarities, you will need to locate a person that can be trusted with your belongings. A close friend would be best for this job. If they aren’t familiar with a dog’s nature, you will need to spend time instructing them on the basics. Writing down your pup’s daily habits and time frame will help quite a bit. Take into consideration if the person is going to stay with your pup at the house, or just drop in to check up on them.

It will be difficult for your pup to say goodbye to you, even for a short while. If they are going to stay with someone, consider that they will need things that remind them of you. Their favorite chew toy and a blanket that smells like you can help keep their anxiety down. Consider dropping your pup off at your sitter’s home a week early, and spending time with them there. This will help them associate the place positively and won’t affect them as harshly.  Dropping your pup off early will also keep you available if any circumstances or questions arise because you will be there to take care of them and adjust your pup to the situation.

Finding a puppy-sitter will take some time, don’t rush it or you may feel worried while you’re traveling. It can be difficult to say good-bye to your pup even for a short time- but by planning ahead and making quality arrangements, you can ensure your pup is well taken care of.

The sun is out, the summer is hot, and your canine companion is panting in the heat. Summer’s official start was just yesterday, Tuesday, June 21st!   Trying to keep your pup safe from the heat can be a pain on its own. But there are other dangers that the summer brings for your four-legged friend. Chemicals, insects and even a cool swimming pool can prove a hazard to your pup’s well-being.

Pools are dangerous

Around the house, pools can be a danger to your doggy in a number of ways. The pool itself can prove a water hazard to some pups that can’t swim well and fall in. The edge may be too difficult to achieve, and steps may not be available to get out. Make sure that your pup stays away from the danger zone. Maintaining a pool requires chemicals that are poisonous in concentrated doses. Chlorine tablets and other detergents need to stay out of your pup’s reach. Some of the newer pools now use a salt solution to maintain the water. It’s overall much safer, but if your pup begins to drink far too much of it, it can result in dehydration and or salt poisoning. Something that serious would have to be treated by a veterinarian.

Fleas, ticks and worms

Outside your home, bugs and insects of all sorts come with the season. Fleas and ticks are a nuisance that every pet owner is familiar with. These nasty rascals can be quite annoying, carrying dangerous diseases and can make your pup scratch with a fierceness.  Mosquitoes can carry the dreaded heartworm disease that is plenty bad for a canine. There are several different types of preventatives for insects that include food supplements and topical solutions. Get with a veterinarian and find out what kind of repellants would be best for you doggy.

Sunburn

Getting sunburn is common for us humans, but dogs can get burnt as well. Sensitive areas like the tip of their nose and ears are vulnerable to the sun. There are special sun-screens for pups that are safe for the PH level of their skin. Do not leave your sunscreen around for your pup to get though. Licking small amounts off your skin won’t hurt them, but in large quantities, the chemicals in sunscreen can do lots of internal damage to your companion.

Overall, keep your eye on your pup during the summer, make sure he doesn’t get to hot, and is as comfortable as you. Stay cool and keep the dangers out of reach for your mischievous pal.

It can be a difficult time when your pup first joins your family. Training is the starting point of the relationship and can decide how your pup will continue to act in your household. Outside interference can obstruct the training process and side track your canine companion, preventing them from learning to cope in the new environment.

Family disagreements

Through the training process, it is crucial that your pup develop a bond with your other family members. Ensure that everyone is involved in the training process, so that your four-legged friend can develop a bond with everyone. This helps to prevent insecurities while you are away. If you are the only person in the household the pup trusts, when you leave they may feel abandoned and express trepidation by destroying furniture or relieving themselves in the house. It can get messy, so you want to avoid the situation by building your pup’s trust with your partner.

There are pheromone collars that can help when a pup seems nervous around your partner. There are also nutritional supplements that you can ask your vet about to help keep your four-legged friend a little less nervous. If there still seem to be problems with your pup misbehaving and acting out when your partner is around, you may consider consulting the vet to check if there are any physical reasons or problems. It is better to be safe than sorry.

Lack of trust

If your partner and other family members seem to cause a disturbance with your pup, it may simply be because there is a lack of trust amongst them. You and other family members should use a leash to walk the pup around in the park regularly. The sights, smells and experience have been proven to help create a bond between the pup and the person at the end of the leash. Canines associate all the pleasure and fun with whoever is walking them. If there is still a problem, allow your partner or family member to offer the pup the treats from now on. This will help the pup to understand that they are also a companion.

Taking the time to train your pup as a team will greatly improve your canine friends bond with your family. Keep your pup happy with all the love your family has to offer.

Your four-legged friend has just joined your family, and now the training must begin. The first few months are crucial in setting the appropriate standards by which you wish your pup to follow. Crate training is often times pictured as a cruel way to train, when in fact it can be very beneficial for your pup to experience. Crates range in a variety of sizes and types that will fulfill your home and canine friend’s needs. A simple travel carrier may work, or a steel crate may be necessary so that your pup can see their new world around them. Crate training can help them to adjust to a new world, help them potty train, and feel as though they have a personal place in your home.

The crate training method

Crate training is essentially a method by which you help your pup adjust to your household by offering them a secure place to spend time. Time spent in the cage is necessary to get the pup familiar with the fact that this is your home. Too much time in the cage can be bad for them though. Don’t leave them there all the time, because it’s not a nice thing to do to your new friend. It should be a place they sleep, and spend a few hours of the day. It will help to relieve anxiety your pup may feel when traveling or when you leave the house. The crate offers a dog a place to retreat to if they are nervous or they want to be left alone to chew on their favorite bone alone. By teaching your pup that the crate is their own personal spot, it helps them to build self-esteem and feel secure in a much larger home.

Increased security

Dogs by nature are a den animal. They like the security of a place in which they can be and feel safe. This can help adjust them to your home and new atmosphere. Crates can come in a variety of sizes, allowing your companion the space they require. Crate training allows a dog the comforts and security of their own personal spot that they are in charge of. During the first few weeks of their new life with you, giving them time to retreat and stay in their crate can help to build a bond with their home. Feeding and sleeping are recommended within the crate because of the safety it provides for a pup. Because of the nature of a dog, they will not want to relieve themselves where they sleep and eat. Crate training offers a very helpful hand in potty training a pup. Just make sure that you take them out when it is time to potty. The crate is beneficial to training your pup in all aspects of life.

It is necessary to not create a situation in which they believe that the crate is punishment. Don’t make them feel that this is a bad place to be; make them feel that it is a comforting retreat. By doing so, crate training will assist you in helping your pup to adjust to their new world and find a happy place in your home and heart.

Great weather IS a great time for everybody to go out of doors. Not just people but pets as well. You could do all sorts of fun activities outdoors such as camping, swimming, hiking or even sailing. While going on these activities it would be great if you can bring your dogs along right? You can have so much fun with your pet during a boating activity and your dog in turn will have lots of fun in this adventure also. Nowadays lots of dog owners are already bringing their dogs out to sea with them.

While it is great to be able to bring your dog out on a boat to go sailing, it would be best if you can think about some safety precautions as well to avoid instances of drowning and other dog accidents on board a boat that might possibly ruin what is supposed to be a great day out on sea.

Here are a few important points to consider when planning a boat ride with your dogs:

1. If you are planning on doing a little fishing while going on a boat adventure with your dog, be sure to keep all of your fishing gear in a safe place that is unreachable by your dog. Dogs are curious about everything so he might get a little bit curious of the bait and hooks and possibly hurt himself while checking those things out. This could really hurt your dog.
2. Make sure that your dog has his own retreat place for when the sun is too hot for him. Bring along his water bowl and lots of fresh water also for him to drink. Dogs do get dehydrated and in order to avoid this, he will need access to fresh water all the time. Don’t let your dog drink lots of salt water. This is not a good thing for him.
3. Once you get your dog on board the boat, you have to be able to watch him especially when the boat is moving. If this is your dog’s first time, he might get antsy or nervous so it is important to be there to soothe the dog if he is scared. You would want him to enjoy his sailing experience and not the opposite. If after the first time, he is still scared of the boat then it might be a good idea to leave him home the next time that you go boating. You can always try again at other times to get your dog to come boating and be more comfortable with sailing.
4. It is very important that when your dog is out at sea that you equip him with a PFD (Pet Flotation Device). Regardless if your dog’s breed is adept at water and no matter your dogs’ size, you should make them wear the PFD. This will also help to lessen anxiety on your part. The PFD is really helpful especially if your dog goes overboard accidentally then this will really help. Even if your dog loves the water, the sea is a very different environment compared to a pool or tub and dogs sometimes don’t realize this so a PFD really comes in handy.
5. Understand that your dog does not have protection on his paws. The boat’s deck might be too hot for his paws so do check out the temperature of the boats’ deck periodically.
6. When you go boating and want to check out an island then be on the lookout for your dog too. You have to remember that he is not wearing any protection on his paws and he might get stung by crabs or other sharp things on the beach that might hurt him and ruin his experience. Please also be a good pet owner and make sure that when your dog poos, that you pick it up and dispose of his waste properly.
7. Set some limits on the time that your dog spends playing on sand and swimming in the sea. Don’t let him get too exhausted.

The tips are just some of the ways that you can make your boating experience with your dog more enjoyable and safe and free of any anxiety and bad experiences. After all you would want to have a really great time with your dog out on the sea and give him a wonderful time as well with you.

In an effort to learn more about the eco-friendly canine lifestyle, I’ve been reading Green Dog, Good Dog by Dominique De Vito. The book has plenty of great tips for reducing your dog’s carbon paw print, and one of the sections that particularly got my attention was the one about the benefits of leaving music on for your dog while you’re not at home.

Radio for your dog?

I have always thought it was a good idea to leave the radio on for my dogs when I went to work, not only to soothe them but also to mask any outside noises that could frighten or excite them. Still, does leaving the radio on really help my dogs? Are they less stressed when music is present?

In Green Dog, Good Dog, a Dr. Gerald Buchoff shares his opinion and says that leaving the television or radio on for one’s dogs is a wasteful activity and probably no more entertaining for them than looking out the window. If you’re going to leave music on, however, the book recommends playing harp music which is especially soothing.

Heavy metal or more classical

I did some further research and found that there have been studies about the effect of music on canine behavior. Deborah Wells, an animal behaviorist from Queens University in Belfast, Ireland, and her team conducted a study at an animal shelter. After playing Vivaldi, Grieg, and other classical music to 50 dogs, the animals became calm and lied down.

On the other hand, when the researchers exposed the dogs to Metallica and other heavy metal songs, the dogs became agitated and started barking. Pop music and radio talk shows, meanwhile, barely had an effect.

In addition, a United Kingdom study published in the journal Animal Welfare found that shelter animals are significantly more relaxed when classical music is being played.

Teikyo University of Science’s Department of Animal Science developed its own ultimate canine relaxation music formula, spending 18 months on the project. Researchers found that classical music, combined with specific ambience sounds such as human conversation, dog barking, and crow’s crow, is the most effective sound for putting canines at ease.

It’s something that no dog owner wants to happen but can’t always avoid – you’re walking your pet or you’re at a dog park and then all of a sudden, a dog fight breaks out. Just like humans, dogs don’t always get along with each other. So in the event of a dog fight, would you know what to do?

Most people don’t have a game plan for if a dog fight happens. The worst time to think about how to handle a fight is when one has already broken out. It’s really not a matter of if, but when. Thus, it’s important to be prepared.

Tips for preventing and stopping a dog fight

One of the simplest ways to protect your pet from a fight when you leave the house is to keep him on a leash with a well fitting collar.

When you want your dog to meet another canine, reduce the chances of a fight by making the introductions on neutral ground such as a dog park. Don’t do it at one of the dog’s homes – the host canine may feel a need to guard his territory.

While you can control your own pet, you can’t know when you’ll meet an aggressive dog outside. To abort a dog attack, use the shake can technique. You’ll need a clean, empty soda can and about ten coins. Place the coins in the can and seal the top with tape. Should you come across a dog bearing teeth, throw the shake can on the ground in front of him. Often, this will be enough to discourage an aggressive canine.

If an aggressive dog charges at your pooch when you’re outside, back away slowly and pull your pet gently along with you. Don’t pick up your dog and run off. The aggressive dog will chase you if you turn your back.

To stop a dog fight that’s already started, throw some cold water on the dogs. Surprising them may cause them to cease fighting. Never step in and try to break up the fight – you could get bitten and make the dogs more aggressive toward each other.

Of course, our hope here at Porch Potty is that, that doesn’t happen.  Your safety and the safety of your sweet dog are of utmost importance to us!

Adolescence is an important stage in your dog’s life. If you disregard his development during this time, you will soon find yourself having to deal with a restless, bad mannered, inadequately socialized pooch.

The rebellious teenager?

Household etiquette may eventually decline, especially if you start taking toilet training and other good behavior for granted. However, if you taught your pet well as a puppy, the drift won’t be apparent until his sunset years, when housetraining particularly tends to deteriorate.

Basic manners may take a nosedive when your dog reaches adolescence. Reward training your pooch when he was a pup was a piece of cake – he followed your commands and looked up to you with absolute respect and attention. But now he’s developing adult interests, like chasing squirrels, sniffing pee and poop on the grass, checking out other dogs’ rear ends, and rolling around in all sorts of stuff. These new interests may quickly become distractions to training, and suddenly your once obedient dog won’t sit or stay when you tell him to.

Your pet may also tend to bite more as he gets older and develops more powerful jaws. Frequently feeding him kibble and treats by hand, allowing him to wrestle with other canines, and occasionally checking and cleaning his teeth are the best ways to make sure that your adolescent dog maintains a soft mouth.

During the adolescent years, socialization usually goes downhill. If your dog doesn’t get out often and rarely meets strangers, his desocialization may happen rapidly. He may have been a social butterfly at five months old, but by eight months he has become distrustful and lacking in confidence. A previously affable dog may unexpectedly be spooked by a household guest.

Keep in mind

Your adolescent dog must continue to meet unfamiliar people on a regular basis, or else he will gradually desocialize. Proper adolescent socialization leads to successful adult socialization; it’s an ongoing process.

In addition, socialization among canines diminishes during adolescence and usually at an alarming rate, especially for very small and very large breeds. After all, you can’t expect a dog to be friends with every other dog. Like people, dogs have good friends, casual acquaintances, and individuals they’re not too fond of. It’s also natural for dogs, specifically males, to quarrel.

Does your dog get worked up by the sound of the doorbell or by other dogs walking past your home? Of course it would be absurd and cruel to try to stop your pooch from barking altogether, but you can train him to woof and shush on cue.

Decrease barking frequency

Canines bark the most immediately after their owners leave home for the day. The easiest way to instantly reduce barking frequency is by feeding your pet using only hollow chew toys. Every evening, weigh and moisten your dog’s kibble or raw diet for the next day. Place the gooey chow inside the toys and leave them in the freezer overnight. In the morning, give your pet the frozen chew toys, and he will spend well over an hour extracting his breakfast. And if he’s occupied with the chew toys, he’ll be lying down quietly.

If your dog is an excessive barker, do not leave him outdoors. Dogs that stay in the yard are exposed to more distractions and their barks can disturb the neighbors more easily. Have your pet stay in a room away from the street with a radio playing to mask outside distractions. If you’ve been leaving your dog outside because he makes messes inside the house, toilet train and chew toy train him so he can enjoy indoor comforts while you’re away.

Woofing and shushing on cue

It’s easier to teach your pooch to shush when he’s focused and calm; therefore, you should teach him to woof on cue first so he’s not barking uncontrollably when you’re trying to train him.

Have an accomplice outside your front door. Say “woof” (or “speak”) to cue your assistant to ring the bell. Praise your pooch generously when he barks (due to the doorbell) and maybe even bark with him. After a few woofs, say “shush” and wag a treat in front of your pet’s nose to get him to stop barking. Praise your dog again as he sniffs the treat and give it to him.

Repeat this process about a dozen times and your dog will learn to anticipate the doorbell when you ask him to speak. Similarly, he will learn to anticipate getting a treat after you tell him to be quiet. Soon he will be able to bark and shush on cue.

Gradually increase the length of time between saying the shush command and offering the food reward. Two seconds, then five, then twelve, then twenty, and so on. Also alternate your instructions to woof and shush.

Remember to always speak softly when telling your pooch to shush and reinforce his silence by whispering praise. The softer your voice is, the more inclined he will be to pay attention and listen to you.