Blog – Obedient Pups

A Case For Day Training

A dog trainer is the only professional that I know of that trains YOU how to train your dog. That’s kinda funny since I don’t usually hire a contractor to show me how to build my home or hire a hair dresser to teach me how to color or cut my hair. So why is it that most dog trainers only teach their clients how to train their own dogs. I know when I took my first dog to classes I would have loved for someone else to do all the tedious repetition training with my dog and when he was all trained to just show me what I needed to do to keep it up.

Well, that is what DAY TRAINING is all about. You actually hire me to come to your home and spend an hour 3 times a week (for 3 weeks) with your dog doing all those tedious repetitions getting him to sit, stay, down, come and walk on a leash. Then at the end of the week I schedule a transfer session with the owner to show them what we have accomplished, all the commands and how maintain an obedient dog. Then just to make sure you and your dog are working well together, I schedule two follow-up session at 1 and 3 months.

Day training sets up owners, dogs, and trainers to win. Cases are seen through to full conclusion—owners reach their goals, trainers experience the satisfaction of a completed case, and dogs get the help they need. The results owners witness in the transition session at the end of the first week translate into high levels of compliance. Why? Learning maintenance skills is far easier than training from the ground up because the dog already knows his part and the clients are strongly motivated to protect the progress they’re so delighted to see.

So, if you can’t commit to the time, let me do it and both you & Fido will live much better lives together.

I have a new puppy, now what do I do?

You know that saying “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks?” For the most part that is incorrect because you can teach or redirect a dog at any age new or better behaviors. However, where this saying comes true is with socialization. The experiences a puppy has during the first 12 weeks of his life will have a profound and unchangeable impact on his personality and social outlook for the rest of his life. This is called the critical socialization period because the effects of experiences (or lack of experiences) during this period cannot be changed later. You & your dog will live with the effects of the critical socialization period forever.

During the first 12 weeks, puppies should be safely exposed to new people, dogs, environments objects, sounds, & scents. Varied, positive social experiences go a long way towards raising a comfortable, confident puppy that can thrive in many different environments. A well-socialized puppy is usually seen as “a great family pet” that “I can trust” to “go anywhere” with me. Also, they are able to handle normal stress in his environment, can demonstrate self control, can demonstrate self-calming capabilities and can communicate effectively with other dogs.

A well-socialized puppy is much less likely to have serious fear or aggression during his lifetime.

So, with this said how do you do this? Take your puppy everywhere. Let him experience different people (men, women, children, men with hats on, people in uniforms, etc), different feels (grass, cloth, water, cement, tile, etc.). Also, different toys such as, soft, hard, squeaky, rope, balls of different sizes. Last but not least, as many other dogs as possible. I’ve heard it said 100 dogs in 100 days. However, a word of caution, make sure that you keep your puppy off the dirt because deadly viruses live in the dirt (parvo), and only around dogs that you either know or have been fully vaccinated.

Take your dog to puppy socialization groups or puppy kindergarten. That’s where I come in. Give me a call and lets get you started off on the right paw!

Holidays & Pets

The holidays are a great time to get pets but where do you get them. If I can stress one thing, ALWAYS get your pets a the local shelter or a reputable

rescue. There are always too many pets to pick from and most of the time the fees include shots, micro-chipping, and neutering/spaying. Plus they usually do behavior testing to know if that pet is going to be good with other animals or children. If you get one from a pet store or private seller please check them out thoroughly so you don’t end up with a pet that has been raised or bred in a puppy mill.

Now that you have one and you get it home how are are your fun holiday decorations going to stay put with your little puppy bouncing around and exploring everything. Here are a few suggestions:

Make sure that all cords and tree decorations are up on higher limbs of the tree and don’t hang low where they might be pulled off.
Vacuum daily because trees needles can harm a puppy’s inside and the last thing you want is a vet bill over the holidays.
Watch that puppy at ALL times. Don’t allow him/her to eat people food especially chocolate, alcohol, onions. And also keep away from those poinsettia plants!! All of these are toxic to dogs.
With the weather being so cold all over the U.S., make sure that you don’t leave your puppy (or grown dog) outside for too long or consider getting them a cute sweater and booties if they must stay outside for long periods of time. A dog house or igloo with a nice warm blanket will also do.
Remember that you decided to bring this sweet puppy into your home so don’t ignore or forget about him/her. Make sure your new canine gets plenty of fresh water & food daily and don’t forget to exercise them.
Try to keep track of all those ribbons and tags so that the puppy doesn’t get all wrapped up in it or choke on them.
If you give them lots of love they will return it back twice as much.

This is the time of year that our shelters get full of dogs that people did not want, can’t have or decided that they were way too much trouble. If you are giving one as a gift, PLEASE make sure that the person who is on the receiving end wants and can have one. Maybe getting a gift certificate from the shelter might be a better idea then they can do the picking of their best friend.

Lastly, check out attending some obedience training or better yet give the gift of Day Training to your favorite dog. Give me a call and we can set that up!!

Happy Howl-idays