Children & Puppies: Getting Your Child & New Puppy Off To A Great Start

Children & Puppies: Getting Your Child & New Puppy Off To A Great Start

Nothing is more adorable than seeing a small child and a loving puppy playing happily together. What's even better to know, is that psychological studies have proven that people who are fortunate enough to grow up with a dog in the family household tend to have happier childhoods.

Kids who grow up with a family dog learn respect for other creatures as well as caring for them. These kids learn empathy, sympathy, handling responsibilities. They also develop self-confidence and self-esteem by knowing they are contributing to taking care of a living creature.

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These benefits and learning experiences between children and their pets do not occur automatically. It takes a responsible and patient adult to properly introduce the child to the new puppy and teach him/her how to properly interact with this new member of the family.

At the same time, the puppy needs to learn respect and obey the child the same way as he respects and obeys the other members of the household. This way, every member of the family can have a loving and healthy relationship.

The manner in which you approach your puppy and the experiences that you give him from his very first minute in the house will create a lasting impact throughout his entire life. From the first introduction, your child should learn the proper way to treat the puppy. Your child should realize that the puppy is a baby, and in many ways should be treated like one.

Avoiding Injuries To The Puppy & Your Child

Children around the age of 7 years and younger have the tendency to get excited when faced with new situations and experiences. This excitement may not be ideal when it comes to meeting a new puppy, or a dog of any age for that matter.

Excited behaviors such as making loud noises, chasing after the puppy, pulling at him, and other aggressive behaviors will result in the puppy getting scared.

In this situation, the puppy will more likely run away instead of letting the child pet him. A very young puppy will try to find his mom and hide under her, while a puppy around 12 weeks old will perceive these behaviors as either a threat or an aggressive play and will most likely react by nipping or jumping up.

The proper way of introducing your new pet to your child is through restraint and guidance. Your child should realize that the puppy is a baby and that your child should be gentle when handling him. To better teach your young ones how to be gentle, use a stuffed animal and teach her how to pet it properly. Practice this with your child for a few days before the puppy arrives home.

Puppy Mills – Learn The Shocking Truth About Pet Stores

Puppy Mills – Learn The Shocking Truth About Pet Stores

Pet stores are a very popular place to shop for young puppies and other animals of your choice. There is practically a pet store in almost every city. And it is hard to resist that cute and desperate looking puppy caged up waiting to be taken home. But before you make this decision you really should know a little bit of "insider" information about these pet stores and the origins of the puppies they sell.

Have you ever heard of puppy mills?

Do you know where most of these puppies come from that you see being sold in pet stores? There are certain breeding centers that cater to high-volume puppy production which sells them to pet stores, which then is sold to you. They are called "puppy mills" and are probably the most disgusting form of dog breeding practices that I have seen.

Disclaimer: Let me be clear on one thing: Not every pet store gets their puppies from puppy mills, but enough research has been done to find that a large majority of stores in the United States do in fact use puppy mills as their resource for pets to sell to the public.

What exactly are puppy mills?

To put it in simple terms, a puppy mill is a farm that is found most often in the Midwestern part of the United States. These farms breed animals for profits, mostly dogs. That may not sound that harsh but imagine these puppies being bred in high volumes and mistreated in the same way that cattle or chickens are.

If that doesn't give you a disturbing vision, then imagine cages stacked upon cages with these small adorable puppies, all suffering and ignored. Now picture rows and rows of these dog filled cages, all with minimal human contact and the only care they are getting is enough food and water to survive. You can easily find pictures by doing research online which would absolutely break your heart.

What is so bad about buying a puppy that originated from a puppy mill?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking home one of these puppies, and it is definitely a positive choice to make. On the other hand, many of these dogs have what is called "early stress syndrome" and may grow up to be nervous and frightened dogs which are very hard to instill confidence with training. Of course there are exceptions to the rule with these puppies, however, before you spend your hard-earned cash be sure to know all there is to know about where your puppy came from when considering purchasing from a pet store.

Chewing & Nipping: How To Curb Your Puppy From These 2 Annoying Behavior

Chewing & Nipping: How To Curb Your Puppy From These 2 Annoying Behaviors

We all love our puppies, especially when they are being cute and well behaved. We also adore them even when they are acting out in bad ways with annoying habits.

These annoying habits, however, are based on our standards of how they should behave. To our puppies, they are only acting like - well - dogs! But in order to keep the household a safe and peaceful place, they must learn to behave in the human world, and it is our job as their owners to make that happen.

With proper training, any puppy can learn to stop unpleasant habits such as the ones discussed below:

Nipping: Nipping during playtime is natural for all puppies, especially when they get excited. But regardless of how adorable your puppy looks or how harmless it may seem, nipping is a bad habit that needs to be stopped right away. Your puppy needs to learn that, even in play, his teeth should not touch human skin. Curbing this behavior now will greatly lessen the odds of your puppy growing up and biting someone in the future.

When your puppy starts to nip, turn his biting habit into focus on his toys instead of your hands. Have toys that are inviting to his mouth like chewy, rubber toys, especially those that come with treats inside, and soft, colorful plush toys that will peak his interest.

You do not have to wait for your puppy to get older before you start to train him. Even puppies as young as 8 weeks can learn to understand that nipping is not allowed. When he starts to bite during play, say “ouch” and back away for a few seconds. If he starts to bite again, walk away, go to a different room and close the door, but do not leave him alone for any longer than one minute.

Leaving him and going to another room with the door shut teaches him that biting hard “makes the fun go away”. He will eventually learn to control the pressure of his nipping. Once he learns to nip gently, raise the bar and say “ouch” to the gentle bites until he completely learns to stop altogether.

Chewing: Another annoying habit that frustrates us dog owners is when these cute little creatures chew on our stuff (especially those brand new shoes). Puppies have an insatiable urge to chew, mainly to soothe their aching gums as they go through their teething stage. It would be cruel to stop your puppy from trying to soothe his pain, but you can redirect his chewing to his toys instead of your shoes, clothes, books, etc.

Always have plenty of toys available for him to chew on. Get him used to chewing on these toys by having them around with him at all times while he’s still young.

Make sure to place these items in a confined area with your puppy so that he doesn’t focus his attention on other stuff around the house. If you see him chewing on something he’s not supposed to, say “no chew” and quickly replace the item with his chew toy. Make sure to praise him when he starts to chew on his toy.

Barking Problems-How To Handle A Puppy That Barks For Attention

Barking Problems – How To Handle A Puppy That Barks For Attention

For any new dog owner, handling all of the loud barking of a new puppy can be quite an unnerving experience. Most new dog owners are not prepared for the intense amount of barking and yelping that young puppies start doing the minute they arrive in their new home. Although it is totally natural, some puppies do not give their owners the luxury of quieting down, especially at night.

One of the biggest phases that a puppy will go through is the fear of being alone. And I'm not talking about being alone in the sense of you leaving the house. Some puppies will go absolutely nuts even when you only leave the room for a split second. They just can't bear to be alone because they are used to having their mommy or littermates around non-stop.

When faced with this situation, what you do? If you run to your puppy to sooth and caress him every time he cries, then you are only feeding the behavior and creating a spoiled dog. On the other hand, if you ignore him and let him bark his brains out, the rest of the family (especially your spouse) will become very annoyed with you for letting the barking go on.

It's like being stuck between a rock and a hard place, however, we do have some tips to help you deal with your puppy barking situation:

1. The first step is to try to ignore your puppy's barking if at all possible without yelling at him. Yelling will either scare him from wanting to come near you or will further add to his anxiety levels that and he will continue barking.

2. There is a product called a “teaching lead” which will enable your puppy to be around you at all times in the house. Use these types of tools so that your puppy can be around you while he is getting used to his independence.

3. When you leave the house, try to refrain from long and drawn out departures. Although it's understandable to want to pet your puppy and talk sweet to her before leaving the house, it only creates more stress because she will start to associate your behavior with you leaving her side. The same advice goes when you arrive home. Avoid big and exciting welcomes after walking through the door.

4. Try using a simple training aid to get your puppy to quiet down immediately when she is barking. A water bottle that sends a quick burst of streaming spray is a perfect idea. Or you could use a small tin can filled with a few pennies in it. When you go to leave her side and she starts barking, simply throw that can in her area. It will create a startling noise while at the same time diverting her attention.

Dog Training In Harrisburg Pa.

Professional Dog Obedience Training - Dog Training in Harrisburg by Jerry Mace

Dog Obedience Training For Pets A dog is a man's best friend. However, true this might be, the fact always remains that dogs are after all wild animals, and training your beast in to a civilized pet is a very important task that you cannot ignore as a responsible dog owner. Dog training apparently might sound a very easy ‘do it yourself' task, however, there comes a limitation on how well you can train your dog all by yourself. There are many dog obedience training professionals that can do this job for you, at a small cost. You might be able to train your dog for routine tasks like following you, toilet training, playing games, etc, but living in a city will require more than this basic training. Formal dog training is quite important, for instance if you are taking your dog for a walk on the street, it needs to know how walk in a straight line with a leash around. You don't want your dog scurrying around dragging you all over the park while scaring other commuters. The other important aspect of dog training is the age of your pet. The age of a dog has a direct bearing on how much adaptive and receptive the dog remains to the training efforts and for his ‘trained-memory'. A young pup is considerably easier to train compared to an adult dog that is over a year or two. In case of adult dogs it might be almost impossible to train him on your own, and this is where professional dog obedience training will come in helpful. Finding professional dog training has now become quite effortless with the internet. There are a number of dog training course websites that provide a complete package of different solutions for dog obedience training. No matter what city you are located, Harrisburg, York, Lancaster, or Dover Pa., you can easily find a dog training professional help right in your locality. If you visit one of these dog training websites you will be amazed at the amount of informative resources you have at your disposal, and at no expense at all. You can find more information about the particular breed of your dog, its peculiarities, food habits, and all other such stuff that will come in handy when you maintain a pet in your house. Typically, different training course are offered on these websites that are aimed at meeting different owner and pet dog requirements. For instance, training techniques and courses significantly are different for dogs of different breeds and age groups. The best part is that you can also do corrective behavioral changes for your dog using these training courses no matter how much you have spoiled your pet.

This article was published on Thursday 12 March, 2009.

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Dog Obedience Training For Pets

Dog Obedience Training For Pets
A dog is a man’s best friend. However, true this might be, the fact always remains that dogs are after all wild animals, and training your beast in to a civilized pet is a very important task that you cannot ignore as a responsible dog owner. Dog training apparently might sound a very easy ‘do it yourself’ task, however, there comes a limitation on how well you can train your dog all by yourself. There are many dog obedience training professionals that can do this job for you, at a small cost.
You might be able to train your dog for routine tasks like following you, toilet training, playing games, etc, but living in a city will require more than this basic training. Formal dog training is quite important, for instance if you are taking your dog for a walk on the street, it needs to know how walk in a straight line with a leash around. You don’t want your dog scurrying around dragging you all over the park while scaring other commuters.
The other important aspect of dog training is the age of your pet. The age of a dog has a direct bearing on how much adaptive and receptive the dog remains to the training efforts and for his ‘trained-memory’. A young pup is considerably easier to train compared to an adult dog that is over a year or two. In case of adult dogs it might be almost impossible to train him on your own, and this is where professional dog obedience training will come in helpful.
Finding professional dog training has now become quite effortless with the internet. There are a number of dog training course websites that provide a complete package of different solutions for dog obedience training. No matter what city you are located, Harrisburg, York, Lancaster, or Dover Pa., you can easily find a dog training professional help right in your locality.
If you visit one of these dog training websites you will be amazed at the amount of informative resources you have at your disposal, and at no expense at all. You can find more information about the particular breed of your dog, its peculiarities, food habits, and all other such stuff that will come in handy when you maintain a pet in your house.
Typically, different training course are offered on these websites that are aimed at meeting different owner and pet dog requirements. For instance, training techniques and courses significantly are different for dogs of different breeds and age groups. The best part is that you can also do corrective behavioral changes for your dog using these training courses no matter how much you have spoiled your pet.

Off-Leash Training (4)

Off-Leash Training (4)

Off-leash training is a transition because it is, most definitely, a slow process.

It would be nice if we could just reach down, unsnap the leash, and know that your dog would instantly obey the commands “Come”, “Sit”, “Down”, “Stay”, and “Heel”. Regardless of how proficient a dog may be in basic obedience while attached to the leash, his efficiency diminishes about 80% once the leash is removed.

While heeling, he will lag terribly, go wide on the turns, forge ahead and sit in front of you when you stop. Sometimes, it is as if the unsnapping of a leash erases everything on the memory of a dog’s mind.

On a sit-stay exercise, without the benefit of a leash, a dog suddenly realizes that his owner is powerless to do anything in the way of correction in the event of disobedience. Should the dog then bolt and runs, the command “Come” falls on seemingly deaf ears.

To begin off-leash work without making the proper transition would be the same as standing a baby on his two feet to walk before he had even had an opportunity to perfect his crawling technique. On the other hand, to begin making the transition before your dog has demonstrated absolute perfection and control in his work on leash would be a total waste of time.

If your dog needs constant correction while heeling on-leash, he will need the same constant correction while heeling without the benefit of the leash; but without a leash, how are you going to make a correction? Your dog should be able to perform all basic obedience exercises willingly, smartly, and with no opposition, before you undertake the transition to off-leash work.

If you have followed proper obedience training from the very beginning, you will now begin to realize why so much emphasis was placed on correct heeling techniques.

You were constantly reminded to keep a belly of slack in the leash at all times. Instructions were explicit that dogs were not to be allowed to forge ahead and tighten the leash. One of the purposes, of course, was for the dog to get used to feeling no connection between him and his owner. Of course, if the dog spends ten weeks being restrained by the leash while heeling, there’s not a bond of affection that’s strong enough to hold that dog in the proper heel position once the leash is off.

If your dog is proficient in the commands “Come”, “Sit”, “Down”, and “Stay”, but requires constant tugging on the leash while heeling, spend more time correcting that deficiency now while you still have the help of a six-foot leather training leash. Use it while you can.

Off-Leash Training (3)

Off-Leash Training (3)

Making A Correction While Using The “A” Line

The only difference between the “A” line and the “B” line is the thickness and weight of each. Shifting the “B” line gave the dog a feeling of freedom as compared to the weight and thickness of the six-foot training leash. The “A” line will give your dog even more of a feeling of freedom as compared to either the leash or the “B” line.

The technique is applied the same way, with one slight modification. Because the “A” line is so light, using it to make a correction would be meaningless. It would snap like a twig. Therefore, a way must be devised to give you the opportunity to correct your dog in the event he accepts this new freedom as a challenge. You can make the correction using a tab attached to the dog’s collar.

A tab is simply a six-inch length of clothespin rope attached to the pull ring of the training collar. It’s like a handle, ready to be grabbed should your dog needs to be corrected. While working your dog on the “A” line, always keep in mind that correction is not possible unless you physically reach for the tab on the collar. Do not try to make a correction with the “A” line; it will break and your dog will be heading at the opposite direction from the other side of the house.

The “A” line is strong enough to hold your dog and to prevent him from bolting, provided that the line isn’t jerked up short. The tab is for correction. Two weeks working on the “A” line and your dog will be ready to work for you without any leash or line at all. But the tab must stay on!

During your work on both the “A” and “B” lines, continue to practice your work on the hand signal for the drop on recall, drop to the down position from a sitting position, and the drop from the standing position. By using the “A” and “B” lines, you can do this at a distance of eleven to twelve feet from your dog rather than a mere six feet.

You will be increasing the distance gradually as you progress through training, but do not try to get ahead. At no time should you signal your dog to drop to the down position if you are more than twelve feet away from him, until instructed otherwise.

Off-Leash Training (2)

Off-Leash Training (2)

The “Stay” Command Using The “B” Line

While executing the “Stay” command while the “B” line (five-foot long nylon line with the thickness similar to a kite string) is in use, you will have the advantage of stepping out more than just a leash length away.

Because the “B” line is five feet long and your leash is six feet long, this exercise using the “B” line will allow your dog to have a feeling of freedom he did not feel when just using the leash.

You are farther away now and the temptation to bolt or stroll away out of the training area might occur. Be prepared for such an occasion by making sure that you hold onto the leash. You will want to make a proper and timely correction should that occur.

Let the snap end of the leash lie fully on the ground while your dog is holding that “sit-stay”. The total length of your leash now is eleven feet and the snap in the middle puts all the weight at that spot. Keeping the snap up off the ground will have a tendency to pull your dog toward you.

Recall Using The “B” Line

When executing the recall using the “B” line, you will experience more difficulty than with any other exercise. This is because you will no doubt find it very hard to take up the slack of the leash and “B” line as your dog comes into you on that recall. But with a little practice, you will discover that you are getting faster and better at it.

Two to three weeks of work, alternating back and forth between the “B” line and leash, should be adequate. When you notice that corrections are no longer necessary when working your dog on the “B” line, you will be ready for the shift to the “A” line.

Using The “A” Line

The “A” line (five-foot length of ten-pound test salt water fishing line) is connected in exactly the same way as the “B” line. That is, one end of the line is tied to the ring of the snap of the leash. It must be tied through the ring rather than the snap to prevent the line from coming loose.

Make sure that the line is tied securely. Next, tie the other end of the “A” line on the dog’s training collar, making sure that you tie it onto the same ring that the leash snaps onto. Finally, snap the leash onto the collar in the normal manner.