How To Puppy Proof Your Home Better

When puppy proofing your home, the idea is to make your home safe for your dog. Dogs are constantly curious and their mouths serve as their hands. They are just as likely to eat something out of boredom, curiosity, or just because something is there.

Dogs are very capable of finding just the wrong thing because they can smell everything, and anything that smells different deserves to be investigated. This is why we must make the environment friendly for our dogs so they don't get themselves into trouble.

One of the first offenders are the plants that we like to keep around, and perhaps not knowing which ones are toxic to our dogs. The azalea, Calla Lilly, and Dieffenbachia are very toxic to dogs.

Keep all of your medications up and off the counters. Vitamins, prescription medications, aspirins, and especially Tylenol will be especially toxic to our canine friends. Even plastic containers are no match for a good chewer, as they can get things off of any counter in a hurry, if they are motivated.

Keep the lids on the toilets down, especially if you use toilet bowl cleaners, as your dog just might spot that open toilet as a drinking facility. Keep wastebaskets covered as there is always the possibility of sharp objects, undesirable elements, and other items that could be bad for your dogs.

Keep your cleaning supplies tucked away out of doggie's reach, and keep your dog out of a room when it is being cleaned with any caustic supplies, so they won't be affected by fumes or the temptation to lick the area.

Electrical cords are a big danger to puppies, as they spend their entire time for the first two years of their lives chewing on just about anything they can get their teeth on. If they bite through a live cord, it can cause burns, electrical shock or even death by them being electrocuted. Tie up any loose cords, or just don't use them in areas where the puppy roams.

Fires and heat can be dangerous to dogs, so never leave your puppy in a room with a live fire or a stove that is hot, as he won't really know what it is until it is too late.

The swallowing of small pieces of clothing like socks, underwear, nylons and other such clothing can be a choking hazard, and should be kept out of reach, as should laundry baskets full of clothes.

Keep smaller objects such as buttons, yarn, pins, rubber bands, thread, coins, and jewelry out of reach of your dog. Anything that is small in size and can be swallowed can be a choking hazard to your dog, so just think ahead and limit his access to certain areas of your house.

You can close off certain sections of your house with baby gates so your puppy will be limited as to the areas where your puppy can go. You can keep him in "clean areas" where you have gone over the area with a fine tooth comb.

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Is A Border Collie Right For You?

A border collie is a beautiful dog with rich coloring, usually some combination of black and white or black and tan. They are medium sized with smooth, medium or rough coats. They are generally an exuberant dog full of energy and life. They make great pets, but like any breed, are not for everyone.

When choosing a dog for your family, there are many things to consider. For instance, is the breed good with children; how much space does it require; and how will he do in a home where both mates you work outside the home? Does this breed suffer from separation anxiety?

Grooming Issues

There is also the matter of grooming. A border collie is generally a medium to long-haired dog. It has a thick undercoat and needs daily brushing to keep it from matting. Do you have the time for maintaining such a coat?

Border Collies and Children

Border collies are loving and loyal, but some do not do well with younger children. If, however, you have older kids in the family, say from ten years old and up, they are a great match. They can look forward to hours of Frisbee fun and companionship. This breed sometimes become possessive of their "kids," and may display some aggression toward other dogs as well.

Herding Instinct

Remember too that a border collie is a herding dog. Herding is in its nature. This means that he'll stick close to you; sometimes too close. If you take a step, he'll take a step to block you. It's instinctive and hilarious! He'll herd you; he'll her your kids; he'll herd any guests you have over. If he can find nothing else, he'll herd a gaggle of geese, a bicycle -- and definitely every dog in the dog park!

This breed is one of the most intelligent breeds in the world. This can work for you or against you, depending on how committed you are to training your dog. His intelligence and active nature means he can get easily bored. His boredom can lead to anxiety and destructive behavior. He needs lots of attention and activity, especially as a young pup!

A border collie is an excellent choice for a family with older children to help keep him entertained. If you think you can handle the above demands of border collie ownership, you can look forward to a wonderful, if busy, life together.

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Is The Siberian Husky A Good Fit For Your Household?

A Siberian Husky is a wonderful breed of dog, however this may not be the right fit for every type of family. A lot of people will be drawn to this breed once they hear all about how intelligent they are, the way that they are wonderful with children and also that they make great exercise partners. In addition to that, there are a lot of people who are excited to hear that this is a breed that is free of the common dog smell that so many other breeds have. While all of these things can be very beneficial, it is important that you understand the true nature and inner workings of this breed before you make a decision.

If you are a person who is happy, assertive, well-adjusted and active with a great family situation at home, you could be a perfect owner for a Siberian Husky. Despite the shedding that these dogs are subject to, this is a breed that is exceptionally clean. They take a good deal of pride in their coat and will do a lot to keep it clean on their own. Since they do not have a dog odor, they are a good choice for someone who is not a fan of it. Even while they are eating, the husky is a clean dog that will rarely make a mess and keep their dining area really clean.

When it comes to climate, the Siberian Husky just loves colder climates. As a matter of fact, some of them are happiest in the coldest climates. Even if the wind is whipping and snow is falling down, this is a breed that loves everything to do with cold climates. If you live in a warm climate, such as the west or southwest for example, this may not be the right dog breed for your family and lifestyle. However, since they have a double coat that is unique in nature, the heat is not going to penetrate as easily so some dogs in this breed are able to adjust gradually. It is simply important to take extra care as well as health precautions when the weather heats up.

While it never means leaving them alone for long stretches, the Siberian Husky is well known for being a fairly independent dog. This breed simply loves human attention and love spending time with their owners. If you are able to devote time and exercise with plenty of love, this could be the right breed for you.

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Five Fun Facts About Dogs

Dogs are often referred to as a man's best friend. Dogs can be your constant companion, your protector, and your best buddy. Here are five interesting facts you may not have known about your dog:

1. In a wild setting, dogs typically travel in groups or packs. If you look at wolves for example, you will see how they tend to roam in groups. Since your dog probably just lives with you or maybe a few other dogs, he sees you as a his fellow pack member. This is why your dog is affectionate, might follow you around, and treats you like part of his family. It's because you are!

2. You might notice that your dog eats his food really quickly, almost inhaling it sometimes. In prehistoric times, dogs were often threatened by predators who might steal their food. They eat really quickly because their instincts tell them to hurry up and eat before a predator or competitor comes along.

3. Dogs are usually considered to be family pets, but they also do a lot of good work for humans. Police dogs can help to find a criminal, while bloodhounds can help with sniffing out a crime scene or dead body. Shepherds help farmers to keep their animals in check, and service dogs are a great help to those who are blind or disabled.

4. The hearing and smelling of dogs is far superior to humans. A dog can hear something up to four times as far away from the source of the sound. They can also smell really well. So well, in fact, that dogs can tell the difference of various scents as low as 100 million times the concentration of humans!

5. In the past, dogs mostly ate meat in order to survive. The modern dog will usually eat a variety of different foods including vegetables and grains in addition to meat. If you have a dog, be sure to find a good, wholesome food that contains a mixture of these ingredients. Never give your dog chicken bones since they can break up and choke or cut your dog.

As you can see, our furry friends are quite an interesting animal. If you have a dog, remember that you are his caretaker and that he relies on you to provide him with food, shelter, and most importantly with lots and lots of love.

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Does Your Dog Cower When You Reach Toward Him?

You love your dog, and you want your dog to have the best life possible. You provide for him in such a lovingly way, and you give him the attention he deserves. However, sometimes it can be difficult understanding your dog's communication by way of body language. You can misinterpret signals or not fully understand what your dog is doing.

So your dog cowers when you reach toward him. This could be for one of two reasons or both combined. First, you have to understand that every breed is different, and there are mixed breeds of course as well. Dogs in general are submissive to their owners, especially when shown love. On the flip side, dogs can also cower because they've been abused in the past.

Now that you know the two reasons why dogs cower when you reach toward them, think about your individual situation and dog that you own. Have you been the only owner? If so, then you can omit the reason that your dog might have been abused in the past, unless someone else who comes into contact with the dog is doing it and keeping it secret.

If your dog wags his tail when he cowers, then you are likely just witnessing him being submissive to you and showing you love. However, just because he doesn't wag his tail doesn't mean he's not being submissive. To understand better why your dog cowers whenever you reach out to him, you can pay attention to other signs and again your individual situation.

For instance, say your dog cowers when you reach to attach his leash. Once you're done, he gets back up and wags his tail in excitement because he knows he's going for a walk. He is thanking you by cowering and being submissive to you because you are paying attention to him and a good provider.

Dogs love humans and they are very loyal to their owners. In reality, you serve your dog, and he or she is king or queen of the relationship. But, in turn they serve you. Dogs are great companions, and they can truly help show you how to live life to the fullest.

Dogs do not judge, and they love unconditionally. When wondering why your dog cowers, it's because he loves you and is submissive. If it's also because he was abused, then just realize you need to show him extra love.

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A Sad Tale with a Happy Ending

A true story of how a sad and lonely puppy made an amazing recovery.

Why Does My Dog Act Like He Is Starving?

Dogs try to say so many things to their masters through looks, body movement and language and even by barking. If you've been feeding your dog, but he acts like he's starving, then it's a readjustment that is needed. This could be for a number of reasons. Just like when your dog yawns to show you that he is interested in doing something else besides what you're doing, it's time for you to get on the same page.

One reason why dogs can act like they are starving is because of an irregular eating pattern. This is often caused by the owner not sticking to a pattern of feeding and also type of food.

Do you only feed your dog food? Have you switched dog food brands lately? Do you consistently feed your dog scraps from the table? If your dog gets used to eating scraps from the table, he can get spoiled to the point he won't eat his dog food and wants scraps from the table instead.

Many people feed their dogs once a day in the morning, while others feed them twice a day. Your dog can go for a pretty long length of time without food, making you think that he is starving, when in fact he wants you to give in and give him better food. This can happen often when the situation above transpires, where your dog is eating all different types of food.

For instance, say yesterday, he had the last bit of your hamburger. Well, don't you think today he's going to want that tasty morsel again vs the dog food sitting in the tray? Some argue it's fine to feed your dog table scraps. To each his own, but that is why your dog would be acting like that.

The same thing goes for humans. If you eat a burger one day, and then you force yourself to diet and eat a salad the next, you voice your concerns about starving sometimes, too. You see how it works?

Other reasons do exist that you need to watch out for. For example, your dog could be sick, or he could have just eaten too much. But, the likely answer is your dog is acting starved so that he gets the results he wants, your table scraps.

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Why Does My Dog Constantly Lick His Paws?

Dogs are some of the most incredible animals on earth, they love humans unconditionally, and will happily obey our wishes to keep us company anytime we need it. However, at times they can be a little excessive at certain things like licking or chewing. If your dog has developed a habit of licking his paws or chewing the insides of his legs until they are raw, sometimes 24 hours a day, then you have a problem that needs to be addressed. Let's look at a couple of the different reasons he may be excessively licking his paws.

One of the first things that you'll want to look for is if your dog seems to have a problem with ticks and fleas. There are certain types of ticks that like the warm dark space between your dogs toes, or paws. If you sit down under some bright light and check between all the toes, you might be surprised at how many ticks can fit in there hidden. Fleas also like the warm dark area of the dogs paws and will be seen scurrying out of the way as soon as the lights hits them. If it turns out that this is the problem, then your dog is easily cured by using some good quality flea and tick spray to kill the offending bugs. His paws may continue to itch for several days afterwards, you'll just need to be understanding and maintain vigilance for the future.

Paw Cleaner

Another possible problem that can happen, is your dog has developed an allergy to something he has walked in, either out in your yard, the garage, or somewhere else. In this case a good and thorough washing of each of the paws is in order, then a dousing in medicated baby powder afterwards. The medicated baby powder will help alleviate the itching, keep the area dry so it doesn't develop a yeast infection, and taste bad if your dog decides to lick it. It is also important to try and track down whatever chemical your dog has walked in that is causing this irritation, because it will definitely return as soon as he walks through it again.

There are other, less likely problems that your dog could be experiencing, including behavioral, so if it turns out that neither of

these two hints has helped, it might be time to take your dog to a vet for a professional opinion. Many times a regular play schedule involving a tennis ball is all that is needed to cure his boredom.

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5 Dog Training Tips

There are several different things about dog training that are just real and should always be done if you want a well behaved and well-adjusted dog. We are going to talk about what I think are 5 of the most important dog training tips.

1. Repetition

Dog learn by repetition so it is very important that you repeat things over and over so that they catch on. If you stop and think about that statement for a minute it will actually make sense because it is the same for humans. The more we do a particular task the better we get at it, hopefully. Well it is the same for a dog.

2. Patience

To be able to train a dog you need a bunch of this one. Yes you just can't lose your patience with a dog because they don't understand and quite often will simply shut down. They are really good at reading your body language and your tone of voice so don't lose your patience.

3. Time

Your dog needs time with you. A dog that lives in the backyard and gets very little or no human contact daily is always going to be a problem dog. Your dog needs your time. It needs to know that you care about it so show that you care by spending time and playing with your dog so that you develop a great relationship.

4. Exercise

Dogs need exercise. In fact I have always said that a trained dog is a happy dog and an exhausted dog is even happier. If you want a happy dog make sure that it gets plenty of exercise. Go for long walks, go swimming or even retrieve a ball anything to get your dog up and moving. Actually it will be good for both of you.

5. Health Care

This is an important part of the agreement you have with your dog. You need to take care of all it's health needs by giving it routine vet check-ups as well as keeping it current on all vaccinations and heartworm medication. Keep in mind that most likely at some point in your dogs life there will be a major illness or injury that you will need to plan for now by putting a little bit a way each month into your dogs health savings account so that you will be prepared. Another maybe easier option is to by some doggy health insurance.

Keep in mind that you simply will not have a well-trained dog if it isn't well.

If you will follow these dog training tips I think that you will have a well trained happy dog that will want to do whatever it takes to make you happy.

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Are Dog Training Head Halters Effective?

Let's take a few minutes and see if we can answer that simple question. There are those dog owners and trainers that speak highly of head halters and then there is another group that doesn't care for them at all. Let's see if we can give you enough information to make the right decision for you and your dog.

There are several halter options on the market. I think the one that you will like the best and trust the most is the "Halti". The reason I say you will like it the best is because of a simple little strap that actually allows you to attach your leash to the halter but at the same time have it connected to the dogs collar.

Halti 

One complaint that I hear quite often is that the halter comes off the dogs head and there goes the dog. With the Halti, that little strap keeps that from happening. If the halter comes off you still have the dog by the collar.

So now that we have safety out of the way let's talk about what a halter can do for you and your dog. Is your dog dragging you down the street and you actually have no control? Then a halter may be right for you until you can get the dog properly trained to walk nicely on a leash and collar.

Are you a senior citizen and simply do not have the strength to hold on to a dog that is pulling? Then a halter is for you.

Does your dog show uncontrollable aggression towards other dogs or people when out on a walk? Then a halter will help maintain control until you can solve the aggression issue.

Halti Training Lead

Head halters can help with all these issues. However if you are strong enough to control your dog and want to teach your dog to walk nicely at your side on a loose leash then forgo the halter and find a good trainer that can teach you and your dog how it is done.

I think the major drawback for a halter is that dog owners do not realize that you could use it for the next 5 years. Take it off and put on a collar and the dog will pull like crazy again. A halter does not teach or train the dog it simply controls it for the moment.

If you need this for a quick fix halters are available however if you want a nicely trained dog that walks at your side there is no substitution for good training.

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Training An Abused Rescue Dog

When you decided to go out and look for a new dog from the local shelters and rescues most people don't go looking specifically for an abused dog. However there is that very small group of compassionate people out there that simply have big hearts and are willing to bring an abused dog into their homes and their life. Lets talk about training that abused dog.

Yes, there it is that fearful little dog that is simply too fearful to approach you even though you can tell that it really wants to. The next thing you know you are on your way home with your new fearful dog at your side.

Has this dog been abused? Most people would say yes, however that simply is not always the truth. There can be several reasons that this new member of the family is so timid and shy. It can be a lack of socialization. Don't forget the period of socialization is from birth to 20 weeks of age. Maybe this little guy just did not get socialized. You really don't know because the rescue said it was found roaming the street so it has no history.

It can also be fearful because of genetics. Yes, we don't know anything about the parents they may have been fearful as well. In fact you probably know a human that is shy and withdrawn that was never abused so the same can be true for a dog.

Last but not least is yes, maybe there is some abuse in this dogs history. But time to move on and teach the dog that you can be trusted to treat it with respect and get it trained so it knows that it has a strong and understanding leader.

Start slowly building trust with you first and then with other members of your family. This will take time. I can assure you that it will not happen over night. It could take months and sometimes years.

Start off teaching your dog the very basics including sit, down and walking on leash. As time passes and the dog is catching on you can move to more advanced exercise like sit-stay and down-stay. Remember take it slow your not only training this dog you are also building trust.

As time progresses try to start socializing it with other people, dogs and even new locations. There is no exact time line for any of this because each dog will be completely different.

If you need help don't hesitate to enlist the help of a trainer that is experienced in working with abused dogs. Their experience will be able to help you move along at a good pace.

Source:http://ezinearticles.com/?Training-An-Abused-Rescue-Dog&id=8667362

8 Things To Consider Before Getting A Dog

Before you run out and get that new puppy or adopt that new dog be sure and take a few minutes to think about what you are getting into. There are several things to consider and hopefully these 8 items will help in that process.

1. Dogs are social creatures and because of that they need companionship. If you are a workaholic then this may not be a good time to get a dog. Of course if you work from home you will be able to spend a bunch of time with your dog.

2. Socialize your dog early. The period for socialization is birth to 20 weeks of age. If you do not socialize your dog you will probably see fear or aggression develop between 12 - 24 months of age.

3. Dogs need to be trained. They should be at least 16 weeks old for formal obedience training. Train early it will be easier for you and it keeps from the dog developing a bunch of bad habits that will create problems later.

4. Make sure that the breed of dog that you select works with your lifestyle. Don't get a Lab if you are the couch potato type that is not active. If you want a dog to go jogging with you don't pick a Pug. Make your selection based on your lifestyle.

5. If you don't want to go through the puppy raising thing adopt an adult dog. Some people love going through all the problems associated with raising a puppy and other people want nothing to do with it. It's your chose!

6. Find a vet. Not a good vet but a GREAT vet. Somebody that you trust and will give you the type of service that you expect for your canine friend. Be sure to keep your dog current on all vaccines and heartworm medication.

7. Get a leash and a collar for your dog. No retractable leashes, they are horrible for many different reasons. Instead get a nice leather 6 foot leash that will last forever. Get a collar that fits your dog and it cannot back out of.

8. If money is an issue at times you may want to consider getting a health insurance plan for your new friend. They can really come in handy when there is a serious illness or emergency.

I hope these tips will give you some things to think about when planning for your new family member. Whatever dog you decide on remember, have fun and enjoy it.

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