Archive for the ‘Training Tips’ Category

Bark, Bark, Bark

Wednesday, February 28th, 2007

Do you live in Clifton?  Do you have a dog that continually barks when you’re not home?  Well beware the city is planning on fines of up to $250 if your dog barks for more than 30 minutes 2 days in a row. 

So what can you do about your barking canine?  Well here are a number of training tips found on these websites:

Barking Mad                    AboutDogs                    Purina

Placerville Vet                    ASPCA                        PerfectPaws

SSPCA                           DogGroups

I personally find that the citronella collars work great but on the first few days expect to refill the collar a few times and to have the aromatherapy of citronella wafting through your house.

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Tidy Dogs or Just Disgusting Your Pick…..

Thursday, February 15th, 2007

Coprophagia, a pretty long word for what it really means.  According to Wikipedia it is "consumption of feces, from the Greek copros (feces) and phagein (eat). Many animal species have evolved to practice coprophagia; other species do not normally consume feces but may do so under unusual conditions."

Why do some animals do it?  Well some animals like rabbits and guinea pigs have a rather simple digestive system and sometimes the poop they have is not quite finished digesting so they will eat it almost immediately and have it digested again.   Other animals like dogs will eat their poop for other reasons.  Sometimes it is a learned behavior from watching their owners scoop, sometimes it is a boredom thing, sometimes it is done to get attention, sometimes it can be due to a medical condition and other times it is just their way of cleaning up.

Coprophagia is not a behavior that most humans would like their pets to have.  Often it is a behavior that will reduce once a puppy matures but sometimes it has to be dealt with by a little bit of training on the part of the owner. 

Tips to help prevent coprophagia:

1.  Clean up immediately after your pet has defecated.

2.  Make the feces unappealing.  You can try feeding your dog a teaspoon of pineapple, spinach or there is a commercial product available called forbid.  If you have more than one pet in the household it may be necessary to feed all of them one of these items as the "poop eater" may notice that his poop tastes awful but will eat the other’s feces.

3.  If the dog is still fond of feces, try teaching your dog not to touch it using the command ‘Off.’ Put your dog on leash and walk him by some feces. If he shows any interest in it, tell him, ‘No, off.’ If he continues to go for it, then loudly scold him, ‘OFF!!!’ and pull him away from it with a short, sharp tug on the leash. When he stops, praise him. Continue walking and keep returning to different piles of feces over and over, repeating the off procedure until he gets the idea that you disapprove of his dietary interests. Whenever he shows no interest in the feces, be sure to tell him how happy you are through praise and reward.

Just remember when dealing with coprophagia it can sometimes be a normal thing for animals to do and just because we don’t like it and think its disgusting your pet may just be keeping the place clean for you.  No amount of scolding will help deal with the behavior.  Try the above tricks and if they don’t work talk to your veterinarian or staff to get a little more help.

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Posted in All Creatures Great and Small, Caged Animals, Leash Tales, Litterbox Scoop, Training Tips | 1 Comment »

Let’s Talk Walking the Dog

Tuesday, February 13th, 2007

Are you just starting to train your puppy to walk on a leash?  Or do you have an overzealous dog that takes you for walks?  Can you let your dog off leash in the park without worrying if "Rover" will come back? 

Leash Training Do’s

-Use treats and praise to keep puppy at your side.

-Keep the leash loose at all times. If you see your puppy starting to pull ahead, abruptly reverse directions so that puppy finds himself suddenly behind or beside you instead of forging in front of you. Don’t wait until the puppy is clear at the other end of the leash, pulling ahead before you take action. The leash should always remain loose except for that one split second it takes when you’re reversing direction. Do not drag your puppy back to your side. Use a quick tug, then immediately release so the leash is slack again. If it doesn’t all happen in 3/10ths of a second, it’s taking too long and your puppy will not learn to walk nicely on leash. Put another way: Instead of correcting your dog after he is already pulling, do not give him the opportunity to pull. If he never pulls, he will never learn to pull. You must correct him BEFORE he pulls!

-Practice now before your pup learns to pull. Since your pup is unable to walk the streets yet, begin teaching him to walk around your house and yard. He should be taught not to pull before hitting the streets.

Leash Training Don’ts

-Do not let your puppy pull you around.

-If you cannot correct the puppy in time, do not reward his pulling by letting him continue on his way. Better to slowly just turn around and go the other way, or stop in your tracks and say, "We are not going one inch further until you stop pulling." Then wait, it may take 30 seconds; it may take 20 minutes. Do not move until your puppy is in control. Now you can start over and give the correction before he starts pulling again. If again you are too late in your correction, start again.

-Do not yank and pull on your puppy’s throat and neck. 

-Never use a choke collar.

The Gentle Leader

This is one item that is awesome for helping with those dogs who tend to take you for a walk.  I used it on my 110 lb rotti and it worked wonders for us.  I also had an elderly client with a great dane who was able to use the system to teach not only how to walk, but for jumping, pulling and barking.  I would highly recommend this to anyone training their dog.

Some Helpful Websites:

Veterinary Partner - how to teach an old dog new tricks

Puppy Chow - leash training a puppy

YouTube - leash training video

ASPCA - leash manners

Do you have any ideas or helpful hints for the other readers?  If so please leave a comment so others may learn.

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Dog Trainers in the Victoria Area

Tuesday, January 17th, 2006

I am going to put a plug out there for a great dog trainer I know.  Dara of Mutts N Manners is excellent with both the pet and the person.  She not only helps you and your dog learn to work together but she teaches the entire family as it is important that all family members are able to work with the pet and see positive results.  Dara only uses positive reinforcement in her classes which is a plus for both the dog and the owners.

Dara offers many different types of classes from basic puppy training to clicker training, advanced training to just being able to take your dog for a walk.  Dara is a Certified Pet Dog Trainer and is a member of the CAPPDT and APDT. 

If you are in the market for a dog trainer or behavior consultations contact Dara, I know you will be impressed.

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