One Of The Most Common Dog Health Questions - How Do I Know If My Dog Is Overweight?

A few weeks age, we visited Simon's vet for a routine vaccination. After his weigh-in and exam, the vet mentioned that his 31 pounds should be reduced to 26 pounds, a 16% reduction in body weight! What if your doctor asked you to drop 24 pounds from your weight of 150 pounds?

First of all, my reaction was to ask one of the most common dog health questions - how do you know if a dog is overweight? He looked fine to me, although recent luxating patella surgery for a trick knee might have contributed to his weight gain.

How to figure out if Fido is a chub . . .
Dr. Becker, a holistic vet, says:

One way to measure your pup’s fitness is by feel. Run your hands over his rib area. You should be able to feel ribs beneath a thin layer of fat, and his skin should move easily under your fingers.

Now step back and take at look at him. He should have a tuck-up at the rear of his ribs and a visible waist when viewed from above.

Simon's vet said essentially the same thing - he has no waist! And guess what - when you look at him from above, he's the same width from collar to the beginning of his stubby tail.

And obviously, if your dog waddles from side to side when he tries to walk, chances are more exercise and less food are in your dog's future.

Doggie Weight Loss Guidelines

To help your dog get to his healthy weight, do the same thing you would do to lose weight (with one exception):

1. Get the dog moving (more walks, more playtime). If your dog is older, find the time to lease walk a few times a day. If you need to train your dog to leash walk, see these squidoo lenses:
http://www.squidoo.com/leash-training-puppies-preparation
http://www.squidoo.com/new-method-for-leash-training-a-puppy

2. Reduce the amount of food your dog consumes. Simon loves food, so he now gets smaller quantities of daily meals and treats.

3. Forget about feeding your dog table food if you have this habit. All this will do is pile on the pounds. Besides, very few people enjoy a dog begging for food at the table.

4. Forget the doggie diet food. It works about as well as people diet food - in other words, it won't help your dog to lose weight and probably isn't good for him.

Hope this post helps you answer one of the common dog health questions! Best of health to you and your dog!

BEFORE Leash Training Puppies – Six Basic Questions To Answer

Why PREPARE for leash training puppies? Because – professional dog trainers consider leash training one of the most difficult obedience activities. And if these experts consider leash training puppies difficult, why not get started with the right tools?

FYI - on the right is a picture of Alvin demonstrating leash training. If your puppy does what he's doing, maybe you DO need to read this post!

If you’re still thinking, “Yeah sure – I need a dog, a leash, a collar, and a training area. Then, I’ll start walking and correct any inappropriate behavior like pulling.” Unfortunately, that’s old school dog training. It MAY work over a long period of time. It may NOT. Let’s try again.

Six Questions You Need To Answer BEFORE You Start Leash Training Puppies

You need the following items for leash training puppies. (Questions will be addressed, but you may want details – see the resources below for more information.)

1. A puppy or dog. Do you have one?
If you don’t got one, borrow one. You won’t regret it (well, maybe a wee bit, sometimes).

2. A leash, but how long and should it be retractable?
The standard six-foot leash is fine.
Professional dog trainers frown on retractable leashes for training.

3. A collar, but which kind?
You can use a standard collar, a body harness, or something called a Gentle Leader.

4. Rewards for the correct behavior. Which treats should you use for leash training?
Use treats the dog really likes. Sounds obvious, but if your dog’s not eager for the treat, the training will not succeed.

5. An environment. Where’s best to start - inside the house, outside, in an open field, etc.?
Start in an area where the distractions are minimal; for example, inside the house.

6. A method - when will you treat, how often, what's acceptable behavior and what's not?
The answers to these questions are dependent on the method you choose. First choose a method recommended by experts; you will find the answers in the method description.

Free Resources

Article: Leash Training Puppies - Preparation

Article: Improved Method For Leash Training A Puppy

Internet Search Engines (google, yahoo) use keywords such as leash training a puppy, leash training puppies, leash training a dog

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You can HOPE your puppy or dog will develop into a well-trained companion or DISCOVER how to make it happen! Find expert guidance from professional dog trainers at http://www.secrets-to-dog-training.info/

Try the free Secrets to Dog Training 6-Day Course!
Sent to your email, this course covers selected training tips and methods used in Secrets to Dog Training, the dog training “bible.” The Secrets to Dog Training 6-Day Course is absolutely free with no obligation. Click the link and scroll down a bit to register.

Training A New Puppy - Critical Topics To Understand

This post addresses 3 critical topics you will need to address when training a new puppy: correcting puppy biting, house training, and leash training.

These areas can be tough to handle for a new owner. There's a lot of information to digest.

The first two topics (correcting biting and house training) need to be tackled as soon as your puppy arrives in your home.

Correcting Puppy Biting
Biting and nipping are common puppy training problems. Correcting them is a 2-step procedure: stop the biting or nipping with a noise that will distract the pup, and then quickly substitute an item the puppy can bite, like a toy or bone.

House Training Tips
To expedite puppy house training, you may decide you want to use a crate. Here are two important puppy crate training tips:

• Introduce your puppy to the crate before you actually crate him for a period of time.
• Once the pup is crated for the night, do not give in to his whining UNLESS you suspect he may need to eliminate.

Another important house training tip - develop a written puppy housing training schedule. A schedule takes a lot of the guesswork out of the house training process and helps with communication among family members.

Leash Training
The third topic, leash training, is probably the most requested training subject in obedience classes. Even if you are attending obedience classes, it will be helpful to read about leash training. You may pick up information to ask about in the classes.

This topic can be separated into two sections: preparation and choosing a method for leash training a puppy.

Preparing for leash training puppies involves choosing the correct collar and the proper training environment to minimize distractions.

You can choose a leash training method by researchinng the internet, talking to a trainer, reading books by training experts, watching a obedience DVD, or actually taking obedience classes with your dog.

Leash Training Tips From Certified Dog Trainers

In a recent post (http://designerpuppys.blogspot.com/2009/09/perfect-solution-for-dog-leash-pulling.html) I explained the Gentle Leader as a tool for Leash Training.

But I had to temporarily postpone Alvin's Gentle Leader training due to a muzzle scratch. So I asked the puppy social leader (a certified trainer) how to train with the regular collar. She explained that leash training requires patience, time, and a highly desirable reward for positive behavior.

OK. Time I have. Patience is wearing thin. A highly desirable reward for positive behavior - can do. What's highly desirable? It's dog dependent and both Alvin and Simon love hotdogs. Yeah - it's baloney and not the best food. Another choice - pieces of chicken.

The leash training concept is easy in theory - reward ONLY when the dog walks by your side with a loose leash. Stop walking when the dog pulls or lags behind. Train inside your home first (or a location with no distractions). Then move outside.

Both my dogs respond to this training (with regular collars). I've already moved to random rewarding. Next week I will return to the Gentle Leader for Alvin, and for now, continue with the trainer's recommendations.

valmillsy

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