Why can't they act like this at home?
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
How Come Our Dogs Behave So Nicely When They're Visiting??
Alvin and Simon did an overnight with their favorite dog sitter BJ. Here's the picture BJ sent showing how well they behaved (except for a few poop accidents).
Why can't they act like this at home?
Why can't they act like this at home?
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:
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!
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.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.
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.
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!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
How To Train A Dog Part III - Teaching Name Recognition To A "Pigs Fly" Dog
Alvin (The Terrible) SEZ:
As in the two previous posts* about "Pigs Fly" dogs (When Pigs Fly!: Training Success with Impossible Dogs), this post describes the application of a "Pigs Fly" technique.
Name Recognition is particularly difficult for a "Pigs Fly" dog because they're so intent on doing whatever they want to do versus what YOU want them to do. For example, when Alvin the Terrible is guarding his goughnuts, he would not recognize ANY command nor respond to his name.
What's An Owner To Do When Even The Dog Ignores YOU??
Buy the When Pigs Fly! book.
Read It.
Use it.
If this reads like a See Dick and Jane kid's book- then you got the message - it's really that simple.
Alvin needed to learn name recognition.
Got to get a dogs attention before training starts. So, according to the technique presented in the book, we did the Name - Click - Treat routine several times a day for three days.
Same thing for bro Simon - but out of Alvin's hearing range.
Now both dogs respond to their names - their heads jerk toward the sound - and they come running. Even better - each dog knows his own name. When I request both dogs to stay and say "Simon, Okay" to release him from the stay, Alvin stays. Amazing what a few training sessions will produce.
Obviously, name recognition is very important when you have more than one animal.
No More Complaining About The Dog Ignoring You!
Buy When Pigs Fly!: Training Success with Impossible Dogs
At Barnes & Noble's LOW price!
* Previous posts about When Pigs Fly! (How To Train A Dog):
http://designerpuppys.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-train-dog-when-pigs-fly-training.html
http://designerpuppys.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-train-dog-part-ii-starting.html
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