Hangin’ with the Animals

posted by Animal Lover2 on Feb 14

By Susan Weslee

Dog chewing is normal canine behavior. If you’ve ever seen a large dog gnawing on a bone, you can appreciate his natural instinct at work.

Dog chewing behavior varies within breeds and individual dogs. From the largest Great Dane to the smallest Chihuahua, one thing is certain…all dogs love to chew. Dogs chew for many reasons; teething discomfort, boredom, to learn about their surroundings, and even just for fun!

Puppies are especially prone to chewing, and will grab anything that they find appealing. If it’s left on the floor, it’s fair game. Shoes, socks, slippers, and children’s dolls can easily be carried off by a scurrying young puppy.

When dogs begin to chew inappropriate objects such as shoes, furniture, baseboards, walls and other items, the chewing becomes destructive, and the behavior needs to be corrected.

Destructive dog chewing usually occurs after your puppy has been housetrained. He’s now supervised less, and allowed to move around the house more…and often the opportunity to grab and gnaw on items are too tempting to resist.

The best way to discourage this type of behavior is to remove the tempting items. Dirty laundry should be stored in a hamper before laundering-not heaped in a pile or tossed on the floor. Shoes and slippers belong in the closet, not in your dog’s bed. Children’s toys should be kept away from the puppy’s favorite toys.

Provide your puppy with plenty of his own toys for chewing, both indoors and outside. Pet stores and grocery stores carry a large variety of chew toys and treats from which to choose. Rope bones, hard rubber bones, plastic bones, stuffed Kong toys, and other non-edible products provide safe alternatives and satisfy your dog’s chewing instincts.

With so many quality edible chew treats on the market, they offer a much safer alternative to meat and poultry bones, which have a tendency to splinter and cause injury to your dog.

Special stuffed toys, like the Kong, are ideal for teaching appropriate chewing behavior. This toy, made of hard rubber, has a hollow center, which can be filled with small treats, hard cheese, raw carrots, or apple pieces. Your dog needs to work to get at the food in the toy’s center. This activity keeps your puppy occupied, and out of mischief. It teaches appropriate dog chewing behavior, which is exactly what you are striving to do.

To develop proper dog chewing behavior, you’ll need to monitor and supervise your puppy during his first year or so. One way to teach appropriate dog chewing especially if you are unable to supervise or not at home, is to place him in his crate with his favorite chew toys.

To discourage furniture or wall chewing, apply pet training aid products containing “bitter apple” or “bitter orange”, directly to the surface. Most dogs will find this taste to be unpleasant and repelling, and will stop chewing with repeated applications.

Provide your dog with plenty of exercise. Mental and physical stimulation will reduce boredom and stress, and reduce the likelihood of chewing those inappropriate items. Above all, don’t scold or punish him for destructive chewing. While it’s tempting to yell “bad dog”, you’ll accomplish little in the way of redirecting his dog chewing to more appropriate behavior.

The keys to successfully training your dog to overcome destructive dog chewing include plenty of patience, persistence, and consistency. Praise and positive reinforcement also go a long way toward developing appropriate chewing behavior.

While you can’t eliminate his urge to chew, it’s up to you to provide acceptable alternatives and redirect his energy to chew on more appropriate objects.

Susan Weslee is an avid dog owner and writer. She is creator and webmaster of a successful dog training website that provides basic training tips and information to new dog owners.

If you found this article of interest, please visit the author’s website, http://www.beginners-dog-training.com for more tips and information.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Susan_Weslee

posted by Animal Lover2 on Dec 2

by MIKE ALLRED

How do I train a new puppy or dog to stop biting? That is the last thing on the minds of new pet owners after bringing a new pet home. After all, a new pet is an exciting fun-filled experience for both family and pet. Puppies are little four-legged bundles of energy. It is a job just to keep up with them.

Of course, when that lovable little puppy starts nipping, biting, and chewing we should understand why this behavior is happening. Puppies instinctively love to bite and chew on almost everything, including people, other pets, your best furniture, and the neighbor’s cat.

Though puppies don’t usually feel pain when biting each other, we humans, however, have thin skin. We feel those sharp needle-like teeth. So, it’s important for us, as new pet owners, to train our puppies not to bite. How to teach a puppy to stop biting begins when they’re still puppies.

Dogs learn best as young puppies.

It’s important that your dog learns proper behavior (especially not biting) during its first months of life. Because most puppies are taken away from their mothers too soon, it’s your duty as a new pet owner to act as the puppy’s new mother.

Your most important goal in how to train a puppy to stop biting, is to reduce its instinctive biting and chewing reflex. Normally puppies learn to stop biting from their mothers. So let’s learn from a mother wolf. Let’s observe her natural training techniques. They’re simple but very effective.

Have you ever seen a nature program on TV where the mother wolf disciplines a young pup with only a threatening growl, a baring of her teeth, and fierce stare. In the natural world this technique works. So why not use a form of this technique in your early training of your puppy.

No! No bite!

When a puppy bites, shout “No. No bite!” in a loud firm voice while looking the puppy sternly in the eye. Say “No” loud enough to shock your puppy, but don’t yell so loud as to scare him/her. Your goal is to have the puppy associate the loud “No,” and your stern gaze with his biting.

Most puppies will quickly associate the loud “No” and the stern gaze with the biting behavior. Imagine yourself as being a mother dog teaching a pup a lesson. Yes, you still love them, but they will definitely get the message. After the lesson, show the puppy you love him/her with a loving hug, a warm friendly smile, and a soothing voice.

Learning To Socialize

One of the most important ways to teach a dog or pup not to bite is through proper socialization training. In other words, a puppy must learn to socialize in a friendly way with other dogs and especially other people. Successful dogs know how to be good neighbors with other dogs and especially people. Dogs can quickly become afraid of other dogs and people if they cannot adjust and socialize in an acceptable manner.

And when dogs and puppies are afraid, they exhibit unacceptable behaviors, such as biting. Biting might be cute in puppies, but in adult older dogs biting can be dangerous and destructive for both dog and person.

Never Resort To Physical Abuse

Whether you have a new puppy or an older dog, your pet should learn to respect you and your family members. Never physically abuse a new puppy or older dog. Physical abuse can lead to a pet fearing you. Physical abuse causes a dog or puppy to lose trust in you, to fear you, and to avoid you.

After all, you are the most important person in the world to your pet. Their world and their existence revolves around you—their owner. Treat your dog or puppy the way you would like to be treated-with respect and love. Dogs are truly man’s best friends. They will love you unconditionally, faithfully, and loyally, whether you’re a pauper or a millionaire.

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Mike Allred, the author, points out that knowing how to train a new puppy or dog to stop biting is only half the battle. Your goal should be an all-round well-trained obedient dog. Such a dog makes a loving pet, a loyal companion, and a devoted friend. To learn more about dog training, caring for new puppies, and dog health issues, visit www.ProDogTrainingMethods.com Your puppy will love you for checking this out. And to learn how to house train your new puppy here’s more information.

posted by Animal Lover2 on Dec 1

by URBAIN BECK

The little puppy you got your kids may be as cute as can be, but trying to house train it can be downright ugly. Pieces of newspaper that was supposed to be a ‘bathroom’ may be shredded up and strewn all over the house by the puppy. Urine and other messes are tracked throughout the house. By the time it is said and done, you might be wondering why you got a puppy in the first place. Puppies are like babies and need to be taught the difference between right and wrong. To adequately teach your puppy, be prepared … you are going to need a lot of patience. It might be a matter of days or a matter of months before you have your puppy house trained so that it goes to the bathroom outside.

A useful trick is to create a special sleeping space for your puppy to use at night and for its naps. This is usually an enclosed space, like a crate. It is unlikely that your puppy will go to the bathroom in its special enclosure. You need to be sure to put the puppy in this enclosed bed area every night and for naps so that it will recognize and “own” this special sleeping enclosure.

You will want to be consistent about taking your puppy outside for bathroom breaks, in a designated area of your yard. Take the puppy out on a fairly long leash so it can walk around, sniff things over and explore. When the puppy finally goes to the bathroom, give it a treat. You will also want to congratulate the puppy in what I call “happy dog voice” … you know, that stupid voice that you use only for your cute little dog. When your puppy is young and active, you might need to take it outside every other hour for bathroom breaks. As it grows older, it will not need to do its duty quite as often, so you will be able to wean the outside trips from your schedule.

Be wary of sneaky indoor bathroom breaks. Keep an eye on your puppy when it is not napping or sleeping. If your puppy starts running around sniffing the floor or running in circles, this might be an indication that it has to go to the bathroom. Take it outside to its designated bathroom spot.

On the outside bathroom breaks, be sure to use words like “go potty” or something similar that your puppy will begin to recognize. Over time, when you say something like “It’s time to go potty,” the puppy/dog will understand that it’s time to go outside for bathroom break.

Bathroom time is a serious time. Do not talk with your puppy, feed it, or play with it until it eliminates. Then, reward it with encouraging talk and a treat. Be careful about giving the puppy too many treats! To make the treats more effective, do not leave food around the house for your puppy to gobble up. You should, however, have plenty of fresh water around at all times.

Your puppy will probably need to go to the bathroom about 20 minutes after eating, so plan your schedule accordingly.

No matter how well you train your puppy, and even when it grows into a dog, you still might have some ugly messes, especially if you do not let the dog out on time because you are running late from work or have overslept on an overcast, rainy day. Your dog can only handle a full bladder for so long! There is an innovative way to prevent indoor accidents. Visit the Blurbosphere’s indoor dog bathroom accessory page for a review …