The entire family, including your dog, experiences Thanksgiving together.  It is a time to be thankful, eat good food, relax, go for walks, and just be together.  But you need to be careful about what you feed your dog and learn what to keep out of the doggie bowl completely.

Do Not Over Feed

The best word of advice is to create a balanced meal for your dog.  Your dog needs a mix of grains, vegetable and proteins.  Provide correct proportions and amounts.  Keep your dog in mind and do not overstuff.  Your dog could become very ill from overeating.

Remove the Bones

Turkey is something you need to watch out for.  Turkey is a good food for dogs to eat but you need to make sure you give a piece without any bone.  Turkey bones are hollow, splinter and become stuck in the intestines.  In serious situations, this requires surgical removal.  If you do choose to go the turkey route, choose white turkey meat.  It is leaner than the dark.

Avoid the Fat

Along the same lines as choosing white turkey meat, skip on the fat when feeding your dog.  Do not give your dog the items that were bathed in butter or high fat sauce.

And two foods to always avoid when feeding a dog are garlic and onions.  These can have fatal results on your dog.

If you would like to learn more about what to feed your dog for Thanksgiving, talk to a Florida dog training or a k9 obedience instructor today!

Taking your dog trick or treating is so much fun, and seeing your dog dressed up in a Halloween costume brings joy to those around you.  Kids and adults love it!  But there are a few things to keep in mind when taking your dog out trick or treating.  Here are the top tips to remember this Halloween.

Choosing a Dog Costume

Dog costumes are readily available in big brand stores, such as Wal-Mart and Target.  Find something within your budget.  Find one that is easy to put on your dog.  They come in many different sizes and styles, so it might be wise to have your dog with you at the time of the purchase.

Types of Dog Costumes

There are many different dog costumes to choose from.  Some of the most popular ones are the angel and devil costumes.  But I have seen a taco costume for little dogs, super hero costumes for larger, and cat costumes for those in-between.  There is really no limit to your imagination when it comes to dog costumes.

Taking Your Dog Trick or Treating

Before taking your dog around the neighborhood, there are a few things to do.  One is be sure your leash is secure and the ID tag information is updated.  Also, keep a flashlight with fresh batteries ready.  Some dogs get scared from the new sights and sounds of Halloween.  Minimize the fright factor by using your flashlight when needed.

Also, be respectful to the neighbors.  Not everyone is comfortable with pets.  Thus, bring someone with you to ring the doorbell and let your neighbors know there is a pet present.  This eliminates any negative reactions from homeowners.

To find out more information about how to dress up your dog for Halloween, talk to a Florida dog training expert or a k9 obedience instructor today!

Your dog looks sharp.  The coat is trim, nails short, fur shiny, but what about your dog’s ears?  You need to take care of your pet’s ears on a regular basis.  Here are some tips on what how to take care of this sensitive area.

Ask the Vet to Show You How to Properly Clean Your Dog’s Ears

The shape of a dog’s ears encourages parasites, yeast and bacteria to hide and grow within.  The ears become clogged and full of harmful substances leading to infections and ear damage.   Thus, you need to clean your dog’s ears properly.  One way to do this is with a cotton ball dipped in mineral oil, hydrogen peroxide or a product specifically designed to clean a dog’s ears.  The first time you handle this task, ask the veterinarian to guide you through the process.  The ear is very delicate and it is a bit tricky for first timers.  You do not want to cause any further damage to the ears.

What to Do with a Dog’s Ears During Water Sports and Baths

When you bathe your dog, put cotton in your dog’s ears to avoid any water from getting stuck inside.  The water causes infection and irritation.  It is worse than having swimmer’s ears as a human, so you need to take additional care.  If your dog is prone to ear infections due to swimming and water sport activities, then put a tiny drop of ear drying solution.  It helps significantly.

To find out more about how to take care of your dog’s ears properly, talk to a Florida dog obedience or a Florida dog training instructor today.

Some dogs have a natural instinct to chase certain wildlife, stock animals, and varmints.  However, a dog chasing wild animals could put your pet in serious danger.   You need to nip this behavior before it escalates into fatal injuries.  Your pet could encounter a porcupine causing internal damage or if your dog likes to lead a pack to stalk other animals, then the results could trigger negative issues and injuries for everyone involved.  The best way to prevent any negative outcome from occurring is to talk to a Florida dog obedience instructor or to enroll in a k9 obedience class immediately.  In the meantime, here are some dog training tricks to use.

One method of stopping the predatory behavior is to change the way your dog thinks about other animals.  First, you need a long leash.  Then, whenever livestock or a squirrel crosses your dog’s path get your pet’s attention with treats.  Have your dog immediately associate another animal with positive rewards.  Eventually, your dog will ignore other animals that run near.  Your dog will see other animals then immediately turn to you anticipating positive reinforcement shall be provided.

Another means is to instill the command “come” when needed.  Make sure your dog masters this command before allowing your dog to go anywhere off leash.  It will keep your dog close, and responsive preventing negative situations from unfolding.

To find out more talk to a Florida dog training coach today.

In our prior post, we discussed two ways to workout out the tension between dogs living under the same roof.  We provided two essential tips in taking control in a positive manner ensuring the dogs start bickering causing stress for the entire household.  In this post, we shall provide you with a few more tips that will help decrease if not stop aggressive behavior between your loving pets.

Stop Toy Hostility

Dogs fight over toys, so you have to take more of an active role in handling this situation.  Do not leave toys lying around the house.  This only encourages negative behavior. Instead, start training the dogs separately.  Focus on the “drop it” command.  Use treats as a reward for dropping the toy.  This will make your dog drop the toy in exchange for a delicious treat.  Then, once the dogs have mastered this scenario solo, bring the two dogs together in the same room.  And practice the same technique with both dogs together.  This teaches the dogs to release a toy when you say, “Drop it,” preventing any aggression over toys from escalating further.

Prevent Fighting Behavior over Food

If you have aggressive dogs, then the toy may not be the only issue your dogs fight over.  Food could be a catalyst for many fights between dogs, and you need to stop this before it gets worse.  One way is to construct the dogs to “sit” before placing food on the ground.  With repetition, the dogs will calmly sit before receiving food.  Eventually, this will become an instant reaction to bringing the food before them.  Just remember in initial training phase, you will have to train the dogs separately.

To find out more about Florida dog training, talk to one of our experts today.  Enroll in a k9 obedience class and learn tips on how to generate positive behavior.  It will eliminate stress and tension felt by the entire household.

When dogs live under the same roof and do not get along, it results in an unbalance of the entire household.  No harmony exists with constant snapping and fighting between dogs.  Everyone stresses from having to be on a continuous lookout of the dogs’ behaviors preventing any dogfights from occurring or escalating.  No one wants to live in such a manner.  Here are some tips in a two part series of how to relieve some stress from the family, dogs and create some peace in the house.

Exercise the Tension

Just like in humans, a great way to release tension between dogs is to take them for walks.  A lengthy daily walk amongst dogs can help take control of the situation, and reestablish who is in charge, you.  You are able to make sure they stay under control on walks and decrease any bickering between the two dogs.  This will translate to when the dogs are off the leash too.  Use the walks to emphasize the behavior training, and review commands.  Then when the dogs are at home if they even start acting up in a negative manner, initiate a command and it will be followed accordingly.

Take Preventive Measures

If the dogs are left home alone, then use a way to keep the two dogs separated until you return.  It is better to monitor them, but it is not realistic for someone to have to do this on a nonstop basis.

To find out more ways on how to get your dogs to get along, talk to a Florida dog training instructor or a k9 obedience teacher today.

Teaching your dog tricks is a fun bonding experience for you and your dog.  It allows your dog to remain engaged, perform tricks, receive rewards and praise, and enjoy each other in a positive manner.  The key to successfully executing this is by using positive reinforcement.  Here is a basic outline of some of the most common tricks to teach your dog.

Shake Your Hand

Teaching your dog how to shake your hand is a simple one to learn.  It starts by having your dog sit.  Next, reach out and take a hold of your dog’s paw into your hand and say, “Paw.”  After practicing this repeatedly, your dog will understand.  Overtime, all you will do to implement this trick is put your hand out, say the command, and your dog will shake your hand with his paw.

Speak

Trying to get your dog to speak is not a difficult trick to teach with the right tools.  The first step is to engage your dog in an exciting activity or game where your dog likes to bark.  Then, when your dog barks say, “Speak.”  Reward your dog with a treat and repeat the activity.  Eventually, your dog will learn to bark on command.

There are numerous tricks to teach your dog.  It is just a matter of using positive reinforcement, staying upbeat, and providing a happy environment.

For more information talk to a Florida dog training or a k9 obedience instructor today.

There are many benefits to adopting an adult dog over a puppy.  Here we take a closer look at the difference.

Basic Lessons

Puppies need constant training.   They have no clue regarding what is desired behavior until training begins.  You must teach a puppy not to chew on furniture, do not jump on guests, and how to ask to go outside.  In addition, your brand new Nike running shoes could be transformed into a chew toy without your approval.  Puppies could leave your furniture ruined and put your clothing in danger during the crucial training stages.  However, if you adopt an adult dog, then many adult dogs are familiar with the “sit,” “stay,” and “leave it” commands.   This may not seem like a big deal initially, but it is!  It preserves your home and clothes from being ruined by your pet.  It also saves you time from having to train a dog from scratch.  It is a massive benefit to adopting an adult dog.

House-Training

Many adult dogs are house trained or are able to adapt to house training quickly.  Their bodies are built to “hold it” allowing the house training methods to work more effectively.  On the other hand, puppies do not have the physical capabilities to “hold it”  forcing you to get up in the middle of the night and to be available every hour, on the hour.  Puppies are like taking care of newborn babies.  They constantly play, sleep and go to the restroom.  But with an adult dog, the house training time is cut down significantly.  It provides further room to breathe and relax without the constant worry over puppy accidents.

If you are looking to rescue a dog, consider an adult dog.  To find out more information about the difference between adopting an adult dog or a puppy, talk to a Florida dog obedience training instructor or a k9 obedience teacher today.