Category: Dog Care Tips

Adding a new puppy to the home is an exciting time for the entire family.  You have the puppy crate ready, the puppy bed, puppy food, leash, toys, but are you ready to teach your puppy the essentials to healthy living through necessary commands?  It can be a bit tricky if you are a first time dog owner.  But it is not difficult.  All you need is love, positive reinforcement, and guidance from a professional.

To get you started in the right direction, here are a few standard lessons that will enhance your puppy’s development into a healthy dog, and improve the bond shared between the two of you.  There are more lessons then what is covered, but at the least, this will give you a starting checkpoint.  To find out specifics, talk to a Florida puppy training instructor or a puppy kindergarten instructor today.

Teach Your Puppy Basic Training

Every puppy should learn to sit, down, stay and wait.  It will keep your puppy healthy and away from danger when need-be.  For instance, if you and your puppy are on a walk and traffic crosses your paths without warning, then tell your pup to stay via the stay command.  It will keep your pup from running out into the traffic causing fatal injuries.  It keeps your pup out of harm’s way.

Teach Your Pup Not to Nip or Mouth

Puppies tend to nip and mouth when starting.  You need to teach your puppy that it is not desirable behavior through applying positive reinforcement.  You do not want your puppy to grow into a dog that bites even during playtime, and that is occurs without this lesson taught from the beginning.

These are only two basics of puppy training.  There is much more to learn.  Talk to a Florida dog obedience instructor today.

How to Find the Right Dog Breeder

When trying to find a dog to add to your loving home, the best option is to try rescue and animals shelters first.  But if you are set on finding a specific type of puppy, then a breeder is the way to go.  However, you need to be careful.  You need to find a loving, experienced and reputable breeder.  A Florida dog obedience instructor could probably help you.  In the meantime, check out these tips on how to find an honest, caring breeder.

Good Breeders Do Not Encourage Holiday Sales

It is commonsense to understand that puppies are in high demand during Christmas, but you need to be leery of breeders that sell during the high season.  For an understanding breeder comprehends the holidays are not the best time for a dog owner and the puppy to bond.  There is much chaos going on with decorations, family, houseguests, holiday desserts left out and more.  A puppy should be brought home to a calmer environment.  It helps the puppy make the transition of being away from the litter and allows you to pay attention to your puppy properly.

Loving Breeders Communicate

Watch out for breeders that sell a puppy after one exchange of communication.  Credible breeders wish to ensure the puppy is suitable for your home and lifestyle and will ask lots of questions.  In addition, the breeder will be happy to answer lots of questions too.  Find a breeder equipped with an abundance of information and advice making the transition a smooth one for you and the puppy.

To find out more about choosing the right breeder, talk to a Florida puppy training expert today.

Breaking Dog Training Myths

When searching for dog training advice, there is ample information found on the web and communicated between dog owners.  But sometimes it can be tricky to decipher which dog training advice is true, and which are not.  One of the best ways to be certain is to ask a Florida dog obedience training instructor.  He/she will guide you through the most effective dog training advice.  In the meantime, we put together some of the most common dog training myths that are repeatedly told which need to be debunked.

If It Works for My Dog, then it must Work for Yours

This is not always true.  Each dog has different personalities, and characteristics.  Sometimes the breed provides specific traits.  So take the training methods on a case-by-case basis.  You cannot believe what works with one, works for all.   There are some basic commands taught similar across the board, but there are other times where the exact training utilized for one dog will not work for others.

You Cannot Teach an Old Dog New Tricks

This is false.  You can teach an old dog or a young puppy dog training techniques.  It just takes further patience to ensure the training sticks.  And do not blow off undesired behavior and dismiss it to age.  If you implement positive reinforcement, then any dog is teachable.

To find out more about proper dog training, talk to one of our k9 obedience instructors today!

It is important to maintain a well-balanced household, which includes having your kids interact with the dog in the house.  There are games that are safe, develop socialization skills, and desirable behavior in your pet.  Your kid will be provided with the knowledge to initiate the play.  Here are the best and worst games for the child and pet to engage in together.

Avoid Aggressive Games

Any game that embarks in aggressive behavior, avoid.  This includes tug-of-war, chasing, wrestling and other rough-housing games.  These games could cause something negative to unfold that a child may not know how to handle.  Thus, avoid these types of play between a child and dog.

Encourage Thinking Games

Playing “fetch” is a thinking and physical game.  It allows your dog to expend energy, think, and focus.  This is a great game for a child and dog to play.  First, teach a child how to play.  Hand the child a dog toy.  Tell the child to toss the toy and say, “Fetch!”  This keys the dog in to understanding that the word is associated with the movement.  Then, have the child kneel down, and when the dog returns, have the child state, “Drop it!”  Once the dog does so, the child rewards with plenty of praise and pet treats.  Have the child repeat.  It is a fun game for both to interact and safely bond over.

To find out more about what games are safe for a child and dog to do together, talk to a Florida dog obedience trainer or a k9 obedience instructor today.

When you are a responsible dog owner, you ensure your dog receives proper exercise, nutritious food, regular grooming, and exceptional medical care.  But finding an experienced, knowledgeable, and successful veterinarian in your area can be challenging.  Here are help you find the right veterinarian meeting your dog’s needs.

Initial Meeting with the Selected Vet

The first thing you may want to do when narrowing down your veterinarian selection is make an appointment.  This way you can review the facilities, staff, and make sure the space is clean, modern, and well-organized.  Find out how many veterinarians are on staff.  Find out about how many patients currently go this location, and what is the proper chain of command if the main vet is on vacation.  Also, find a veterinarian that you has excellent communication skills.  For when you bring your pet in, it may be under higth stress circumstances.  Therefore, you need to find a vet that is able to defuse the situation, listen to your dilemma, and fix the problem.  If a vet is lacking in the communications department, then the vet will not be able to execute these tasks successfully.

What to Ask the Veterinarian

Once you have narrowed down your veterinarian choices, there are a few questions you need to ask ensuring you found the right veterinarian for your loving dog.  The first is find out what type of accreditation does the practice possess?  Furthermore, what is the standard practice for pain management?  Some veterinarians believe in giving pain medications, while others give up on the dog too easily.  Furthermore, what type of training, education, and licensing does the technician and staff have?  These are all important questions to ask the veterinarian.
When looking for the best veterinarian in your area, talk to a Florida dog obedience trainer or a k9 obedience instructor to find out who he/she recommends ensuring you locate the best trainer possible.

There are many advantages to owning a pet, including living a fulfilled life.  You receive unconditional love from this affectionate, loyal and committed canine.  You learn to respect other living animals solely from taking care of your own.  And your pet is there to get you out of bed, go for walks, play and socialize.  But you need to make sure you are doing the same for your pet.  Your dog deserves it!  The best thing you can do for your dog is to follow these dog care tips to ensure you providing your dog with the most loving environment.

First thing is make sure you have proper identification on your dog’s tags.  You need to have relevant contact information to ensure if something happens, your dog can be returned.

The other aspect of this is you need to follow local laws for keeping your dog on a leash.  This will keep your dog safe from other animals, wildlife, and moving vehicles.  Do not take this lightly.  You want to keep your dog from being harmed, and this is the best way.

Do your part and cut down on medical issues by having your dog spayed or neutered.  You will be helping the overpopulated dog population by preventing other dogs from being left abandon in the area.  Many local clinics offer this service for free or at a very low cost.  Just ask around and you shall find one in your area.

There are many other aspects to building a strong, loving, healthy dog.  To find out, more talk to a Florida dog training or a k9 obedience instructor today.

Howling is a communication tool used by some dogs.  It is sometimes used as a warning sign to alert others about a dangerous presence in the area.  But there are other dogs that use howling as a means of desperation.  It can be a sign of separation anxiety or a means to inform of pain from an injury.  But what do you do with a dog that howls too much?  How do you get your dog to stop?  A Florida dog obedience instructor would be able to guide you through on the positive reinforcement techniques discussed in today’s blog.  In the meantime, use this as a guide to get you started in the right direction.

Stop Howling with Positive Reinforcement

If your dog howls as a means to seek attention, then use positive reinforcement to reward desired behavior and ignore the negative.  For instance, whenever your dog howls, ignore your pet.  This is tough for your dog could continue to howl.  However, as soon as your dog stops howling and is silent, reward your dog with pet treats and praise.  Keep repeating this technique until your dog starts to remain silent.  Your dog will catch on that remaining silent equals positive rewards.  It won’t take long for your dog to figure this out.

The key in stopping howling is to remain consistent in implementing positive reinforcement.  To find out more about how to stop your dog from howling, enroll in a k9 obedience class today.

In yesterday’s blog, we talked about the dos and don’ts of how to feed a puppy.  Today we shall continue that discussion and give you further tips to provide your puppy with a strong foundation to grow up and be a healthy adult dog.

When puppies reach three or four weeks old, they start to eat puppy food.  And the first time they see it, do not be surprised if they solely play around with it.  Puppies are not used to getting their food in such a manner.  Do not fret.  It does not take long for a puppy to understand the food is there to eat not to play around with.  Just allow your puppy time to figure it out.  Keep in mind, by the time a puppy reaches around eight weeks old, then dry puppy food should be eaten on a regular basis.

For medium, large and giant breed puppies, the food should be administered in a portion control technique.  It helps keep a puppy’s weight at a healthy number.  For if puppies develop too quickly then there are issues with growth spurts.  Too many calories taken cause a puppy to grow too quickly and develop bone growth issues.  However, if you notice any issues with your puppy be sure to consult with a veterinarian.

To find out more about how, when and what to feed your puppy and other puppy care tips, enroll in a puppy kindergarten or puppy preschool class today.  Florida dog training experts are here to help.