Is My Puppy CRAZY? A Short Guide to Puppy Behavior

Ah, puppies. Everyone loves puppies, right?

But many people are confused by their puppy’s behavior. People often experience a sort of “culture shock” when they introduce a new baby dog to their household. Has your new ball of fluff got you wondering if all her crazy antics are normal? Here’s a quick guide to what’s normal, what’s not, and what may be an indicator of illness. …read more

Dog Crates: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

It is my humble opinion that the dog crate is the most awesome invention to hit the world of Dog Stuff since the tennis ball.
 
They’re a great tool for keeping mischievous canines out of trouble, and for traveling. Crates make the dreaded housetraining process so much faster and easier, since dogs don’t like to soil their sleeping area.

Dogs are den animals, naturally preferring to sleep in enclosed spaces (this isn’t true of all dogs, but generally speaking). If properly introduced to his crate, a dog will come to treat it as his bedroom; a safe retreat from the stress of life with those crazy two legged members of his family. It is not uncommon for dogs to …read more

Housetraining 101: 9 Steps to a Potty-Trained Pup

Note: This post is part two of a housetraining series. Check out part one, Housetraining 101: The Basics

courtesy Flickr.com/amagill

Here it is: your simple, magic-secret-free guide to housetraining your dog. How long this process will take depends on how consistent you are with it and what experiences, or lack thereof, your dog has already had with housetraining. If you’re really good, it can take as little as a week or two. Otherwise, about 1 – 2 months.

You can’t prevent every accident in the house; expect to be cleaning up a few messes. Just keep in mind that every accident your dog has in the house sets you back in your training that much more, because it reinforces that “going” in the house is an option. …read more

Housetraining 101: The Basics

Housetraining is not all that complex. But do a search on Google and you’ll find all kinds of sites proclaiming they have the “secret to housetraining,” or “ten potty training secrets!” All this complicates things way more than they need to be. If there is a secret to housetraining, it’s that there isn’t a secret at all.

Before we get started, there are a couple of things we need to get out of the way first:
One – Yes, you CAN housetrain your dog. It takes some commitment, but so does anything that’s worth doing, right? Take a deep breath. I believe in you.
Two – Accept that there WILL be accidents in the house. It’s not the end of the world, it doesn’t mean that you have a bad dog and it doesn’t mean that you are a bad owner.

Okay, so the anti-secret housetraining formula? …read more

Mischief Managed

When I adopted my dog Merlin, I made a couple of rookie mistakes.
One: he was kind of a spur-of-the-moment decision; my life and home were not prepared to handle a six month old border collie. And two: I let him have free roam of the house and yard way before he was ready- before he understood the rules of the house.

The result?

A bunch of chewed up valuables, torn up couch cushions, dog poop in the garden, and a yard that was beginning to look like the surface of the moon. Not to mention the nasty habit he developed of lunging at visitors.

This is all kind of embarrassing to admit, because as a trainer, I was supposed to know better. Eventually I shaped up and started working with him appropriately, but the damage was done. …read more

2 Shelter Dog Myths That Just Won’t Die

These are a couple of myths about shelter/rescue dogs I hear all the time, and am pretty tired of hearing. Why are these two so prevalent? Maybe it’s because rescuing a dog from a shelter is a cool thing to do right now, and these myths help make it seem even more like an even more exciting and rewarding thing to do. That’s my theory, anyway.
This would all be okay, except that they do more harm than good to the rescued dogs in question. …read more

4 Reasons Not to get a Portuguese Water Dog

Every time something like this happens, a collective groan goes up from responsible breeders and shelter workers everywhere.

It usually happens with movie dogs like Siberian huskies from Snow Dogs, cocker spaniels from Lady and the Tramp and the star breed from 101 Dalmations. Now it looks like it’s going to happen with the Obamas’ dog breed of choice: The portuguese water dog. …read more

I Just Got A New Puppy – What Do I Do With It?

Getting a puppy can be an overwhelming experience. No matter how much or how little planning you did beforehand, when the pup arrives home, it’s common for new owners to freeze up and go, “what do I do now?”
The following is a list of four critical steps. Work on each one, and you’ll lay the foundation for a great life-long relationship with your new friend. (more…)