Living with a Dog: News and Views
Tips and guidance on sharing your home - and your existence - with your best friend.

Archive for: February 2009



February 27, 2009

Your Dog Got Arthritis? Know How To Deal With It And Save Your Dog From Pain

Filed under: News and Views - 27 Feb 2009 from author

 

So, you think that only humans can be inflicted with this dreaded disease called arthritis, right? Wrong. Even your pet mutt can experience from arthritis and it’s a good thing if you know how to help your dog deal with it. But the only problem is, how on earth can you learn more about dog arthritis, the symptoms and of course, the cures for it? Before anything else, you need to remember that there are numerous sites today that offer the best dog arthritis treatment and you don’t even have to go to your vet to take care of your pet dog. All you need to do is take a sit in front of your PC and you can find the best solutions for your furry friend’s predicament.

If you have a large dog, the giant breed kind of dog like the English Mastiff, Doberman Pinscher, the Great Dane or the Border Collie, expect it to be suffering from dog arthritis one of these days. Sad to say, the truth is, you can’t really cure arthritis in dogs but you can help him in other ways. You can learn some pieces of advice on how to make your dog’s life more calm and not difficult once he has arthritis. You can also find some arthritis dog supplement to make it less painful. Medications like these can only help alleviate pain therefore help get rid of the ailment itself.

But the only problem is, where can you find a dog joint supplement? As what is always said, the best thing is to go through the Internet and shop for products like these. Yes, it’s true that the only person to approach in this kind of situation is your local vet. But not all vets are available 24 hours a day. What if your mutt suddenly complains of swollen joints in the middle of the night and you are dead worried how he cries and asks for help because of the excruciating pain. Would you prefer to wait till the morning light or would you rather go online and instantly find the best product for your dog’s predicament? If you care for your pet that much, you should opt for the latter choice and not wait for bad things to happen.


Providing Comfort and Health for Your Pet with Dog Bed Cover

Filed under: News and Views - 27 Feb 2009 from author

The interest of responsible ownership and pet welfare are widely realized by the general public wherein they strive to provide significant innovations and development for the interest of the domestic animal population and aid the concern of pet owners of providing sustainable and healthy living conditions. The area of concern for the welfare of dogs has created many advances in improving their living conditions.

Dog Training

In particular to the interest of the ideal living condition for pet dogs, significant issues and means have now been produced in the interest of achieving a healthy living condition for this domesticated animal kind. Part of this is the presence of dog bed cover which is directed towards providing sleep comfort for your animals. The comfort and health of your dog are the main purpose.

Why Dog Bed Covers are Important

Why you should consider purchasing a dog bed cover? Dog bed covers are important for providing the most beneficial living condition for your dog. Generally, the traditional approach of just letting your pet dog sleep in boxes, rags, or even anywhere is not sufficient anymore. Pet owner must take the responsibility of providing their pet what they actually need for a health living condition. Dog bed covers not only provide cushioning for your dog, but it controls the temperature over the contact area providing a soothing, relaxing sleep.

The dog bed cover is not only intended for sleeping comfort wherein it also provide health relevance for your pet dog. Animals that are able to rest comfortably are able to restore their health easier; dog bed covers help to provide the comfortable experience for restful sleep.

Further, most dog bed cover in market today also have antibacterial and anti-infestation properties wherein as your pet dog lay on top of it in sleep, the dog bed cover properties cleanse the animal’s fur and eliminate  present pests such as ticks and bugs. The health of your dog is further enhanced by this dog bed cover.
Dog bed covers are not necessarily expensive. Many manufacturers of dog bed covers produce products with strength and durability in mind which provide great value for pet owners. Further, many dog bed replacement cover are also widely available in the present which the pet owner population can avail of for their respective interest.

Providing a comfortable and relaxing sleep for your pet is easy with the use of dog bed covers, and thus it improves their overall welfare.

Obedience Training


February 25, 2009

Puppy Obedience Training: Scolding Never Achieves Much

Filed under: News and Views - 25 Feb 2009 from author

A new puppy is going to be your constant companion for a good many years and to ensure that the time that you share with him will be filled with joy you will first of all need to look at different kinds of puppy obedience training methods. Once you find a few options it is then up to you to decide which of them is most suited for your puppy. That you should begin training your puppy when he is still quite young is a given. What’s more, you can also choose between doing the puppy obedience training on your own or you can seek out a professional to do the training for you.

Fond Memories

Though there are many advantages to getting a professional to do the puppy obedience training for you, it will however still mean that you won’t have too many fond memories to enjoy later on. It is therefore a good idea to think about imparting puppy obedience training on your own. Obviously, there are right ways as well as wrong ways of going about puppy obedience training. The proper way means that you should approach the task with a positive bent of mind and also have the right attitude before even setting out to train your puppy.

The wrong way means approaching the puppy obedience training with a negative bent of mind and also being in a foul mood because of the difficulties that will be encountered along the way. However, you should not make common mistakes and instead must do things the proper way by for example choosing an appropriate place where you can begin the puppy obedience training. A backyard is as good a starting off place as any other place and so too is a living room.

Some of the simpler commands that must be taught to the puppy are “Sit” and “Stay”. Every time your puppy follows his puppy obedience training command you must then give him a treat and also praise him so that he understands that he is doing something right. However, at the same time there is not much that can be accomplished by scolding your puppy whenever he fail to obey the commands given by you.

Repetition is the key to succeeding with puppy obedience training and so you will need to be patient and consistent so that you give your puppy clear and unambiguous commands which must be obeyed at all times.

Puppy training pads are often used by pet owners to teach a puppy where he should do his poop. The best way to ensure that your puppy obedience training efforts pay off is to first call out your puppy’s name and follows that with the command you wish him to obey. Calling his name ensures that your puppy understands that he is being spoken to and this will ensure that he will respond to the command that follows his name.


February 24, 2009

Avoid These Five Mistakes When Training Your Puppy

Filed under: News and Views - 24 Feb 2009 from author

Every competent puppy or dog trainer follows certain principles to make their training effective. However, a number of people do not succeed in training their puppy. I will now discuss the most common mistakes people make when training their puppy.

1. They don’t set themselves up as the alpha dog.

One successful approach to dog training is based on knowing the instinctual way dogs behave within a pack. A rule the dog pack adheres to is dominance. There is a heirachy within the pack. At the head of this are the pack leaders, a male and a female.

They are the first to eat, they lead the hunt and when they sleep, they take the higher ground.

To be successful in dog training, we need to position ourselves as the leader of the dog pack. We can do this by not allowing our puppy onto higher ground such as sofas and beds, making sure we eat a little token food before we give our puppy its own food: so that he sees us eat first clearly.

A calm and assertive manner is important for successful training. It is important not to be nervous or indecisive.

2. They don’t employ consistently the concept of positive reinforcement.

We must clearly comprehend that we must reward wanted behaviors in our dog by giving treats or attention the instant our dog does the behavior. We can associate a verbal command with the behavior as it occurs and give a treat immediately after it.

Negative reinforcement such as shouting at a dog or punishing him in some way is nevertheless giving the dog attention and since he wants attention, the attention can act as a positive reinforcement rather than a negative one. It has been found to be ineffective. What is effective is to give no attention at all to the dog when it engages in an unwanted behavior. We may need to physically intervene if we need to stop some destruction going on, but we should keep the same calm manner and not interact any more than we have to.

3. They make dog obedience training sessions too long.

Sessions are best kept short so that your puppy’s energy and attention are good. It is best for puppy to learn in short bouts. We should make the sessions only ten minutes for young puppies and up to twenty minutes for older ones.

4. They underestimate the amount of time and energy required to train a puppy.

Puppy training requires a commitment of time and energy in order to be successful. The owner will need to have great patience and to be persistent. He will also need to be very consistent.

5. They think that training only occurs during an organized training session.

Puppy training is happening all the time, not just in training sessions but whenever he is with you or anyone else. The owner needs to ensure that everyone who comes into contact with the puppy always behave in a consistent manner i.e. to reinforce positive behaviors and to ignore undesired behaviors.

Try to keep your puppy training sessions fun and enjoyable. They should never become a chore.

For more complete information about puppy and dog training, see my reviews of the best dog training guides.


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