Some Crate-Training Tips

One thing that's crucial to helping your dog be comfortable in his crate is to pre-condition him to being there. This means getting him to go in a number of times for short periods, then letting him out and rewarding him for being good about it.

Of course, once you manage to get him into the crate, it's essential that you strictly maintain some discipline. Never let him out when he asks, such as whining or barking. It's not easy, but you must ignore those behaviors, or he'll think that's how to get your attention and get his way.

However, if he starts whining after he's been in there a while, it could be a sign that he needs to go outside for a moment to eliminate. This behavior does need to be rewarded, at least by recognizing what it means. Just try to let him out between whining, or he still may associate the whining with getting out.

At night, it may help to cover the crate, as it may help him to feel secure, not to mention, diminishing the light in there, so he can settle down and get to sleep.

Never use the crate as punishment, however. You don't want him to associate it with anything negative, or it will become increasingly difficult to get him to use it. And if you love your pup, you don't want him to be miserable, either.

As long as he feels secure, happy and comfortable in there, his crate will become his refuge and personal hideaway.

What a Winter! Didn't Do Much Dog Training!

This has been a strange winter, and my time was spent making sure all the animals were warm and safe and fed. Not much time for training, I'm afraid. We had lots of snow, ice and cold weather, always with plenty of wind out here on the prairie. We spent more nights huddling together than walking or working on tricks or manners. But signs of spring are around and we hope to get busy with some fun games and more walks.

Being indoors, I worked on the computer a lot more, and I'm finally working on my other websites. Just updated this one, for example:
http://www.hipaws.com

There is still much to do over there, like adding some links and making the sub pages. For now, some of the links don't go anywhere. But you can still get some information and downloads. Take a visit! Thanks!

Did You Get a New Puppy For Christmas?

How fun! A new puppy for the holidays! If you already have other dogs at home, you probably also already know how to raise the new pup.

However, if this is your first puppy, you may want to learn some "tricks of the trade" so you can raise a well-behaved and happy dog. You don't have very long to do this, considering that a puppy becomes an adult dog within a year or two. Mistakes made now will follow you into the dog's adult life and possibly create problems you weren't expecting.

Sadly, that's the stage when many people give up their dogs to shelters, or worse, simply tie them out back and pay very little attention to them anymore.

If you want to avoid that kind of sad outcome, now is the time to get some useful and appropriate information to help you raise the happy companion you are planning on.

You can get my free report, How I Taught An Old Dog New Tricks, by filling out the form on the right. Then, please take a look at the materials being offered by my friend, who is an expert dog trainer with 40 years experience. Don't worry, I've set it up so you can see automatically what she has on her web site. If you do not want it, that's fine. Just take my report and enjoy it.

Good luck with your new puppy! And drop me a line to let me know how it's working out!

The Best Way to Train Your Dog

If you're having problems training your dog, here's a little secret:
Have someone watch you. It could be a friend, family member, or even a professional trainer. If you're in a class, ask the instructor to give you some personal time to see if you are doing things correctly.

What to watch for:

Be consistent. If you say things differently or move your hands or body in different ways, you could be confusing your dog. And these are things you may not notice about yourself. Have your friend watch to see if you are being consistent.

Be positive. If you become angry when you are frustrated, this helps no one, especially the dog. When training commands aren't consistent (see above), the confused dog won't be able to follow them. Don't get mad... get happy. If you can stay positive, this helps your dog stay interested in the activity. He wants to please you, so if you are happy, he will be happy and anxious to please you.

Watch your body language. If you crouch over your dog when giving commands, he might learn that as one of the cues he associates with that command. You may not realize you are doing this, but your observer will tell you.

Give commands only once. If you find yourself repeating something many times, your dog isn't understanding the process. That's your fault... not the dog's. Ask your friend to notice what you are doing that might contribute to this lack of comprehension. Ultimately, most of these things relate right back to consistency.

Bottom line... if you're not enjoying this, neither is your dog, and it will be difficult to reach a level of comfort and good manners.

Dogs and Kids... How Much Are They Alike?

We who love our dogs are often accused of treating them like they were our kids. Well, why not? Is there something wrong with that?

Oh sure, it could be argued that "some people" go overboard about it, giving their little fur-kids too much attention, or attributing too much intelligence to them so as to interpret their behaviors in ways that do not benefit them, or us, or our families.

Personally, I see nothing wrong with "spoiling" our dogs. After all, it's not like they are going to grow up and leave home. They will always depend on us, and it's our responsibility to be always mindful of that.

The kids will, of course, grow up and leave, and we must learn to let go of them in some ways so they can mature and move on in life. So that's a big difference between dogs and kids. But the similarity remains that they will always be our kids (or our fur-kids), and we can, and should, always love them.

Another major difference, though, is that kids have the intelligence to understand why we must discipline them from time to time. They have life lessons to learn. Dogs can learn behaviors and how to please us, but it's questionable whether they have the intelligence to understand the reasoning behind discipline. This is why it's so important for us to be gentle and kind when we must discipline them. It's not useful to punish, as the dog only understands that you are angry, and may not understand why.

For the dog's well being, then, it's essential to be consistent and firm, but not angry or punishing, with set rules for behavior to help guide them. This they understand... not that you know they tracked mud into the house an hour ago and are going to make them sorry they did that... it doesn't work that way.

Dogs that hate cats

Since I run a shelter, sometimes people ask me which dog breeds are the worst to have around a cat. The most "accurate" answer, of course, is that any dog can be dangerous to cats, depending on how the dog was raised and how it's treated now.

However, that said, it appears to be true that certain breeds do have an apparent propensity for what appears to be an inborn dislike for cats and one would therefore, be ill advised to keep one in the same home with a cat.

Those breeds are the pit bull terrier, the Jack Russell Terrier, and the greyhound.

Pit bulls, while gentle, sensitive and loyal to the family, for the most part, cannot be trusted to be alone with a smaller animal, or one that is subordinate. In other words, many "pits" seem drawn to attacking another animal that is lower in status or is much smaller. Possibly an instinct? I don't know.

Jack Russells, or "JRT's," also seem especially drawn to attack cats. That could be genetic as well. It just means that you should never leave your dog and cat alone together without supervision.

(By the way, I just heard that JRT's have been given a new name: Parson Russell Terriers.)

Now, the greyhound is included because, well, let's face it... they're bred specifically to chase a "rabbit" around a race track. How are they supposed to know your cat isn't "one of those?" They are large dogs with big teeth.

Just a note of caution here: Unless you're 100% certain your dog and cat are best friends, it's just not a good idea to leave them unsupervised when they have access to each other. Just use common sense. If you aren't comfortable leaving a dog alone with your infant, don't leave him alone with your cat, either.

Get in on some dog training seminars online

I just have to tell you about this wonderful series of dog training lessons that you can access for free, once a week, for the next several weeks, into August.

Just go here to see what the expert lineup is, and then sign up for it. You will receive some special bonuses, but the biggest bonus is listening to these experts and learning some extremely valuable information about your dogs.

http://www.simpledogtrainingsecrets.com/

Be sure to visit all the links on their page so you don't miss anything that could help you with your own dog training issues.