Puppy Training - Your Housetraining Shopping List For Beginners

Puppy Training - Your Housetraining Shopping List For Beginners" is an essential guide for new pet owners embarking on the journey of housetraining their furry companions. This concise yet comprehensive resource serves as a beacon, offering a curated list of must-have items tailored to simplify the process of training a puppy to adapt to a home environment. With clear and practical suggestions, it empowers beginners to navigate the array of products available, ensuring they are equipped with the right tools and supplies to foster effective housetraining. This guide is a valuable asset, providing a solid foundation for a successful and harmonious relationship between puppies and their owners.Before bringing your puppy home, you’ll need to do some shopping. If you have all the essentials in place before your dog arrives, it will be easier to help her learn the rules from day one.

Exercise Pen: Portable exercise pens are great when you have a young pup or a small dog. These metal or plastic pens are made of rectangular panels that are hinged together. The pens are freestanding, sturdy, foldable, and can be carried like a suitcase. You could set one up in your kitchen as the pup’s daytime corral, and then take it outdoors to contain your pup while you garden or just sit and enjoy the day.

Puddle Pads: If you prefer not to stockpile newspaper, a commercial alternative is puddle pads. These thick paper pads can be purchased under several trade names at pet supply stores. The pads have waterproof backing, so puppy urine doesn’t seep through onto the floor. Their disadvantages are that they will cost you more than newspapers and that they contain plastics that are not biodegradable.

Poop Removal Tool: There are several types of poop removal tools available. Some are designed with a separate pan and rake, and others have the handles hinged like scissors. Some scoops need two hands for operation, while others are designed for one-handed use. Try out the different brands at your pet supply store. Put a handful of pebbles or dog kibble on the floor and then pick them up with each type of scoop to determine which works best for you.

Plastic Bags: When you take your dog outside your yard, you must pick up after her. Dog waste is unsightly, smelly, and can harbor disease. In many cities and towns, the law mandates dog owners clean up pet waste deposited on public ground. Picking up after your dog using a plastic bag scoop is simple. Just put your hand inside the bag, like a mitten, and then grab the droppings. Turn the bag inside out, tie the top, and that’s that.

Newspaper: The younger your puppy and larger her breed, the more newspapers you’ll need. Newspaper is absorbent, abundant, cheap, and convenient.

Crate: To housetrain a puppy, you will need some way to confine her when you’re unable to supervise. A dog crate is a secure way to confine your dog for short periods during the day and to use as a comfortable bed at night. Crates come in wire mesh and in plastic. The wire ones are foldable to store flat in a smaller space. The plastic ones are more cozy, draft-free, and quiet, and are approved for airline travel.

Enzymatic Cleaner: All dogs make housetraining mistakes. Accept this and be ready for it by buying an enzymatic cleaner made especially for pet accidents. Dogs like to eliminate where they have done it before, and lingering smells lead them to those spots. Ordinary household cleaners may remove all the odors you can smell, but only an enzymatic cleaner will remove everything your dog can smell.

Baby Gates: Since you shouldn’t crate a dog for more than an hour or two at a time during the day, baby gates are a good way to limit your dog’s freedom in the house. Be sure the baby gates you use are safe. The oldfashioned wooden, expanding lattice type has seriously injured a number of children by collapsing and trapping a leg, arm, or neck. That type of gate can hurt a puppy, too, so use the modern grid type gates instead. You’ll need more than one baby gate if you have several doorways to close off.

For puppy training, preparation is key. Get yourself properly armed with the right set of tools, patience, and a lot of love... you're set to embark on a rewarding journey with your new furry friend. Enjoy every step of this incredible adventure!

Read more...

Puppy Caring and Raising Tips For You

Frank Howard Clark, the famous screenwriter said it perfect... "A habit is something you can do without thinking - which is why most of us have so many of them." Dogs - irrespective of breed, type and size, are of no exception. Rather, they can exhibit more disciplined life by being in a set of particular habit and routine, provided the habits are not bad. Developing a habit falls much under the training activities, and the best way to start developing desirable habits is initiating a regular grooming session when he is just a few weeks old. If you are considering bringing home a puppy, CONGRATULATIONS!! With just a little planning bringing home your little fur-ball will open the door to years of love, fun and happiness.

After, bringing home your puppy, taking care of it becomes a full-time responsibility. So, you need to take care of it from the first day. Here are some very important puppy care tips you should consider. These puppy care tips for feeding, medication, vaccinations, socialization and building up good habits, are almost all the same for all pups - irrespective of breed, group and size.

Caring and raising a German Shepherd puppy are not something that demand a very different approach. Like any other breeds, GSD puppies should be fed well. Improper feeding may bring immense problem in German Shepherd puppies. Prior to weaning your German shepherd puppy, make sure he has obtain the utmost nutritional needs from his mother's milk. By the time you are picking the puppy make sure he has been totally weaned to solid foods, and that too of good quality.

Provide your GSD puppy a perfectly suitable environment is of utmost importance. The essential components that can make effective raising includes comfort, safety and amusement. Your puppy needs a comfortable bed to sleep, but more than that he should be provided with a space which he can consider his own. Keep him in a room with rough surface floor. Rough flooring is essential for your German Shepherd puppy. If you have slippery floor, make out a solution immediately before his legs or paws get deformed. Many GSD puppies are big time stone eater. They even consume mud and trash if they get a chance. Continuous perseverance and supervision may be a solution.

By nature they are very inquisitive and may get into things that are lying around him. This is quite common for puppies of all breed. Keeping harmful object out of his reach is important. Consider including lots of safe toys & things that can amused your puppy as they need attention.

Food plays the most important role during the first few months, because it is the time for the development of bones and muscles. Quality is preferred over quantity. Overfeeding can lead to anatomic problems like deformed pastern, and may even lead to serious issues related to hips and elbow. The best advice is to provide several feeds in small quantity, instead of two or three feeds in large amount.

If you experience loose or semi-muddy stools, poor coat quality, skin rashes, inadequate growth of bones and muscles, etc., with your puppy or if you have noticed other problem related to growth then chances are high that he is not getting the right kind and proportion of nutrients that he requires from it's current food or feeding style. Taking care of your puppy's health today is like a health insurance for him for tomorrow.

His first vaccination, first stepping outside, first visit to the park, first meeting with the other animals, first interaction with your friends, first experience of the thunder claps and so on are all very important part of puppy care and socialization. Socializing your pup is as important as quality food. Socializing your pup to different situations, sounds, strangers and other animals is the most important part of raising your pup. A reasonable amount of socializing will give your pup a healthy and stress-free life. Socialization should be aimed at helping your pup to understand new and varied situations, places and people, and help your pup to have a very favourable experiences with such things. Proper and strategic socialization will help your pup grow with confidence.

Related Read: Puppy Socialization Checklist

Maintaining hygiene is your responsibility. Always check his eyes, ears, feet and in between toes regularly is as important as providing him with best quality food, fresh water and pure love.

Often times I receive emails from my friends and readers that are related to giving their pups additional nutritional supplements. The last Sunday I got a call from one of my old buddy, who has adopted a GSD pup recently. He was wondering if he should give his pup any additional dose of minerals or vitamin supplements. If the pups is getting adequate amount of high quality diet there should not be any need for additional health supplement or vitamins. Growth should be fine if the pup is getting balanced diet.

Related Read: Dog your dog needs vitamins?

Additional doses of minerals, vitamins and protein can have adverse impact on your pup's health. Excess amount of calcium and phosphate can do more harm than good... they can expose the pup to the risk of developmental bone diseases.

Excess of protein, vitamins and minerals hardly have any impact on the final adult size. The adult size is only dependant on the genes your pup is carrying.

Related Read: How to intensify bond between yourself and your pup

Read more...

Potential Problem With Crating a Puppy

Crate training is important – doubtlessly. However there are a series of problems associated with crating a dog and the most potential of them are whining – an undesirable behavior triggered by frustration and separation anxiety. Crate training is quite difficult process as it may breed behavior problems if correctly introduced and the training process properly employed.

Canines root from wolves who were den dwellers. By instinct, dogs would like a crate as long as he doesn’t consider it as a tool for punishment.

What Makes a Crate Aversive to a Puppy?

1. Forcibly crating a puppy when he/she is not liking it makes the crate repulsive for the pup


2. Too small crate make a dog/ puppy feel in captivity. Such unhealthy crates pose health risk due to lack of proper ventilation.


3. Your dog will considered his crate as dreary and gloomy if it’s lack in comfort factors. Stuff like toys, blankets etc. are important in s crate. Remember it is his private resting place, where he needs comfort and peace of mind. Crate should not be frustrating for him.


4. Crating a pup for too long span of time is punishment. Remember pups can control their bladder but they don’t know that they are suppose to do it. Occasional release is essential and part of the crate training process.

However, whining is quite normal in the beginning, and it should be ignored for several minutes. Yelling at him will only make things difficult. If whining persists even after several minutes being ignored, you should release him but the act of release MUST be supported with a purpose – for instance, he should be released to eliminate. Prior to releasing him and on releasing him give the command that your dog is associated with going out to eliminate. Make sure that release from the crate should NOT be associated with fun time or play. Repeat the cycle again after a few moment.

Separation anxiety may worsen up if you attempt to use the crate as a solution of the problem. It is quite natural that a puppy that us not already crate trained will resist the crate in the beginning. It is important to slowly introduce the crate to your pup and make him/ her feel that a crate is not a tool that separates him from his/ her pack (you and your family). This is a time consuming process.

Aurhor: William James, representing WoodDogCrate[dot]com

Read more...

Top 10 Dog Myths You Must Read

This post talks about the commonest dog myths that people around us believe in. The deadliest myth is dogs are born biters. Don't believe in such cynophobic and baseless ideas. Apart from this there are other dog myths that most dog owners believe in. Here are the top 10 dog facts that are just myth. Believing these myth may put your dogs to problems.

Suggestion: Understand and Implement.

1. Garlic is good as flea prevention : This is the biggest myth I have ever come across! Researchers have proved that too much of Garlic in your dog food may be dangerous for your dog. Garlic contains natural chemical that affect the Red blood cells that can get ruptured and become incapable of carrying oxygen effectively. However, some dog owners have been giving garlic to their dogs without no issues, but some dogs are more sensitive to garlic toxicity than others. How much is too much for dog is not known yet. Toxicity level varies from dogs to dogs.Garlic has immense benefit to us humans, but is a NO for dogs.
Both garlic and onions contain natural Thiosulfate, which is toxic to canines.

2. Dogs that wag tails are considered happy : This is true, but not always. Even non-friendly dogs wag their tail too. It is important to study other body languages and facial expressions that are cumulatively considered as the indication of a dogs state of mind.

3. Mixed breeds are always sturdy than pure breeds : Not necessarily true.Both pure and mixed breeds can be equally healthy and unhealthy depending on breeding strategies, care and nutrition. Mutts are usually not prone to specific disorders that are typical to certain pure breeds. However, conditions like bloat, dermal problems, heart problems etc. can be seen in both mutts and pure breed dogs.

4. Dogs with warm nose are ill : This is an old school of thought that dogs with warm nose have health issues like fever. This is a myth. The only best way to know if your dog has fever is to check it by thermometer. Normally a healthy dog should have a body temperature of around 102.5 degrees F.

5. Eating grass is an indication of sickness : This is not true. Dogs have descended from the wolves that used to eat all parts of their prey. They also ate the stomach and its content which included grass that the animals ate. This ways grass was the part of the diets of any animals of canidae family. Dogs eating grass is quite normal, if they do not eat it in big volume.

6. Household pet dogs do not require to be vaccinated against rabies : Myth it is always important to vaccinate your dog. This is an indication of responsible ownership. Vaccinating your pet dog against rabies is a precautionary measure for both you and your pet.

7. Female dogs do not cock their legs while urinating : Not always true! Females can lift their legs while urinating and in certain cases they can even exhibit the half sitting-half cocking position while urinating. Check out why do female dogs cock their leg.

8. Dogs are carnivorous animals and should always be kept only on meat : Myth Dogs are actually omnivorous animals like us humans.They need veggies too. Fruits, vegetables, eggs, meat are some of the important ingredients of a perfect holistic dog food. Related Read (though not related to food): Does your dog need vitamins?


9. Dogs love tasty food : Not true. Remember your dogs taste buds are not as strong as yours. Dogs primarily loves food based on smell.

10. Dogs always need high protein diet : Big No! Your dogs diet management should be made on the basis of the amount of calorie it is exhausting each day. Obviously a working dog should be kept on higher protein and carbohydrate as compared to a domestic dog. However, low protein diet also makes low quality food. Right kind of ingredients is essential.

11. Dog understand human language : Not true. You say sit and Rex will sit. This doesn't mean your Rex understands the mean of the word in English. He only knows what to do he hears the particular sound. He acts on the sound.

Here are just a few of thousands of doggy myths. Responsible ownership also demands that you know the correct things related to dogs and not believing the hypes. Stay tuned Up next more talks about dogs.

Read more...

Caring for an Urban Canine

Cities are full of dogs, most of which are well cared for by loving owners, but city life is a far cry from the wild existence of our dogs’ ancestors. Limited space in urban areas means that Fido has little chance to run free; even small backyards are hard to come by. Noise is a constant factor in most bustling cities. Smells are pungent and highly concentrated, and are particularly intriguing for a sensitive canine nose. A dense urban population makes close encounters with people and all sorts of other animals inevitable. Dog owners can certainly overcome these urban challenges, but it takes dedication and consistent training to keep a city dog happy and healthy.

Without plenty of exercise and socialization many city dogs turn into urban terrors. One of the biggest problem behaviors of city dogs is excessive barking. The boredom of spending long days alone, combined with a high level of ambient noise, anxiety brought on by urban stimuli, and the frustration of pent up energy, will often cause a dog to bark incessantly for hours on end. This is no way for your dog to live, and in close city quarters it can also make you very unpopular with your neighbors. There are bark collars and other devices that you can use to deter your dog from barking. However, while these devices do have their place in training a dog not to bark incessantly, very often they treat the symptoms rather than the cause. In fact, you can even have your dog surgically debarked – this may satisfy your neighbors’ need for peace, but your dog will continue to suffer, albeit more quietly. Debarking surgery is a kind of animal abuse and is considered as an inhuman act. The best way to stop barking dogs is to address the root of the problem – boredom, stress, and frustration. The rigors of city life can become overwhelming, but you must remember that your dog needs your care, time, and attention. Dog owners in urban areas have an extra responsibility to provide for their pets’ basic needs. Develop a routine for exercising and socializing your city dog; you might be surprised by how much happier you both will feel.

The first step in caring for a dog in the city is exercise. Dogs were meant to spend each day roaming their territory in search of food and water, exploring scents, and socializing with their pack. Confining these animals to a city apartment for many solitary hours each day is going to have repercussions as energy builds up with no means of release. Walk your dog – walk him often, and walk him for long periods at a time. Keep a quick pace; this is exercise, not a Sunday stroll. Walking your dog for at least an hour each day will burn off excess energy and make a noticeable difference in behavior. You can also look for dog parks to allow your dog freedom to run and socialize, but your dog must play well with others and you must pay full attention. Dog parks are not an opportunity for owners to sit back and relax. If your dog has difficulty with other dogs, look for dog runs in your area. These are smaller enclosures meant for just a couple of dogs; in most cases other owners will ask if it is okay to bring their dog in with yours.

Draining excess energy daily will go a long way to stop barking dogs, but you can further improve behavior with regular socialization. The onslaught of stimulation a dog experiences in the city can cause a great deal of stress and anxiety. You need to spend time daily exposing your dog to a variety of potentially stressful or frightening situations, ensuring that your dog has positive experiences when exposed to these situations, and reward him for behaving correctly and for relaxing. Socialization never ends; it is an ongoing process throughout the life of your dog. If you commit to providing your dog with the exercise, socialization, and training he needs, you will enjoy a remarkable improvement in his behavior, while greatly improving his quality of life – the quality of your life, and that of your neighbors, will undoubtedly improve as well.

Author:  This information was contributed by Havahart Wireless - the registered trade mark of Woodstream Corp. Havahart Wireless have worked relentlessly with technologies that can offer animals and their owners better life. Check out this device used to stop barking dogs.

Read more...

Developmental Growth Disorders in Puppies

It is more than important that you should kick start your dog's life with good nutrition, proper exercise and pure love. With these being introduced your dog's life during the early stage when he is a puppy you can rest assured that your puppy will grow up with minimum health issues - especially growth disorders. Growth disorders is not just a single diseases, but is referred to any kind of health problem that your puppy tend to show as he or she grows. Growth disorders in puppies commonly includes problems like bowed legs, obesity, joint pain, abnormal posture, muscle disorders, digestive ailments etc. Puppies (especially of large and giant breeds) with tendencies to grow faster may show some of the growth disorders like bowed legs, joint pain and abnormal posture and the condition may worsen if proper care is not administered at the right time.     

The best way to treat growth disorders in puppies is to prevent it at the first place! Make a routine for feeding. Food should be given at fixed interval. For a growing puppy it is suggested to feed him or her at a regular interval of 4 to 5 hours. A controlled and scientific intake of a properly balanced diet with required protein, vitamins and minerals is the key to the success story. Play time is essential for good digestive system. undisturbed sleep is again another most important nutrition for a growing puppy.

Puppies should be kept on a scientific growth formula. A growing puppy should not be fed to grow at an above-average rate. Heavy feeding and administering excess minerals may expose your puppy to the risk of developing anatomical deformities. Proteins, doubtlessly, are the “building blocks” of tissues, and hence it is of utmost importance, but over feeding of high protein diet can jeopardize your puppy's life. Meat has higher biological value than vegies. Meat is hence important, but vegetables are also important instead of over feeding of meat. calcium and phosphorus are both highly important for healthy growth and bone development. But over supplementation can cause irreparable damages.

Last but not the least, water has immense significance in preventing most of the growth disorders in puppies.

Read more...

How to Photograph a Puppy

Taking a good photograph of your puppy is not so easy and make a gallery of photos of your puppies is also more challenging. Since the earlier age puppies are adorable and a good subject of photography also and today the popularity of dog around the world indicates that our canine pals are also worthy of our best photographic efforts in it’s various moods either sleeping, racing in the lawn, guarding our homes, waiting by the door until we reach homes are simply challenging to capture their playful character in frames.


There are few people who don’t love an adorable photograph of puppy

Weather, your puppy is trained or not if you want to capture its activities in the lens, and that's not quite easy - especially if he is too young to be trained. You have to do it quite naturally so that you can set up the frame in the right place and right time with the planning. Here are some tips to get great shots of your puppy.

THE ART OF SHOT

1. Take him in a comfortable way so that your puppy can be framed in a natural way. Giving him or her level of comfort just because of allowing you to take a photograph of him or her.

2. Provide him with his best toys to make him feel at ease, in order to get a good shot over it toys will distract puppy to come and play with you and by doing this things you can capture its activities in frames.

3. By composing your shot with the help of toy you get the opportunity to compose your shot more effectively with a naturalistic way with all its beauty. You can set a background where with the toy and adjusting your camera focus and shutter speed you take a good volume of effective photographs of your sweet puppy.

4. If you want to take your puppy’s casual and naturalistic photograph it is good to take the photographs in the natural light, avoiding flash light. The sudden bright light will frighten your puppy and your resulting photographs could be a mess and you also make the terror in your puppy in facing the camera in future. It is preferable to take the photographs in the early morning or in the late afternoon. For photography late afternoon is more favorable just because they have slept most of the day and in the afternoon their only motto is to play.

5. Time of the day when you want to take the photograph is important because it captures different nature in different time may be sleeping mood or joyful happiness of playing.

6. When you take the shot of your puppy you should focus on its eyes for that cute expression of your puppy which lies on its expressive eyes. Focusing on the eyes will give you the adorable and sweet cute look of the puppy.

7. By tricks getting their attention make your shots and frames more attractive. The tricks may be helpful to you and you also take your attention in the things like, angle of shot, fill the frame and fix your mistakes.

So, by this few tips you can get great shots of your puppy hope these tips are useful for you to embark in taking great photographs of your puppy as it grows up as a part of your life.

Read more...

Puppy Care Tips for Dog lovers

Looking for puppy care tips? Raising a puppy is an art. Strengthening your bondage with your puppy can be a solution to most wrinkled situations.Loving him, keeping him abreast and making him feel familiar & cozy is the starting point!

First off, congratulations for the new addition to your family. Doesn't really matter what your breed is. Whether Mixed Breed Dogs or a pure breed, there are just a few rules of thumb for puppy care. Responsibility towards a puppy is immense and that starts from prior to bringing in the puppy. If you have not yet brought your dream pup, and if you are on the planning phase, make sure that you make all the arrangements to keep your puppy healthy. Treating his room to make it germ-free is a must. Make sure you wash the his room a few time with disinfectant solutions before bringing him is of utmost importance. Keeping yourself well equipped with adequate information on puppy care is another very important thing. Puppy care is a huge episode that includes everything - starting from bringing him home safely to helping me know you and your place, training him, feeding him good and a lot more! This post is targeted to provide with essential puppy care tips that goes here...

First puppy care tips after bringing him home, is to make sure that your training process should start from day #1. Yes, helping him know his potty place, helping him know his feeding time, and helping him know his pack members (your family) all comes under the training session, which must be a pleasant experience for both you and your puppy.

Second most important tips for effective puppy care is to help him grow with fun and love. Play with him; give him small tidbits for doing desirable things, and you will be able to strengthen your bonding with him, as well as training him to know what's desirable! "Positive reinforcement" is one of the most effective tool to teach your pup desirable things. Although it's not too early to start training him for good behavior at the age of 2 months, but its to be kept in the forefront of your mind that abusive dog training should be avoided throughout his life! Training can be made effective if its a fun session. Just be patient; by making haste in training your pup will not be of any help for you and your puppy.

Thirdly, the diet has a very important role to play. Apart from pure love, fresh water and right medication, he needs completely balanced diet. He should be kept on special nutrition with right quantity of vitamins, fats, protein and minerals.

Fourth most important puppy care tip is to put emphasize on his exercise. Correct type and right volume of exercise is of prime importance on a regular basis. Over exercise is as harmful as not letting him play. Let him play on the grass as much as he can bear. As long as his tongue gets hanged out he should be allowed to run around off-leash. It is unwise not to stop him running and playing around even after his tongue's carried out. Over exhaustion may prove to be detrimental for his growth.

Fifth very important thing is sleep. Sleep is a very important component in the entire puppy care session. Your puppy with sleep longer than  any adult dog. A deep sleep after a good meal will have a very positive affect on his health. 

Sixth is vaccination! No one can deny the importance of annual vaccination. Your puppy should be fully vaccinated against all viral and infectious diseases. Your vet is the most important source of information on puppy vaccination. Vaccination largely depends on what part of the world you live in, though there are some common disease that your puppy should be immunized against. These are however, Distemper, Canine Adenovirus, Parvo, Rabies, Kennel Cough, Coronavirus and Canine hepatitis. You vet is the best person to guide you on more vaccination if needed. I have come across people several times who against vaccination, because they believe vaccines have side-effects.  The fact is... puppy vaccines are generally very safe for dogs, irrespective of breed, until the vaccines have not crossed the expiry dates and your puppy is healthy at the time you are vaccinating. Very mild reactions like fever, loss of appetite, dizziness etc. may be noticed, which usually gets resolved within 24 - 48 hours without any major treatment.        

Seventh... "socialization". When it comes to puppy care, you have to be very serious about socializing your puppy. Socializing a puppy means helping him mingle to the external world that is composed of various weirdness and strange things like sound, smell, people, other animals, incidences and different textures of situations!  Take him out and get him exposed to different incidences like a flying bird, dropping leaves, screeching car breaks, blowing horns, barking dogs, approaching strangers, playing kids etc.  BUT, taking him out is always recommended after the first course of vaccinations are over.

Read more...