Pet Information

There are many methods to teach dogs how to weave. Having attended a variety of agility camps and agility seminars, I’ve seen quite a few of the top handlers present their preferred method of weave training. Their training techniques vary,but the one thing they do have in common, the end result, their dogs all weave fast and efficiently.

The Weave Chute is one method of training weaves. The Weave Chute is a structure where the weave poles pull apart and the dog runs down the middle channel. The weave poles are setup on a base either PVC or metal, the even number poles pull back to the same side and the odd numbered poles pull apart to the same side. The poles are brought closer together, training a chain of sessions, until the weave poles are in a straight line.

To start, the weave poles are about 3 feet apart. Set your dog on a Stay (Sit, Down, or Stand). Leave your dog and go to the other end of the chute or channel. Call your dog, allow them to run as fast as they can through the chute, when they get near you through a toy straight ahead or between your legs. You want them to keep moving past you and not slow up as they get near you.

Move the weaves closer together, try 2 feet for a few sessions, then 1 foot apart for a few sessions. When the weaves are about 1 foot apart your dog will begin to actually begin the weaving behavior, depending on the size of your dog of course. This is the stage to add guide wires. The guide wires help the dog stay on path through the weaves. Your dogs speed will most likely slow a little in this stage. This is all right, he is thinking more and feeling the weaves against him for the first time.

You are still using your Stay at one end of the weaves, leaving your dog and going to the other end of the weaves and calling him through. Make sure your dog is successfully coming to you through the weave path, not jumping over the guide wires and running to you. If this happens replace him. If it happens again, go back and open the weave chute a little more. Practice until he can come to you down the weave chute with 70% to 80% accuracy, not many of us are 100% right in everything we try. Begin moving the weave poles closer together in inches now. Most dogs do well even if the weaves are off set by one inch , but somehow when they are setup in a line, they must look different and training sessions may seem stalled for awhile. Be patient, practice with your weaves offset by one inch then in a straight line, if you encounter problems, go back to the one inch offset. Your dog will soon realize he can weave when the poles are in a straight line.

The next transition is taking off the guide wires. With 12 poles, you use 10 guide wires. The first guide wires I remove are from the middle. The last ones to be removed are the entry and exit guide wires. Weaving is mentally challenging to you and your dog, so be patient with your dog and yourself. Be prepared to put in a few long months of training to get those fast and efficient weaves.

The German Shepherd Dog truly is a wonderful animal and not only do they make good working dogs, they also make superb family pets. They are however very different from other pet breeds and need to be handled and trained with a different approach to say your average labrador or poodle for instance.The GSD is a large, strong athletic dog, which needs a lot of mental stimulation and exercise but a well trained shepherd can learn to do almost anything. These dogs positively thrive on challenging activities and they are so willing to serve their master and please. As a working dog used by most police forces, the very look of a GSD is usually enough to act as a deterrent but when called into action there are few dogs that can match the German Shepherd as an all rounder.If you are considering becoming an owner of a GSD then you need to consider the commitment to training in order that you have happy, well behaved German Shepherd dog that you can take out safely in public.If you haven’t previously owned one of these dogs then please do not take on a youngster lightly. Being involved in GSD rescue I have lost count of the number of young dogs I have had to re-home because owners bought them without doing a bit of research first.As youngsters they can be very boisterous and can easily knock over children or elderly relatives, especially if you do not discourage the dog from jumping up when excited. A bored GSD can be very destructive and if left alone will trash your house and contents with ease using their big teeth and claws. Unfortunately these dogs don’t really mature until they are about 3 years old so you are in for the long haul to get through the puppy and adolescent stageThe German Shepherd needs to be well socialised from an early age and needs plenty of exposure to people and other dogs so that they do not develop aggressive tendencies as they mature.Joining a dog training class from an early age is a good idea and most clubs will accept dogs into the puppy classes from about 4 months onwards. This should be good fun for your puppy and allows him to play and to socialise but it also serves the purpose of teaching him or her what is acceptable and what is not. This will prove invaluable grounding for your German Shepherd training.  When choosing a dog training class do check out a few first as not all classes make German Shepherds welcome and if any club asks that you muzzle your dog, please give it a miss and move on and find another club. No reputable dog training class would require a dog to be muzzled. If your dog is aggressive towards other dogs there are better ways of controlling the dog safely such as by using a Canny Collar which is a simple effective head collar similar to those used on horses.  The earlier you start training and socialisation the better as GSD’s often develop a tendency to be aggressive towards other dogs and also towards strangers and they can become very protective towards their owners and property.  Another important part of training your german shepherd is to get him used to being groomed because they shed copious amounts of hair and although they only moult once a year, it lasts for 365 days. So be prepared for dog hair all over your house, your clothes, in your food and buy yourself a very good vacuum cleaner.Training your German Shepherd should be very much part of everyday life and is should be fun so stick with it because it really will be worth it in the end.

Part of being a loving, responsible Pit Bull owner is providing him with the proper diet to ensure he stays healthy. Many owners believe just because they purchase the most expensive brands of dog food for their Pit Bull that he is getting all of the vitamins and nutrients he needs, but often times, that is not the case. Humans can’t meet all of their nutritional requirements by eating one particular food, and neither can your Pit Bull. You are the one who is in control of this day to day aspect of your Pit Bull’s life, so essentially his health is up to you.

It is important to try to make sure your Pit Bull’s diet consists of all the vitamins and nutrients he needs to be healthy. A lack of vital vitamins and nutrients can cause your Pit Bull to have stomach problems, bones that break easily, and have weight problems. You can take the best care of your Pit Bull, but if he doesn’t have a proper diet, it isn’t going to make any difference. Diet also plays a role in your dog’s ability to fight off disease and infection, much the same as it does with humans. Your veterinarian can help made recommendations to help you provide the best diet possible for your Pit Bull.

When purchasing food for your Pit Bull, you should get a variety. Mixing up dry food and canned food will help give you a good mixture of ingredients and nutritional value that should help you to cover all the bases. Your dog will also enjoy the different textures of the food. They also enjoy bones and meant flavored treats.

Pit Bulls prefer dog foods made of meat, as they are primarily carnivores. Meat is a good source of energy and helps your Pit Bull grow, but he also needs fiber and carbohydrates to help with food absorption.

Many Pit Bulls also love to eat vegetables, hard to believe, huh? Check with your veterinarian first to make sure it is okay, then try it out. If your Pit Bull likes them, he will be getting plenty of additional vitamins and nutrients that dog food alone may not offer. It will also help to add some variety into his diet.

Making certain your Pit Bull’s diet is up to par is one of your responsibilities as a loving owner. It is important to talk to your veterinarian to see what his thoughts are and what he recommends, but whatever you decide, your Pit Bull’s health depends on you making smart choices on his behalf.

With slick advertising, colorful bags, and multiple aisles of different brands, choosing the right food for your dog can be a confusing and daunting task. However, a number of key factors that contribute to making the right decision can be found right on the dog food label!

The first thing to remember when selecting a food for your dog is to completely ignore the bright and colorful pictures on the fronts of the bags! Many dog food bags are designed to attract the attention of the humans seeking them out and use adorable pictures of dogs and appealing colors to give the impression that the contents of the bag are as wonderful as the outside design. In many cases, however, this is not the case and, in fact, this is usually an indication of the exact opposite! Although people are often fooled by cute pictures, clever slogans, and perfectly shaped and colored nuggets of food, the reality is that the most important aspect of any dog food is its nutritional content and not the clever packaging design or delicious-looking nuggets.

One of the best indicators of the quality of a particular brand of dog food is the list of ingredients and, by far, the most important ingredient to look at is the very first one that appears on the list! Generally, the first ingredient comprises between 70% and 80% of the total content of the food and the first three ingredients combined make up 90% to 95% of the food! Dogs are naturally carnivores and, as such, they require their main staple to be some kind of meat in order to achieve optimum health.

Therefore, it is always best to choose a food that uses some type of meat as the first ingredient. The best foods will list meats as all three of the first ingredients and others will list one or more “fillers”, or digestible content that adds little or no nutritional value to the food. Nearly all dog food manufacturers use some kind of filler in their food, such as corn or wheat and the general rule is that the highest quality foods will have the least amount of fillers.

Dog foods can basically be broken down into three separate categories based on nutritional content and quality of ingredients used: Super Premium, Premium, and Generic. Super Premium foods are often manufactured by smaller sized companies and are usually only available in specialized pet stores. They use the highest quality ingredients and have an outstanding nutritional balance that can possibly add years to a dog’s life! Some Super Premium brands include, Royal Canin, Blue Buffalo, and Artemis. Premium foods use good quality ingredients and generally have a proper nutritional balance. Some Premium brands include, Iams, Science Diet, and Nutro. With the exception of Iams, Premium brands can usually only be pound in pet stores. Generic foods are usually the least expensive and the easiest to find (these are the one found in grocery stores, Walmarts, etc). They use the least expensive ingredients and some brands change ingredients frequently, based on meat market prices (this can be very detrimental to a dog’s digestive system, especially in sensitive breeds). Some Generic brands include Pedigree, Alpo, and Beneful.

When choosing a food for your dog, it is important to understand what each brand offers nutrition and quality-wise. With a quick glance at the ingredient label, you can often make a fairly accurate assessment of the quality of any given brand and make the right choice for you and your dog!

Trimming your dog’s nails is another essential part of adequate pet grooming. When done often enough using the proper procedures, your dog will get accustomed to these grim events. Of course a treat or two wont hurt either.

It is important to note that trimming your dog’s nails is not painful in any way as long as you don’t cut into the quick. Although a dull trimmer can put a lot of pressure on your dogs nails before it cuts. So be sure to have an sharp trimming utensil. A file is also recommended to file down the sharp edges that are left after you cut your dogs nails.

There are three main types of trimmers. They are guillotine, pliers, and scissor style trimmers. The guillotine style is exactly what it sounds like it and requires your dogs nail to be inserted through a hole in the top. Then the handles are pushed together as the blade comes down it cuts off the nail. This type of clipper is often difficult to use especially on large breed dogs as their thicker nails can be more difficult to insert into the guillotine.

Pliers work very similar to sheers. They have two notched blades that cut the nail as the handles are pushed together. These are very popular because you often capable of seeing where the blade will cut the nail in this type of trimmer. They also work great on big dogs. These trimmers are available for large or small dogs and can be used on any breed. However, they often need to be sharpened when they become dull.

Scissor style tremors worked just like a regular pair of scissors where you have notched blades that surround and cut the nail as the handles are pushed together. These clippers are used for small jobs only and are not actually nail trimmers. They are best used for other types of pets or small animals. Often times the type of trimming utensil you’ll use is dependent upon your breed, the size of your animal, and needs to be cut.

If you happen to cut your dogs quick it is often necessary to apply its styptic powder as the nail tends to bleed a lot. Some home remedies include using flour. It is also recommend that you keep plenty of dog treats for when you first start cutting your dogs nails as you would be well inclined to distract your pet during this tedious process. The treats often work well to take attention away from an occasional mishap.

Dog’s nails need to be trimmed when they are getting too long and they are interfering with the dog’s gate. Untrimmed nails can also result in splitting and a great deal of pain including bleeding that may often require a trip to the veterinarian’s office. If the dogs nails curl under and grow into the pad the dog may have to have a serious surgery to remove the painful infection. This is similar to an ingrown nail in humans.

Remember to clip your dogs’ nails often and do not then do not let them grow too long. It is important for the health of your dog and for their general hygiene so that they don’t injure themselves when scratching other areas.

We love our pets. They do such cute, adorable, and funny things. They are more often than not, an integral part of our family. As such, you probably want to capture your beloved friend with great pet pictures. What if, when you go to take those perfect pet portraits, they run and hide, or simply won’t cooperate? In this article we give some great tips to help you next time you go for that dog photo or pet picture of your best friend.

Here are some tips to help you to get some great pet pictures.

1. The first and most important step that will help the most is training. Your pet does not need to enroll for a 4-year pet school degree with an online dog picture heralding his success, but some simple commands will help. Simple commands like stand, stay, lay down or sit are easy to teach, with some patience added, and will help in taking your pet pictures.

2. Awaking a pet out of a deep sleep and forcing him to face a camera will not give you good results. If you wish to take pictures of your pet, try to take photos while they are playing or relaxing by that nicely lit window. It’s a good idea to have your camera nearby at all times, not just one moment when you decide now is the time to have pet portraits. Take some time with it.

3. Using natural lighting is best. If enough, do not use your flash. Pets often times do not like the flash of a camera; they can learn to squint or run away when they see that camera come out.

4. If your pet is already camera-shy, try being as discreet as possible by not making it so obvious to your pet that you are up to something. Of course, with a cat this can be easier considering the attention span of a cat, but then again, they can be more wise to your ways, knowing that you are indeed up to something…it all depends on the personality of the pet. You can get a great, expressional dog photo just by saying the right word, in the right tone of voice, to a dog, but nice try with a cat.

Go for a nice, sophisticated shot of your cat if he’s a snob. (Remember, you want to capture the essence of your pet in the best ‘light’ possible. If your cat does not fit that stereotype, a relaxed, playful or ‘thoughtful’ look is great. That’s applies not just to cats, but dogs and whatnot too…well, maybe not if your pet is…oh, a snake perhaps.

5. If you are looking for that thoughtful or playful look, look to a friend or family member to help. A string with catnip or honeysuckle works great for a cat, squeaky toys work well with dogs.

6. Stay patient. If you are getting frustrated, time to take a break. It should be a fun, enjoyable time. You want to remember your pet…not the day you worked up a sweat, dusted the floor with your clothes, banged your knee, and yelled at your kids or whatever else trying to get that perfect dog photo. Plus, your pets can pick up on your stress and they may start to associate that camera, or how YOU behave with that camera with a bad time…like teenagers during family portrait time…NOT fun usually.

7. Take your pets coloring into consideration when choosing backgrounds. The less ‘busy’ the scene, the better, as well.

Remember; do not put pressure on your pet to face the camera. If you do want a shot looking directly into the camera, best way to achieve this is by first getting the camera and crop prepared. Once ready to ’snap’, a louder, unusual sound just before shooting, works best for dogs. A soft, quiet sound, works best for cats to get their attention.

Be prepared to take a lot of bad photos to get a really good one. It will be better if you use a digital camera. With a digital camera you have lots of room for trial and error. You will be able to select your favorites and dispose the rest. Of course, that can be a problem too. If you are anything like me, you hate to erase any photos of your pet.

Most of all see it as fun, not a chore and before you know it you’ll have awesome looking perfect pet portraits of your pet and maybe other pets too!

Everyone wants a well trained dog, but sometimes your pet may be a little difficult or you just might not have the time or know how to train him properly. Luckily you can get help and it’s as easy as enrolling your dog in a dog obedience school.

Perhaps you have seen people with unruly dogs, or maybe even have resigned yourself to think that your dog will never do as he’s told. Maybe you’ve gotten used to coming home from work and finding chewed shoes and trash all over the house. Perhaps you’ve even taken to walking your dog at night when no neighbors are out because you simply can’t control him when people and other dogs are around.

You don’t have to resign yourself to thinking your dog will never behave and in, fact you owe it to yourself and your pet to do everything you can to get him trained properly. Having a well behaved dog can save trouble for both yourself and your pet. An unruly dog could bite a neighbor or child causing you legal problems. If your dog barks a lot or gets loose all the time you may even find yourself in trouble with the police. And most importantly, if your dog will not come when called, you have limited methods to keep him out of harms way.

A dog obedience school trainer will show you how to communicate with your dog to get him to listen to you. He’ll learn how to behave around people as well as other dogs and the basic commands such as “down”, “sit”, “stay”, and heel. Your dog will probably even enjoy this as he will get to spend time with your which is all he really wants in the first place!

Picking a dog obedience school is kind of like choosing a school for your kids - you want to be sure to send him to the right one. Of course, since you will probably be attending as well you want one that works for the both of you so you need to do a little research before you settle on the school.

One thing to consider when researching dog obedience schools is a reference from others who have attended the school. Perhaps you have a friend, co-worker or neighbor you can ask? If not you can ask the school for references and phone someone who has been through the program. You should have a list of basic questions you can ask about the school and the outcome of the dogs training. If you get positive answers then you may have found your school, otherwise, it’s time to move on to the next choice.

Another thing you want to do when narrowing down your choice of obedience schools is to visit the “campus”. Just like picking a college, you want to be sure that the school offers a good environment. Make sure the school seems well organized and the trainers are knowledgeable. Also, you will probably want a friendly environment where your dog (and you) feel comfortable.

Talking to the trainers at the school is also a good idea. Find out about the methods that each instructor uses and you might even introduce them to your dog to be sure they will get along. Your training will be much more successful if both you and your dog are comfortable with the trainer.

Dog obedience school can be a great way to turn your unruly pet into a great companion that will not embarrass you in social situations and you can really take anywhere you want. The whole training process can help you bond with your dog and truly help him be your best friend.

Browsing the various internet email lists for clicker training, you might get the idea that the clicker is the most over-used tool in clicker training! Let’s examine that more closely…

“Over-used” suggests that something is used more often that it should be. What might be the problem with this?

I guess your clicker might physically wear-out and stop working. This surely isn’t a big deal though, you can always get a new clicker for a couple of dollars.

Maybe the value of the click itself is diminished by over-use? Evidence would suggest that, so long as the click is always followed by a primary reinforcer, the more often a clicker is used, the more value it has. I would caution that sloppy timing can confuse some dogs and de-value the clicker as a training tool, but providing that your timing is good (practise without a dog until it is) and that you follow up promptly with a variety of primary reinforcers, your clicker should only gain value with repeated use.

Accordingly, following up with an aversive (intentionally or otherwise), or failing to follow up with a primary reinforcer will make your clicker less effective.

So maybe the problem is that the clicker is used when it isn’t necessary to use a clicker? The clicker gives you a very precise means of marking tiny little pieces of behaviour. Not all behaviours we wish to reinforce are tiny. Stays are a good example. Our criteria might be that our dog stays sitting for 20 seconds. If we click, we really aren’t adding any useful information. We might as well just toss a treat or a ball.

On the other hand, let’s imagine our dog is sitting nicely for 20 seconds so we click and treat. Unfortunately, at the precise moment that we clicked, our dog raised his paw…

Of course, solving this problem would be pretty straightforward. Simply stopping clicking the resultant paw raises and click only when the paw is on the ground.

So are clickers over-used? Yes, clickers are sometimes used where they don’t provide a clear benefit, but I wouldn’t get too hung up about it. Make your own choices, but make sure you always use a clicker when you need accurate timing. Nothing else comes close for effectiveness, convenience and wide availability.

Dogs have far greater hearing than we humans. In addition to what the human ear can hear, he can detect fainter sounds from greater distances and on much higher frequencies. The human ear has a frequency upper limit of about 20,000 cycles, while the dogs range can be as high as 50,000 cycles. Dogs are able to determine the direction a sound is coming from much more accurately than we can, and can differentiate between similar sounds better also. Breeds with erect ears have better hearing than those with floppy ears due to their sound capturing ability.

Because dogs clearly distinguish different pitches, the tone of your voice and commands is as significant to him as the words that you pronounce. Since he responds most quickly to sharp sounds, you will find it easier to get a puppy to come when called if you reinforce your voice command with a whistling or hand-clapping at first. Instructions such as “STOP” should always be sharper in tone than ordinary communications. Any unexpected or unusual voice will alert a dog. His immediate reaction is to face the direction of the sound and then approach the spot warily.

Dogs perceive sound by feeling as well as through their auditive equipment. They react to vibrations of airplanes and earthquakes long before we are aware of them. Continued sharp or percussive noises can cause real suffering for a dogs sensitive hearing. A dog may seem to have a pathological fear of thunderstorms or explosives, when the real reason for his cringing behavior is simply physical pain. Oddly enough, given their sensitive hearing, dogs seldom suffer from vertigo, which begins in the inner ear.

I run an online pet memorial web site and as you can imagine I come into contact with many people who have lost a much loved pet or animal companion.

Looking through the memorial web sites that pet owners create when a beloved pet passes away has shown my that there are a number of ways that people come to cope with the loss of a pet.

Some people seem to be unsure or even embarrassed about the depth of grief and loss that they feel when a close pet dies. In the back of their minds they may think that others would think “It was just a pet”, “only an animal” and be surprised at how the death affects them.

But the truth of the matter is that we form a very special bond with our pets, they become part of the family and we love and take care of them for many years.

Many people confide in their pets (if my dog could talk I’d be in big trouble.), pets help to take us out of ourselves when things are not going so good in other areas of your lives and they have unconditional love to give us. All of this goes to form a special bond that when broken by the death of our pet, goes to make a substantial loss.

Possibly those who think “it’s just a pet” have never really formed that special human /animal bond, and this brings to mind the beautiful quote by Anatole France.

“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.”

It is totally okay to grieve for a lost pet and it is also necessary if you had that special bond with your pet.

Many people find that writing down their feeling helps enormously.

A simple heartfelt verse or poem is a very good way to contact the grief that you feel. Writing down your favourite memories, or an expression of the relationship that you had with your pet will go to help with the grieving process.

Others may want to mark the passing of a pet in other ways with a headstone or other physical memorial.

More and more people are creating online memorials and a lot of the people who do say that it actually helps them to focus on their feelings and memories as well as giving friends and family a chance to better understand the relationship that they had with their pet.

It is well accepted that in order to truly come through a period of loss and grief, one must be able to face every aspect of the loss. Focusing your attention on your pet’s life and what they meant to you will help in that process.

We sometimes have to cry the grief out to allow the joy of our good memories to shine through.

If you are coming to terms with the loss of a pet or animal companion and if you are finding it difficult, try focusing your attention on your pet, try writing a short poem, try writing down exactly what your pet meant to you. Yes the tears will come, but if you continue to look at those memories and feelings soon the tears will go and you will be left with the good memories. But more importantly you will be able to enjoy those memories once the grief has gone.