Separation Anxiety

Quite a few puppies and dogs who suffer from Separation Anxiety when they are left alone and separated from their family or pack.

There are a number of things you can do to help your pooch to settle when you leave home for a few hours to go to work, the shops, etc.

1.  Do not cause a fuss when you leave the house.  Pick up your car keys and walk out the door.  If you fuss with saying good bye, your dog picks up your distress over leaving him or her all day, your pooch will be anxious at your going.

2.  Feed your puppy in the morning before you leave.  After toileting, your dog will want to sleep.

3.  Give your pooch a nice big chew bone so he or she will be occupied as you walk out the door.

4.  Leave the radio on so there is sound to help your puppy to feel comfortable.

5.  Take your dog for a walk before leaving for the day.  The exercise will stimulate your pups mind and body and he or she will want to rest or sleep.

6.  Rotate the toys you leave for your dog to play with, so there is something ‘new’ each day to explore and play with.  There are a number of interactive toys available where you dog needs to think to release treats – most dogs love these.

These are just a few things to do to make it easier on your and your puppy to get used to your daily routine and being left alone at home.

Hot Weather and your Pooch

Currently, the weather is very hot and humid here, and aren’t my dogs feeling it – well so am I!

Helping my dogs to cope with this weather takes some common sense and a little work.

These are just some things that you can do to help make things more comfortable, and to reduce the risk of heat stroke.

1.  Make sure your pooch has ready access to fresh water.

I use a pottery bowl for water as this helps to keep the water cool throughout the day.  I also put an ice brick in the bowl to help really        cool off the drinking water.  If you are at work (I am lucky to be on holidays at the moment, so it makes things easier), you can freeze some water in a container over night and put that in the water bowl so your puppy or dog will have cool water nearly all day.

2.  Provide shade.

Your puppy or dog needs shade as the temperature in the shade is significantly less than in the sun.  Trees, verandahs, porches, shade cloth, etc all will help to give your pooch as cooler place to rest.  There are dog beds that have a built in shade cover as well.

3.  Air movement will help ease the heat.

I have fans moving the air around to help cool my puppies and dogs.  If you have air-conditioning, well, that is even better.  Still areas
will be so much hotter and uncomfortable for your pooch.

4.  Provide a wading pool or water sprinkler in the yard.

Although I do not have water dogs, some of mine love to splash around or just lay their tummies in the the pool.  I use a clam shell wading pool that you can buy for children (this is in Australia, but I am sure there is something similar in other places).  It is made of hard plastic, and I put a couple of centimetres of water in the bottom.

Placing a water sprinkler in the yard can be fun for the dogs as well.  It waters your lawn, and the dogs can wander through it to help cool themselves off – duel purpose.

Using a spray bottle filled with water can help cool your pooch as well, especially on the tummy.

5.  Cooling coats.

There is a variety of cooling coats available for your pooch.  Some have water absorbing crystals in them – soak the coat in water, wring it out, and place it on your puppy or dog.  With the breeze from the fans, this will certainly help your puppy to feel cooler.

6.  Cooling beds.

These beds are fantastic!  There are a few different types. Definately a comfortable way for your dog to lounge away the heat of the day.

7.  Travelling

DO NOT leave your pooch in the car unattended in hot weather.  The temperature in your car will soar within minutes.  If you must leave your car, you must care for your puppy or dog, or leave your pooch at home.

I hope these tips help you to keep your pooch cool in hot weather.  We do what we can to help cool ourselves off, we need to consider our puppies and dogs as well.

Toilet Training Mach 2

Even with the best toilet training practice, puppies still make mistakes.

To clean up after your puppy, do not use bleach or other such products, as the odor will encourage your puppy to toilet in the same place again.  One of the best, and even better cheapest, things to use is vinegar and water.  Add some vinegar to water to wash up and clean the place where your puppy has toileted.  It will clean up the mess, and remove the odor.

Another hint I use is to use lavender oil in an oil burner, as lavender oil helps stop your puppy from toileting in the house, and also help your home to smell nice and is relaxing.

When your puppy makes a mess in the house, DO NOT rub your puppies nose in the mess.  It is not going to stop your puppy from messing in the house again.  If you are fortunate enough to catch your puppy in the act, say ‘NO’, quickly pick up your puppy and take him or her outside and use your toileting command.  This method will help your pup to get the idea of going outside.

Crate Training

Many years ago, I was so against ‘locking my dog up in a crate’.  I thought dogs should be free in the yard or in the house.

I love knowledge and had been reading a lot of dog books about training, raising puppies, etc, etc.  Crate training was always there.

When I got my first show dog, I decided it was the time to give this crate training thing a try.

It was hell!  My little fluffy puppy screamed for hours every night for weeks!!!!!!  I was so glad I was on holidays. In the long term I am so glad I persevered.  Each of my dogs since then has been crate trained, and fortunately, never as difficult as my first.

Puppies, and dogs, do feel comfortable in their ‘cave’ or crate.  I have crate doors open all day when I am home, and there is often a dog sleeping comfortably in one of the crates.

Following are some of the reasons I have found crate training to be one of the best things I have done for my dogs.

Crate training your puppy can help with toilet training, puppies try very hard not to mess in his or her bed.  It also keeps your new puppy safe in the house if you are out, and can keep your house safe from your puppy.  It is amazing what mischief a young puppy can get into while you are not home.

When traveling in the car with your puppy or dog,  you are keeping you and your pooch safe if he or she is traveling in a crate.  There is no worries about your dog jumping up behind you, onto your lap etc at just the wrong moment, causing an accident.

Heaven forbid, but if you do have an accident, you want  your dog to be safe.  In a crate, your dog may be bruised, but, in general that should be the extent of his or her injuries. If your dog is loose in the car, your dog could be killed, or even cause further injury to you if he or she is thrown about in the vehicle.  In the case of an accident, your dog will be in protection mode.  If your pooch is not confined, he or she will not allow anyone into the car to give you medical assistance.  That is not a good situation for you or for your dog.

Over night veterinary stays will be more comfortable for your puppy or dog if crate trained.  You pet is not feeling the best, and has to stay confined in a run or crate whilst at the vets for observation, if crate trained, there will be less anxiety over being confined.  Your dog may need to be confined when released from the vets, again, if he or she is used to being in a crate, the recover period will be smoother and hopefully quicker.

Air travel is another instance where crate training is beneficial.  If your dog is already used to being in a crate, the experience of air travel will be less stressful for your pooch.

These are some of the reasons I have found crate training good for me and for my dogs.  I hope do decide to crate train your puppy, as there are many benefits for both of you.

Dog Shampoos

From my experience, many people do not understand shampoos. To use human shampoo or dog shampoo for my dog, that is the question.

A little basic information that may assist you to find a good quality shampoo for your loving pooch.

Dog and people shampoos have different ph. Because of this different ph, you should not use human shampoos on dogs.

Some people think that human shampoos have better ingredients than dog shampoo. Both have lots of nasty ingredients that dry the scalp, coat the hairs, bleach, etc.

You can find shampoos that do not have as many nasties for both dogs and people.

Ingredients that end in ‘icone’ are a type of silicone. This coats the hairs to make the hair shiny, but as they build up the hair becomes dull and lank. There are two choices. One is to get another brand that has a different type of silicone, and wow, nice shiny hair again. Eventually it builds up and it becomes dull. A never ending cycle. The other is to buy a ‘cleanser’ or ‘stripper’. This will strip the silicone from the hairs, quite harsh and not good for your dog’s coat as they weaken the hairs. Often dog shampoos do not have the ingredients listed, but if the brand has a ‘cleanser’ or ‘stripper’ you know that they have silicone in their shampoos.

A number of dog shampoos are concentrated, and can be watered down considerably. Some of the more expensive shampoos are actually cheaper as you can dilute them so that they last so much longer.

Hopefully these few hints will help you to select a quality shampoo for your pooch that will have him or her looking like a Best in Show winner.

Training your Puppy to Sleep In

I often hear from friends that they have to get up early every day because their dog has woken up and they have to get up to let his or her dog out.

The way I have taught my dogs to wait until I get up, especially great on weekends and holidays.

As puppies, as soon as I hear the first sound from my pup, I get up to toilet my pup (see toilet training post). I do not talk or play with my puppy, except of course to praise my puppy when he or she has been to the toilet.

I then put my puppy back to bed and go back to bed. My puppy usually tries to get my attention, whimpering, etc, initially. I ignore the puppy until I am ready to get up. When I get up, I let my puppy out and play with him or her. As puppies are learning a lot at this young age, it doesn’t take long to learn to wait until I wake and get up to play and toilet.

One thing to keep in mind though, is that I keep my puppy awake for an hour or so before I go to bed, so my puppy will go to sleep when I put him or her to bed.
I take my puppy to the toilet just before I put him or her to bed.

You also need to be reasonable about how long you expect your puppy to sleep in.

Good luck, soon you will get to wake up when you want, not when your puppy does.

Toilet Training

Toilet training your puppy takes time, but with consistency, it isn’t as difficult as people are led to believe.

First off, it is NOT play time. When you take your puppy outside to go to the toilet, that is all you are outside for. Some puppies will toilet immediately, others may take 20 minutes (take a book or magazine out to read if you have one of those). As soon as your puppy starts to wee, give lots and lots of praise, now is the time to play if you wish.

Getting the timing right is the other important thing to do. Immediately after waking in the morning, take your puppy out to the toilet, immediately after eating, and at two hour intervals.

Take notice of how long you need to wait before your puppy toilets, as this will make the process easier on you.

For more on Toilet Training your puppy and other training ideas go to http://puppysmooches.com/groom_and_train.html

Within a week or two, your puppy should be toilet trained if you follow this routine. It is difficult if you bring home you puppy and you are working, it will take longer.

TrainPetDog

Dog Food

Over the last 20 years I have tried a variety of foods for my dogs. I started off cooking a healthy stew of meat, pasta or rice, and frozen veges into a delicious looking meal for my Kara (golden retriever). Eventually she put on lots of weight, so went to a weight control kibble from my vet. She lost some weight – yeah!

Over the years since then, I have fed my dogs a variety of different premium kibbles. Thought I was feeding the best available, then came further research and lot of searching to find the one that had the best ingredients with no ‘bad’ stuff in it. Very, very difficult.

I eventually started feeding raw food. The dogs are so much healthier. Love their food. I made it all myself for about 7 years. Now I have found an easier compromise – I buy a commercially dehydrated food (not as good as what I used to make, but still pretty good) and add mince from my great butcher that looks after me and my dogs. They also get raw bones on weekends – they LOVE those.

What to feed your puppy or dog is a difficult decision. Feed the best quality food you can afford, both financial and time wise are considerations. Taking that into consideration, raw food is the best for us as well as our canines.

Welcome

Hi All,

Welcome to puppysmooches.

We are all about puppies and dogs.  We will discuss fun, health, training, etc.