DogTrainingPlace

Dog Pheromones

Pheromones are chemical substances secreted by an animal that influence the behavior of other animals of the same species. Unlike other hormones, pheromones are secreted externally and influence other animals, typically by smell. In this case, pheromones may play a very important role in animal behavior. In dogs, pheromones probably influence group integration and are a factor in fighting and general aggressiveness. Some theorys suggest that dogs release pheromones in urine and feces, and perhaps through exhaled breath, subcutaneous glands at the base of the tail and the foot pads. This would tend to explain why aggressive, fighting dogs are often compulsive urine sniffers and urine markers, and why they become less aggressive when sniffing and urine marking are not allowed by their owners.

Pheromones may act as a trigger or primer for certain types of behavior. This case is typical of many wherein a dog appears to sense, by smell, another dog that may be perceived as a threat. Also typical among some vicious biting dogs is the need to brand a strange territory with their own pheromones before launching an attack. Some take place even when the biting dogs were on their home territory. Remedial programs include restricting urination of the problem dog to a single area of his own yard. This tends to lower the aggressiveness, as well as reduce the incidence of household urination.

Teaching your new puppy to recognize its name is the first type of dog training that you will most likely experience.  Please enjoy the following simple and easy tips to train your dog to know its name.

1.  When choosing a name, keep it under two syllables.  Using one or two syllables makes it easier for your dog to recognize and easier for you to say.

2.  Your puppy will want to follow you around constantly.  As this is happening, say his or her new name repeatedly.  The dog will become used to this sound.

3.  Crouch down and pat the ground in front of you as you say the pups name.  “Here BoBo, here BoBo”  When the puppy comes to that spot then praise it with petting and affection.

4.  Call out the dog’s name with every interaction you have with it.  For example when you play with it – call out the dogs name repeatedly.  The same goes when you are feeding it, brushing it, laying next to it, etc.  Each time the dog looks up at you after calling out his or her name – pet it and praise the dog with love.

Purina Dog Food

Purina dog food is premium quality dog food and you can be assured of the fact that they use the best ingredients in their products.

With recent dog product recalls people who have been feeding Purina dog food to their dogs were pleased to know that Purina dog food was not listed on the FDA’s list of recalled dog food products.

As with some of the other high quality products that are available, Purina dog food will help to maintain your dog’s health for longer, and in doing so it should reduce the expense of health care later in your dogs life.

Maintaining good nutrition is essential for your dog just as it is with any human and buying the best food such as Purina dog food will go a long way to ensure that you are giving the correct nutrition to your dog and maintaining its health as well as can be expected.

Dog Aggression Toward Its Owners

A dog that growls at and/or bites its owner does so for some reason, even if the behavior appears “unreasonable” to the owner. A complete medical examination, including tests for hormonal balance, neurophysiologic function and allergies, may reveal the underlying cause.

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Becoming the first major improvement in dog training since choke chains and spiked collars, click and treat has quickly revolutionized itself in becoming a big hit on the training circuit. Currently, there are over 10,000 trainers who are using this method regularly.

Used in the beginning to train marine mammals, click and treat breaks down the process into two separate steps, information and motivation. While other trainers still emphasize on these two steps, they try to teach them all at once, which can confuse the animal and prolong results.

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The Psychotic Dog

A psychosis is defined as a mental disturbance of such degree that there is personality disintegration and loss of contact with reality. The line between neurotic and psychotic behavior is not well defined, even by psychiatrists and psychologists. Two prevailing criteria can be added to the definition of a neurotic dog to describe, for this purpose, a psychotic behavior. These involve circumstances in which the dog’s behavior is dangerous to himself or to the safety of others, and in which the dog appears to be unaware of the behavior during and/or very shortly thereafter his actions.

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Choosing the Right Dog Breed – A Step By Step Guide

Did you know that there are several hundred dog breeds? With that large number of breeds to choose from, how do people manage to decide which breed is right for them? Luckily, you can narrow down the choices and find the right dog breed by following a few simple steps.

First, consider your available space. Do you live in an apartment? If so, you will want to rule out large dogs. Look for dogs in the Toy group, such as Yorkshire Terriers, or some of the smaller dogs in the Terrier group, like the Miniature Schnauzer.

If you have children, you will want to consider the size of your dog, as well. Very small dogs, such as Chihuahuas or Maltese, can be very delicate and are often accidentally injured by young children. On the other hand, very large dogs, such as Boxers or Saint Bernards, can be overly boisterous as puppies and can accidentally turn your child into a human bowling pin. Consider medium sized breeds, such as Fox Terriers or Lhasa Apsos, instead.

Next, consider how much exercise you can give your dog. If you have a home with a fenced yard, your dog will be able to get some exercise on his own. However, dog breeds in the Sporting, Hound, and Herding groups are very high energy animals and you will need to have enough time to provide them with more intensive exercise. Plan to take a lot of long walks with your dog or go for a daily romp in the park. After all, these dog breeds were bred to work hard and don’t do well unless they have a job to do or a way to burn off excess energy.

Finally, don’t forget to consider grooming needs. Some dog breeds only need a half hour or so of grooming a week, while others need to be groomed for an hour a day. If you are short on time, don’t buy a Standard Poodle or a Maltese, unless, of course, you plan to take your dog to a groom. Breeds like Boston Terriers or Whippets are good choices for people who don’t have time to do a lot of grooming.

Once you decide which breed of dog you want, you will need to consider the age of the dog. Many people opt to buy a cuddly little puppy instead of an older dog. While puppies have not developed any bad habits, it will be up to the new owner to be sure that the puppy becomes housebroken and obedience trained. Older dogs are frequently already housebroken and usually have some obedience training. They are also more likely to be less hyper and less destructive. However, they can have behavioral problems or health problems that prompted the former owner to find them a new home.

Do you want to buy a puppy? If so, you will need to find a reputable dog breeder who has a litter of the breed you are interested in. Often, a good breeder will have a waiting list for puppies. If you aren’t the patient sort, you may be tempted to buy a puppy from a pet store. However, many pet store puppies come from puppy mills and have genetic health defects, bad temperaments, or other problems. It is usually safest to buy a puppy directly from the breeder.

If you are interested in an older dog, you may want to visit your local animal shelter or call a breed rescue. These groups evaluate the dogs’ health and temperament before adopting them out.

Once you’ve narrowed down the breed choices and have decided which dog is right for you, don’t get too relaxed. After all, you still have one more important decision to make, what to name your new companion!

Questions About Dog Health

If you have any questions about dog health they really should be addressed by your veterinarian.

It could be dangerous to expect to get the correct questions about dog health from friends and family as you wouldn’t expect to get specialist advice if you have health concerns of your own from the same people.

It is only your veterinarian who can give you the correct answers to your questions about dog health to ensure that you aren’t endangering the life of your pet by making incorrect decisions.

You can search the Internet and the book stores for answers to questions about dog health but you can never be certain, particularly on the Internet, whether the information that you are reading is correct or not.

If these questions about dog health are only for minor problems then it is not so crucial that you talk to your veterinarian however you need to be sure that what you might think is a minor problem is not masking something that is more serious.

If in doubt the veterinarian is the only person to go to for questions about dog health.

Barking Dog

There can be nothing more annoying for some people than a barking dog and if you want to keep the peace with your neighbors then it is wise to train your dog to remain quiet at your command.

The problem occurs more often when the dog becomes bored during the day while you are away at work.

This is the time when you are most likely to have a problem with a barking dog and as you won’t be there you won’t know that this problem exists.

It is quite simple to check with your neighbors to see if you have a barking dog problem and then you can do something about this by giving toys to the dog to stop it from becoming bored during the day.

Many dog owners don’t consider a barking dog to be a problem if it is their own dog but you can’t assume that other people are happy to hear a barking dog all day and particularly with those people who aren’t dog lovers.

Dogs in the Cartoons

America loves dogs in films and on television. We also seem to love dogs in the pages of the Sunday funnies and in animation. To list all of the cartoon dogs that have made some kind of impact on American pop culture could fill an entire book. Here, however, is a small who’s who list of dogs that have been popular in cartoons over the years.

1924 – Sandy

Fans of Harold Gray’s comic strip Little Orphan Annie fondly remember Annie’s dog Sandy. Although Sandy never had much to say except the occasional panel-ending “ARF!” she was loved nonetheless and often was able to help Annie out of tough scrapes when fighting Nazis or investigating haunted houses.

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