It is important that every dog learns to feel comfortable with a collar and lead, as this will be required when taking the dog to public places.

Walking your dog with a collar and lead is a basic and important skill otherwise you will be one of those people where the dog takes them for a walk and they are forever straining to hold the dog back from running away.

The bigger the dog, the bigger the problem.

Even if your dog is extremely well trained it is unwise to take it out without a collar and lead as accidents can happen.
The dog might get scared from unexpected noise or another dog might attract its attention and it could run off.

If the dog is in new surroundings it could also get spooked by new noises and run off without thinking.

Having a collar with good identification will help you to locate your dog should it ever go missing so this is an important safety factor that we all hope we never have to rely on.

You must always choose a collar that your dog will feel comfortable with as it will be wearing it a lot of the time and you can’t even start leash training until your dog has become accustomed to the collar.

On puppies it is not unusual for them to try to remove the collar when they first start wearing it.
It is best to simply ignore your puppy and they will soon get used to wearing it.
You can help by distracting it with toys or playing with it so it forgets that it is even wearing a collar.

Once your dog has accepted wearing the collar you can begin leash training.

Rewarding your dog is probably the single most important aspect of good training.

It is a well-known fact that reward training is the fastest way to get a dog to change their behavior and rewards in the form of positive reinforcement are the fastest way to get the desired results.

Reward training also makes the whole process more fun for the owner and the dog.
It becomes a bit of a game and helps to reduce any boredom and keep both the dog and the owner motivated.

It is also a good idea to finish each training session with a time for play so the dog associates the learning with fun times and is more excited about these sessions in the future.

Many people also like to have a little time before the training sessions for fun too, but that really depends on the personality of your dog as some can get overly excited and this can make the training sessions harder to control.

It is not often that you will find people promoting the use of ‘reprimand’ training these days as this is quite a dated technique and has been proven to be less effective than the newer positive action training techniques.

Dogs will quickly become discouraged by this type of training and they can also get confused when they are unsure what they have been doing wrong.

It is far better to focus on more positive actions that are used to replace those areas of the dog’s behavior that are causing problems.

There are certain circumstances where the dog is aware of doing something wrong and in these instances where they will know why they are being reprimanded it is certainly suitable to do so, but once they have been reprimanded it is time to move on quickly and get back to the positive aspects of training.

Every year billions of dollars are spent on dog food and veterinary care.

It is a huge market and the people who are selling goods in this market are constantly trying to offer better products at better prices.

This is great for dog lovers like us as we benefit from the competition.
The Internet has added to that competition to deliver the best dog products as more and more online pet stores compete for our dollars.

With reduced overheads and the ability to source a bigger range of products in recent years, there has been a big increase in online sales of pet products.

Some of the biggest online pet stores offer prices that the local pet stores just can’t compete with any longer and they all offer the best guarantees and returns for products that you might not be satisfied with.
Along with this they have regular overnight deliveries throughout the country and they can even deliver worldwide.

It is always good to check the prices of the online pet stores and compare with what you might be paying elsewhere as you can save quite a lot of money by doing so.

While it is essential that you have a good relationship with your local veterinarian and they know the history and health of your dog, items such as dog toys are generally better to purchase from the Internet and there are also many people who will buy all their dog vitamins and food via the Internet due to the savings that they are able to achieve.

Dogs can suffer from similar ailments that we get as we age, including arthritis and pain in the joints.

Some breeds of dogs are more prone than others to getting certain ailments and you need to be aware of the possible problems that your particular breed of dog might get as it grows older.

By giving your dog a warm place to lie when it sleeps you might be able to ward off arthritic pain.
By keeping the body weight down to acceptable levels for dogs that are prone to overeating and weight gain might stop your dog from developing other symptoms that can affect the quality of life.

It is far better to control things that can affect the dogs health during the course of their life than to make them, and you, pay for ill health as they age.

According to many dog experts our pets should be living for a lot longer than the current life expectancies that we have come to accept.

With good medication we can expect to enjoy more years with our dogs but it is just as easy to add many quality years to their life by ensuring that they get the optimum nutrition and suitable living standards during the course of their life.

Most dogs are very hardy but even they will benefit from additional comforts and care.

In an earlier newsletter I talked about allergies and how many of these are related to the food that your dog eats.

This is due to all the filler, colors and preservatives that the dog food manufacturers put into the processed dog foods that are sold through the stores.

There is a solution if you have a dog that has food allergies and it is not only a cost effective way to feed your dog but it can also add to the quality of your dogs health.

Creating your own dog food and dog treats might be the best solution for your dog’s allergies.
Even if your dog doesn’t have food allergies you can often see an improvement in the health of a dog by changing to homemade treats that don’t have all the harmful additives of the dog food you will buy over the counter.

You will also have full control over the ingredients that you use for your food preparation and you can eliminate any foods that you already know your dog is allergic to.

If you are still unsure of the food that your dog might be allergic to you can add and delete the various different foods until you eliminate those that cause negative reactions and only use food that your dog is comfortable eating.

While it might be difficult determining exactly what is in the dog food that you buy from the store you will always know exactly what your dog is eating if you prepare the food yourself.

You can create the food fresh and in the quantities that you require rather than rely on the portions that are determined by the manufacturers.

It is always a lot easier to teach a puppy the right things to do when they are young, but it is not impossible to eliminate the bad habits of an older dog.

The first step obviously is the need to make sure the dog understands that you are the master so you can gain it’s respect and then you can start the process of training the dog so that it no longer performs the unwanted actions.

It is important to address only one thing at a time and not try to change the way your dog responds to different things all at once.

The way you will get an old dog to change is to show it that there is a better outcome from the new behavior pattern than the old one.

This is easiest to do if the dog learns that it will get a reward for making any behavioral changes.

The clicker technique works well with old dogs and is not something that is restricted to the training of puppies alone.

Be prepared for any training to take longer than it would if you were working with a puppy, however there are other benefits in that an older dog will generally have a longer attention span than a puppy and if you have had the dog for many years they will be more likely to want to please you.

Be assertive but always remain positive and encourage the dog to change.

Food cubes are great toys to buy for almost any dog as they make the dog think before they can be rewarded with the food.

This can keep a dog entertained for a long time and is a good remedy for a dog that gets bored while you are away.

By solving a puzzle the dog will be able to get the food treat and dogs are usually very determined when they know that there will be a food reward for them if they can sort out the puzzle.

Other types of puzzle toys are the biscuit balls, which are equally good at keeping a bored dog entertained.

If you are going to be away from home then it is worthwhile looking at buying some of these to keep your dog happy as they pass the hours until you return.

Other good toys that don’t require a puzzle for the reward are the doggie potato chips.
These come in a wide variety of styles from pig’s ears to hooves and they can last for a couple of days.
They are also excellent for the dog that needs to be left alone while you are at work all day, as they will keep them entertained.

There are various different options for the dog that likes to chew and most of these are non-consumable items that your dog can chew on for hours.
As they get older you can simply throw them away and replace them with another new one, as they are relatively inexpensive.

Fortunately most of these toys are cheap so you can test and try them until you find one that your dog will remain contented with.

It’s a great way to stop your dog from getting into trouble while you are away and also to help stop them whining and barking if they are missing you.

Here’s Today’s Joke: How do you stop a dog smelling?
Cover its nose.

Dog training is all about building relationships.

Good dog training is all about building positive relationships where the dog has respect for it’s owner and also where the dog realizes that the owner is the master and leader of the pack.

If the owner assumes the position of the leader of the pack and the dog knows and respects that position then it will feel more secure and be a happier pet.

Under no circumstances should the dog be fearful of it’s master and that is why most current methods of dog training focus on the positive aspects of the dogs actions and reward it for the good actions that it takes rather than punishing it for anything that it does wrong.

A well trained dog that respects it’s master will always want to please, and that leads to a better-behaved dog both at home and when socializing with other dogs and people.

These positive training techniques are also great at retraining dogs that have consistently done something wrong, as they will quickly learn that the rewards for good actions are far greater than the attention they are seeking from their negative actions.

Even older dogs can be trained quite well by using these methods so a dog is certainly never too old to learn new tricks.

How much food does your dog really need?

Along with the general population of people, dogs are also suffering from obesity from eating the wrong food and eating too much food.

It is relatively easy to control the amount of food your dog is eating and it is essential that you gauge its weight on a regular basis to ensure that it doesn’t get obese.

Dogs can suffer from many different ailments due to obesity including diabetes.
There are an increasing number of dogs suffering from this disease and in most cases this could have been avoided through the correct nutrition and monitoring the amount of food the dog has been eating.

Having a dog with diabetes will necessitate the injection of insulin or in some cases taking of pills to assist in the maintenance of the correct sugar levels in their blood.

Obviously this involves additional expense and inconvenience and there is also a danger that should the insulin level be incorrect your pet could die.

It makes sense then that your dog should only eat what is good for it and in quantities that won’t result in it developing health problems later in life.

Working dogs will need more food for the energy that they will expend in the course of the day but a dog that lays around the house all day and doesn’t get any exercise will not need to eat the same portions of food.

You should weigh your dog on a regular basis and see whether it is gaining or losing weight and adjust the amount of food it is eating accordingly.

There are many benefits in giving your dog the right toys to play with.

While most people think that dog toys are only to relieve boredom this is not the only use for these toys.

Sure dog toys are excellent for relieving boredom and are especially good where you might have to leave your dog on it’s own for periods of time, but there are other reasons why you should consider buying your dog toys.

Some dog toys are designed to boost their intelligence where they will only get a reward after they have performed certain tasks.

These toys are a very effective method of training.

Other toys help a dog to know what they can chew and in doing so you can save yourself a lot of expense by not having to replace expensive items throughout the house that can be destroyed at the teeth of your pet.

There are chewing toys that will help your dog strengthen and keep their teeth clean and there are toys that will help teach your dog with retrieval training.

You really need to decide what you want the toys for before buying and also to determine what the personality of your dog is before you can get the right toys for it.

Some toys are designed to last for a short period of time when they will be replaced by new ones, and these are often the chewing variety.

Some toys of the chewing variety are flavored so you will need to check first to see what ingredients they have used for the flavoring or you might be buying a toy that your dog is allergic to.
These toys with flavoring often have preservatives in them so beware.

With such a wide variety of toys available on the market these days there is certain to be something that your dog will enjoy and make their life all the more happy.