Charleston Animal Society
New Years Resolutions for Pet Lovers
10.
No Table Scraps: Our
four-legged friends won’t be happy about this one. No more people
food from the table or placed in the pet bowl, and no more plate
licking either.
9. Nail Trims:
Keeping pets nails trimmed properly can be a real challenge but 2008
will be a year of fewer toe nails clicking on floors.
8. Disaster Preparedness:
Putting together a pet disaster plan and survival kit is the plan
for many pet parents in 2008.
7. Brushing Teeth:
It’s recommended that you clean your pet’s teeth at least once a
week, but not many pet parents do this.
6.
Healthy Treats: Many pet
parents plan on “treating” their pets to more natural and organic
treats.
5. Sit, Stay, Down: A
well behaved pet is also a less stressed pet.
4. Car Safety: Plan
to better secure your pets when traveling by car by using a pet car
seat, pet safety belt, travel carrier, or pet barrier.
3. More Road Trips:
Whether it’s a trip to Grandma’s house, a visit to the pet store, or
a trip to the dog park
2.
Reduce your pet’s
environmental paw-print by choosing recycled, toys and bedding
1.
More Exercise:
Whether it’s walks, runs, fetch, or hikes. Getting Fido and Fluffy
moving is the top New Year’s pet resolution.
Training Tips
for Dog Lovers | Barking | Biting
| Chewing and Mouthing | Children
and Dogs |
Digging | Housetraining
| Jumping | Leaving Your
Dog Home Alone
Barking
DO:
Exercise your dog frequently to burn off his
excess energy. This will help to prevent your dog from barking out
of boredom.
Leave your dog with toys to entertain himself when you leave. Use
safe toys such as hollow bones or Kongs stuffed with his food or
with peanut butter. This will give your dog something else to do
besides barking. Nylabones are also safe toys to leave alone with
your pet.
Remember that dogs thrive on being with their ‘family’.
It is very difficult for them when we leave. Make your comings and
goings as low key as possible.
Tone the level of play down if your dog starts to bark during play.
Allow the dog to calm down and then focus him on a different toy.
If he continues to bark, end the session for a minute or two and
then resume the game.
Act calm and confident if your dog barks and acts startled and
frightened by something in public. Don’t pet or caress your
dog; this will only reinforce his fear. Instead, have him sit and
praise him for that. Socialize your dog more if he is often spooked.
Avoiding those situations won’t help him get over his fear!
DO NOT:
Leave your dog in
the back yard alone and expect him NOT to bark! Your dog may bark
out of boredom or anxiety, or may feel the need to alert you frequently
to things passing by!
Yell at your dog. When you raise your voice, it sounds as though
you are also barking and are worried about the ‘situation’
as well!
Reinforce barking by giving in to your dog’s behavior. If
your dog barks at you for attention or for a particular object,
ignore it completely. After the barking has stopped for at least
5 seconds, you can then give your dog what he wants. (However, if
your dog barks to go out and do his ‘business’, pay
attention and let him out quickly!)
Let him bark at visitors. Give him something to do by having him
"sit". Giving him a favorite ball or toy will also decrease
the barking.
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Biting,
Chewing and Mouthing
DO:
Keep in mind that coming
to a new home is stressful. Stress may come out as mouthing and
chewing. Give the dog safe things to chew on so that he can release
his stress.
Remember that teething puppies and adolescent dogs frequently have
sore gums. If your dog is biting or mouthing you for this reason,
give him a frozen washcloth or ice cubes to ease the pain.
Provide your puppy or dog with plenty of chewtoys so that he can
exercise his mouth and jaws. This is natural and necessary for dogs.
Teach him the rules of contact. When the puppy or dog’s teeth
make contact with your skin, immediately freeze. At the same time,
say "ouch" in a very high-pitched and sharp voice. You
are acting in the same way that one of the puppy’s littermates
would act! Initially, you can use this exercise to prevent the really
painful bites. As the dog gets better at inhibiting his bite, use
the exercise until he puts absolutely no pressure at all on your
skin.
Have a temper tantrum the next time the behavior returns. Tell
your dog that "I’ve had it with you" and leave the
room in a huff. You can even slam the door. Return after 15 to 20
seconds in a sunny mood. Make up with your dog so that he can see
it is the biting that you don’t like, not him.
Teach your dog to take food gently.
Teach your children how to play with the dog safely. Dogs do not
naturally know what is too rough during play.
DO NOT:
Do not roughhouse
or wrestle with your dog. This kind of playfighting encourages uninhibited
biting. It may be okay for the dog to wrestle with Dad and take
his arm between his jaws, but what about grandma or the toddler?
If the dog is used to roughhousing with people, he will be unable
to know the difference between safe and unsafe.
Tease your dog with your fingers, hands, or with food.
Expect the dog to know what is okay to chew on and what is not.
Take time to teach him the right things. Remember that some dogs
take one to two years before they can be given freedom in the house.
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Children
and Dogs
DO:
Supervise your child
or children with your dog. If you cannot watch them, put your dog
in a crate or your toddler in a playpen.
Anticipate what your dog will do. If your dog moves away, hops
up on furniture, hides, or goes under a bed; he may be trying to
avoid contact with the child. The only other ways a dog can protest
are with barks, growls, and nips. Give your dog a safe haven when
he needs to be quiet or alone.
Enforce what you say with your child and with your dog. If you
ask your child to stop bothering the dog, enforce that. If you tell
the dog to sit, enforce that too. Be consistent.
Educate your child and your dog. Teach the child that animals must
be treated with care. Teach the dog that children are okay and what
behavior around them is acceptable. Reward the dog when children
are around to improve his opinion of them!
Allow your new dog as much time as he needs to get used to everyone
in the family
DO NOT:
Allow your child
to hit, chase, tease, pinch, jump on, or scream at your dog. Children
that scream and run encourage the dog to chase and ‘play nip’
them.
Allow your child to ‘love’ the dog too much. Your dog
may not be accustomed to being hugged tightly, grabbed, or kissed
in the face.
Allow your child to wake up a sleeping dog abruptly. This may frighten
the dog.
Force your dog to interact with children. Let him decide when it
is okay.
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Digging
DO:
Supervise the dog when
he is outside. Prevention is the best cure. If he begins to dig,
reprimand him with your voice and redirect him to something that
is acceptable, such as a toy.
Remember that certain breeds dig more than others. Terriers, terrier
mixes, Nordic dogs (such as Huskies, Malamutes, and Norwegian Elkhounds)
and Nordic mixes tend to dig more, although most dogs do enjoy digging.
Exercise your dog; try to wear him out twice a day. Play games
with him so he is not bored. This will help to prevent digging.
Provide adequate shelter. Dogs will dig when they are too hot.
Try burying cayenne pepper or the dog’s feces in spots where
they’ve been digging. However, these methods may only send
your dog to a new digging spot!
Build him a sandbox or his own digging hole. Choose an area where
he can dig. Bury a few toys ahead of time and then encourage him
to dig in that spot!
Train your dog so that he can spend time with you inside the house.
Dogs need to be with their family. Go into the backyard together
to have fun.
DO NOT:
Punish
your dog if you find he has destroyed something after the fact.
Your dog will not understand what he has done.
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Housetraining
DO:
Supervise your dog. Look
for signs that he needs to eliminate, such as sniffing and circling
an area.
Choose an area that you’d like him to use for pottying. Take
him there frequently throughout the day, especially after he has
eaten.
Go outside with your dog. Praise when he eliminates so that he
will know that THIS PLACE IS THE RIGHT ONE.
Keep your dog on a feeding schedule. This will help you to know
when he needs to relieve himself.
Remember that your puppy cannot truly control himself until he
is about five months old.
Clean any accidents with a product that will remove the entire
odor. Do not use ammonia or products with ammonia in them. Ammonia
imitates the smell of dog urine.
Use a crate when you cannot supervise your dog. If you do not want
to crate your dog, use baby gates to keep him in a safe, enclosed
area.
DO NOT:
Hit your dog with
a newspaper. Hitting your dog won’t teach him the difference
between ‘going inside’ and ‘going outside’.
Rub your dog’s face in his waste. Not only it is dirty, but
will likely make your dog neurotic and afraid of you.
Yell at your dog. When you catch your dog in the act of eliminating,
pick him up quickly and take him outside. Then you will have an
opportunity to praise him for going in the right place.
Punish or yell at your dog if the accident has already happened.
After five seconds of doing anything, your dog will not understand
why he is being punished. Remember that supervision is the key to
successful housetraining.
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Jumping
DO:
Ignore your dog when he jumps on you. Have
other family members or visitors do the same thing. Turn your back
on him and walk away.
Remember no attention or treats until all four paws are on the
floor. Never, ever, pet your dog or give him any attention for jumping
on you.
Be consistent! No jumping even when your dog is a cute and small
puppy and no jumping when you are wearing dirty work or gardening
clothes.
Teach your dog to sit. A dog can’t sit and jump at the same
time. Just before your dog is ready to jump, ask him to sit instead.
Wait five seconds then release and reward your dog for sitting.
Prevent your dog from jumping. Hold onto his collar or step on
the leash so that he cannot jump on other people. Do not let him
learn that this is a way to get attention.
Ignore your dog when you leave the house and when you come home.
If we become excited each time we enter the house, the dog also
becomes overly excited and will jump on us as a greeting. Keep exits
and entrances low-key and mellow. Pet and speak to your dog after
a minute or two has passed and the dog is calm and not jumping.
This will also help prevent the dog from being too anxious when
you are away. Be patient, your dog is only trying to say hello,
and doing it in a natural doggie way!
DO NOT:
Knee the dog in the chest. You may seriously hurt your dog.
Grab the paws and squeeze them.
Squirt lemon juice into his mouth.
Hit him with a newspaper.
Step on his hind toes.
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Leaving Your Dog Home Alone
DO:
Puppy-proof the house. Shut doors or use baby
gates to keep him from areas where you don’t want him. Put
away shoes or other objects that the puppy or dog might chew.
Leave him with safe toys to entertain himself. Safe toys include
Nylabones, sterilized hollow bones, and Kongs.
Try to exercise your dog so that he is physically and mentally
tired before you leave. If you are crating your dog, vigorous exercise
twice a day is an absolutely must!
Keep your good-byes and homecomings as unemotional and low-key
as possible. If your dog has gotten into trouble while you’ve
been away, greet him as you usually do, and remember to prevent
that problem in the future.
Remember that dogs must be housetrained and chewtrained. A dog
may be one or two years old before he can be given the full run
of the house.
Use a crate. Crates can help to calm an anxious dog and keep them
safe. They also help with housetraining. A puppy can be crated one
hour for each month he is old. An adult dog can be crated for up
to eight hours, preferably only six.
DO NOT:
Punish the dog if
you come home and find that something has been destroyed or that
he has had an accident. The dog will not understand what he has
done after the fact. That would be abuse. Focus on teaching him
the right things to chew.
Isolate your dog in a closed off laundry room or basement. A dog
that is over-isolated may become neurotic and ‘hyper’.
Use baby gates so that the dog can see out. Put his crate in a large
room where he can see other parts of the house or has a window.
Abuse the crate. Crates are for when a dog cannot be supervised.
A dog will not learn what you want while he is in a crate or left
alone. Teach your dog what you expect and spend time with him.
Leave him outside. Dogs that are left outside become bored and
destructive. They also suffer when the weather is too hot or too
cold. Remember that dog houses absorb heat; they do not protect
your dog from overheating.
Chain or tie your dog. Dogs that are chained cannot get away from
other people or other dogs that mean them harm. Tying your dog up
will have bad effects on his temperament because he will be constantly
frustrated.
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