Archive for November, 2009
To prevent your dog from dragging you down the street, there are a number of measures you can take to successfully train them to walk in stride. For larger dogs, a choke collar is advisable. This collar gives the dog a small pinch whenever they pull on the leash too hard.
For smaller dogs, a nose collar and a small dog harness is advisable because they will pull back on the dog’s head (nose collar), or front legs (harness) whenever they pull too hard, and train them gradually to walk with you. In addition to these methods, praise and treats following a tug on the leash or when the dog walks with you in stride will go a long way.
Cyber Monday has arrived!! I try every year to purchase all of our Holiday gifts online. Unlike black Friday, cyber Monday has no lines to wait in, no crowds to battle for that last item on shelf, and the weather is perfect for shopping from my home office chair.
Most of our family members either own a dog or cat so with a little thinking of the breeds and type of cat we can find the perfect gift online. We found a new holiday shop Gifts for Dog Lovers that not only has items for dogs but cats as well.
The everyday pet supplies are also a good idea for pet owners from books on pets to grooming supplies all of which my family could use. I think this year our goal of buying everything online will be reached.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Today marks the beginning of the Holiday season with family and friends stopping by to enjoy one of everyone’s favorite meals. As dog owners, we spend quality time training our dogs not to beg, but with the smells of the Thanksgiving feast, it can be difficult for dogs to do otherwise.
Dogs can always spot the person willing to slide a morsel off their plate and give it to your dog. The question is how to address the problem without offending anyone and still allow your dog to socialize with your guests. Leaving this question unaddressed can un-do all of your training in fail swoop, while offending those guests who do not appreciate your dog making the rounds at the dinner table.
If you have a small dog, perhaps putting them in their dog crate is not a bad idea. Small dogs can be fearful with so many people in the house and the danger of being stepped on is foremost on their mind. For larger dogs, locking them in their dog crate during dinner is a wise idea. When the meal is over let them out to once again be allowed to socialize with the rest of the family.
Celebrating Thanksgiving centers around football and food; with turkey, ham, and all the fixings a desire among dog owners and certainly anticipated by our dogs is a Thanksgiving plate just for them. While the meal generally has all the food groups from protein, starch, and vegetables, the menu would certainly be healthy for your dog.
However, if your dog is not use to a homemade dog food diet than the consequences of fixing a plate can send your dog’s digestive system in a tailspin. It is never a good idea to change your dogs’ diet all at once, but rather a gradual change will allow him or her to acclimate to the change.
So unless you regularly prepare a homemade all natural dog food diet, resist the temptation of fixing a plate for dog. If not you will be cleaning up more than the nights dirty dishes.
Dog grooming for the inexperienced can be a difficult task. Most dog owners know how to clip nails and bathe their dog but when it comes to anything else, it is left to the professionals. In today’s economy when we are all looking to save money a dog booking on grooming is just the answer.
While a professional groomer will do a great job, buying a dog book on grooming can stretch your dog-grooming dollar. If you have your dog groomed, every couple of months, with a quality dog book you can pass on some appointments doing it yourself. Here is a customer review on a dog book on grooming:
Great Detail
As a pet owner I have been searching for a dog grooming book for the normal person to understand and I have found it in this book. The illustrations and written descriptions are very clear and have helped me to understand what to do and how to do it. Some books only give you partial details but The Stone Guide is precise and descriptive. I would highly recommend this to anyone, beginners or beyond.
It seems everyone is communicating over the internet lately. Email, twitter, and facebook seem to be the only way people stay in touch. Although I do most of my shopping online, I still like sending holiday greeting cards by the good old-fashioned US mail.
When we send out cards, we look for dog Christmas cards that always seem to give the right message. Couples the right message with a picture of a puppy and you are guaranteed to spread the holiday cheer. When it comes time to send your cards send dog Christmas cards and leave the electronic stuff for everything else.
One of our friends is getting new dog in a few weeks from a local breeder. Of the many things there is to purchase when getting a new dog, most people do not think of dog obedience books. Dog training is one of the most important aspects in raising a new dog.
A properly trained dog will have a safer and happier life. Dog books go beyond simple housebreaking and can teach a new dog owner or even the veteran dog owner how to train the most stubborn pooch. Well-trained dogs can socialize safely, accompany you to off leash dog parks, and join you on a daily walk leaving you confident your dog will listen to you should anything unfortunate happen.
We are looking forward to giving our friends their new dog book and seeing the outcome of a well-trained dog.
Michigan it is starting to get a little colder as we approach the winter season. As the days and night become chillier, I have noticed my dog is becoming more reluctant to venture outside. Normally when we grab his dog leash, he is at the door wagging his whole body.
We decided to search for some dog apparel and purchased a fleece dog coat to see if it was the temperature changing his mood. Low and behold, that was it he was too cold. Now when it is time for his daily walk we grab his new dog coat and his body is once again wagging ready to walk the neighborhood.
We have a barrel chested dog so we needed a dog coat with Velcro® straps that fit around him and still looked stylish…after all he should look good too. We settled on a neat looking plaid fleece dog coat that looked like something from a designer and was a perfect match for our English Bulldog.
Every year we give a dog toy gift to our dog for the Holiday. She gets dog toys all year but especially one for Christmas…it’s great watching her open her present. We came across this customer review and thought we would pass it along. It is going to be our dog toy gift this year.
Great Dog Toy
My dog has a great time with this toy. The little squirrels inside the trunk are squeaky toys, which she LOVES. The box came with instructions on how to motivate and teach your pet to use it. We put a small treat in the bottom and she had a great time digging it out.The whole process for removing the squirrels from the dog toy takes her less than a minute now, so if there is not a human nearby to restock the trunk, she moves on to something else. This is not something I would leave her with and expect it to keep her occupied for the day.
I would say that if your pet enjoys this general type of play (stuffed things, digging, hide and seek) this is an EXCELLENT dog toy and a lot of fun.
The Best Deshedding Shampoo & Brush On The Market
I purchased the small blue FURminator® brush with 1.7 inch blade along with the FURminator® Shampoo and FURminator Solution. I washed both dogs with the shampoo for 5 minutes each as directed. A ton of hair came off both dogs after the shampoo, about a fist-full each.
Next, I slathered them up with the solution, which smells like roses or some other floral scent and left that on for 5 minutes. Again, another fistful of hair came out with the rinse! I allowed both dogs a couple of hours to dry all the way, then came back and used the FURminator® dog brush.
Our Dog loves being brushed and let me go over her whole body except the sensitive areas with the tool. In addition, let me tell you, I took out a wad of superfine undercoat fur the size of her head off of that dog. Moreover, the only hair she’s leaving around the house is hair that was already all over the place prior to the FURminator® treatment. I don’t get hair flying off her when petting her anymore, and even the Rat Terrier that wouldn’t let me use the tool on him is still not putting out a lot of shedding.