Pets Articles & News
Step By Step Guide To Choosing The Right Dog Breed
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 ...
Five Vital Questions To Ask Your Vet
Choosing a "vital 5" out of my list of questions to ask your vet about your cat was no easy task. As the list gets longer, it becomes even more difficult. My hope, of course, is that cat owners and vets everywhere will use this technique to form a better pet health care team. With some creativity, you can adapt the concept, if not the questions themselves, to fit just about any pet. As you may already know, I began collecting my list of questions based on ...
Dog Crates And Cages
So you are looking for a dog crate and you want the highest quality you can get for the best price. What options are available to you, and what are the pro’s and con’s of the various types of dog crate. Firstly, let first look at the black epoxy coated crates. They look great when they are new, but they chip so easily and look tatty after only a few uses and let’s be honest if you are spending good money then you will want real value for your money and not something that is ...
Health Problems That Haunt Small Dogs
While none of the following problems are by any means exclusive to small dogs, they do present extra challenges for small dogs and their owners. Teeth and Gum Problems Many small dogs have a tendency to develop teeth and gum problems which lead to tooth loss, because they are often fed canned food as an alternative to larger kibble. Although tooth loss in itself is vexing, oral disease can lead to even more serious heart disease, compromised ...
Choosing A Responsible Breeder
It is an exciting time when you get to bring home a new puppy. He quickly becomes part of your family and you create a bond with lots of cuddling, trips outside and walks in the park. If buying from a breeder, you will want to be sure you choose a responsible breeder versus a backyard breeder (those who are only breeding for financial benefits). When shopping for your new dog, there are things you need to expect from your breeder as well as some things the breeder will expect ...
Click And Treat Is For The Dogs
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 ...
Choosing Healthy Foods For Your Dog
Today’s pet food market is larger and more diverse than ever before. While this offers a large number of choices in various types of pet food, it also presents a dilemma in choosing the healthiest food for your dog. Are generic or store brands suitable for a dog? What about familiar name brands like Purina and Alpo? Are the pricier brands that advertise specially formulated ingredients (Science Diet, Eukanuba) really living up to their claims and worth the extra money? All of these are valid ...
Here's What To Do If Your Dog Displays Submissive Urination
Bhabani wrote to me with her question about her dog and submissive urination: She wrote: "I have a mixed-breed puppy (German shepherd/border collie mix) which is 4 months old. It's very friendly with people but when it approaches people, it urinates all-over. The same happens when I come home in the evening. It becomes very excited and urinates on the carpet. Is that a submissive behavior? How can I solve this problem? -Bhabani Dear ...
Her Dog Defecates In The Crate
A Cavalier King Charles Spaniel owner wrote to me with the following question: "Dear Adam: We recently got a four month-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. We can't seem to housebreak him. I've tried what your book and tape said to do. He goes "#2" in his crate. I have been doing what you suggested, but would like some advice on the crate issue. Thank you. -Brenda Dear Brenda: The best solution ...
Fixing The Problem Of The Doberman Who Liked To Urinate In A Crate
A Doberman Pinscher owner sent me this question: "Dear Adam: I loved your book, "Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer!" and your web site, Dogproblems.com. They have been very helpful. My biggest training problem right now has to do with potty training. My dog is a 5 month-old Doberman female. About 2 months ago she had a bladder infection, so she started not making it through the night. She would pee in her crate and then whine that she had ...
Her German Shepherd Dog Has Become "Collar-Smart"
Will wrote to me about his dog, Lexi, and said: "Hello Adam. I have purchased your book and DVD set, and my 14 month-old shepherd Lexi and I have made great strides. We started agility training at six months and thanks to the long line training, she no longer takes 1 or 2 obstacles and takes off running. We also are involved in training for show obedience. Now here's my question that I need serious help with. I use the pinch collar during ...
Her Dog's Aggression Is Worse After In-Kennel Training
A Bull Mastiff owner wrote me, with the following question: "My problem comes in a 147-pound package. Mack is a 15 month-old Bull Mastiff. He has been in and out of training since he was 10 weeks old. He was starting to show dominance aggression at around nine months, so I found a training facility that would in-kennel train him. He was there for seven weeks. When I got him back he seemed to have a bigger problem than when he left. I was told by the trainer ...
Choosing A Good Hunting Dog
Dogs have been bred for the purposes of hunting with humans for centuries. Whether hunting for food or sport, various breeds of dog have been used to help flush the hunted animals out into the open, to retrieve downed animals (especially ducks, pheasant, and other birds), and to sniff out and track animals for the hunter. It is with these potential duties in mind that a hunting dog should be chosen. When choosing a dog for hunting purposes you may want to evaluate your needs ...
Adopting A Dog
There are lots of ways that people choose a new family dog. Some may search the newspaper for advertisements from breeders who are selling new puppies; others find breeders via listings on the internet, while still more may simply purchase a puppy from a local pet store. Perhaps the best method, however, in terms of being helpful to society in general is to adopt a dog from a local animal shelter. Adopting a dog brings a new friend into your life. It also helps to reduce the ...
Caring For And Raising Puppies
The raising of puppies can be an exhilarating and rewarding experience. It can also be an experience wrought with frustration if some guidelines aren’t adhered to or if certain aspects of the duty are overlooked. There are a number of things that you can do for the puppies and their mother to help make their first days, weeks, and months together healthy and happy ones. The mother dog will spend the first few days after giving birth with her new puppies. It is important to ...
Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) In Dogs
The canine distemper virus (CDV) causes a highly contagious disease in dogs known as distemper. Dogs who contract distemper suffer damage to their gastrointestinal, central nervous and respiratory systems. Distemper is incurable and often fatal. Puppies between the ages of three and six months are most susceptible to the disease, although older dogs and other carnivorous mammals can also contract distemper. At one time, distemper was the leading cause of death among puppies ...
Allergies – Dogs May Suffer Too
Many people don’t realize that their dogs, just like human beings, can suffer from allergies. In fact, about twenty percent of the dogs in the United States alone suffer from one allergy or another, with flea allergy dermatitis being the most common form of allergies in dogs. Other types include atopic dermatitis, food allergies, and inhalant allergies. Signs and symptoms of dog allergies may vary but are often marked by persistent itching and discoloration of the skin (most ...
A Brief History Of Seeing Eye Dogs
No one knows when the concept of using assistance animals for the blind first came into being. It is suggested that dogs have been used in such a capacity in various cultures for a very long time. It is known, however, that there was no formal guide dog program in existence until after the First World War. Why German Shepherds? Many people have probably wondered why guide dogs and Seeing Eye dogs are so often German Shepherds. The reason is actually twofold. ...
Three Questions On Selecting A Dog Training Collar And Dog Behavior
Judy wrote to me with the following question: "Hi, Adam! I enjoyed your website, but still need help choosing the right collar for my hard headed Jack Russell. She does go swimming to chase and catch my ducks in our pond, she chases cars, and she sometimes sneaks up behind visitors and bites them on the leg. She does not listen at all when she is so intensely concentrating on doing what she is not supposed to do...ignores us completely. Other than being so aggravating 1/4 of ...
Canine Health And Genetic Testing
Caninie Genetics and Health Testing: What do I need to know? You don't need a degree in genetics, or even a college course, to understand the basics of health testing in dogs. Every aspect of any dog's physical being began as contributions from it's parent's bodies,carried in their genetic code. As an example, there are certain health conditions in Golden Retrivers, Poodles and Labradors which can be passed from parent to puppy in the genetic material. Hence are ...
Can't Get Your Dog To Get Up And Come To You? Read This...
I was walking outside to open the front gate in front of my complex and saw two guys training a beautiful large German Shepherd dog, in front of my neighbor's house. They were both professional dog trainers that my neighbor had apparently hired to come by and train his dog when he's at work. I introduced myself and proceeded to watch. See, the funny thing about many dog trainers is that they have an ego, and their ego often prevents them from accepting help from people ...
Training Your Puppy The Right Way: Why Using The Crate Is The Safest Thing For Your New Puppy
Tom lives in a gated community of six houses. The woman who lives in the house next door to Tom just got a new Border Collie puppy. Tom immediately gave her a print-out of my dog training book (which you can read more about at: http://www.dogproblems.com/secretsbook.htm ) She read the book. Especially the part about using a crate to confine your puppy when you're ...
Ever Wonder How Fast To Train Or Work With Your Dog?
I noticed the other day, while working with a new German Shepherd dog-mix I adopted from a local animal shelter--how fast and intense you must work with your dog, during the "reinforcement" phase. Your dog goes through three general phases of learning: 1. "The Learning phase": This is when the dog learns to understand what a command means. You use very little correction at this phase, and may use toys, balls or food to motivate (not bribe!) the dog into doing and understanding what ...
How To Train An Abused Dog
Many people who've adopted older dogs-- especially stray dogs or dogs from the animal shelter-- assume that their dog has been abused in the past. So, how do you train an abused dog? Let's get right to the heart of the matter and state that-- in order to learn how to train an abused dog, we need to first define what an abused dog is: Of course, there are all types of different abuse. Everything from a dog being hit with a hammer to a dog simply being left and ignored ...
Urgent Request For Help On Larry King Live Show Tonight!
Representatives from the the Humane Society and the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) were on the Larry King Live Show tonight on CNN, Saturday September 10.
She's Trying To Stop Her Jack Russell Terrier From Sleeping In Their Bed
A Jack Russell Terrier owner e-mailed me with the following question: "My boyfriend has allowed his wonderful, very well-behaved Jack Russell, who is two years old, to sleep not just on but in his bed. We are trying to teach her to sleep in her bed which is on the floor by our bed but it's proving very difficult! She's managed to sleep there until about 4 AM, but then the whining starts and she ends up with us. It's not really a problem so much when we are at our house but we are ...
German Sheperds
People love big, protective and loving dogs and that's why there are a lot of german sheperd breeders. The German Shepherd is sometimes called an Alsatian because that's where they originated in Germany. Many Germans still called them Deutscher Schaferhund because of their original sheepdog function but the breed is not very old and was really developed from a variety of sheep herding farm dogs in the late 1800s. In 1899 Max von Stephanitz, a German cavalry officer, was president of ...
She's Trying To Stop Her Jack Russell Terrier From Sleeping In Their Bed
A Jack Russell Terrier owner e-mailed me with the following question: "My boyfriend has allowed his wonderful, very well-behaved Jack Russell, who is two years old, to sleep not just on but in his bed. We are trying to teach her to sleep in her bed which is on the floor by our bed but it's proving very difficult! She's managed to sleep there until about 4 AM, but then the whining starts and she ends up with us. It's not really a problem so much when we are at our house but we are planning to go ...
His Dog Digs, But Only At Night
A dog owner contacted me the other day and said, "Adam: I've been using your dog training techniques for six months now and Zac, my Labrador /Heeler cross (two years old) is just about an angel now. The only problem I have is that he digs up the lawn approximately once every two months. I have him on a running lead when I'm not home and this prevents him from digging. However, he is off the lead over night. Most of the time he's good, but now and again he digs a hole (at ...
A Fundamental Dog Training Concept You Must Understand For Success With Your Dog
I moved into a new house about 14 days ago. The funny thing about this house is that—when you walk into the master bathroom, the light switch is on the left side, opposite of where the sink is. Well, practically every other house I’ve ever lived in has always had the light switch on the right side—or at least on the same side as the sink. And I’ll be a monkey’s uncle if EVERY SINGLE TIME I’ve walked into that bathroom, my hand doesn’t ...