Make Your Own Interactive Treat Dispenser At Home

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Christmas Decorations and Your Dog

Dangerous Christmas Decorations

As the holiday nears and we start celebrating by putting up our traditional decorations, we must think of our pets (not only dogs) and hazards that could save your pets life and also save a costly trip to the vet.

Tinsel & Ribbons

This is very dangerous for your pets and very appealing to them as well. Tinsel and ribbons can cause serious intestinal damage as one end can get stuck while the other end is pulled into the intestine as it contracts, the contractions can cause it to saw through the intestine. If not caught in a timely manner it can cause infection of the tummy cavity which can lead to death.

Fake Christmas Tree

The wire branches on artificial trees can be chewed off and swallowed for a aggressive chewer. Ingesting flexible wire could lead to severe and catastrophic results by tearing the oesophagus, choking, ripping the stomach and many more problems.

Glass Ornaments

All ornaments can be dangerous to pets but glass ones can be the most dangerous, not only for ingesting but breaking. Dogs tails and kitty paws can knock ornaments off the branch and if you have hard floors that glass ornament will break and can be eaten or stepped on, especially if it's at night or while you're at work and not able to clean up right away. Stick with home-made salt dough, hard large plastic or sturdy ornaments that can't be accidently shaken or knocked off.

Lights

Lights are VERY dangerous mainly for chewers and PUPPIES! Avoid lights on the tree or raise your tree up so the puppy cannot reach any strand of light, if the pup was to chew on the strand of lights while plugged in it would electrocute him or her. 

Stockings Held By Weights

Many people are hanging their family and pets stockings on weights placed on-top of the mantle. This can be dangerous for your pet if they were to decide that a hanging stocking looked like a fun toy, pulled on it and had that weight land on them.

Fake Snow

This means that cotton fluff used to decorate mantles and other surfaces as well as the spray snow for the windows. The fluff can be ingested that could cause a blockage in the intestine and the spray snow has so many chemicals in it that can cause your pet to become very ill from licking at it.

Tips to help have a safe Christmas:

* Used bitter apple spray or even essential oils such as (eucalyptus or peppermint) to deter your animals from the Christmas tree or other items you're not sure if they will take a liking to or not.

*Train your dog to be around the tree and reward for walking away from it. Clicking and rewarding.

*Don't leave any chocolate or cooked turkey out on counters, chocolate can poison your animals and ingesting cooked turkey bones can cause your animal to choke or cause the intestine to rip or block.

Remember to enjoy this time of year with your pet and family, don't lock the over excited dog up just to make it easier :) Train.

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Senior Dogs Article

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Who Says You Need A Kid At the Playground

I thought I would share this funny clip of my girl on a rainy day, doing one of her favourite things.....playing at the playground!

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TOP 5 Recall Mistakes Owners Make

Often when I meet a new client with an older dog, I always hear the same complaint, "my dog won't come when I call him".

This is probably one of the biggest problems owners face, when actually it is one of the EASIEST to train. But what happens when you train a recall but still having problems? Look below to see if you've made one or all the typical recall mistakes.

First off, I want you to shake off the unrealistic idea that your dog should come to you......just because you say so. This is unfair and honestly just plain silly.  Now you've heard me say it before and I will say it again, dog's will always do what is reinforcing to them, so if you're not better then another dog, why the heck would the dog want to come to you? Yes, you could intimidate the poor dog and that dog would soon become depressed and even aggressive (depending on what form of intimidation you used), he would only come to you because you've given him no other choice, it's not like he wants to come to you, his body may be there but his mind is elsewhere.

I can teach you how to avoid recall mistakes and have success with your dog, you will have your dog running to you happily over and over again. Doesn't that sound great?



Mistake #1
Don't call your dog to you then end the fun.
Ex: Your dog is at a field playing with some dog's, you call the dog over and he comes back to you (horray!) Now you put a leash on the dog and leave, (booooooo!) You just associated "come" to "your fun will end!"

Mistake #2
Never punish your dog for not coming.
If you punish your dog for not coming right away and taking his time, you just taught the dog that when he does finally come (which is good) he gets in trouble. So tell me why he would want to come back to you?

Mistake #3
Don't put your dog in situations off leash where if you need to call him he will be too distracted to listen.
You have to work up to those distractions, you can't bring a dog to a dog park and expect a recall if the dog can't even come inside your home with no distractions. You must train in a no distraction environment, once you have success there, move to a low distraction environment, once you have success there you can move to a higher distraction environment and so on. With every success you move to a more challenging environment.

Mistake #4
Don't approach your dog when saying "come".
What you're actually doing is using body pressure to push your dog away from you. Either A) stand in one spot and let the dog come all the way to you (which you should train) or B) walk/run the opposite way to entice the dog to follow you.

Mistake #5
Don't over use the command.
Holy moly! People over use the recall and actually desensitize their dog to the cue. If you repeat it over and over again, you will ALWAYS have to repeat it. Only say the cue ONCE and loud enough for the dog to hear you, if the dog didn't come or even look your way you know he A) can't hear you B) too distracting of an environment and you need to take a step back in training.

Any dog that you have trained a recall to mean wonderful things happen when this "come" word is said , that dog will come running to you. It's all about reinforcing the good behaviour so much that the dog anticipates what is to come when he comes to you. After much training you don't even need to use food rewards or toy rewards, the reward is you. But that takes time to get there and a lot of hard work. But if you love and care for your dog, you know it's worth all the hard work.

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