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To view sample Whole Dog Journal stories, click on the links below:
Positive Dog Training
After you learn how easy positive dog training really is, you’ll never push a dog's butt to the floor again! Nowhere, perhaps, is the difference between positive and compulsion training more beautifully obvious than with the “sit.” A considerable part of the first session of many compulsion classes is spent teaching owners how to force their dogs to sit by jerking, pushing, and manipulating various body parts. I spend my first night of class talking with my students, explaining how (and why) we are going to train our dogs without using force. Meanwhile my demonstration dog for the night an obstreperous, untrained dog provided by one of my students, a dog whom I have never met before emphatically offers sit after sit after sit. Magic?
Choosing Dog Supplements
What to look for when choosing a nutritional supplement for your dog. The ideal place to buy supplements for your dog is an independent pet supply store. Look for a shop owned or managed by someone who has experience with the products, which have been formulated for pets by reputable companies. Every two weeks I faithfully fill the pill organizers for my Boxer, Tyler. He receives a number of dog supplements, some for general nutrition and well-being, and some specific to his particular health challenges, including Addison’s disease.
Dog and Puppy Toys
Why dog toys are important to your dog's behavior. Dogs can never have enough toys, and here at Whole Dog Journal we are always on the lookout for creative new toys to help you enjoy your canine companions. Good dog toys are crucial for several reasons. First and foremost, bored dogs are far more likely to engage in behaviors that while perfectly natural and reasonable activities for a dog with time on his paws are not the sort of things that will please you. Things like barking at anything that moves outside the windows of the house, attempting to dig out the source of a trail of ants in the kitchen, or chewing on the table legs. If occupied with toys that are engaging (at least more so than the windows, the ants, and the table legs) and enjoyable (satisfying to chew, say, or so exciting as to be self-reinforcing), your dog is much less likely to redecorate your home when you’re at work.
Pre-Puppy Preparation
Stop! Set up your puppy for success by thoroughly preparing your home and family before you bring her home. Most people spend months preparing for the arrival of a new baby. They’re just as likely, however, to bring a baby dog home on a whim, without any preparation at all. Small wonder they find themselves playing catch-up for weeks, months, years, or even “getting rid of” the dog as they struggle to recover from the mistakes made in the pup’s formative months. For example, a lack of a dog crate, puppy pen, or baby gates from day one makes housetraining “mistakes” inevitable. This can set back later housetraining efforts by weeks or even months, as the puppy is triggered to eliminate in spots where he smells remnants of his past “accidents.”
Basic Dog Park Etiquette
Rules of dog-park etiquette and deportment for dogs and their handlers. Depending on who you talk to, dog parks are either the greatest invention since microwave ovens or the devil incarnate – either the perfect place to exercise and socialize your dog, or the best environment in which to traumatize your dog, make him dog-reactive, and perhaps get him killed. We’re told that perception is reality, but these two perceptions are worlds apart. Which one is right? Your local dog park can be a terrific place to take your dog, provided it is well-constructed, well-maintained, and well-monitored. It can also be you and your dog’s worst nightmare. What determines which perception will be your reality?
Dog Whisperer
We favor behavioral science over showmanship. I’ve avoided commenting on Millan’s show in Whole Dog Journal, because I honestly thought that giving it any attention would just reinforce it. I hoped that if I ignored it, the show might just go away! But the show is in its third season, and Millan’s book, Cesar’s Way, has been a best seller for many weeks. I do think Millan is a skilled handler; he’s able to quickly alter the behavior of many difficult dogs. He also handles people well; he’s supportive of their efforts to improve their lives with their dogs. So what’s my problem?
How to Choose Dog Food
No one is in a better position than you are to decide which dog food you should feed your dog. That may not be what you wanted to hear. You may have been hoping that someone would reveal to you the name of the world’s healthiest food, so you could just buy that and have it done with. But dogs, just like people, are individuals. What works for this dog won’t work for that one. A Pointer who goes jogging with his marathon-running owner every day needs a lot more calories than the Golden Retriever who watches TV all day. The diet that contains enough fat to keep that sled dog warm through an Alaskan winter would kill that Miniature Poodle who suffers from pancreatitis.
Doggie Daycare Provides Canine Socialization
Doggie daycare provides supervision, canine socialization, and stimulation. The powerful Akita lunges at the Scottie, her mouth agape, teeth flashing. With a guttural growl, her jaws close around the neck of the little black dog. She pins the wiry terrier to the ground, where he struggles, belly up, in a fruitless attempt to sink his own teeth into his attacker’s leg. As a handful of spectators laugh from a nearby doorway, the Scottie’s struggles subside until he is motionless on the floor, the Akita pinning him to the ground with her superior weight.
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