Dogs as Gifts

There may be nothing cuter than a puppy wrapped up in a bow and presented to you as a gift...BUT, there are a few things to consider before going out on a whim and buying someone a puppy.
I have personally had two experiences with giving/receiving a puppy as a gift. One time worked out great, the other not so much. Here are both experiences:
My mother's friend had been wanting a dog for months, so when his birthday rolled around, what better gift? He had never owned a dog before, so we went with an 'easier' breed, the Labrador Retriever. My mother picked out a sweet girl who was later named Stella. Now the person we were giving this puppy to was a responsible single adult with plenty of time on his hands and a willingness to learn about dogs. As you can imagine dog and owner fell in love and they are still living happily ever after. BUT, it does not always end this way, and if I were to take a guess, I would say that the majority of dogs given as gifts are given away/discarded by the age of two. Even if the dog is kept, is it in the best living conditions or only given the absolute necessities? Which brings me to my second experience.
Christmas two years ago, my dad decided to get a puppy for the kids for Christmas. They already had a Pomeranian who was well loved and taken care of, but she is an exceptionally easy dog. What my dad wasn't expecting (but he would have been if he were well educated and read my blog!) was the amount of a work a stereotypical puppy would be. This newcomer was loved by the kids for about a month before the novelty wore off. My dad was faced with a dog that screamed, and I mean screamed, in her crate, urinated and defecated all over the house, chewed everything in reach, and bit your fingers every time you went to pet her. On top of the common puppy issues he had to face, they were in a money crisis, and still to this day have not had her spayed or even updated on her shots. There is also the small problem that her and the other Pomeranian do not get along. Now, I have to give my dad some credit for making it through the rough puppy stage and not getting rid of the dog, but like most people who get puppies for gifts (especially gifts for their kids) he did not think through the responsibility of having another dog.

Lilly, the Christmas gift

This brings me to my list of reasons why is can be a very bad idea to give a puppy as a pet. 

1. Picking the right dog for you and your family is a very personal and emotional experience. Compare getting a puppy for someone to getting a house or wedding dress for someone. You would not pick a house for your friend, because the two may not be compatible. It is the same with dogs, that emotional bond between dog and owner is something only they can pick out. 
2. Dogs as gifts during the holidays is extremely stressful for the dog. There is a lot of chaos going on during that time, and after the initial surprise of the puppy, people will have little time to deal with the responsibility it brings.
3. People who get dogs as gifts often do not think of the time and money it takes to properly raise a puppy, only to realized the responsibility too late. 
4. There is an abundance of homeless dogs under the age of two at shelters. Buying puppies only adds to this problem, it is best to get a gift certificate to an animal shelter and letting someone pick out and adopt their dog. 
5. More dogs than you may think between the ages of 7 and 14 months are brought to the Vet to be euthanized because they were not trained properly and developed behavior problems. Most puppies do not live past the age of two, either because they are euthanized by owners, hit by cars, injured in fights or taken to the shelter.

While yes, getting a puppy as a gift can work out on occasions, it is not ideal nor very smart for both dog and owner. Once the novelty of a new puppy goes away, you may realize you don't have enough time, money, knowledge or passion to raise a dog. By then it will be too late.

 

Dog Backpacks

 

  Digging in my basement for backpacking supplies, I ran across an unused dog backpack, still in it's original casing. I thought 'hey, may as well use this since I have it.' The problem was, my only dog the pack would fit on was scared of it. I could tell the moment I put it on him that he was not happy, his tail and ears were tucked, his eyes were wide and he didn't want to move. This, as it turns out, was a very easy fix for us. My dog, Koda, loves fetch, and from experience I know that a bomb could go off nearby and it wouldn't phase Koda if he were playing a game of fetch. So to get him to not only tolerate the backpack, but learn to love the pack, I showed Koda his ball like I always do before fetch, and put the pack on him. This time he hardly noticed anything was attached to him. I also put on the pack before every meal. 

Ruffwear is a great brand for dog packs

After a few days of this he would associate the pack with a game of fetch and be really excited to put it on. He was time for the walk. To start a dog walking with a backpack, don't put too much weight in it. A dog can carry up to 20% of their own weight, but start off slowly. Go for a short walk and make sure the pack isn't chaffing anywhere. 

Slowly increase the weight, I usually fill up water bottles and put them in the pack. It only took me a week to get Koda trained enough for a backpacking trip. 

Backpacks can also be a very good training tool, as they help to tire your dog out more effectively than just walks. If you go for long hikes and don't like to carry water bottles, why not let your overly energetic pooch do the job? Backpacks can also give a hard to satisfy dog a job to do, which will help balance your dog's mental stability.

 

Getting Back in the Game

No, it is never too late to start training your dog. No matter the age or level your dog is at, you can always start training, or in my case, retraining. I left for an extended vacation last month, and I came home to some surprise behaviors. One of my dogs had started to show fear-based aggression signs towards other dogs while on walks. I had thought that I had trained this behavior completely out of him years ago, but all it took was one month for him to go back to step one. This goes to show that dog training is a continuous commitment that lasts for your dogs entire life.
So I was faced with the challenge of getting back in the game. Challenge accepted. Luckily, once you have trained your dogs the basic commands and have a foundation of respect and communication on which to work, it is quite easy to retrain your dog.
What would originally take me months to do would only take me a week to redo. For example, I had gone to great pains to get my dog to not react to other dogs, it took almost six months of consistent rewarding and correction and desensitizing exercises. After being gone a month, my dog regained some of these bad behaviors, and it only took me about a week and a few treats to get him back on track.
So moral of this story? Training is a continuous game that will never end as long as you have a dog, though with practice it will get easier, and it's never to late to start.

  My (sometimes) trouble dog enjoying his vacation.

Canine Adolescence

Just like humans, dogs go through an awkward and troublesome adolescence that can be challenging for some dog owners. Depending on the dog, this stage can take place anywhere between 6-18 months. It is usually a gradual change that can last up to multiple years. It may hit some dogs mildly, others may be nearly impossible to manage. This is the time that most dogs are rendered to shelters. 

Physically your dog will be nearly full grown, clumsy, have his adult teeth in and be a chewing machine.This is also the most energetic time of your dogs life. It takes a near marathon to tire out my two year old lab, and he shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. This is also the time that most dogs will be turning from a happy-go-lucky puppy into a full grown dog trying to find his place in the pack. It is exceptionally important to keep your place as 'boss' and stay patient and consistent, adolescent dogs can be forgetful and test you.

Spaying and neutering your dog at a young age will lessen the effects of your dog maturing. Unfixed dogs will change in many behavioral aspects once they reach sexual maturity, this can cause further complications with training. Assuming your dog is fixed, it will take a bit more firmness and a few more corrections to let your maturing dog know who is in charge.

There is another side to 'dog adolescence' that says this: there is no proven phase of adolescence that dogs go through, instead your dog is acting the same as it did as a puppy, it is just bigger. In other words, when your puppy jumped up on you, you thought this cute and harmless behavior, but now that your dog is full grown and jumping on you, it's not so cute anymore. I feel this is a more accurate description of this time in a dogs life than adolescence is. So, train your puppy early on and your dog will grow up to be a well behaved dog.

From the experience of raising a number of dogs, adolescent dogs do tend to push your boundaries and test you as their 'pack leader'. Don't give up on your dog, because with the right training, or even a little bit of training, your dog can come out of this a well mannered companion who's whole life will be devoted to you.

Place and Stay

 

Teaching the place command can be used for many purposes, but is great to use when you have guest come over to your house. If your dog tends to greet guests with too much enthusiasm, I would recommend teaching and enforcing the place command. 

The place command is having a specific place for your dog (bed, mat, rug) to go lay down in and stay until he is released. It is important for this place to be the same throughout your dogs training, and for it to be easily recognizable for your dog. 

To start off, stand with your dog next to the designated place and hover your hand above the place until your dog steps onto it. Click and drop the treat onto the mat/bed/etc. for your dog to get. Repeat this until your dog knows to get onto his spot with just a soft hand movement. 

Next, tell your dog to lie down when he steps onto his mat, and don't treat until he does so. After a few training sessions like this, your dog will begin to lie down without you asking.

Now you can start taking small steps back and repeating the above steps until you are sending your dog multiple feet away from you to go lie on his place. Go slowly and set your dog up for success.

Once your dog gets the hang of what you are asking of him, you can begin to say the command long distance, such as in another room or from across the room. Part of the place command is for your dog to stay on his mat until released, teach this the same way you would teach stay but without an initial command. Treat your dog for staying on the mat, correct for getting up, and slowly increase the three D's (Distance, Distraction, Duration) until your dog goes to his mat and stays even when strangers are walking through your door. 

Nail Clipping

If your dogs are anything like mine, they absolutely hate it when their paws are messed with and, heaven forbid, clipped. I have a lab that is particularly bad with nail trimming, and will resort to aggressive behavior if we don't do it right. But there are ways to get your dog used to nail trimming.
Here is a good article that describes in detail how you can work with difficult dogs when it comes to nail trimming:

http://www.canismajor.com/dog/nailsv.html

Summarized, it is important to have the right holding technique with your dog so that your dog is secure and cannot get up or struggle, but he doesn't feel smothered or overwhelmed. It helps to have two people available when you first start clipping your dogs nails, especially if it is a big dog. You must be firm when correcting your dog, and you must correct every time he puts up a struggle or tries to bite. Consistency and timing is key, as always, with dog training.
Have some extra tasty treats with you to distract your dog from the ordeal, and soon he may even start enjoying himself. I have found that frozen peanut butter on a spoon will keep a dog busy enough not to need restraining, but it all depends on the dog.
Don't give into your dog if he starts to bite or make a scene. A muzzle may be necessary in severe cases, but you must show your dog that he will not get his way from biting. Correct him when he is not cooperating, and reward him for holding still or every time you clip a nail. Make it a fun and positive experience for your dog, not one he will dread.   

Choosing the Right Dog Food

The importance of good nutrition for your dog is often times overlooked, but spending an extra bill for quality dog food will usually save you a big vet bill in the future, and increase your dogs life. The hard question to answer: what is the best food for my dog? unfortunately there is no one answer to this because it all depends on you and your dog. If your dog has health problems or allergies he will need a more specific diet.
But, there are some general things to look for in dog foods, and many dog foods to stay away from. One of the most common issues with dog food is that most low quality, cheaper chows are corn-based. This means your dog is getting enough calories, but is undernourished. A good quality pet food will be meat based, and will not have corn listed as a first ingredient, if at all.
A few other ingredients to stay away from are artificial colorings and flavorings, meat byproducts, any corn product or corn byproduct, gluten, grain-based and countless others.
Here is an example of a good dog food and a bad dog food. The dog food on the right (Purina) is a great example of a type of dog food you want to stay away from.









                                                

And another example of a bad dog food:




As you can see, the first ingredient in both of these foods are corn, which is very hard to digest for your dog and low in nutrition. These foods are basically full of fillers, with all sorts of added chemicals like colors, and things your dog does not need in its diet, like sugar.
I usually like to get dog foods with at least the first three ingredients a meat source. But some dogs can have allergies to meats, so other protein sources may work better for your dog. It all depends.

Here is a link that is extremely helpful with comparing different brands of dog foods. It shows you ingredients, and highlights the good and bad things about the food in a clear, understandable format.
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/

Another option that I won't go into much detail is a raw diet. This is when you buy your meats and supplements and make your dogs food yourself. This method is very expensive and time consuming, and is definitely not for everyone, but is generally a healthier alternative to dry dog food.

 If you know your dog's specific needs, and learn how to read and decipher dog food labels, you can make an educated decision on which food is best for your dog.