Category: Puppies!

Nail Day!

nail-day-photoNail trimming is an important part of a regular grooming routine. If your dog’s nails get too long, they can break, which is painful and can result in an infection. Long nails also cause an irregular gait that leads to skeletal damage. Despite its importance, many people don’t like to trim their dog’s nails. When you get a new puppy, teaching him/her that nail day is FUN is important.

Here is a classic nail day and how to start your puppy off on the right foot.

First, always make sure your puppy has had a good run before doing nails.  A tired puppy is more likely to relax while doing his/her nails.  Also, have some great extra special treats that you can feed your puppy/dog while trimming his nails.

Soft treats like Zukes are great because they are tasty, break apart easily, and are easy to eat for any sized dog.  Click on the bag and it will take you to Amazon Affiliate where I am an affiliate.

Second, you need to have a good pair of nail trimmers or a Dremel.  I like using a Dremel tool to smooth the edges.

 

Here is an example of a great set of cutters – I prefer this type as they are easy for me to hold in my hand.  Click on clipper image to take you to Amazon Affiliate. They have these as well as many other varieties.

And a Dremel tool that I LOVE! The battery lasts a long time, the Dremel is relatively quite and it is easy to use.

Now you are all set to trim those nails.

Get all your equipment together before you start:  trimmer, Dremel, and treats.  I prefer to sit on the floor and have my puppy between my legs with his feet up in the air.

  • Feed your puppy a treat.
  • While he is eating the treat, trim a nail. Do not worry about how short the nail is, just trim a bit so he gets use to the feeling. Note: see the photo for the angle to cut the nail.
  • Trim one nail at a time and give a treat each time before you trim.
  • If your puppy is remaining still, repeat the above with the Dremel and lightly touch each nail as you feed your puppy between each repetition.

NOTE: if your puppy becomes wiggly, trim one foot each day until your puppy is compliant and still.

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If you have multiple dogs, gather the same tools and treats before starting to trim any nails.  Having multiple dogs can be of benefit while teaching nail trimming.

  • Start by letting your puppy watch your other dogs get their nails cut.
  • Feed treats only to the dog that is getting his/her nails cut. This is also a great opportunity to reward the dog getting his feet done.
  • If your puppy tries to get in the way or steal the treats, gently push him aside and continue your work.
  • Once it is time to do your puppy’s nails, give him/her a treat and cut the nail. Give a treat and cut a next nail and so on until all the nails are done.
  • If your puppy struggles or shows signs of stress, start off with one nail on each foot or only one foot a day.
  • All in all, the process is simple and will condition your puppy to LOVE nail day.
  • Once your puppy excepts nail cutting, gradually wean off feeding treats for every toe to every other toe and then each foot.

Introduce the Dremel once your puppy is accepting of his nails getting cut. Dremel your dog’s nails the same way as you did the nail trimming, with a treat then doing a nail.

Nails need to be trimmed once a week.

Doing nails can be an easy job for you and actually become very rewarding for your puppy/dog.  Take your time and associate the nail trimming with something good that your puppy/dog enjoys.

Here is a close up of doing nails.

Nails UP!

Please ask questions or leave comments below.

Watch POE Grow – The life and training of a competition puppy.

Now is your chance! “WATCH POE GROW” will give you that opportunity to watch me train my new puppy, Poe.

poeIn the upcoming videos, Poe and I will be showing you everything I like to do with a puppy or dog to build a great competition partner and a wonderful family member.

Poe will be learning skills that will help create a great foundation needed for future competitions as well as learning how to be a well-adjusted partner and pet.

You will get to spend time with Poe as he experiences new locations, and socializes with new people and dogs. In addition, you’ll learn how I teach various skills, while we build confidence, focus, and enthusiasm.

More importantly, Poe and I will show you how to build desire for focus and engagement through great skills like recalls, tug, bringing back toys, self-control, and much more.

Don’t miss out! While a new puppy offers you a clean slate to build solid foundations, confidence, focus and desire, it is never too late to address issues and clean up foundations with your current dog.

This is the opportunity to teach your new puppy or your current dog everything you want your dog to know.

Poe says to Click LIKE, SUBSCRIBE (to get updates) and SHARE as we “WATCH POE GROW”.

The Great Sport of Obedience

 

History – The first obedience trial was created in 1933 by Helen Whitehouse Walker of New York. By 1936, the AKC had adopted standards for obedience trials and trials were being held across the United States.

For many years, competition obedience was the only “dog sport” available to people. As a result, it developed a strong following and providing an outlet for dog people to do advanced training, and compete outside the conformation ring. Today, there are many different obedience levels and classes you can enter. Obedience classes range from heeling patterns, recalls, and stays to more advanced classes where dogs, are retrieving, jumping or performing by signal commands only.

Obedience is a test of how well a dog is trained. In order to qualify a dog must accomplish a number of exercises. Competitive obedience is far more difficult than typical household training. When the handler issues any of a number of commands in a competition, the dog must immediately perform the skill without hesitation. Delay or stopping to look at something or someone might result in point deductions. Indeed, Competition Obedience is a fascinating sport. The bond built between the handler and their dog is wonderful to watch. The best thing about obedience is that anyone of any age and with a dog of any breed can train and participate.

Start puppies young. Puppies as young as 6- 8 weeks old are like a spongepoe and ready to absorb skills and behaviors. Most young puppies also have not formed many if any bad habits. While puppies make great students, a dog of any age may be trained and will enjoy training and learning.

Why Do Obedience?
By nature, dogs are pack animals and will look to you for guidance. Providing your dog with structure and boundaries, will help your dog understand how to abide by the rules in your household and to become a companion you will really enjoy.

Obedience training doesn’t solve all behavior problems, but it is the foundation for solving just about any problem. Training opens up a line of communication between you and your dog. Effective communication is necessary to teach your dog how you want him to behave. You can teach your dog anything from sit, come, and walk on a loose leash to heeling at your side and competing at dog shows.

Aside from allowing your dog to live happily as a companion, training helps bring out the best in your dog. Through training, your dog will become more self-confident and able to cope with the everyday stresses of life. While you work with your dog, you will also build rapport between your dog and you. The increased rapport will help establish a good foundation for training in most competition venues such as agility, obedience, and rally. Training your dog increases the possibility that he will be successful in whatever venue you decide to pursue!

THE BENEFITS OF AN OBEDIENCE TRAINED DOG:
▪ He sits when told to and will not jump on guests.
▪ He stays so he will not bolt out the door when it is opened.
▪ He knows you are in charge and will not try to take over the house.
▪ He comes when called and does not bark incessantly.
▪ He does not pull on the leash and walks with you!
▪ He only chews on items that are his.
▪ He will not chase other dogs, cats, cars or people.
▪ He will be able to successfully participate in competitive events such as obedience, agility, rally, and other activities!

Obedience training is fun and rewarding for you and your dog. It can and will enrich your relationship with your dog and make living together more enjoyable. A well-trained dog is more confident and as a result is a pleasure to be around.

Thinking about taking online classes?

Here is what you need to know and look for in online classes?

Online dog training or e-learning has become a hot trend. Today your options are limitless on how and where to gather information about dog training, behavior modification, and competition training. Online classes are growing in popularity and are great way to continue to learn and gather information.

E-learning is a convenient and valuable concept for dog trainers everywhere because it is web-based, easy to use, and accessible 24/7 from your own home! Many dog trainers are logging in to online classes and learning valuable concepts, techniques and philosophies that will enhance their training program with their dogs. Better yet you can learn from those who have been in your shoes and have a vast wealth of experience. With their help you can better prepare your training sessions and avoid mistakes.

Online courses offer a lot of flexibility for busy people. It’s convenient and can save you time and money. This is an ‘easy way of training with top trainers that are not in your area. Dog trainers often drive long distances and pay big bucks to attend seminars by the best of the best. Now many of these trainers offer their knowledge via online classes. Some offer consultations of training or showing videos giving ways to improve. Costs will vary, but when you consider the savings in travel time and gas money, convenience pays.

Taking online classes allows you to work toward your goals at your own pace. It is fun having the flexibility of the online classes. If you are busy a few days a week no problem, just do what you can when you can. It is sometimes better than classes where you get 1 hour each week. Online classes also offer much more personalized attention and feedback.

5 QUICK DOG TRAINING TIPS

train

Training your dog can be very rewarding yet still an incredibly frustrating experience. 

It is especially difficult if you have no past experience in dog training.

If you are having trouble in your quest to have a well-trained dog, this article will give you five tips to help you train your pet.

1. Begin training your dog as soon as possible. The longer you wait, the more fixed your dog’s bad habits become.

2. Pay attention to when your dog has to go to the bathroom. They usually have to go within minutes of eating, waking or playing. Take them outside and praise them when they go potty outside.

3. Crate train. Use your crate in a place you can put your dog for times you can’t watch him. Give a great bone for your dog to chew while he is in the crate to keep him busy and happy.

4. Socialize your new puppy as much as possible. Introduce them to new environments and people so that they will be a well-adjusted adult.

5. Never train your dog when you are upset. If you need a smile, try training a trick. You will be surprised at how it will turn around your day!

Of course there is much more to training your pet than this but these five tips will get you well on your way to having a well-trained dog.

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Increasing Your Knowledge

Only you can decide what you should learn next!

Today your options are limitless on how and where to gather information about dog training, dog behavior modification, or dog competition. If you want to increase your dog training knowledge, the first step is to decide the general area of knowledge you want to acquire.

Do you want to learn about obedience, agility, dog behavior, etc.? Do you want to learn about a specific topic within the knowledge area? For example, if your knowledge area is agility, you can obtain information on handling cues, course design or analysis or behavior based subjects such as reactivity or drive building. Only you can decide the direction you want to go when expanding your knowledge.

Outline Your Desires
If you want to expand your knowledge to improve your dog training or showing, develop a plan to give yourself a direction. Think about the goals you have for your dog and isolate the areas you need to improve or learn more about. List and organize the skills. Now you have a general plan to begin looking for the information.

Look to the experts
Watch DVDs, read books, consult with experts, and go to seminars that will give you innovated ideas. It’s rare for an idea to come out of nowhere. By constantly seeking ideas, you’ll get them.

Remember, you can learn from other people. Some will teach and propose methods and theories that you will agree with while others will not. You can learn from the positive things as well as from the negative. Go to seminars, listen to podcasts, and read books or magazines that pertain to the subject of your interest. Devote time each day to listen to or read something informative. There are many people that have traveled down the learning path already and that have a vast amount of “hands on” experience.

Work with a teacher if at all possible. Good dog training is about accurate timing and well-practiced mechanical skills. It always helps to have an experienced trainer watch you train. Don’t be embarrassed. We all started somewhere. Teachers are readily available these days through the internet. There are great, reasonably priced online line classes and/or personal training lessons available from wonderful trainers. Who better to help you fine-tune your timing, knowledge and skills?

A single conversation with a wise man is better than ten years of study.
~Chinese Proverb

Trainers train
Book learning is great and very important. But it is no substitute for putting your knowledge into action. Video recording your training sessions helps your to analyze your training and the responses from your dog. Get out there and work with your dog!

Be a hardworking student. When you train be sure to learn from the negative things as well as from the positive ones. Your failures as well as your successes teach you and add direction and methods needed for your improved learning. Keep track of your successes and failures with notes or log books. Remember that sometimes your failures are better “teachers” than your successes.

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
― Thomas A. Edison

Collecting information
When you find a good idea “collect it”. Don’t rely on your memory, write it down! As you are gathering information, I recommend that you use a diary in which you can write down all the ideas you have gathered from books, seminars, podcasts, DVDs, etc. Over the years these resources will become a significant part of your self-learning and more importantly, it’ll become of great value to your personal library.

Start teaching
The best way to solidify learning is by teaching. Share your knowledge and skills with others. Help your friends or neighbors train their dog. The more you watch and help others, the more you will learn. Watching others helps to improve your timing and problem solving skills. Teaching is a winning way to improve your techniques and timing.

“In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn.”
― Phil Collins

Please leave comments or email me with future article ideas at Ask DebbyQ. 

Visit my Youtube and watch training videos at https://www.youtube.com/@DebbyQuigley