Ways to Leave Your Puppy at Home Safely

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Puppies are not toys. They need your full attention and a lot of training to grow up to be a well-behaved adult dog. The little fur balls may prefer to spend all of their time with you, but unfortunately, there are times when you have to leave your puppy at home. Do yourself a favor [...]

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Greeting Your Puppy

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You’ve been away all day. You’re looking forward to nuzzling the small fur ball and lavishing attention to make up for your absence. Stop! Rethink the situation. Lavishing a lot of attention could backfire. The puppy can become excited. It may choose to try to jump up on you to return the attention. This can [...]

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Dogs Can Use Litter Boxes Too

I was at the pet store the other day when I noticed bags of litter for dogs. I thought I had heard of everything, but that turned out to be a new one to me. After chuckling over the absurdity of the idea – after all, litter boxes are for cats – I found myself [...]

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Does Your Puppy Have Manners?

Teaching your puppy good manners is as important as providing good food, plenty of exercise and adequate health care. The idea is to train your puppy so that you can take him or her with you anywhere without being embarrassed due to bad behavior or a lack of manners. That means you need to spend [...]

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Why Do Dogs Become Aggressive?

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As man’s best friend, the last thing any pet owner wants to deal with is an aggressive dog. Whether aggressive towards strangers or strange dogs, no one wants to have to deal with the consequences of an aggressive dog. There are different types of aggression in dogs and they have different causes. Whether you are [...]

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Tips For Walking Your Dog

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Dogs make great walking companions. They are always ready to go and they really don’t seem to care where or when you walk them. They won’t complain about the weather or terrain. They are just happy to be with you. It does take training to teach a dog to walk with you in a manner [...]

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Stop A Puppy From Eating Shoes

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Dogs that chew shoes can definitely be a big source of frustration, but it is an annoyance that is shared by many who take on the job of raising a dog. Don’t let the situation get you down. There are a few things you can try before pulling out your own hair. Let’s start by [...]

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Stop That Digging!

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Although dogs and pigs are two different species, both seem to share one trait. They can have an incorrigible urge to dig in the dirt. While you might think it is cute that Rover digs and comes up with a brown nose, the next person that steps in the hole that he dug may tend [...]

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Potty Training Your Puppy

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Potty training or housebreaking a puppy can be one of the biggest obstacles you encounter in raising a dog. Patience and vigilance are necessary if you want to be successful in this ordeal. It is important to begin a serious regiment of potty training as soon as the puppy arrives in your home. As you [...]

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Please Control Your Dog

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Left to their own devices, dogs can be a terror. A dog runs free through the campground and grabs a cooking steak from an unwatched grill. Another runs the streets terrorizing young children. Yet another roams the neighborhood to do its business in your yard. We’ve all seen examples of dogs that are out of [...]

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Dog Training Methods

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It’s important to have an understanding of dog training before you get a puppy or adopt an adult dog. Hopefully, the older dog will already have knowledge of the basic commands such as “sit,” “stay,” “heel” and “down.” Additional training might serve to teach the dog bathroom etiquette or a few tricks, so it is [...]

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How to Safely Leave Your Puppy at Home in a Crate

Crate training a puppy can be an efficient way to housebreak a dog and protect the puppy and your home furnishings at the same time. If you plan to use a crate at any point in a dog’s life, make sure you start the training when the dog is a puppy. Crate training an adult [...]

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The Importance of Including Family/Guests/Visitors in Your Puppy’s Training

Puppies are a product of their training. While genetics certainly plays an important role in a puppy’s personality, it the socialization process that helps a puppy develop into an adult dog that is well behaved and comfortable with its surroundings. The socialization process for a puppy is very similar to that of raising a child. [...]

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Understanding the Role of Alpha Dog

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If you are going to have a well-behaved dog, you must establish yourself as the leader of the pack. Dogs are pack animals by nature and every pack has a leader, which is also known as the “alpha” dog. Simply stated, the alpha dog is the boss that makes the important decisions – when to [...]

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Training Sessions for a New Puppy

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Patience is the key to training a puppy. Just as Rome was not built in a day, you cannot expect a puppy to learn how to be a well-behaved dog overnight. It is important to understand the basics of puppy training. Training can be broken down into two types – behavioral and obedience. You embark [...]

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Different Types of Praise and Rewards Used in Positive Reinforcement

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There are many ways to successfully train a dog, but positive reinforcement is one of the most widely accepted and effective methods. The term “positive reinforcement” refers to the training technique in which the dog is rewarded for good behavior. The idea is to reward the dog for behaviors that you want him or her [...]

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Bitter Apple Spray

Bitter Apple spray is a must have for every pet owner’s arsenal of helpful products. The taste-deterrent spray works wonders when it comes to dogs that tend to lick their skin until they develop raw open sores. It also works well as a chewing deterrent. Grannick’s Bitter Apple may not work for all dogs, but [...]

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What To Do When The Weather Is Bad And Puppy Has to Potty

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It is the dead of winter and the snow is blowing and the wind is howling. Your new puppy goes to the door and begs to go outside to potty. You open the door. The puppy sticks his head outdoors and quickly retreats to the warmth of the house. You know he has business to [...]

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Aggressive Chewing Puppies

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Puppies chew for several reasons. When trying to train a puppy to stop chewing, it is helpful if you understand why dogs chew. Teething is a very common cause of aggressive chewing. Puppies chew to relieve the discomfort they feel as a result of the adult teeth pushing their way through the gums to replace [...]

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Crate Introduction and Use

Crate training a puppy can be an efficient way to housebreak a dog and protect the puppy and your home furnishings at the same time. If you plan to use a crate at any point in a dog’s life, make sure you start the training when the dog is a puppy. Crate training an adult [...]

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Doggie Doors

You have just settled down to relax after a hard day of work. The family dog begins whining to go outdoors and you are the only one at home to take care of the task. Don’t you wish you had a pet door that would allow your dog to go in and out as he [...]

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Invisible Fences

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An invisible dog fence is a good way to keep your dog safe and secure in your own yard without installing unsightly pet-proof barriers such as chain link fences. Invisible fences, which are usually cheaper to install than standard fences, are basically maintenance-free. Standard fences require painting or staining and they may need boards replaced [...]

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Five Training Devices

The methods used to train a dog can vary greatly depending on the breed of dog, the owner or trainer’s philosophy and the expectations an owner has for his or her pet. Working dogs will obviously need more training than a dog that is destined to be a family pet. No matter how extensive the [...]

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Puppy Memory

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Despite a vast amount of research, scientists have a lot more to learn about dog memory. One thing we do know is that dog memory is basically associative versus real. Associative memory refers to a dog’s ability to remember people and places based on associations. For example, a puppy will learn to react to something [...]

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Dealing With (and Preventing) Puppy Destruction of Objects

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If you’ve ever had a puppy you know that dog rearing is a lot like raising an infant. Both puppies and infants are totally vulnerable and they depend on you to teach them what they need to know to develop into well-behaved adults. Puppy owners have to realize that the cute little balls of fur [...]

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