More about Obedience Training with Jack

Positive Obedience Training Rules

I want to take a moment to share some of the rules I use when training with Jack. When I call them rules it does not mean to say that they are set in stone. I strongly believe that each dog is different. Not to mention each trainer will be unique. I am simply passing along an outline of rules that can be helpful for success.

• MAKE LEARNING FUN ! If your dog is having fun he will learn enthusiastically
• Avoid training when you or your dog are over heated, ill, or hurt. This will only lead to frustration.
• When it comes to dog training be a quitter. If you or your dog are having an off day just call it quits for the day. Tomorrow will be so much better. This is not to say quit all together just for that session.
• If your dog is having trouble with a specific task take a step back and try teaching it in smaller steps.
• Keep sessions short and sweet. About 15 min is a good session length for most dogs.
• Remember to Guide not Force your dog. The general rule is if your dog is thinking about resisting he is probably not learning.
• If you give you dog a chance to work things out on its own you will get to see just how smart he is.
• Last but not least remember that your dog has not read the rules.

Can you train a dog to stay calm during the fireworks?

I live about a two blocks from the field where our local fire department puts on one of the biggest and longest firework shows in the country. The whole town turns into one large block party. And from dusk on the 3rd till daylight on the 5th there is fireworks, lots and lots of very loud fireworks. I love it. But what about the animals? Specificaly the dogs I have known dogs who needed to be sedated and others who just hide under the bed shaking. Then I see other dogs who seem to understand it's all in good fun. (kinda)

Jack P Diddy is somewhere in the middle. He is ok with them but they do make him nervous. He is however content to sit on your lap and watch the big show. Now my question is: Did I train him to be ok with fireworks or would he have been fine either way? The other side of the question would be are dogs who are terrified trained to be that way?

I started trying to teach Jack about fireworks the first year. I used high value treats all day and everytime I was close to him and a loud one would go off I would tell him it was ok and treat him. I did this throughout the day, of cource I could not have treated him for every shot during the big show but I did keep treating him throughout the show. The result was he sat on my lap throughout the entire show seemingly unaffected by the booms overhead. I do not know if this training was truly any help at all or if he would have just been that way anyway. I do know that it could'nt have hurt things. So I would recomed giving it a try.



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Using a bell to housebreak your dog will give them a way to communicate the need to go out, and is a great way to stop the housebreak horror.

As promised in my last post I wanted to talk about Using a bell to housebreak your dog will give them a way to communicate the need to go out, and is a great way to stop the housebreak horror.

Let me start by saying this is not my first Dog. But this is my first Miniature Dachshund and my first housebreaking horror.

I felt like I was doing everything I was supposed to do, including but not limited to taking him our first thing in the morning and after a meal. I became obsessed with trying to housebreak this dog. I tried not to let him out of my site (which only worked until the first time I let my guard down). I knew that he was smart; he had proven it time and time again in other training sessions. I had been struggling for weeks and I was at the end of my rope. I was not looking forward to spending the next 10 to 15 years cleaning up his business. And I knew that he knew what it was all about. Because I had been using what we called a business treat to encourage him. I would tell him "go outside and do business” “for a business treat”, then I would keep repeating it until I saw him do his thing. Once it was done I would praise him and once inside I would give him a business treat. (Usually they were on the counter) It only took a day or two before; he would go out do his business, then run in staring at the counter, expecting a business treat. When he started doing this I thought we had solved the problem but I was wrong he still did not seem to know how to tell me he wanted out.

That is when it hit me I would try using a bell to housebreak him. I thought it would help him communicate the fact that he wanted to go outside. So with my fingers crossed I found an old Christmas decoration with a big bell on it, put a hook in the bottom half of the door and hung the bell there from a short chain and called it the business bell.

Housetraining With Kingdom of Pets

If you are looking for a great resource to help you with your housebreaking chores, then I highly recommend The Ultimate House Training Guide from the folks at Kingdom of pets. I purchased the obedience training program a few years ago and I learned many of my techniques from this program. It was priced well and offered everything I was looking for.

 One of the most important things I look for in a training technique is a positive training approach. I prefer a method that focuses on catching your dog doing something right and praising that behavior to the method that focuses on disciplining the negative.

“The Ultimate House Training Guide", by Martin Olliver is a comprehensive guide to the widespread, challenging and frustrating issue faced by all dog-owners.This is a Fun, friendly and educational guide written by a Qualified Veterinarian. It is like having a vet at your fingertips but without the bill.

This book takes a valuable commonsense approach to behavior training. You don’t have to be experienced in canine behavior and training to see that this guy knows what he’s talking about.

This book explains the tools of the trade Patience, Persistence, Consistence and Common Since. It gives advice that is morale-boosting and will help you keep your cool during the process. It covers not only the training of a new puppy but also offers reliable techniques for older dogs as well. It covers all three of the
most popular methods of housebreaking Paper-training, Crate-training and the Direct Method. He has also dealt with the many varieties of house training issues that pet owners deal with. The topics range from territorial marking to poop-eating.

There is even an in depth section on health-related problems, congenital problems (problems your dog was born with) and disease-related problems that develop later in life.

This detailed guide even covers the issues that arise after your pet is housebroken like inappropriate outdoor elimination, or lawn-burn from urination.

One of my favorite sections of the book is the Top Ten Tips for hassle-free house training, which is a recap of the most helpful, and necessary attitude adjustments, practical tips, and useful nuggets of general knowledge which will come in most handy in your dog’s training.

The adorable mascot is a pooch called Spot-Less and he will lead you step by step with helpful how-to illustrations. This book is user-friendly and packed with practical advice that is laid out logically. It is easy to understand with no confusing terminology or gaps in logic.

Another priceless addition to this book is the free personalized email consultation with the team at Kingdom of Pets. If you’d like additional help with your own
dog’s toilet-related issues, send them an email and you’ll get an individualized professional opinion on how best to handle the problem - plus any additional tips and strategies necessary to get your house training under control.

All in all, two thumbs up from me: when the information on hand is as detailed, easy to absorb, and - above all – reliable as The Ultimate House Training Guide, you really can’t go wrong. May your dog’s initiation to house training proceed Spot-Lessly!

In Memory of our Friend Lacy May She RIP.

 I have not posted in a few days because I have been dealing with the loss of our other older dog Lacy. I just wanted to take a moment to mention how much we loved her and how much she will be missed.

The Love of a Dachshund Makes Obedience Training Fun!: Jack's better days continued

The Love of a Dachshund Makes Obedience Training Fun!: Jack's better days continued

Bringing Home A New Puppy

Introduce Your Dog to A Crate.

If you are getting ready to bring puppy home or if you have recently added a puppy to your family it is important that you start your training early but it is equally important that you start obedience training slowly.

play time is training time that you can both enjoy. Your new puppy will need to learn not only everything about the new house rules and the new family but, in many cases puppy has only had its Mom and litter mates to teach manners, so he needs to learn how to interact with humans. Be patient and you will both have fun. At this stage all you want to do is establish a relationship. And allow puppy time to learn your language. If you immediately start trying to train you may become frustrated when puppy does not respond.The first week or so that puppy comes home I recommend you just get to know each other. Enjoy watcing the reaction as you introduce him to new things.

Like chewing on a stick, or walking on a leash. 

And of course your puppy will need a lot of love and encouragement from you.

So spend some time enjoying the little one because they get big faster than kids do, and that's fast. 

You will be able to tell when your pup is ready to start the obedience training. He will be Paying attention to you, Looking to you for guidance etc, once you are both ready remember make it fun.

Next time I want to talk about teaching your pooch how to let you know he has business to do.

Teaching Jack(dogs) to Come When Called

One of the first things I wanted to learn was how to teach my dog to come when called.
I once dog st for a friend who has two adorable dogs that become terrors if they get loose outside. I want to trust that my dog is under control outside leash or no leash. As a matter of fact Jack being a dachshund has a hard time with collars and when you put a harness on him he acts like you  just put an anchor around him. It is so funny he will just slink under a table or something and lay there pouting.
Anyway back to the subject teaching your dog to respond to the come command is one of the most important commands you can teach. Teaching your dog to ignore other more interesting sights and scents  can be difficult especially if not done right away. So I highly recommend that you start early, train often and practice even after your dog has learned.

So, how do you teach your dog to come when called? You make sure he knows that coming to you is always more rewarding than what ever else he may find.And you make sure that he never is scolded once he comes to you. No matter how much you feel like chastising him for whatever mischief he's just caused. Instead if you call your dog and he comes to you offer him lots of praise and in the beginning lots of treats. It may go against your instincts to praise your dog for bad behavior but that is not what you are actually doing. You are praising your dog for the good behavior of coming to you when you called. Because smart dogs will quickly learn that even when they have been bad if they come running to you when you call all will be forgiven and maybe he will even get a treat.
So to start the training place your dog on a long lead. (make sure to first introduce the leash several times before training on it) It is also helpful to have a helper at first. To start off have your helper hold the dog back while you stand a fair distance from your dog, if your dog is already anxious to come to you great if he is distracted be sure he is focused on you by using treats or a favorite toy. Once your the focus of attention and your dog is strugling to come see you, kneal down and signal to your dog while you call him enthusiasticly. Your helper should release the dog as soon as you signal. Once your dog comes to you it is up to you to really praise him, lay it on thick. Your dog will love to play the game and will quickly show you he can come  to you when you call. But do not stop training because this step is only the first and to be effective it is  importat that you repeat this step many many times probably over at least 2 training sessions maybe more depending on the dog. Step two allow your dog to become distracted by a scent or sound then kneel down and give your dog the signal while calling her. When your dog comes to you  praise. It is so so important to praise, and I really mean it make your dog feel like a king any time she comes to you. (If your dog is a runner please do not drop the lead just us a long one. Or train in an enclosed area.) When I was trainig Jack to come I would walk him to an area that was enclosed then let him off lead and as we continue our walk I would just kneel down and call him over and over and over. A funny story about that one day we were out training and I noticed that my legs seemed weak and were starting to hurt. I actually got a little scared that something was wrong with me why were my legs weak all of the sudden then it dawned on me it was from the 30 squats I had just done while calling the dog. Anyway I just kept this up for many training sessions. Even long after we had moved on to other things we would practice this at least 2 times a day. He became a pro quickly. The Sit Stay Fetch Program that I used to learn how to train my dog with has many many other tips and tricks you can use to customize this process to fit the needs of your dog. If you are interested in learning more about how to effectively train your dog I encourage you to check out this program. I loved it.
P.S. If you have a small dog you may find as I did that they like to dance around just outsid of your reach. So when you call it will be important for you to actually get your hands on the dog before you begin praise. Also one other thing that i found to be usefull. Lets say you are in the yard and you want your dog to go inside. If your dog thinks that you are always going to remove it from the party avoiding you will become the new game. So I when ever I think about it and Jack is out having a good time I will call him over and put my hands on him then just release him after a good ata boy. This is good training for learnign to come and also to show your dog that you will not always capture it when it comes you just want them for a sec.

The Ultimate Guide to Dog Health

I dont know about you but I have the hardest time deciding weather or not to take Jack or any of my other pets to the vet. Not when it is obvious of course but those times when I am just not sure, if things will easily heal up on there own, or not. The decision to go to the vet for something that turns out to be nothing is a frustration I wish I could avoid. I often wish he could just tell me on a scale of 1 to 10 how bad it hurts? But since he cant it's up to me and that often leads to my husband saying I told you so after another unnecessary trip to the vet.

So I wanted to tell you about a book I found online. It is caled The Ultimate Guide to Dog Health (by Malcolm Fields - dog-care professional) is a compleete , comprehensive guid that gives you confidence when deciding weather to take your pet to the vet or not.

What's Actually Covered?

The book deals with all the common problems and ailments suffered by dogs. It covers issues like toothache and dental trouble, ear infections, skin rashes and chafing, eye irritations, worming issues, and lameness; chronic problems like vomiting, diarrhea, coughing, asthma, breathing trouble, and liver problems; more severe issues like arthritis and cancer; and symptomatic “alerts? like hair loss, lethargy, and behavioral changes.

On top of that, you also learn how to pick up early warning signs by identifying and accurately interpreting your dog's body language; how to groom your dog quickly and effectively; how to take good care of his teeth and gums; how to administer medicine safely and easily; and how to recognize the early warning signs of health trouble through behavioral and physical changes.

All this information is fully supplemented by full-color diagrams, photographs, and illustrations.

In addition to the fully-illustrated, 240-page guide itself, you also get a handful of tempting freebies: including one that shows how to perform the canine Heimlich maneuver and doggie CPR.

If you are interested in learning more please check out The Ultimate Guide to Dog Health

.

Dog Training Software

I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about SitStayFetch Pro.

A great tool that lets you Record Everything About Your Dog on Your Computer or any digital file storage device.

• You can have the details of ALL your pets in one place. It doesn't matter whether you have one or twenty, this software will keep individual track of each and every one!
  When you have to go on vacation and leave your dog at a boarding kennel, or with a friend, then you can quickly and easily provide them with all the details that they will need in case anything happens.
  
• Have full print capability, letting you print out all the details at the click of a button. No more hunting around in drawers! Keep it all on your computer.
  
• Record your dog's entire medical history, so that you can tell at a glance everything from vaccinations... medication.... accidents.... and more.
  Keep track of all your dog related appointments, including such things as grooming, check ups, vaccinations, prescriptions,
  Record the details of your vet and emergency vet so that they can be right on hand if ever the need arises...
  
• Sort out your dog's training regime, so that you know what you covered, when and how long the session took. You'll be able to know when a refresher is due and make sure you cover all the commands that you should be.
  
• Keep those important insurance policy and registration details handy. No more trying to figure out which company... which policy number... etc...
  Automatically work out your dog's age in months and years... never miss your dog's birthday again!
  
• Insert a picture of your dog to personalize your records...
  Instant access to the download area, you can be downloading and using this software within minutes and organizing your dog's records once and for all.
  

Just imagine being able to go on vacation and not having to search for, all of your pets important info.You can easily print off a summary of feeding instructions or your dog's prescriptions for the dog sitter or kennel.

The SitStayFetch team spent 6 months getting this software developed... tested... refined... (and debugged!) until they were satisfied that it stands up to the SitStayFetch reputation for quality!

This software is a great motivational tool it will help in keeping yourself and your children interested in looking after the pets... Make it as easy as possible for them to take responsibility and really get involved with their dog for life!

Make sure that your training program is covering all the bases... Using SitStayFetch Pro to track your completed sessions will give you a sense of accomplishment and means that you and your family will be more likely to keep the sessions going on a regular basis...
Give yourself reminders of what your dog needs... from grooming, to medicines, to training, SitStayFetch Pro will add some order to the chaos by allowing you to schedule in the important tasks.
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The love of a Dachshund!: Notice The Eyes.

The love of a Dachshund!: Notice The Eyes.

Notice The Eyes.

This is jack when he was about 5 months old. This was the first time that his eyes would give us a show but it won't be the last as I post pictures you will quickly notice that his eyes are full of magic.

Jack's better days continued

So when I left off I had just brought Jack home from the hospital OOPS not hospital but pet store. .(I considered deleting that mistake but i think it says so much about how much we love this little dog) Any way back to the story. When I got him home and began to interact with him he was weak and even unable to pull his nails from the carpet. But with some good food and a good nights rest he quickly perked up.The weeks that followed I spent time learning a little bit about the breed. I bought a Book and was fascinated to find out that the firs bona fide Dachshunds emerged from Germany, although no one knows for sure how they got there. But it was German foresters are credited with shaping the breed. They needed a hardy dog to follow a variety of game ranging from rabbits to wild boar. The dog had to be small enough to fit into the same small spaces, while being tenacious enough to face a badger alone underground and win. The breed also needed to be vocal enough to let the hunter know where to dig. The dog would trap the badger and hold it until the hunter could dig down to where they were.

The first time I took jack to the vet I was told that many Dachshund's end up suffering from back problems. She told me that having him neutered as soon as possible could be helpful, so we did. It's time to cook dinner so I will continue the story in a bit. please come back. Also please add a comment. I realize that this blog is just getting started but with your help we can grow a love of dachshund community that we will all enjoy. I will be posting lots of pictures soon and encourage everyone to do the same.

Jack has had better days.

Hello,
My name is Tammy and I am starting this post today because I would like to share my Dachshund Jack's story. I hope to share with you some of the tips and tricks I have used to train him. Training him and watching just how fast he can learn to do new tricks has been one of the most enjoyable parts of having him. (speak of the Devil he just pushed his way onto my lap trying to stop me from typeing) I get a thrill out takeing him out and showing him off. I can not even count how many times other Dachshund owners have approched me to ask how I did it. It was not hard I simply had to think like him. I will talk more about this in future post. Today I would like to start off by telling you Jack's story.

It all started on valentines day about 3 years ago. I had some time to kill between the two Job interviews I had that day, so I decided to look around in the local pet store. I was not looking for a Dog! Once inside I was immediatly drawn to a cage with a little tiny black and brown dog. He was standing in a small box no bigger than a litterbox but he was to small to get out, and he was talking directly to me. It was Love at first sight. I wanted him so bad but and this is the imbarasing part for me, he had an $800 price tag. Like I said I was unemployed and not looking for a dog. But for some reason I just could not walk away. I called home and asked if it would be ok and was told absolutely NOT TO BUY THE DOG. Well I did it anyway. I pulled out my credit card and bought him. Placed him inside my down coat and away we went. He was so small you could only his tiny head was sticking out of my coat when I walked in the house. Luck for me the rest of my family had the same reaction and he was instantly a part of the family. That is my post for now I have to go run some errands. I look forward to posting again later.