"Raising A Healthy Dog"

 Dogs are pack animals—they depend on you for love and protection, so keep them inside, take them for walks, and make them a part of your family.

Dogs left unattended in their own yards, even fo ra few minutes have been stolen, poisoned, and beaten. They can suffer from stress and loneliness, heatstroke in the summer, and frostbite, hypothermia in the summer, and dehydration in the winter.

Because of the danger and cruelty that it poses, several communities have banned the chaining of dogs. Chained dogs kill as many children as do firearms, and they kill more than falls trees, playground equipment, and fireworks accidents put together.

9 ways that our animals can improve our lives:

1.They can help improve self-esteem 

2. They can help reduce the risk of allergies
3. They can help reduce our negativity
4. They can help reduce loneliness
5. They make us feel supported
6. They help make us want to stay healthier
7. They can help make us less stressed
8. They draw other people to us
9. They can help stabilize our blood pressure

Puppies should be taken out at least once every two hours (or within a half hour after eating or drinking) and guided to the same spot where they can smell having relieved themselves before. Immediately after they “do their business,” they should be praised lavishly in a high-pitched, excited voice. Crate training does not speed up the housebreaking process: Puppies do not develop full bladder control before 6 months of age and are physically incapable of “holding it” for very long.

Take your adult pooch out at least 4 times a day and allow him or her time to linger and smell the fire hydrants. If you can't go home at lunchtime, enlist the help of a neighbor or a professional dog-walker

Crating has recently become a popular practice often used on adult dogs by people who say that they are protecting their dogs. Often, however, it will turn out that the true reason for crating is to protect furniture or simply because it’s convenient. But this practice deprives dogs of basic necessities, such as the freedom to walk around and look out the window, the opportunity to relieve themselves, and the comfort of stretching out.

 You and your dogs speak different languages. Humane, interactive training gives dogs greater freedom and a better understanding of our world. Untrained dogs are often punished for their “improper” behavior. Be the one to train your dog—you are the one who will need to know how to communicate with him or her—but get help from a humane dog trainer if you run 

into problems. 

Compassion, clarity, and consistency are the most important elements of dog training. Training should not include any activity or device that endangers animals (e.g., electric shock collars) or puts undue stress on them. Good books on the subject include Click Here for a Well-Trained Dog by Deborah A. Jones, Ph.D.; The Power of Positive Dog Training by Pat Miller; and, for solving dog behavioral problems, If Only They Could Speak, Dogs Behaving Badly, and The Dog Who Loved Too Much, all byNicholas Dodman.

If you have been feeding your dog commercial pet foods, you may be jeopardizing his or her health. Cheap, supermarket pet foods are often composed of ground-up parts of animals deemed by Agriculture Department inspectors unfit for human consumption. Many guardians feed healthful, meatless diets to their dogs.

Feed dogs first, before you eat. To keep dogs from begging at the dinner table, teach them the simple phrase “All done!” (You must be consistent with this—absolutely no more food can be given after saying the phrase, or the meaning will be lost.) After they understand “All done!” you will be able to feed your dogs something from the table without becoming the target of any begging after you stop.