Great Fun on the Fourth of July

Wow.  Here we are again at the Fourth of July.  The fireworks, the barbeques, the family and friends over, going to the mountains enjoying a nice cool weekend.  And the dog destroying your house while your away or peeing at the first sound of fireworks.   This is a great holiday to spend with family and friends but let’s not forget about our furry companions on this most holy of holidays.  Just a few things to help keep Fido safe this fourth of July.

1.  Provide Fido with a place that he can go in order to hide from the scary fireworks.  This should be a dark and quiet place,  most of the time Fido will tell you were he wants to be, let him go and sleep it off.

2.  If you plan on taking Fido with you please don’t leave him in the car while you check out the fireworks.  If the sound doesn’t bother him bring him with you to the spot you have camped (the best spot on the hill since you set up last night to reserve your perfect spot).  Make sure that he has his tags on and is attached to a leash that is attached to you so he can not run if he is spooked.

3.  Consider microchipping your dog is she doesn’t have one already.  If she was to get away from you a microchip will give her a significantly increased chance of being returned to you (if your dog has a microchip make sure the information is updated)

4.  If your dog is so overwhelmed by loud noises (i.e fireworks) you can talk with your vet about getting something to help Fido with the anxiety.

Armed with great information and a belly full of the best barbecued ribs in the state (or even the country, ok the world) head out and have a great Fourth with your furry companion right by your side.

Trials and Tribulations of a Dog Trainer

You ever get the feeling that your dogs are taking you for a walk?  This morning my dogs grabbed their leashes and took me for a nice walk around the block.  We had to stop and sniff all the trees (saying hi to the dog down the street).  Walking two of my three dogs is truly and exercise in patience.  Freyja is an energetic 10 months old, she loves to check out everything with her nose and mouth.  Then all she wants to do is play running, jumping and trying to entice me into a rousing game of leash tug-o-war.  If she can’t get us into the tug game she like to pull on Annabelle’s leash try to get her to play.   Freyja running around is like holding on to a 40 pound yo-yo with a mind of its own.  She has, on several occasions, hit the end of the leash hard enough I though she would dislocate my hand, wrist, or should, maybe all three.

Freyja has been placed on a very strict leash training program.  To get her to behave better on leash we are teaching her to walk with us and not walk us.  You now are asking yourself how do I do that?  Here’s the program.

1. Take Freyja out front of the house with mild to no distractions.
2. Walking backwards with Freyja following me, I treat her often.
3. Once she is walking with me I turn so that I am walking in the same direction as she is, still high rate of reward.
4. Any time that she wanders off (she is a border collie and has a short attention span, think of a five-year old kid) I stop and start over with the backward walking in the other direction.

This is just the start of the training that Freyja and I are working on.   Stay tuned for more tips as we work through this.