New Trend: L.A Pet Foundation’s Lead A New Paws-a-tive Perspective To The Pet Store Concept

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Inger Martens

A new trend in Los Angeles is helping to change the face of pet stores. Many animal foundations are redefining the “pet store” concept to include “only” rescued shelter pups. The concept has been emerging over the past few years, but now picking up steam.

During the past 20 years the pet industry has tripled and so has the volume of breeders good and bad. The internet and local pet stores are inundated with breeding facilities who follow a trend of popular pups, designer or not. The internet competition of where to get your Lassie-like idea of your next BFF is an underground web of confusion in this furry internet secret society.

In other words, the rescues and shelters can’t stop the puppy mill or internet breeders. They can only educate us to be responsible and provide help for the pups in the pound. Only we can change with awareness, education and knowledge to ask the right questions. USDA (United States department of Agriculture) are legal commercial kennel facilities that produce mass puppies often sold to pet stores. That’s not to say all breeders are bad, it’s truly buyer beware and education on how, where, and who to get a puppy from, that’s lacking to the general public.

The puppy mill breeders appear behind internet sources and pet stores providing cute puppy faces and sometimes make deals with pet stores. The breeding conditions aren’t known (behind a website or from a store) and a seemingly heathy puppy within a year can have chronic ailments due to bad breeding or not having the proper training (due to lack of puppy parent education) hence, they’re turned into the shelter. By the way, not all rescue pups are in ill health. I personally have a rescue pup that will turn 17 years old in August. She’s in perfect health for her age!

The rescues keep plucking the best out of the pounds urging people to spay and neuter and adopt, but the cycle continues. All topics are important issue’s that contribute to the approximate 10 Million animals a year that get euthanized across the U.S shelters, costing tax payers roughly 2 Billion dollars to execute.

Congratulations to the many animal foundations who are making their way into main stream retailers! This provides the space and appeal to “rescue” a puppy while shopping in a local shopping mall. Spot! (West Hollywood) , Love and Leashes (West Los Angeles) and Adopt and Shop (Mission Vejo, CA) to name a few. Many people want to rescue yet the local animal shelter can be a sad depressing place or not local. The great thing about these types of stores is that they provide more than just puppies. Often a more mature pet is your ideal lifestyle pick. Viola, love at-first-sight! A store front environment changes the appeal and makes recycling a paws-a-tive gift!

Found Animals Foundation who is a privately funded operating foundation in Los Angeles that focuses on a few powerful levers for changing the outcome for millions of animals euthanized each year in the US. Working with local communities and animal care professionals, we deliver innovative community-based adoption, spay/neuter, and pet ID programs while offering a wealth of trusted educational resources. Bravo!

Paws For A Minute® Puppy series: Teething Tips

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Inger Martens

The teething stage of puppyhood can be so annoying, keep you on your toes and constantly chanting a chorus of “No’s!” Most new puppy people have arms that resemble a heroin addict covered with needle marks. Puppy teeth hurt like crazy!

There are several stages to this function of puppyhood and good for new puppy parents to know how to deal and what chew toys are good for each stage. Usually this topic is not discussed in detail as to what and how to deal with this sometimes painful playtime. Having a zillion toys on the ground often don’t get noticed, especially if you don’t have the right toys for the right stage!

8 week to 10 week old pups: Squeaker toys are awesome at this age. It helps pups focus and follow you. Oversized “dog” stuffed animal toys fantastic. At this age pup’s are just beginning to chew so biting into a stuffed toy instead of your arm helps the play process. Ice cubes are also a big hit during playtime. Toys that roll are essential to your sanity and keep your pup moving.

11 to 14 week old pups: During this stage they are beginning to really teethe! Tempting to repeat the word no constantly as they gnaw on everything. By the way, this stage will pass. Don’t think this will become a bad behavior or that you have a devil dog. In the meantime, think exercise and reverse psychology with trading in your arm for the right toy. Being smarter than your puppy when he’s being evil works. What satisfied your pups urge to chew a few weeks ago may not be working anymore. Bring in different toys!

Planet dog brand has great softer rubber toys pups this age love them. Pigs ears and bully sticks are your ticket to peace during these weeks. Hold the bully stick while your puppy chews. Holding it identifies the stick as the right chew bone. I know it seems obvious however, you’d be surprised at how fast they’ll learn what to chew. If it’s just laying on the ground they may not seem interested in it until you give it them to chew.

A helpful tip is to define a chewing area that’s a gated space, in a central part of your house. This helps to keep your puppy on a bit of a schedule, preventing your insanity and puppy’s constant freedom. It also helps them to focus on the art of chewing.

Chewing is function of a puppy not a behavior, what they learn to chew on becomes the behavior over time. You get to teach your puppy what to chew on, so setting a puppy schedule helps.

Good news! Adult teeth appear when your puppy turns 6 months-old, like clock work — all breeds. Promise!

Must-know Checklist For Senior Dogs

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Inger Martens

Paws For A Minute® Quick Tip

Dog Owner Checklist for Senior Dogs

1. When your dog turns 6 years old have a complete medical examination with your vet.

2. Examine your dog occasionally when cuddling for lumps and bumps.

3. Have your dogs teeth cleaned. This can prevent major problems in the future. This is very important, especially for toy breed dogs.

4. Speak to your vet about your dogs food. Nutritional needs change over time. Adding a few supplements or changing your dogs food to a senior diet could be needed.

5. Aging dogs sleep longer and deeply. Dog parents with children need to remember to recheck their reality. What was and still is a nice dog may have physical changes happening that we aren’t aware of (such as sight changes and hearing loss) due to the aging process. Even the nicest dog can snap at a child how is approaching their dog to pat it while sleeping. Note any changes in your dog and communicate this to your children or create a new schedule for your dog as to where he/she naps. If you have young children, creating a baby gated space for your aging dog to sleep will protect both.

6. Do some training on a leash! Yup, bring back the puppy in your older dog. The leash will formalize this fun exercise and really create the focus and attention your older dog will love then go through some old tricks. Your older dog will love the attention and praise for this accomplishment. Training also enables you to see if your dog is hearing or seeing properly. Changes can happen subtly but go un noticed. As your dog ages it’s common to go into a bit of a “dog owner denial” and think our dog is just being stubborn, when really other changes might be taking place.

7. Become aware of your dogs water intake. This can be an indicator of changes on the way and vet’s welcome new information. Noting water intake changes, eating and sleeping habits help guide your vet too in helping to Always check with your vet.

Holiday Dog Training Tips: Stop Your Dog From Barking At Guests

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Inger Martens

Paws For A Minute ® /Ask Inger

How can I get my dog to stop barking at people who come in to my house? If I have people over for dinner the two dogs eventually stop, but as soon as someone attempts to get up from the table they start barking again! -Barb

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Hi there! Thanks for the great question. Barking can make many dog owners crazy and guests uneasy. Especially, two Akita’s that appear to be ruling the roost! Barking back NO at your dogs, before opening the front door is not the most elegant of ways to greet friends. So much for a happy hello, right?

Here’s the translation and meaning behind those barks and the scoop on how to solve the problem. To a degree barking is a normal communication for a dog to alert you that someone’s at the door. Kind of a built in alarm system, but how do you turn it off?

Before I answer your question, what alarms me, as a trainer, is not so much the barking at the front door, but rather the barking at your guests when they get up from the table. One type of barking is an alert ( door bell ringing) and the other ( people getting up from a table) is a warning. It’s important for dog parents to learn and understand the different meanings. When a dog barks at a sound it’s normal but when it barks at a movement it’s coming more from a territorial issue. When you add the two types of barking together, it can become troublesome for a healthy dog owner relationship. Why? Mainly because it’s YOUR house!

Psychologically the goal is for your dogs to take your cues from you in a nice pleasant way, not the other way around. It’s not really an alpha dominant “I’m in charge here,” correction. The problem and it’s solution should be understood from proactive and insightful direction with steps that make sense to both you and your dog.

The dog owner surprise to the barking solution begins with the awareness that the mixed signal that your dog is receiving is coming for YOU, not your guest. Dog’s are den animals and pack animals, this is a fido fact. Therefore, dogs need to look to owners for direction. If none is provided they will do their thing. Barking at guests who are merely getting up from the table is telling you (the dog owner) that your dogs are warning you AND your guest that they don’t trust the intruder in their house. Here’s the clincher, it’s not their house– it’s YOURS! Yes, most people think they correct the behavior by saying NO to their dogs. But they’re not stopping the main issue which is socializing their dogs to guests.

The most awesome thing you can do is to get organized and redirect your dogs prior to guests coming over. Getting truly organized means applying the leash with a language they truly learn to understand, obedience commands. This is the best way to explain to your dog that it be YOUR house. Redirecting your dog at the front door to sit and stay (on a leash, at first) builds trust and praise!

Taking sensible steps on getting the front door triggers under control by creating a new ritual will change the whole dynamic at the front door! It will also take your dogs focus off the sound of the doorbell, and movements of the guest and put it on pleasing you! It may take a bit of time in practice but eventually no steps are needed and the whole process organically moves to a happy easy greeting at the front door.

A helpful tip is to occasionally break up the pack prior to people coming over. The key here is to vary it. Often having two or more dogs creates a trigger effect where one dog triggers a bark and they end up tag teaming barks at the front door. To stop the pattern, make sure both dogs are exercised and choose to baby gate one dog in a kitchen, hallway or bedroom, WAY before your guests come over. This is not meant to be any kind of timeout or punishment. Think of it as chew bone time. Create a spa like environment with music. Use of the baby gate allows your dog to see out and WAIT. This process will help dissolve the pattern of both dogs being loose and tuning you out.

Your second dog, (who can take his turn to be loose in the house) can then be easily directed on a leash to sit, stay and learn to greet guests in a civilized manner. The great thing about using boundaries like the leash and the gate is that it separates the pack and allows you to elegantly reclaim your house and praise your dogs for waiting behind the gate and staying in the stay command on a leash. As for the barking, one shake of a penny-can will send a signal that YOU rule. The shake sound acts like a police siren when pulling you over for speeding. All of these suggestions together will help break the barking pattern and be able to emphasize the positive. Which is to praise your dog for waiting behind the gate and the other to hold a stay command at the front door.

Your guests will love you and your dogs and all can relax. Everyone will truly learn to experience a happy hello!

Ask Inger: How Do You Re-Train A Dog Who’s Developed Selective Hearing?

Posted on October 29, 2012 by Inger Martens

Hi Inger,

I rescued my dog, Milo, 4 1/2 years ago when he was about 8 months old. We immediately signed up for puppy obedience school. He passed with flying colors. He is a mix of border collie/lab and I think pit, but our first vet said no. Anyway, as he entered his “teen” years (1 year 6 mos to 2 1/2) he became a terror on leash. VERY protective. I hired a private trainer and we did a lot of one on one to help him stay relaxed.

Fast forward and he’s now 5 1/2. He knows all his commands–knows them even better when I have treats. He knows the click and treat perfectly. He’ll come on command in our yard. Click, treat. He’ll sit, stay and come, click treat. When I throw the ball with our Chuck It, he gets the ball and runs to the top of the deck and completely ignores any command I give him. I can’t get him to just come back to me with the ball let alone drop it.

He’ll only drop a toy in his mouth if you have a treat. He loves to play, but he likes to play keep away and then tug of war.

What do we do?! I tried going back to simple commands again and he knows them, but the second that ball comes into play or another toy inside…all commands go out the window!

HELP!!

Thanks,

Rachel from Massachusetts

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Hi Rachel,

Great question, I have to say that Milo is a beautiful boy! Wonderful that you rescued him and good job on training him plus working through his kinks for the first 5 years! After reading your question I think for now, chuck the “chuck it.” A new pattern needs to be established. I’ll give you a few tips to regain Milo’s selective hearing.Okay, first, I’ll explain the some issue’s that stuck out for me and then give you a few exercises to try.

Clicker training is great for certain breeds and for sure creates “the special effect” of a learned trick. What I mean by effect is that it’s reward based, reward meaning treat for the trick. Lifestyle type issues like stay at the front door with guests requires a different on leash approach in creating the trust and bond between a dog and owner. Once learned “off leash commands hold with distractions a bit better then with clicker training. But that’s another topic.

Eye contact and a personal bond gets formed by leash training and verbal rewards, than with treat exclusive methods. Remember, you can show love and “positive” reinforcement in many different ways.. voice, touch, eye contact, and oh, yes food. I’m babbling on about this because one thing is missing in clicker training and that’s eye contact and voice inflection. The focus goes on the reward of the treat not the eye contact, gestures or the owners praise. The dog is looking at the treat not the person or any hand signal. I’m not saying clicker training is bad, only that sometimes it’s limited and in your case not working.

Change the focus

The leash and the game follow the leader around the house helps to create eye contact and enables your voice to become task and the praise, not just a treat.

The leash helps create eye contact between the two of you. Isolating this process in your house helps you both succeed. Try the simple exercise of walking around the house while on a leash and occasionally stop and gently lift up on the leash and say sit. You’ll see he will glance up at you. Dogs are pack animals and LOVE follow the leader. I know it may sound stupid and boring but try it for 5 minutes a few times a week. Use a flat nylon 6 ft nylon or leather leash not the retractable kind.

No more tricks

Tug of war and chase are never good games. Even if you’re just trying to get the ball, toy or shoe from your dog, luring or begging just creates more of a keep-a-way game going.

Prey drive is what makes a dog fetch. That translates to chase and catch and you want that instinct to be ball exclusive. So create a drive to bring the ball back! Use only one ball. That ball is a special fetch ball. It ONLY comes out during fetch! When the game is over it goes into a special drawer.

Use a treat more effectively

Start over, re-teach the game of fetch. Use that “fetch only” ball and begin the re-teach with following a few new steps. Get a treat but put it into your back pocket. Create a structure with a beginning, middle and end theme. Begin slowly, the first day of re-doing this game do so indoors. Begin with bouncing the ball to get him interested and say sit. No treat or clicker, use the ball as the focus. Say the word o.k and toss the ball, as soon as you do, crouch down and clap your hands and praise! As Milo begins to come towards you reach into your back pocket get the treat in your right hand, suddenly stand up and gesture the letter “J” with your hand (holding the treat under your thunb) and say sit. Gesturing the letter “J” is the hand signal to sit. Then say “watch me” holding the treat near your eye for a second, he’ll spit out the ball as you give him the treat. Remember hand him the treat with your right hand and pick up the ball with your left. This pattern will get a new flow going with the game of fetch.

Dogs are smart and stimulated by motion. So be a little smarter. Use the movement of suddenly standing up combined with the motion of the hand signal for the command sit. This will capture his attention. Eventually the hand signal (alone) will take the place of the treat and you wont have to crouch down.

Now the key to success is to toss the ball once, the first day. Only once then put the ball away. The next day, toss it twice, third day and so on. This process will build drive and interest, once he’s in the groove of fetching you can take the game outdoors. Before long you’ll have a ball-o-holic that LOVES to bring back the ball.

Paws For A Minute® Mutt-rimony

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Inger Martens

Sure, you can try to teach me the first year, but I got you trained for the the next 16…

Is Your Dog Friendly With Strangers?

Posted on October 27, 2012 by Inger Martens

I thought I’d right about this topic in honor of the up coming holiday of Halloween. The scary surprise of a “Boo” in the form of a sudden snap may come from your dog being unpredictable, if you’re not prepared or take precautions. By the way, during Halloween I think the best tip is to exercise your dog in advance and gate your dog in a bedroom or a safe area with music, way before the tricker treaters start ringing. It’s not worth anyone getting scared or hurt.

Costumes or not, people wanting to say hello to a shy dog can make some dog owners nervous. Often people who are unsure look to their dog to indicate friendliness. Don’t. Many people leave too much up to the dog. They think, oh, he likes that person, phew! Many owners who’s dog may indicate territorial behavior like barking excessively or growling at a guest can over time become really insecure and hold their breath but never make attempts to resolve the growing issue. Crossing your fingers that a bite won’t happen, isn’t the answer. This blog is really about prevention and dog owner awareness.

Dogs wag their tails right? Well sometimes an (at home) friendly dog can feel insecure when a new person approaches. Especially if that dog has not been socialized in puppyhood to sounds, people, streets or trained. The problem can slowly begin to escalate. Some dogs can learn to be plain bossy about who comes into THEIR home. Often these bossy barks can go uncorrected or redirected by the owner and the problem escalates even more over the years. When in truth, your dog is always looking to you to redirect and show him how to say hello. People can give off subtle misunderstandings to by tightening up the leash or not correcting their dog who’s apprehensive about the person approaching. In general, if you’re unsure of your dogs behavior this insecurity from you can create a tension and body language that can lead to actually creating a fearful dog. This subtle reaction of insecurity (about how your dog will react) is a projection that can often mirror the same potential fear back at your dog. Making the unpredictability worse.

The “unsure” dog owner end’s up freezing up and hoping that their dog (albeit loving to them) doesn’t snap at the person approaching. Body language can sometimes become a self fulfilling prophecy in dog training.

Tensing up sends a signal (down the to the other end of the leash) that there’s apprehension on your part which certainly doesn’t help an already nervous dog to feel self assured. In dog training, body language and voice inflection matter a lot! Sending the right signals to your dog will help socialize him to greet new people with joy.

If you own a small toy breed dog who’s shy with new people don’t introduce your dog when holding it. Put your pup on the ground. Having your dog on a leash helps create eye contact from your dog to you and not the person approaching, then redirect your dog to sit. The same goes for larger dogs.

Here are some helpful tips. The following advice is only intended for pups learning to greet strangers and guests that have no prior behavioral issues or aggression.

1. Have a treat in your pocket to give to the person wanting to greet your dog. As your dog to sit and hand the person the treat.

2. If you feel your dog is NOT going to do well with the person approaching then simply say to the person approaching that you and your dog are in training and pass on the interaction all together.

3. It’s best to have your dog on a leash and ask your dog to sit, always use a happy voice. Talk to the person approaching. Often apprehension creates silents and your dog senses something strange.

4. Crouch down next to your dog holding his collar and the leash. Most dogs without severe issue’s feel more relaxed with you crouching next to them, even scratching their chest. Your dog should be on your left with your left hand on their collar and right hand rubbing your dogs chest. This helps indicate assurance. Also your right there in control if something where to happen. Most dogs just want to smell the person’s hand and the treat helps socialize the interaction into a positive thing. Talking to the person approaching in a happy voice helps everyone relax too. If you just stand next to your dog and don’t speak holding the leash tightly it sends an odd signal that may created a sudden reaction.

5. Teach your dog basic commands on a leash. Training creates a great foundation for you and your dog as to how you communicate and about what. It also replaces the nervous babble that sometimes happens because you can replace it with praise of doing a command. Many times people start repeating good boy nervously trying to indicate to their dog to be good (when they’re actually not sure what’s going to happen) as a the strange person is running at them to hello to their dog. Guiding your dog to sit, giving the person a treat to hand to the dog first, then guiding your dog to sit gives you steps to assure your dog you have it all under control and a person saying hello is a good thing!

6. Varying your dogs routine, upping the amount of regular walks, leash training and again the more exercise the better! All will help get you and your pup on the road to being well socialized and create trust.

If your dog has ever displayed severe aggression or fear towards any person or has bitten anyone, you must seek an in-home professional trainer immediately. Do not attempt to resolve such issues on your own. Ask your local vet for referrals.

Dog Nipping, Biting And Gnawing On Your Last Nerve

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Inger Martens

My boyfriend and I just got a Siberian Husky puppy named Frye. He’s almost 9 months old and we’ve had him for 2 months prior. Up until now, he has been well-behaved, but recently he has started biting when he gets excited. At first, the bites were far a part and soft, but lately they’ve become more frequent and have started to hurt. We have tried various ways to discourage this behavior, such as giving him more toys to focus his attention on or giving him chew toys whenever he starts to bite, to channel the behavior. So far, nothing seems to work. It’s getting to the point where we’re afraid that he might hurt others. Frye is very well socialized when it comes to other dogs, but we live in a residential area where there are a lot of children. Our main concern is that when others try to play with him, he might get over excited and bite them. We love our dog and we want to improve for his sake. What can we do to nip this behavior completely?

Danni and George.

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Hi Danni and George,

Thanks for the great question! Okay, I totally understand. Many people with teenage pup’s often feel the urge to pass out body gear with helmets to all guests wanting to say hello to their now BIG puppy. The behavior you’re describing is obnoxious for sure and yet solvable! Redirecting such behavior means creating a little structure within your daily routine, reassessing chew toys, re-organizing how your dog gets exercise, and where,when and how you play with him.

The solution to this issue lies more with you understanding how to redirect this behavior, where to apply structure and when to initiate play and how to still make things fun.

Here are some my Paws For A Minute® Dog Training Tips

1. Apply structured exercise times and separate them from walks.

Lots of people walk their dogs and play with them without intent. They can often mix up concepts of play while walking for exercise that in turn accelerate hyper behaviors. Where, how and when you play with your dog create reactions and sets triggers.

Example: Try isolating extreme exercise prior to socialization with people and guests. In other words, play turbo fetch first, then go on a walk. Teaching your dog to play fetch is an awesome way to keep hyper activity targeted on the movement of a ball. The key to keeping a dogs interest is only use on special ball that comes out ONLY for fetch. Build slowly to the amount of throws daily.

2. Do a re-check of his chew toys.

Example: 90% of the time puppy parents have zillions of toys for their dogs but have a distinction between play toys and actually chew bones. If a toy is lying on the ground or in the yard, overtime it becomes boring. Dogs of a certain age need to chew, not just play. Mouthy behaviors can come from frustration and ill-timed activities. Play is often induced by movement and voice inflection and a chew toy may be tossed, but the activity of your dog actually chewing on it gets lost. Many people end up playing with their dogs with chew toys and boredom of the toy sets in quickly. The act of chewing on something needs to be isolated for your puppy by creating a “chew your chew bone” time! Perhaps in a baby gated area, while you are home. This creates an activity for a young teenage dog. Chewing a bully stick, for example, will also help tire him out and give him something to focus on that’s not a toy.

3. Redirect a positive obedience command to greet new people.

Example: Redirection can mean introducing your dog to new people while on a leash, only as an exercise for a few weeks. The leash helps you guide your dog into a sit and then a stay while being introduced to new people. If he breaks the stay command to jump up the leash can act as a boundary and allow you to say No then quickly reinforce a sit and the positive in what you want out of his behavior. Or practice with people approaching him to do so with a treat. Have them direct your dog to sit and then give him the cookie!

Change will happen overtime. Try all three tips for a few weeks and keep us posted!

Top 5 Dog Breeds For Families With Kids

Posted on September 27, 2012 by Inger Martens

Raising children and a puppy can be an awesome experience, yet challenging at the same time if you’re not sure what your doing. Raising a puppy means housebreaking and lots of poop, not unlike raising a child in diapers. The good news is that a puppy’s developmental process happens a lot faster, all within the first year. Sure, the concept of puppies and children seems amazing but can be a lot of work if your not prepared. Success largely depends on your time, previous experience, lifestyle match of the breed of dog you pick and your child’s age.

Puppies are great, but remember they loose their teeth during a teething stage and that sweet 8 week-old angel you got can quickly turn into Cujo for a short period of time. Navigating through this puppy stage with children around and doing it gracefully is the key to success.

It’s all manageable if you’re organized and know how to surf through the housebreaking and chewing phase of puppyhood. Choosing the right breed, size and temperament to match your lifestyle is key!

There are many breeds and mixes that awesome when raised with children. Success depends on your former experience, time and lifestyle. Choosing the right breed and temperament to match your family and lifestyle is so important. If you and your partner aren’t seasoned dog owners, then choosing certain breeds can be more challenging to raise than others. The following examples are some of easier breeds to manage in terms of size and innate temperament for the first time dog owner that has children. Remember, a puppy is a puppy, no matter what breed you choose! Mastering a great experience is all in the process of how you raise, train and housebreak your puppy. Dogs can live a long time, up to 15 years and beyond. So if you’re contemplating getting a puppy for your child, remember it’s your new baby, first.

1. Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

This breed is a great starter dog for families with children. They must be trained and well socialized. Housebreaking and addressing separation anxiety in puppyhood ( like with all breeds) is important. In general, the King Charles Spaniel has a sweet, loving and easy temperament. They are playful and love to chase birds or butterflies but generally do not possess super high-prey drive.

Pros:

Size is manageable (they average about 12″ to 13″ at the shoulders and weigh about 13-20 lbs) as adults.
Love to snuggle and lay in your lap.
Are playful but not in your face self assured.
Pretty mellow and easy-going with children, other dogs and older people.
Great size for traveling. Generally will fit into traveling bags and not take up too much space in the car.
Come in many colors. Black and tan, red and white, ruby (red), and tricolor (black tan and white)
They are not super territorial in nature, which averts many issues concerning children.

Cons:

Can have health problems. Choosing the right breeder is important.
Do shed but not tiny needle hairs like pugs and other short haired breeds
Are so cute many people do not train them early one. Often resulting with separation anxiety issues.

2. Bichon Frise

A lovely choice for families with young children. This white fluff ball breed is a happy, very cheerful, non-shedding and make great companions. They make great apartment dogs and an easy size for travel, and happy go lucky in nature and generally not hyper. Their nature is playful and intelligent yet very tolerant of children and good with elderly people.

Pros:

Non shedding
Cute
Oder less
Not terribly territorial or yappy
fun, loving and ready to play and easy to train

Cons:

Regular grooming is a must. Brushing is essential because hair gets matted.
Painful hair mats need to be cut out if not groomed properly.
Grooming means bath, haircuts and blow drying to keep mats at bay.
Hair around the eyes can stain if not cleaned often.
$$ -Grooming costs can get expensive and need to be done monthly.
They are so cute, many do not formally train them or get them housebroken early in puppyhood. Hence, they can be labeled difficult to housebreak. This is not true. It’s up to the owner to achieve this by understanding how to accomplish this stage during puppyhood.

3. Shorty Jack Russell

Some people feel that the Jack Russell Terrier is a hyper breed. However, this breed comes in many versions. The short-legged Irish and or English “shorty” jack as they’re referred to can be a calm loving lap dog, with a little zip! Training is key to this breed, yet once trained they are sturdy, lovely playful happy dogs, who can do very well with children. They come with many coat types: smooth, broken and rough. Ironically the rough or long coat version is known to shed less.

Pros:

Funny looking and come in many colors and crazy cute markings
Very smart and easy to train
Great travel size 8″ to 12″ at the shoulders and weigh 8 to 15 lbs
Many say they are like potato chips.. you can’t have just one
Good with children
Do well with structure and rules. Training is a must.
Can become ball-o-hollics which makes exercising them easy
Rugged, athletic and calm all in the same day.

Cons:

They shed a lot. The short coats have small needle like hair similar to Labs, Chihuahua’s and Pugs. The broken coats look like they don’t shed as much, but they do. The rough coated ones shed less but look more like a Benji type dog.
Must be apart of the family. Not a dog to be kept in the yard alone or to get bored.
Training and exercise must be included in your daily schedule from puppyhood through adulthood.

4. Miniature or Standard Poodle

This breed often gets a bad wrap because of their hair cuts, but in reality they are rugged, very smart, sturdy and fun dogs. Not foo-foo at all! Hence, the ever popular Labradoodle hy-bred of Lab- Poodle cross. The real deal comes in many colors, four sizes and is awesome with children. No need to go designer mix.

Pros:

Smart, fun, athletic with an easy going nature
Comes in a variety of sizes from a tiny tea cup to Standard big dog size of 70 lbs
Easy to train and housebreak if you put the effort into it
The toy, miniature or standard sizes are best for families with small children
Does not shed
You can keep this dog in a puppy cut for life, avoiding the known Poodle cut and stereotype.

Cons:

Grooming costs can add up. Haircuts needed regularly.
Can get ear infections due to floppy ear set. Ear cleaning is important for prevention.
Must train. If not they can get anxious and be prone to nervous reactions only due to a lack of understanding and training.

5. French Bulldog

This cute. small sturdy breed can be wonderful with children. Small enough for children to play with, but a little too heavy for a child to actually pick up. They are awesome apartment dogs and do not need HUGE amounts of exercise comparable to other breeds. They can weigh anywhere from 18 to 28 lbs as adults.

Pros:

Easy to train if owners are educated to their puppyhood needs.
Lovely with children
Easy grooming care. Wash and go.
Exercise needs are manageable

Cons:

Shed
They can get gassy and can have delicate stomach issues.
Snore when they sleep
Tend to drool occasionally
Known to have health some issues down the road

Please remember that all pure bred dogs are available in your local shelters and rescues. If choosing a breeder, choose carefully and really do your research!

Dog Training Tip: Walking Your Dog or Heel Thy Self?

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Inger Martens

Being dragged down the street by your dog on a daily basis, multiple times day, can become annoying to say the least! Especially, when you’ve envisioned a brisk, refreshing morning strut with Starbucks-in-hand kind of walk with your new dog. I know, once the dopamine of love has worn off and puppy teenage-hood has set in your now energetic larger puppy, has learned to jump on people, chase squirrels and bark at on coming dogs! Now, your morning ritual has become walking and cursing while holding on to the leash and a poop bag in-hand!

So what’s “dog pulling” and being dragged down the street all about? Well, generally speaking the leash is not just to hang on to, it’s actually a tool in training.

If your dog pulls on walks, a great technique is to teach your dog to create eye contact with you, hence a bond will develop. You can achieve this by using treats or an additional technique is to create focus by using movement, voice inflection and a command. Let’s focus on the latter technique. Treats can work, but not always with all dogs especially while on walk! Besides, it’s best to vary all techniques when dog training. To change the rules of the walk, in a fun way, think of it as you’re driving the car on this walk, not your dog!

On your next daily stroll practice turning or pivoting in the opposite direction every once in a while. You see, dogs are pack animals and LOVE to play follow the leader. If you remember to think of it as a game and not discipline it will help you use a “happy voice” while changing directions. Remember, you can show love in many ways, not just treats! Keep your voice sweet as you say heel or let’s go, as you indicate the command with your movements, both will capture your pups attention.

Changing directions suddenly helps alert your dog to a follow the leader game. The trigger of fun for your dog happens when you use your voice think of it as you would a gas pedal or steering wheel of the car. If you make it a fun game your pup will be looking up at you, rather than pulling. Occasionally stop, ask your pup to sit then praise and even give a treat. Your pup will become far more interested in your moves than she will about pulling.

Many people walk their dogs more for the intention a bathroom break than mere exercise. Sure, exercise is included but a distinction between the two activities is often not defined on the walk by the dog owner. Therefore the intention of a nice walk becomes a natural conflict. Best to initiate potty time by indicating the act with a word, like go potty, then go on your walk.

If you separate the concepts you’ll get a better result. You can also practice the concept of walking your dog in a “heel” command in the house, while on the leash, in order to accomplish the process without the distractions of the street. This exercise will help you succeed with getting the eye contact from you dog, hence you’ll get the bond you’re looking for on your walks.