This week’s product pick is Pup Orboâ„¢ with Treat spotâ„¢ I love this toy for puppies and senior dogs too! It’s bouncy, minty and specially formulated for teething puppies. It’s the best non-toxic chewy toy on the market for small toy breed dogs and very young 8 to 16 week-old pups. Here’s the best part senior dogs love this toy too! Finally, a great toy for older dogs. Older dogs may have teeth that may be getting fragile and therefore stop chewing and sometimes playing. This toy seems to give them a little pep in their step again! It’s made from a unique formula that encourages chewing, gnawing and is recyclable. My dog Daisy just turned 14 years old and she loves this thing!  She turns into a playful, feisty puppy upon seeing this toy, it’s lovely to watch.

Mark your calenders in just 2 weeks Paws for a Minute is opening our on-line store!  This toy and so many other cool, bed’s collar’s, bowls and more will be available. Stay tuned!

Crate training your puppy should happen in phases depending on your dogs age. For example, very young puppies should be socialized into the crate slowly over a period of time, even a few weeks, before the door is shut. Once your dog  can hold the urge to go to the bathroom all night,  you can then shut the crate door for a few hours a day to begin with. Remember, your daily routine is key. You should always give your dog lot’s of walks, exercise and hang time with you, as well as crating time even when your home. This is really important to realize. Many  people crate their dog only when they leave and the crate is associated with abandonment when it really should be thought of as the a plush condo. The length of crate training will depend on your lifestyle, work habits, age of your dog, and training that you have given while raising your dog. Obedience training ( heel, sit , stay , down and come) creates a language and allows you to develop trust. The rest takes time just like any other relationship. How do you know when you can stop crate training your dog? You’ll know. There will be no accidents for months, nothing chewed up during your dogs free time loose in the house and you’ll just know!

Yesterday, I received a call from a former client telling me her dog has begun growling at her outdoors in the evening. Strangely, this new behavior began when she was ready for bed and asking him to come indoors. She wanted me to come over and correct this odd new behavior. I asked her to describe the issue. She said that her dog seemed spooked and would sort of hide in the back of the yard and as she approached him he began to growl. I asked her to describe what she did prior to leaving him in the yard. She confidently said that all she did was give him a bone while she was out and let him outdoors to enjoy the summer evening for a few hours. Bingo! Hello?

Giving a dog a bone outdoors can create problems like digging and territorial behaviors. Some dogs hide the bones and in the evening it can draw other animals to it. Not a good idea!

If leaving your dog in the yard for a few hours, exercise him first, then leave hard rubber toys or a ball to enjoy, instead.

Good morning! I hope you’re having an amazing Saturday. This week I had many questions from my dog training clients regarding reprimands. When should you reprimand your dog? Does reprimanding your dog really make a difference in the training? There seems to be much conflicting information out there as to what one should do when their dog is bad.

No matter what issue you have with your dog that might require a reprimand, there are a few things all dog owners need to know about scolding their dog. There are many myths in the dog training world that are, well, just plain wrong.

Some owners feel or have heard that you need to catch your dog in the act of going to the bathroom or chewing something in order to reprimand, and that is the only time you should scold your dog. Other owners feel that even after finding the puddle or destruction that yelling at their dog achieves the understanding that their dog knows that their master is pissed off and will never attempt to chew that shoe again!

Here is the real deal. Yelling “No” may get your dog’s attention and he may even react and run out of the room or appear to know that you’re mad. BUT, he is not identifying the object or understanding what he should chew or where he should go to the bathroom!

What I have told all my dog owner peeps including my celebrity clients is that dogs associate through smell. They also look to you to guide them. Do you have to catch them in the act? No. Should the reprimand have a beginning, middle and end on a positive note? Yes.

Is it cruel to reprimand your dog properly? No. They, like people, need to know what they’ve done wrong and how to please you. They need guidance though. If you have discovered that your dog has done something wrong, don’t react initially. Get a grip and calm down. Then get the leash and put it on your dog. Not in an angry way, though. I know your dog will think he’s going on a walk. Never mind that. Just put on the leash anyway. Then silently (without a dissertation) guide your dog over to the mistake and put his nose near the shoe or the puddle and then say the word “NO.” Then in a happier voice say the word “outside” or (in the case of chewing) give your dog a chew bone and say “O.K.” and then take off the leash and the reprimand is over! Most importantly, you have guided your dog on a leash and associated the scent of what you disapprove of to what he can chew or where you want your dog to go the the bathroom!

Hey! Also check out one of my favorite dog radio programs at www.animalradio.com

Many people ask me if wee-wee pads are the way to go in teaching their puppies the housebreaking protocols. Here is the key tip on the wee-wee pad theory. These pads are great for the very young infant puppy and toy breed dogs. The great thing about wee-wee pads are that they are easy, absorbent and meant as a temporary aid. The training part is up to you! Many people think that these pads will actually train your dog where to go. Nope, that part’s up to you and has to happen in developmental stages leading up to trusting your pup loose in the house one day with no accidents. That takes time.

Having said that, the big mistake people make is that they use these pads all over the house! This is especially a habit with Maltese, Yorkie and other very small breed dog owners. This can really give your dog a huge mixed signal.

Larger breed puppies sometime begin to play with the wee-wee pads instead of dong their business on them. All in all, these pads are a good idea for a period of time. The general rule goes like this: At 16 weeks old a puppy can hold their urge to go to the bathroom all night long. Meaning, the wee-wee pads should come up–never to return! Your dog should be also simultaneously learning to go to the bathroom outdoors. Which of course means you are guiding your dog outdoors for (2 minute) potty breaks up to 5 times a day.

Many of my celebrity clients over the years have asked me to clear up some myths about crating a puppy. There seems to be a lot of confusion as to whether this practice of confinement is mean, cruel or just down right old school.
I know, you get this really adorable pup and it just breaks your heart to put it in this box like contraption and then shut the door and have to endure the screaming. Right? Actually, it’s wrong! You should never just put a brand new infant puppy in a crate and shut the door. I have said this before and I will say it again: Crating a dog is a great thing to do if done correctly. All dogs are den animals. They love to sleep in small comfy places. A small cozy crate provides them with a sense of security in a new environment.

Here’s the tip you need to socialize them into this concept slowly over time: The age of your pup has a lot do do with when you can shut the crate door all night long in order to housebreak your dog. Is crating your puppy cruel? No, it is not. However, there is a correct process that all dog owners need to know. There are many reasons to train your puppy to like his crate, so keep reading this blog to find out what they are! In the meantime, here are the 2 major DON’Ts.

Keep reading…

I got a call today with a client who is going to visit a litter of pups and wanted advice. How do you know which one to choose? Puppies at 8-weeks-old are infants. They are going to change a lot over the course of puppyhood. So, like dating, what you see is not what you’re going to get. If you have a chance to see one or both of the parents, that’s your gage as to the temperament. As for puppy tests at that age, your best bet is single out one at a time, then narrow it down to one or two.  You can toss a set of keys away from the pup and see what he/she does. If the puppy backs away from the loud noise of gets really scared then that dog is more submissive in temperament and probably not your best bet if you have a family with children. Why? Because loud, wild kids running around would rattle the nerves of that pup. If the reaction to keys is running up to them picking them up and shaking them like a chew toy, then you have a rock and roller on your hands and that party boy would need an active home with athletic benefits. If the pup’s reaction to the keys is to quietly walk up to the keys sniff them and walk away, then that is a very balanced civilized reaction telling you that puppy is neither overly submissive or overly dominant. Stay tuned for more tips on this later..

I know, you just got this new adorable puppy and suddenly he’s not so cute. Well, he’s still cute but your arm now looks like a heroin addict due to all of the puncture marks from your puppy. There are a lot of myths out there as to how to correct this. Some say to hold your puppies muzzle shut and say, “No bite.” Good luck on that working! A puppy who is 3 to  6 months old is teething, period. Their teeth are falling out and new ones are growing in. So how do you manage?

Here is my secret weapon for you dog owners who have 4 or 5 month-old teething puppies! The bully stick. It is the number one best chew bone for this age of puppyhood. Your arm will thank you, your children will thank you, and your pup will too. P.S. The Moo brand kind of bully stick does not smell.

You’re welcome! : )

Hi Inger,

We have an 11-week-old Maltipoo puppy and for the most part she’s great. She cried a little the first night, so we gave her something to sleep with that had our scent on it and she went right to sleep. She’s been doing great ever since. We currently have her crate on one end of a “corral” type area. She can come in an out as she pleases throughout the day, but we close the crate at night. The area outside of her crate is completely covered with newspaper. I know she’s really too young for “paper-training” since she will be a strictly indoor dog.

My main issue with her are the mornings. She wakes up around 6 am every morning and the howling and barking starts. I don’t know what to do with her. Yesterday, my husband couldn’t stand it any longer, so he picked up her crate and put her in the garage and covered it with a blanket. She hushed up really quickly. In my husband’s defense, he works really hard and needs to sleep in past 6 am every morning. Do you have any suggestions? Is there any way to re-train my puppy’s schedule?

Thanks,

Dolores

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Hi Dolores!

Nice to meet you! I will start by saying that I get that hearing your puppy crying is hard to take, but do not put the puppy in the garage n a crate and cover it! That’s bad. That will just create trauma for the puppy. The main issue here is that you are crating your puppy all night long at too young of an age! Your puppy is crying to tell you that she needs to poop! Just like an infant baby eats and goes to the potty a lot– so do puppies that age. So yes, I do have a few suggestions for you!

1. The Corral: Your setup for your pup seems correct. Setting up a corralled space within a central area of your house is perfect and is the safest place to keep any baby 11 week-old pup. However, where you’re going wrong is closing the crate door at night. It’s too soon to do that. Shutting a crate door on an 11 week-old puppy can create anxiety. I know, shutting the crate door is ultimately your goal in housebreaking your dog. However, one needs to socialize the puppy into this space slowly, and over time. A general rule of thumb is that when a puppy is 14 to 16-weeks old it can biologically hold the urge to go to the bathroom all night long. So you are closing the crate door too soon! Let her acclimate to her area a little more. Play with her and tire her out before bedtime.

2. Potty training: Papers within the corralled area are great, for now, but not covering the entire space. Your puppy needs to learn to use the bathroom in a specific spot. Initiate over the next few weeks occasionally going potty (guiding her on a leash) to the ultimate designated spot you want to her to go potty (She’s still young enough to potty on the papered area too). At the age of 14 weeks, remove half of the papers in the corral, making a smaller space to potty. At 16 weeks, remove all papers from the corral.

A good idea for you, since you have a Maltipoo (a toy breed) and want to paper train your dog to use the bathroom inside the house, is to get a Pooch Potty. Start guiding your puppy on a leash over to the Pooch Potty and saying, “Outside!” just like you would if you were actually going out to use the bathroom.

Another option to training your dog to potty on command is to build my outside potty area using gravel or chips.

3. Feeding: Your puppy is crying at 6 AM because she wants her breakfast! Pups that age are ravenous in the mornings. That will subside, 6 am will turn into 7 am soon, just like with an infant. Make sure you are time feeding your puppy, never leaving food out for her to graze on all day. Put her bowl down for 30 minutes and if she doesn’t finish, “Sorry, Charlie!” until the next feeding time.

Best of luck!
Inger

If there was ever a shopping list required by law when bringing a dog into the family, this product would be at the very top. In my 20+ years of dog ownership and training, Nature’s Miracle products have saved carpets, couches and relationships like you wouldn’t believe. If you’re a dog owner and haven’t heard of Nature’s Miracle, you must be living under a rock, and you must immediately go to your local pet store and purchase it. This is a must for a dog of ANY age that is not housebroken.

There have been many instances where I thought that my carpet was dunzo, whether it be stained with blood, poop, pee, vomit and even the occasional red wine spillage. This stain and odor remover is aptly named, as I, and I’m sure many of you, have needed a miracle in the process of integrating a new dog into the home.

The first time I used Nature’s Miracle, I never expected anything more than just a stain remover that got half of the spot out, leaving yet another attraction for my dog to come and mark the next day. Many of my clients have what I call, “Potted Plant Syndrome,” where each accident spot has been covered by an excess of growing decor. Boy, was I wrong. Nature’s Miracle has even completely removed bloody paw tracks from the middle of my living room, with not a trace of a spot left to be seen.

This is a must-buy for housebreaking your dog, as it completely removes the odor, ensuring that your dog will not pee on the same spot again, unlike many generic household carpet cleaners. The entire line of products even includes a stain and odor remover formulated just for cats, in case un-neutered Fluffy has started to spray (Shame on you, your cat should already be neutered or spayed!).

Check out all of the Nature’s Miracle products and test them for yourself. I promise you won’t be disappointed!