Realistic Expectations

Most of the posts I have on this site are instructional, a collection of “how to’s” if you will.  I’d like to change gears a little with this post and make it mainly an informative one.  I’d like to talk a little about realistic expectations, or maybe unrealistic ones.  Many people get a dog and put very little thought into the decision.  They see a breed that looks cool or appeals to them in some way and that’s about as much thought that goes into the acquisition.  Continue reading

The Canine Language

Have you ever wished that your dog could talk to you?  I’m sure, like millions of others, myself included, that you have.  Well, I have good news for you, dogs do “talk” to us, and they do it a lot.  There are 2 forms of communication, verbal and non-verbal.  We are constantly communicating to our dogs, whether we know it or not, through non-verbal communication (body language).  Humans mainly communicate verbally.  We use non-verbal communication as well, but by far our primary method of communicating is verbally.  Dogs, however are just the opposite.  They mainly communicate through body language.  They communicate verbally through whining, growling, howling, whimpering, etc.., but their primary method is through body language. Continue reading

How To Introduce Your Dog To Your Infant

Having a baby is an exciting time for everyone.  There will be lots of changes in your life, especially if this is you first child.  For your dog, it can be more stressful than exciting.  Thankfully, there are many things that can be done to make this transition much easier for your dog.  If you are a person who has had a dog fill the role of a child, and you are having your first human child, you need to start working on this ASAP, pretty much as soon as you find out you are pregnant.  The sooner you institute the following, the better. Continue reading

How To Handle Interdog Aggression

Interdog aggression is a very common problem that I am asked to help with.  I am speaking specifically about dogs that live in the same home, not the dog aggressive dog that wants to go after every other dog he sees who does not share the same address.  I have known people with multiple dogs that are never allowed to be around each.  This one’s in the garage, that one’s in the bedroom, and the other one is outside.  They all rotate places/positions through out the day, but they are never in the same place at the same time.  What a miserable way to live! Continue reading