Getting out and going for a long walk, a run or a hike creates a great feeling of accomplishment after you complete it. Its always an even greater feeling when you take your dog with you. I think it’s something about that smile and wag that come so naturally to your dog no matter what it is you choose to do. The dog is stoked.
The hardest part is usually getting motivated to get out there. So start thinking about the whole process backwards and know how great its going to feel afterward as motivation to get out in the first place.
Planning a weekend hike can help the process along. Instead of just hoping that outdoor adventure with your dog just happens, pre-plan it. Go online and look for a new trail or hike that is dog friendly in your area and plan to go this coming Saturday morning, or on your next day off whatever that may be.
Dogs bring huge joy and the more times you get out with your dog the easier it becomes to just go. Dogs have many purposes in our lives, but I believe that the biggest is the unabated joy that they bring. More reasons our dogs bring us such happiness can be found by reading “A Dog’s Purpose… So Meaningful….
If you live in the San Diego area and are looking for some cool hikes to get out and try check out “Leave Only Paw Prints” for many new ideas and places you can go with your dog.
K9 Coach provides exclusive dog training camps for those who want a little help in getting there dog to be a pro at getting out and being active with you. Private lessons and online dog training programs have helped many to find the best training partner ever…. their own dog.
Surf Dog A Thon benefiting Helen Woodward Animal Center
The 4th annual “Surf Dog A Thon” benefiting Helen Woodward Animal Center is set to go starting August 8th through September 13th. With 3 workshops before the big event on September 13th, this event is sure to provide the fun every San Diego dog owner wants to have with their dog.
Clinics will be held at Del Mar Dog Beach on August 8th, 16th and 22nd. Two 1-hour clinics at 9:00 am and 10:am $45 per dog with a 25 dog limit to each clinic.
San Diego is the place to get out and have some fun with your dog and the perfect reason to head on down and enjoy the beaches.
Potty training is one of those things that takes supervision and diligence whether your dog is 8 weeks or 18 months old. The earlier you start the easier this project can be. A dog that has developed some bad habits or comes from a place of rescue or purchased from a dog store usually requires some extra diligence in training.
This is the case with Charlie, a 9 month old female Peekapoo who was purchased from a pet store at 6 months old. She had been returned once most likely due to the first owners not being able to get a grasp on something like house breaking or potty training. Sad really, since she is the sweetest happy little puppy who just needs some training to bring her best behavior out.
Charlie’s new owners decided it best to get her into a dog training camp so they could ensure potty training success for their new puppy. Choosing K9 Coach San Diego & Temecula came down to the fact that she would be trained in a home situation with one or two other training partners. The difference; full time attention and the commitment to success.
The challenge for a dog like Charlie is she lived in a small area indoors all the time. She learned to go potty where she lived. Changing that picture takes some serious supervision. Most dog owners don’t understand how dogs think and learn and training a puppy like this who sees going inside as the only real option need to understand that re-training will mean showing your dog where to go outside.
Indoor potty pads have become a new craze with small dog owners. Dog trainers for the most part cringe as it makes it very difficult for a puppy to understand why they shouldn’t be picking there restroom to be inside the house.
The key to potty training is supervision, supervision, and more supervision. If you do have a puppy or dog purchased at a pet store or who has spent a lot of time in rescue at a kennel, plan on finding the perfect outdoor potty spot and training your dog to go to that.
K9 Coach offers exclusive dog training camps in San Diego & Temecula, as well as private lessons and online training programs for those who want to train their dog at home.
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Compared to many places in the country, San Diego is quite dog friendly. The weather allows people to be out year round, but during the summer with the sun staying up late into evening an outing with the dog is on the agenda for many San Diegans.
Restaurants are among many of the dog friendly places in San Diego. A key to great dog training is to expose your dog to many as new places as you can. If going out to eat is one of those things you like to do with either family or friends, the opportunity to bring the dog is prevalent here in San Diego.
Don’t forget this weekend the most dog friendly San Diego event of the summer.
Wags for Wishes is an event made up of the coolest new dog toys, leashes, and dog training products available. And your dog can shop with you. Watch agility, flyball, disc dogs as well as feel free to participate in things like Rallo-O and Luring.
Its going on July 10, 11 & 12. Find out all the details here: Wags For Wishes
Yet another dog friendly venue in the San Diego area; the 2009 Wags for Wishes is set to start July 10-12, 2009. This is an event you can bring your dog to watch or participate in events like Field Luring, Splash Dogs, Canine Good Citizen, Rally-O and Freestyle. Agility, Flyball and Disc Dogs and many more dog sport enthusiast events as well as cool dog stuff to buy, dog adoptions and much more will interest any dog lover.
The 4th of July is always a fun holiday for Americans. Its usually one of those holidays that involves outdoors, food, friends, and a grand finale of fireworks to end the day. All would be very well for the dog, one of our most trusted family members, except for the finale. Most dogs would really rather skip the fireworks.
With good reason. Dogs hear things 10 times louder than we do. Imagine how comfortable that would be on your ears. Fireworks happen once a year for the most part and dogs are not exposed enough to feel comfortable. Many dogs have a huge fear of fireworks to the point serious anxiety replaces the normal happy wag of every other day.
Whether your dog has anxiety or not, here are recommendations so your dog has a comfortable happy 4th July. Click to read a must-know guide for your dog: Fireworks, Your Dog & the 4th of July
Dogs that get exercise are happier. Owners that can take their dogs out on walks without having to hold onto the leash, using every bit of strength they have are happier as well. The urban trails, beaches and dog friendly locations in San Diego are the perfect setting for your dogs to have that happier life of exercise and freedom if only you could walk them in a more enjoyable state on or off leash.
We all know that in our urban settings getting the dog out for exercise is part of the deal. In fact, it’s one of the reasons we used to justify getting the dogs while living in homes with smaller yards and nice furniture. Research says that dog owners get outdoors and exercise more simply because they have a dog.
Even those with the best intentions can fall short on going out for a walk when you have a dog that pulls like crazy on the leash. When you have two dogs that have bad leash manners, forget it. Not fun. The walk can easily be overlooked or put off for another day.
When the dogs can go out and walk nicely on a leash the whole story changes. Going out for some fresh air, exercise, and a way to start your day or wind down a stressful day at work is something you look forward to.
If you are reading this and feeling like its a good description of what goes on around your house, here are a few tips to put the bad leash manners behind you and your dogs and help you get out and have more fun. It’s good for you. It’s good for your dogs.
•Your dogs thinks in pictures; don’t move forward unless your dog is in the right place in the picture
•Walk one dog at a time to start the new training
•If your dog can’t walk alone without pulling, the hopes they will walk together without pulling are none
•Simply stop when your dog even starts to get ahead of you
•Start again when your dog stops and settles (dogs do what they can get away with!)
•Make many turns of 90 degrees and 180 degrees
•Stop & start to keep your dog paying attention to where you are
•Be patient, don’t keep moving if your dog is not calm and next to you
•Again be patient! At first this takes more time than you feel you have
•Keep the leash short, the old adage give an inch take a mile applies
Habits are hard to change for anyone. Don’t give in to the frustration of your dog continuing to pull and don’t expect it to change in just a couple of outings. Instead commit in your mind that you are in charge and practice will make permanent. If your walks are very slow but the picture gets painted right for even a month, think about what that will do for your relationship with your dog over a lifetime. The added exercise is going to do you good and your dog even better.
A health trend is becoming more of a focus as the number of Americans who are obese has increased by 2% in the last two years. This is a good thing as action is required to changed those statistics.
There are more Americans who now have come to believe they are overweight and now with the current economic state have realized the importance of losing weight and getting back into shape. The simple need to stay healthy, cut costs, and be able to maintain current homes and work positions is abundant.
Those Americans statistics also say that up to 70% also own a dog. And guess what? Yep, the dog is most likely a bit overweight as well. The good news about that is if you find yourself feeling like it’s time to take off a few extra pounds and you do own a dog, you have yourself the perfect training partner.
There is no magic bullet in losing weight and getting more fit other than cutting calories and increasing your exercise. Make sure the calories you eat are healthy, meaning not full of fat or a large percentage consisting of carbohydrates. One rule of thumb that makes it simple for people to gage is to not eat more food than the size of your fist at any one sitting.
This is true of dogs as well. Free feeding is out. That means filling the dog bowl up with food and letting your cutest best friend eat whenever and however much food anytime during the day is not a good way to promote a healthy lifestyle for your dog.
Many dog food companies are recommending too much food right on the bag. There are many reasons for this, (information for a future article), but for simplicity lets just say it goes along with many downfalls of our health care system. Providing recommendations for health isn’t the underlying agenda; providing recommendation to keep you at the doctor or vet have become the industry standard. If you’d like to look at some good food options for your dog check out Life’s Abundance for ingredients and recommendations. Again, great information for another story….
Here are few things you can do today to develop some great new behaviors to start on the road to weight loss and fitness for you and your dog:
•At meals eat the only the amount of food that would equal the size of your fist
•Give your dog measured amounts of food twice a day; do not free feed.
•Start walking with your dog at least 20 minutes a day* (we plan to build this over time… keep following our blog!)
*If you have not been exercising please make sure to get a physical to know what kind of health you are starting with, be safe, and know where you want to go with your health care needs.
Get out and get your health and happiness back with your dog!
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And as always, for private dog training and coaching contact us at K9 Coach.
This is a post that was done by one of my colleagues on Facebook this morning. She gave me permission to re-post this to my blog. It’s very important for dog owners to know that just because its sold in the big pet stores doesn’t mean it’s safe! Thanks to Tracey Lamerbert and if you need a good dog walker in the San Diego area contact her!
I thought i would share this with any of my friends that own a dog and use the very popular retractable leash.
This morning as i was out making my rounds. I was heading up Alga and saw a client walking her dog. Happy bear a very friendly,energetic cocker spaniel knows my truck well and loves me lots
He heard me coming up the hill with 7 other cars and all of the sudden darted out onto Alga. My heart jumped! We were all traveling about 50mph…He came within inches of a on coming car. His owner in a panic had a hard time controlling him with the retractable lead and like most of them,when the dogs darts doesn’t lock correctly. Now she will not be using the retrractable lead on busy streets.
Here is a little more information on the dangers of theses leashes:
A veterinary rant on the plague of retractable leashes in our midst
A plague of retractable leashes is upon us! Though that statement comes perhaps ten years too late, I’m happy to offer you my take on this important subject here and now.
Call me a hater, but I HATE retractable leashes. Here’s why:
I’ve never found one that didn’t click and stick or unspool suddenly at the exact wrong time (like when a stray cat crosses your path and an oncoming car has to slam on the brakes to spare your dog’s life). Sticky situations like this serve to illustrate how the “canine lunge line” can serve to thoroughly foul up your control over the animal.
Last weekend, my aunt’s dog was on a placid walk up in northern Florida when another dog came bounding suddenly from the end of a twenty-foot super-Retracto. Dog-fearful Trixie did what any other encroached-upon dog might under the circumstances. She bit the dog.
My aunt, being the responsible dog owner she is, offered to pay for the care of the bitten dog and called immediately to determine what measures she might take to prevent similar incidents in the future.
My take? It’s the other owners fault. And not just because lovable Trixie spent six months as one of my foster dogs before finding a home with my aunt. If my aunt truly had control over Trixie and the bitee’s owner didn’t have control ever her extendo-apparatus, then, well, it seems pretty clear, right?
The same situation plays out in our waiting room on a regular basis. Owners with ill-behaved or over-stimulated and stressed dogs often lose control of their charges. No degree of thumb clicking and hand over hand reeling-in will suffice when the thin line is already wrapped thrice around an elderly woman’s ankles.
Retractable leashes do have their places. But heavy dog interaction zones are not among them. Pet owners thinking about using this kind of leash as their tried-and-true standard would do well to consider the vet’s point of view: They’re a liability.
