Pet Stores, Puppy Mills & Rescues

I am about to spew something that may infuriate some people , particularly dog breeders.  I have written  similar articles, mostly blasting puppy mills, puppy brokers and pet stores, but while working the other day I received a question that gave me pause for thought. I suspect it was in the back of my mind all along but I just did not address it openly. I realize that pounds and no kill shelters exist and I have adopted a few dogs from them over the years. I understand why some families  who have come upon hard times need to relinquish a pet,  but I also see dogs, pure bred dogs, in these shelters that are there strictly due to human greed.  

  

The question I speak of was from a customer who was teetering on the fence about buying an 8 week old puppy that she was told had been diagnosed as having a recessed vulva and wanted to know the likelihood that the pup would outgrow it.  This puppy that she was on the fence about would be coming from a pet store.  

Ugh! I thought as I rolled my eyes at the still remaining  many who are not aware of where pet store puppies come from. But answering dog questions is how I make money to to support my own dogs, so of course I took the question. I suppose I had also hoped in the back of my mind that I could educate her on pet store puppies and puppy mills.

I gave the customer the information about the life long problems a recessed vulva might bring with it, the cleaning of the dog’s privates every time it peed to avoid  a life of urinary tract infections and the possible surgery the pup might need to correct the problem and that surgery, if not done correctly may not work.   I also went on to tell her the possibilities of other life long problems that might exist because puppies in pet stores come from puppy mills and I sent a link about puppy mills as well.

The customer came back at me furious, not because what I was telling her was wrong, but because I was not a Veterinarian telling her this information and that I was giving her health information that she herself already knew having already looked it up online.  So she opted out of me helping her further which is her prerogative under the company rules. This meant I could no longer continue to respond to her question; however given her response about “I know all of this information already” I did have a mouthful to say to her so it is best she did opt out of using me in the long run.

A friend, a Veterinarian who had worked on the site for several years stepped in and took the question basically agreeing with everything I had told the customer but offering a little extra technical explanation of possible problems.

When I read the Vet’s answer I was pleased, because not only was I correct in explaining the situation but the Vet acknowledged and validated my answer. With that I sent the Vet a private message thanking her for such a considerate answer. And this private message is what brings me to this post! ( I bet you're glad we're finally getting to it!)

The Vet’s reply to me was that she  basically just restated what I had already told the customer, and that she always feels bad for those pups that get left behind.

Pups that get left behind. I thought sadly.  Pups that are bought and sold every day in pet stores that come from puppy mills. Puppies that are purchased and then turn into grown dogs. These grown dogs that usually have many health and behavior flaws which usually cause them to be given up to pounds or shelters across the USA. These puppies that grow up and cost dog pounds and shelters money to save them through housing, vet care, and food, as well as the tireless efforts of volunteers who attempt to find them new homes. These costs are then passed on to the general public that are doing the adopting of these grown dogs. For these pet store puppies it is to be a revolving door in their life and seemingly a lose, lose situation. Many to never know what a forever home is.

  

Please do not misunderstand what I am saying.  I think shelters are wonderful and do all that they can for dogs and cats, yet in the end it is still that poor sickly puppy that someone had shelled out hundreds of dollars to buy from a  pet store that end up in a shelter or pound. Not only does the public pay the price,  so does the poor animal.  I can’t be upset with the animal because they did not ask to be born into this situation but I can be angry with the human race and companies such as Hunte (to see more on the Hunte Company click  this link )  that constantly put these animals out there for nothing more than profit. Sometimes I just want to say, “God we suck at being the higher species!”  I cannot imagine a dog doing this to humans!

                                                                                          
We try to get the puppy mills banished and in some states there is progress being made, but puppy mills are scrupulous and find other ways to sell their puppies. This can happen through puppy brokers, online web sites, or their newest plot which is to set themselves up as a non profit dog rescue so that they can still sell their pups at a higher price under the guise of  running a non profit rescue. And the public buys it hook, line, and sinker.

So how can you tell if a mill is under the guise of a non profit shelter? Ask for a specific breed of puppy. If they say, we don’t have one like that now but we are expecting to have one in a week or two.  you are likely looking at a mill hiding behind the cover of a non profit. Or when you go visit the rescue you see mostly pups and not many older dogs.  A true rescue takes in every dog no mater the age.

What I am trying to say here is that regardless of whether we purchase the pups from a pet store or donate money to a rescue to adopt them as adults, the people that run the puppy mills still win. The losers are the homeless dogs in this revolving door because they  end up without ever knowing what a forever home is like.

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In my perfect puppy world I would like:

1) I would like to see every state ban puppy mills, period! No exceptions! If you are breeding more than two distinct breeds you should be classified as a mill or a back yard breeder who is only out for the money. Breeders, though most are responsible, should only be allowed to breed once a year in any given household.  This would cut down on the people who are breeding only to make a living, not for the betterment of the breed itself.  If you can’t make a living off of it, it may not seem a worth while option to pick for an income. Breeders should be required to register with their county as a breeder and should be submitting  paper work on the specific dog they are breeding.   Just as most counties require your dogs to have an identifying  county license a dog breeder should be made to do the same. This could be ‘part’ of a simple solution to over population and puppy mills.

Hey breeders, I get it,  you have a dog that has been judged a champion stud and you are proud of him  and you want to breed him, but  just because a law would only allow you to do one breeding a year with him,  it wouldn't  make that dog any less of a champion!  In fact, that gives you even more time to add to its distinctions through different showings.  Just because you own a stud and not a bitch does not mean that you don’t contribute to an already existing problem.

I also want to see all breeders be made to keep their adult dogs and  puppies that cannot be sold due to some defect or those that are too old for breeding therefore making the breeders no money. I do not think they should be able  to pass the buck because they don’t want to pay to have them taken care of properly. They took these dogs on but seemingly only want them for  the good times not the bad. It is not  fair to hand a defective puppy or an old non producing dog to a rescue and expect the volunteers to spend tireless hours and  efforts to find your dog a home!  

2) Puppies should never be allowed to be sold in pet stores and for those sneaky pet stores that do try  sell them, (even from their own home) should be considered breaking the law and should be very heavily fined.

3) If a rescue team is called to a site to remove a certain amount of dogs from a property which would be deemed a puppy mill, then the owner of those dogs should be fined and should be made to pay the rescue back for the costs of removing, relocating, sheltering, vet care, and feeding of those confiscated animals until such time as they are found a permanent home. This threat alone, if it were a law, would make many think twice about running a mill or over breeding their dogs.

4) The heaviest load really lay on me, you, and on the rest of the general public.  The USDA, the states, the towns, and municipalities do not have enough paid manpower to keep up with tracking or investigating the existence of puppy mills. To aide these counties, the public should be reporting anyone they know or suspect of running a mill. To entice the public to make that phone call offer anonymity from the mills owner, and put some type of reward in place if the caller has identified a legitimate puppy mill. A reward does not always mean monetary, I know a few people who would give up a name for a couple of Paul McCartney or Mick Jagger tickets!  

Will you have neighbors calling up on each other because they are reminiscent of the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s?  Sure, so don’t rely on just one call, wait until you have a few complaints about a property or a few complaints about sick puppies that were purchased from a specific breeder or property before doing a proper check .

I am reminded of a lawsuit brought about near my hometown against Pet City & Supplies Inc.. There were so many complaints about sick dogs being sold, and the failure of the store to produce proper records that eventually one of their stores in my area closed down, though I am not  aware if  any of their other stores closed as well. But it was a victory, a small one yet still a victory! A victory that should have taught us all it can be done!

You can see more on the Pet City suit and other legal actions against pet stores by clicking here 

5) Do not lump Agriculture laws and companion animal laws into one. They are separate issues yet they are all put under the guise of animal cruelty.  By doing this it makes it harder to crack down on mills because the Agricultural folk are going to come out swinging, because their livestock are their livelihood.  A dog on the other hand is not really a livelihood and should not be considered a way of income. By separating the two you may be able to get things done a bit quicker and  with less opposition.

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                                       What's in a complaint?

As a public we are outraged when we see a puppy in a pet store or we rescue a dog that has so many ailments from bad breeding that we complain, and we complain a lot, but are we complaining to the right people?  Have we offered the help that is needed to put these disgraceful people out of business?   Are we going to continue to have unwanted dogs kenneled and euthanized specifically due to this problem and no other?

You might want to  put a bit of pressure on your local government such as Mayors and Governors about the issues of  puppy mills in your town/city. It’s a good start.  To find the Mayor of your city and when they are up for re-election click here. 

From there start writing to your state Governor’s office. For a list of Governor's click here    ( When the page opens click on your state and a new window opens up so you can  send an email to your Governor. )

Try to keep your anger and disgust at a minimum and deal with the facts that you see on a daily basis regarding your own pet that may have been from a puppy mill or if you are an organization that rescues these dogs. Don’t rant and rave, ranting and raving makes you feel good at the time, but it does nothing to get your message across. Also don't just rant and rave but try to come up with suggestions to aid the problem.

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Just to reiterate where those pet store puppies and the majority of adult dog rescues come from and what conditions they are born into before they ever hit that pet store click here.  

Notice the lack of human contact, lack of space provided, and  the over crowding along with deplorable conditions.

The conditions in which the parent dogs and puppies have to eat, sleep, and live in causes most of the behavior problems that I hear on a daily basis. Questions such as: my dog acts fearful what can I do? or  my dog lunges and barks at other dogs how do I stop this?  and my two favorites , even though I take my puppy out often to potty he/she still pees and poops all over the house, what can be done to stop this? and  I have adopted a breeder dog that waits to come into the house to pee even though she has a doggy door to use.    

Remember that puppies, like humans, only act out what they have learned during their first formative weeks, months, years, of life.  This can contribute to a lifetime of problems that may or may not ever be able to be fixed.

  

Update on another shut down to try to curtail over population of unwanted puppies. I don't understand why it is so hard to get any bills passed to reduce unwanted puppies.  Click here for article  

The worst states for puppy mills: click here

That’s my sound off, comment as you see fit. 

Kids & Puppies, the chasing the nipping, the jumping!

interactions: Litter of Newfs 5 weeks old

child 4 years old , training sit, going through
a whole box of biscuits, But it worked 

You may as well get your coffee now, dredge up any cuss words you think you’ll want to call me and be prepared for the truth, because if you did not get it in the prior blog article on kids and dogs it will be explained again here but a little differently. If you got it, good for you!




Okay, so last time I talked about going over the rules of teaching your kids to respect a dog’s space and while I was referring to dogs that are adopted and older, this week I’d like to talk about kids and puppies. Puppies that nip, chase, and bite your little ones, until your little ones are screaming all the time and have become so petrified of the puppy that it makes you just want to pull your pull hair out!

Trainers get so many complaints over this problem and if you have not read my previous blog about teaching your children how to respect dogs, then please do so before moving forward here. 95% of the puppy’s actions are not the puppy’s fault, so take that newspaper and hit yourself over the head for not being more aware of what to expect and how to handle the two together. If you have any uncertainties about the training of a dog, set up classes and be ready to learn before the little love bug occupies space in your home. Maybe pre-puppy kindergarten class needs to be taught before puppy kindergarten! You know, similar to how the public school system analyzes your kid to see if he/she is ready to join the ranks of daily learning and torture! This way we can weed out the puppy parents that are not truly ready to have a puppy live with them.

So why did I go with 95% and not 100% of bad behavior being the puppy’s fault? Well, because due to bad breeding there are a percentage of mentally unstable pups who due to neurological problems can act out. And 95% is just my guess based on the amount of questions I deal with on a daily basis.



Causes and explanations


First let me state that the majority of pups are taken away from their litter mates too soon. Just as you would put your toddler in a day care with the same age appropriate peers to learn social skills, your puppy deserves the same. However there are no schools that take pups on a daily basis so they can learn important social skills, and this is why leaving a pup longer with their litter helps them to better develop these vital skills.


Years ago it was pretty standard that a pup would be sold when it turned 8 weeks old and today I am seeing dogs sold at 5 and 6 weeks old which is way too early not only as it pertains to the health of the pup but also the social skills. In my opinion, even 8 weeks is too early for a pup to fully learn social/play skills among its peers and this is why we see the behaviors we do in young pups. At age 8 weeks they still in many cases have not yet learned what bite inhibition is, how to be alone away from their pack, or how to fully grasp what is prey and what it is not.

You’ve all heard this before, “I think my dog was abused when he was young because he cowers and backs away when I raise my hand to pet him, but I’ve never hit him or raised my voice to him.”

While having been abused is certainly a possibility, it is not as prevalent as you think. Here’s the thing, when pups are taken from their litter mates too soon they may be leaving at a time when the siblings were too rough making them fearful of other dogs or people.

Here’s another one...

“I think my puppy was in many fights or beat up badly by another dog because he is aggressive to other dogs!

This pup may have been taken from the litter at a time that it perceived itself to be the bully of the litter and so it continues to be dominant or aggressive over those around them, or the pup was taken at a time when it was bullied in the litter and when it feels trapped it feels the need to lash out before it gets hurt.

And yet another…

“My puppy cries all night long and he’s destroying my house!”
A pup that has not had a chance to move away from the pack/litter during sleep or other daily activities may suffer separation anxiety.

Let me give you one example of what how pups learn from the social atmosphere of their littermates.
I’ll discuss bite inhibition: Each day as the pups grow they develop stronger muscles which help them to walk, play, and run. At the same time they are developing teeth, tiny sharp teeth and stronger muscles in their jaws. This is when the mother will stop nursing them which is about 4 weeks of age. At this age mom is starting to teach them how to play and if they go too far, mom corrects them. When mom is not there to correct, this is the general scenario. Puppy A goes after Puppy B too roughly, Puppy B yelps and walks away. This ends their play session. When this happens each time they play together, eventually Puppy A learns that he may not bite/play so rough if he wants to continue playing with Puppy B.


So when little incidents like this are not allowed to happen, then Puppy A may develop aggressive tendencies toward other dogs because he knows he can win, and Puppy B may develop fearful tendencies.

Seeing kids through puppy eyes

As I stated in my last blog, kids run on impulse and dogs run on instinct. The impulse of children is to run, scream, hit, tug, and yell. The instinct of a dog is fight, flight, and prey chase. What might a dog see as prey? Running, & screaming! How do dogs view a fight or flight situation? Being cornered, hit, or being tugged on! So if a dog cannot get away from a situation they will growl, bark, or bite which is the fight or flight mode. In prey mode, they chase and capture.

What I am saying here folks is that every young child possess all of the qualities that would affect a young pup’s natural instinct.

How to stop nipping, biting, chasing

So, how do we stop the dog from nipping, barking, and chasing? Well it is up to the parent/owner of the dog to teach it what they will not accept around the house and kids and this needs to start the day they bring the pup home. Okay, okay, I’ll give an inch, the day after they bring the pup home!

Watching the dog and child chasing each other around the yard is semi cute, until, well… let’s put it this way, “Ah look at little Johnny being mauled by Muffin!”

There are rules you need to set down for the dog, and there are rules needed to set down for the children or you are going to have problems. If you don’t set rules, you’ll either hate the dog or hate the children and since you can’t give your children away; I suspect the dog will be the one leaving!

Teach your dog basic obedience in a quiet non distracting area and start with sit, it is the easiest command to teach because all you have to do is hold a treat over its head until its bottom touches the ground and put the command ‘sit’ to it. Once you have taught the dog a reliable sit, then the kids can do the same. Don’t ask the kids to give the dog a sit command until you have taught it to the dog first.

Teach the dog a firm ‘leave it’ command. This command means leave everything in its view alone and bring its attention back onto you. If you get a good leave it command you can eventually give the command from a distance which will help in situations when you are not in the immediate area.
‘Ut- uh’ over ‘No, no’.

I really don’t care for the word 'no' in training. From the day the pup goes to a new home all it hears is no, no, no, no, and no! No is also the first word parents tell their children when something is about to go wrong as well. Eventually that word doesn’t mean much any more to either the dog or the child. Dogs need simple one or two word commands, but normally it’s an adult’s nature to always say ‘no’ in certain situations, so it is better to change the wording for training. Another reason I like ‘ut-uh’ is because it takes the anger and frustration out of the human’s voice. A resounding ‘No’ can sound pretty angry and we don’t want to frighten the dog, we want to train him. There’s a big difference between a trained dog and a frightened dog!

The whole wording situation for me came about when I had a Bearded Collie named Watson. He was a beautiful and well behaved dog, and we used to call him Wat, for short. So imagine how confusing it was for him when I would yell something to my hubby from another room, and hubby who almost never heard me the first time, would reply, “WHAT?” Well, the poor dog ended up running from room to room thinking someone was calling him! So the wording in training should be thought out as well as the wording in a dog’s name!

Reward
At my job, I don’t work for free and I don’t expect my dogs to either! Many people feel that food rewards are not appropriate and while that may be great for some older dogs who are already well balanced, when it comes to puppies you will get a faster response with a food reward than you will with a tug on the collar. As well, you are developing a new relationship and the fear of what will happen next should not be a part of that relationship. I always subscribe to the theory that you catch more bees with honey! Food rewards are just another training tool that can be replaced with praise once you and your dog have a trusting relationship.

Training should be made a daily part of your routine so it shows the dog consistency in what you expect of it. Always keep the children at a distance and you can gradually move them closer as training progresses.

Chasing

Train with both the kids and dog, but keep the kids at a safe distance.

Attach a light clothesline rope about 10 feet long to the collar/harness of the dog and let it lay on the ground by your feet. (I prefer clothesline rope over a leash because it is light and the dog usually forgets it is attached to him.)

Have your kids about 20 feet off to the side of you. Give the kids the go ahead to start running back and forth about 25 feet from the dog. If the dog goes to chase the kids, step on the leash and say ‘ut uh.’ Once he stops, and he will because you are still stepping on the rope, he will probably look up at you as if to say, “hey I can’t move!” You will then give the sit command that you have taught him and reward him for sitting and staying with you. He is not going to know that it is the rope holding him back as you do not have it in your hand, so he is going to start associating your words with him not being able to leave the position. Gradually have the children move/run closer and closer past the dog. This needs to be repeated several times daily and in different parts of the yard or home as pups do not always associate one action or training with each place it visits. Just because he may have learned it outside, does not mean he will carry that over to the inside of the home. When the training is over always remember to give a release command which is usually “Fido Okay”

Two things are happening above can you spot what they are?

Jumping:
You will again have the clothesline rope attached. Again lay the rope at your feet and step on it just at the point it flows from the collar and hits the ground, have the kids in front of the dog about three to five feet away jumping, giggling, and patting their chest. The dog is likely to try and jump up on them and at the moment that the dog’s front feet start to leave the ground you will again say “ut, uh.” The dog will again not be able to move because your foot is on the rope. Give the sit command and the moment the dog sits, praise and reward. The same two things are happening, have you spotted them yet?

Biting/nipping

Hopefully with the practice of the first two lessons your words of “ut, uh” should have the dog stop, sit down and waiting for you to reward him but in case that does not happen there are a couple other things you can do.

Remember that pup in the litter I mentioned above? The one that yelped and ended play because the other pup got too rough? Well you can do that as well. You can yelp once turn your back and walk away and ignore the dog, or, with a gated room or a small pen already set up for training you can remove the dog from you, the object it desires, and end play that way. (However a dog’s crate should never be used for this purpose)

As mentioned in last weeks blog post, a pup’s memory, like a young child’s, is not very good or long lasting, so you want to keep him in this area for no more than a minute to two minutes, then take him out and let him try to behave again. If he nips, pick him up and repeat the processes. The more the process is repeated, the faster he will learn that if he wants to play with you he must act appropriate and this is where the game of fetch from the previous post comes into play. Also you can take him out of the penned/gated area, give him a safe chew toy such as a Kong stuffed with cheese or Nylabone bone with the command ‘toy.’
It is a good idea to have something placed strategically in the home and outside of the home that you can give the dog to chew on or hold in his mouth the instant it starts to nip.

Again, two things are happening here which many humans fail to do, can you spot it?

Another trick of the trade is to spray the area the dog is going after with Grannicks Bitter Apple. So if Fido is always after your youngster’s shoes put a few sprays of bitter apple on them. This product can be found in your pet store. It is a citrus type spray and dogs are not big on the taste. Eventually the pup will think that this is what the shoes always taste like and he’ll probably loose interest. In some instances this works well, but I would not depend on this alone as you are really not teaching the dog not to go after the youngster’s shoes, just briefly deterring or delaying it.
With explanations of how to train in different situations I mentioned that two things happened in each instance; let’s see if you spotted it. First of all, as humans we are great at telling our kids and our pups ‘No’ and what they can’t do or can’t have, but we are not very good at then redirecting them to what they can do, or can have! This is where much of the breakdown happens.

Dog chews shoe, human yells at dog, dog hides. But dog does not learn what he can have instead! As with the nipping of children, obviously you don’t want them gnawing on the child’s leg, but have you showed them what they can gnaw on instead? Each negative action by the dog as illustrated above was replaced with a positive action.

‘No jumping, or chasing, but if you sit nicely you get a reward! No biting my leg, and if you stop you can chew on a tasty bone!’

Remember, teaching the correct behavior goes hand in hand with the negative behavior you are trying to stop. I think humans overlook that aspect. It is much more rewarding for a dog to get praised for doing the right thing than to get in trouble for doing the wrong thing.

When you have accomplished the above then include one child at a time in the training and let the child reward the dog’s good behavior. Although the majority of dogs never see a child as being above them because children are not consistent, at least you want the dog to see that good things come from the child when the right behavior is done. When it comes to a food reward you may want to do a hand over hand with your child and show them how to hold the food in a flat open palm and not leaving fingers sticking up to be mistaken for part of the treat!

With that being said, never trust that a dog and child will act accordingly if you are not around to supervise. The above is just to show both dog and child how to get along. Never should they be left unsupervised!

For step by step in basic obedience using a positive method, click here.

To see video of how this method works click here

Christmas Puppies? Good or bad idea?

Pics: Forrest gump and Casey and Litter of six week old pups waiting patiently, the hats were added later just for the holidays.

Surely this posting is too late for this season, but any breeder, pound, or rescue in their right mind will tell you do not give a puppy for a Christmas gift. The only ones that will talk you into getting a puppy for a gift is a pet store. But here we are, Christmas has come and gone and we have a new puppy, figuratively speaking. The new puppy is causing havoc with the old dog that does not have the patience to deal with puppy antics. What do you do?

Step one: Ring the neck of the person who gave you the pup.
Step two: If the idea was yours, roll up the newspaper and smack yourself!

Okay so here we are, the old dog is growling and snarling at the pup, mouthing the pup’s neck trying to let the pup know what is acceptable and what is not and you’re scolding the old dog for bad behavior which makes any friendship between the two even more stressful. Soon, you will end up hating both dogs and wish you had gerbils instead!

How to handle the situation is a question I hear often. First, if the old dog is not getting vicious with the pup allow it to let the pup know the boundaries that will be tolerated. This is the fastest way for a pup to learn. If your older dog is a bit possessive of items, pick up all toys, bones, bowls, beds etc. that belong to the old one and put them away for now, this will give the older dog no reason to feel like it must protect or possess. Keep water dishes located in more than one room of the home so all animals feel safe enough to drink.

The next step is to start getting your puppy under control through obedience training, the sooner you get the young one under your control the more at ease the older one will feel. Its hell to be a parent and no older dog wants that thrown upon them and then asked to be gracious about it.

So now you not only have house breaking to do, but obedience training as well. Pups can start learning what you expect of them at four to six weeks old, as soon as their little legs are sturdy enough to carry them places. The trick? Consistency! Too many of us fall from grace when we begin to change the rules and confuse the pup. If you don’t want the pup eating human food from the kitchen table, don’t ever give him food from the table! Let one person in the family give in and it can lead to an annoying dog that no one wants around them. I’m not saying you can’t give leftovers as a treat, I’m just saying to put them in the pup’s dish after you have left the table. Also, be mindful of the human foods that can be toxic to dogs and know what to do should you find yourself in that situation.

Teach your pup manners so you can stop him from annoying the older dog before things get out of hand. Too many of us make the mistake of trying to stop a dog from a situation we don’t like when the situation is actually happening. I suppose this is because it is frightening or upsetting to us in some way and so we react. Here we are, the older dog has the little pup’s cute little neck in its mouth and it looks like things are about to get ugly and what does the human do? We act inappropriate. We start yelling at the top of our lungs, slam books or pots to try and prevent the inevitable from happening. Okay so if not screaming and slamming things what should we do? Well, as much as I hate to say it, we should have prepared ourselves for this beforehand.

In other words, we see the older dog getting antsy with the pup, we see by a body language change it is not going to be pretty if the pup is not soon stopped. Now, if you had taught your older dog a firm ‘leave it’ command before hand you could have given that command calmly to the dog while you removed the pup from the situation and averted any escalation between the two.

Teaching the pup the ‘leave it’ command should be right up there at the top of the heap with mom’s sweet apple pie. The leave it command means, “Leave anything and everything alone that you are even thinking about getting and bring your attention back to me so I can tell you what I want you to do next.” If you can teach your rambunctious little pup just that one command, you can avert a lot of trouble and keep the pup fairly safe from harm, not only from another animal, but from car chasing, eating something toxic, or running off down the road after a squirrel.

So if you have found yourself with a new pup this Christmas season, enjoy, they can be pretty neat to hang with. At the same time, make them a dog that you always want to hang out with, not a dog that grows up to be bothersome to others, the dogs with bad manners often end up back in the place they originally came from and that’s just not fair.

To learn how to get your pup off on the right paw, check out the below site for clicker training. Clicker training is easy, rewarding and not expensive. Plus it makes a pup think, and when a pup has to think, it gets tired and a tired pup is a good pup! Just remember to keep training sessions short for young pup, as soon as they show boredom stop the training and start again later in the day. They really are like human toddlers; they can only focus for so long and steps have to be repeated to them throughout the day before they get it!

Wishing you all a Happy and Healthy New Year!

click here for step by step` Clicker training
videos of how it is done http://www.clickertrainusa.com/clicker-training-videos.htm
clicker teachers network http://www.clickerteachers.net/