Before you ever consider breeding, you must first pick the right breed for your family. The population of cats is the United States alone is unbelievable. About all experts will tell you that you should spay your cat rather than breed it. Regardless what experts have to say, several people prefer to have a litter of kittens from their cat. Before you decide to breed your cat, there are a some things that you should think about.

The first thing you should know is that breeding cats takes time. For the next two months after the litter is born, you’ll require to clean the area on a regular basis. You’ll also require to observe the kittens as well, and keep a close eye on how they’re developing. If you plan to breed a litter of cats, you won’t have time for much of anything else.

Breeding cats will also need a good degree of space as well. If you’ve a small flat, you shouldn’t attempt to breed a cat. You should also be sure that your family agrees with the idea, as it isn’t good for the kittens if you keep them locked up. Keep in mind that kittens like to see things; they’ll end up going all over your house as well.

Breeding cats also needs a degree of responsibility as well. You should always have a plan of approach, including homes for the kittens to go that you aren’t planning to keep. Keep in mind that things may change, somebody who wanted a cat may change his mind once the litter is born. In this event, you must decide whether or not you may keep a kitten that doesn’t have a house.

Breeding also needs a few education as well. You should be prepared for any troubles along the way, as well as what takes place during birth. From cutting umbilical cords to delivering early, you’ll require to be well prepared. You should also have the suitable supplies, and know how to handle things in the event of a c-section. You’ll also require to know what to feed pregnant cats, as their diets are very important if you’re breeding.

Breeding will also price money as well, with kittens costing some more money than you may think. The food isn’t the only thing that’s costly, as the vet bills can also get unaffordable. Even though you may go through the entire pregnancy without going to the vet, you’ll still require de-worming and inoculation medicines as well.

In brief, there’s more to think about where breeding is concerned. If you’ve your mind set on it and you would like to breed, you should make sure that you’ve the proper knowledge and everything you need before hand. You should always be ready to handle anything associated with breeding – and prepare yourself for the worst possible scenario.

Copyright 2007 Fine Pet Care.com. All Rights Reserved.

A peaceful relationship between new and existing feline housemates requires time, patience and work. When you choose to add a new cat to your house, it’s generally more exiting for you and your family than it’s for the cat you already own. Though most cats are lonely by nature, most will also come to accept or eventually tolerate any additions. Cats may be very territorial, which is why you should always be careful when you introduce a new cat to your current cat.

If you’re introducing kittens to each other, the entire introduction process may be short, lasting as little as 10 – 15 days. Introducing cats to one another all depends on their disposition and their personality. When you introduce a new cat to your current cat, you should always be sure that you give your current cat plenty of love and care. This way, your cat will feel safe and know that he isn’t in competition with your new cat for affection.

When you bring your new cat house, you should let him stay in a secure room until you’ve finished introducing the cats. Your secure room may be any small room in your house, such as a bathroom or spare bedroom. The key here is to use a room that your current cat doesn’t go in. In the room, you should leave your new cat a scratching post, bed, water dish, litter box, and food dish.

Initially, your current cat may howl and hiss when he stands at the door, trying to tell the other cat that he doesn’t belong. When this happens you should neglect it, as punishing your cat for his behavior will only lead to more problems. After a while, the first cat will begin to act calm when he’s near the new cat’s door. As he begins to act calm, you should pet him and give him praise.

When your first cat begins to go by your new cat’s door and doesn’t howl or hiss; you may begin introducing them to one another. The best way to do this is to get them used to each other people scent. You may begin letting them eat out of the same food dish, although you’ll prefer to feed them at different intervals at first. This way, the scent of each cat will be present at the food dish, and each cat will get the scent when he eats his food.

Once both cats hold used to the scent, you may begin to feed them closer together. To do this, you should keep your new cat in the secure room with the door closed, and your first cat on the other side of the door with his food dish. This time, feed both cats concurrently. After doing this some times, they should begin eating with no hissing or growling. At this point, they’re ready to be introduced to each other.

When you introduce them to one another in the same room, a little of growling and hissing is to be expected. Although they possibly used to each other people scent; your first cat will still feel a little awkward with your new cat being in his territory. You should play with them both initially, so they may smell each other and greet in their own way. If they begin to fight you should break them up, and give them some time apart.

It may take some time to get them fully used to each other, though once they do – they’ll become playmates for life. Cats love to be social, although it possibly a little rough initially, specially for your first cat. Cats may be very territorial, specially if you’ve a kitten around. If you get both of them used to one another early on – it will be more easier to add future cats to your home.

Copyright 2007 Fine Pet Care.com. All Rights Reserved.

Dogs love to dig, let’s face it, it is a very natural and instinctual part of their makeup, and “it is a very enjoyable behavior for them” says Deborah L. Forthman, Ph.D. digging is something that dogs have been doing from the beginning, but there are ways to reduce the amount your dog digs.

Here are 7 different methods to help train your dog not to dig.

1.Before you begin with your dog obedience training on how to stop him from digging, try to figure out exactly what is causing your dog to behave that way. If he is very persistent into digging in one area, you may use the dog training command “leave” while using treats to distract him. You can also distract him by using a particular smell that excites him. These dog behavior modification methods typically work very well.

2. Try not to do any type of gardening and digging when your dog is around because remember that your dog looks up to you and wants to obey you, that being the case when your dog sees you digging and playing in the yard of course he will also think that is what he should be doing.

3. Exercise is a very important aspect of your dog’s health, and not only that, the more exercise your dog gets, and the more energy the expends, the less likely that your dog will be able to muster up the energy, or the desire to go digging up your yard. If you find that your dog tends to like to dig at particular times of the day, then make sure you give him plenty of exercise around those times if possible so that he just can’t be bothered digging.

4. Make sure that you are more understanding and less scolding with your dogs digging habit, particularly during the winter months. Often during the winter months dogs will dig more than the rest of the year the reasons that these years that your dog has a natural instinct for finding warmer places and dogs sense that by digging, they will get into a warmer area and this is certainly correct. If and when you do notice that your dog is digging more frequently when the temperature is cooler outside, then it is very important to be understanding and not to scold your dog for doing that, but relieve the situation by providing the right environment for him.

5. There are some dogs that absolutely positively can’t resist digging, so rather than trying to go against nature and stop them altogether, let’s take a different approach and create a special spot for your dog to dig in. Most dog experts agree that for some breeds it is almost impossible to prevent them from digging 100% of the time, and because your dog enjoys digging so much, train him to only dig in his special spot. The area you provide for him to did in doesn’t need to be that big, something around three or four foot by six-foot should do the trick nicely.

6. Having your dog neutered or spade is one sure way to reduce their desire to dig because their drive to mate is drastically reduced, and without your dog having a strong desire to mate you almost certainly have a lot less holes in your yard.

7. Be very careful that if you do correct your dog when you catch him digging in the yard that you only do it with warmth and compassion, and that you absolutely must do it at the moment in time that he is digging and that you don’t wait for him to stop and then correct him. This will reinforce whatever he is doing with your response, if you wait until he is finished and you scold him then he will get the wrong message.

Instead when you catch him digging try to immediately replace one activity with another, so therefore distract him from his digging and replace it with an enjoyable activity for him to do. If you continually do this it will help modify his behavior and reduce your dogs digging adventures.

About The Author
Michael Weber is a passionate dog owner who studies the psychology of dogs, Michael helps people communicate properly with their dogs and to fix dog behavior problems fast. Visit here for Your Free Multi Media Mini Course: http://www.doginfoworld.com.

Copyright 2009 Fine Pet Care.com. All Rights Reserved.

One of the main reasons why parrots behave this way may be that they are being left alone by themselves for far too long. This causes them to become withdrawn and would retaliate when approached. Socialize your parrot by introducing it to your family members, friends and even to your other pets to build confidence of being in the company of others. It is natural instincts for a parrot to cause hurt when it feels that its territory is being threatened by strangers. With adequate time, your bird will settle down and feel at home.

As an alternative, give your parrot a toy to nibble at. If it refuses to let go of your fingers, give it a blow on its face as a sign that you disapproves of the bird biting you. Do this over and over again each time this happens and your pet bird will get the message.

Verbally tell your parrot ‘no’ and place the bird back in its cage as a form of punishment. Cover the cage and leave it alone for some time. The parrot, being an intelligent bird, will sense that it is being disciplined.

Observe your bird’s behaviour. African Grey parrots, especially, are temperamental and if you find that your parrot is moody, leave it alone. Just like humans, there are times when it needs to be by itself and not be forced to learn new tricks. Be sensitive to your bird and the biting can be stopped.

Take your parrot to new surroundings for a change, such as different rooms in the house, the balcony or outside on the lawn. Imagine being at the same location all the time, your parrot will lose it sense of balance. Let it enjoy new company and breathe new air. In adapting to different environments, your parrot will become less defensive and unlikely to protect itself by hurting others.

Lookout for mood changes, frustrations and irritations in your bird and avoid coming close to it when this happens. Let the bird overcome this behaviour with time. When your parrot hurts you on the finger, try not to show any reaction because it may do that again just to see the same reaction from you. Gently remove yourself from the situation. Do not retaliate by shaking the bird.

Repeat your training and be patient. Keeping a pet parrot is a lifelong commitment but it will benefit both you and you bird. Your pet bird will learn to stop biting and you will learn to be patient and build character.

ByAzmi Adnan

Azmi Adnan is a writer and a bird enthusiast. Subscribe to his newsletter for fresh video clips on parrots and other bird species, ezines and interesting bird stories at his website http://www.power-to-live.com/parrot.html

Copyright 2009 Fine Pet Care.com. All Rights Reserved.

The quickest and most effective way to teach your bird to speak is to understand how birds learn speech. If you utilize the bird’s natural inclinations and abilities, teaching your pet will be a much more enjoyable experience for both you and the bird. In the wild, parrots are most vocal during the morning and the evening. This is when they would gather with their flock to feed and roost. Since they are inclined to be noisy at these times, it is a good idea to work with your bird then.

Parrots also pick up words much more quickly during heightened states of emotion. When the bird is excited about you returning home from work, he or she is much more likely to retain the words or phrases you repeat. Similarly, if you speak with emotion, the words will stick in the mind of the bird much easier than if you say something in a monotone, bored voice. This is why so many parrots pick up curse words. These are words that are said with emphasis and gusto and therefore the bird remembers them. It is important to remember when working with your bird, that even if your bird is retaining the words you say, he won’t necessarily repeat them right away.

In the wild, birds learn language by listening to other voices that sound like their own. If you imitate the tone of your bird’s voice, you will increase the chance that the information is retained. So if you have a parakeet or a cockatiel than speak to the bird in a very high, squeaky voice. If you have a cockatoo, then it would be best to have a woman teach the birds words, since this type of bird has a smooth, female-like voice. Another great way to quickly teach your bird is to put it with other birds that speak. This is the most natural way for a bird to learn speech.

A parrot can learn the whole vocabulary of another bird in one month. If you don’t have a neighbor or friend with a bird that speaks, you can purchase CDs that replicate this phenomenon. Use Parrot voices that speak a wide variety of phrases. The phrases are repeated several times for a few minutes at random through out the day, just like a parrot would.

Be wary of CDs with human voices that claim they will teach your bird to speak. These CDs do not match the learning style of parrots since they do not match their tone to the particular bird, they do not speak with emotion and emphasis, and by repeating the same words over and over again, they can actually teach your parrot to hate those words!

Parrots pick up words that intrigue them. This is why two birds in the same setting will pick up different words. Every bird is different. CDs that endlessly repeat words will tire the bird, making those words boring and less likely to be retained.

Author: Zevs Borealis. This article is one of many featured at http://www.parrotsite.com – A website dedicated to the world of Bird Lovers. Revolutionary Speech Training Method Will Change How Bird’s Learn To Talk.

Copyright 2009 Fine Pet Care.com. All Rights Reserved.

Dogs by nature are predatory animals, and all predatory animals share the motivation to chase fleeing objects. While this may be a natural instinct, it is not appropriate when those fleeing objects are joggers, bicyclists or the mailman.

Training the dog not to chase people and bicycles is an important thing to do, and it is best to start that training as early as possible. Starting when the dog is still small and non-threatening is important, particularly with breeds that grow very large, or with breeds that have a reputation for being very aggressive. Many people respond to being chased by a dog, especially a large dog, with understandable fear, and it is best for yourself and your dog that he be trained not to chase before he reaches a threatening size.

Some dogs are easier to train away from chasing than others. Breeds that have been used for hunting or herding often retain much more of their chasing instincts than other types of dogs, for instance.

No matter what breed of dog you are working with, however, it is important to not allow him off the leash until his chasing behavior has been curbed. Allowing an untrained dog off the leash is dangerous, irresponsible and illegal.

Before you expose your dog to a situation where he will want to chase someone or something, be sure to train him in a safe, controlled area like a fenced in yard. It is important for the dog to be able to focus and concentrate on you, and for him to understand what behavior you want. The dog must be given the opportunity to repeatedly perform the behavior you want while in this controlled setting.

The training session should be started indoors in the dog’s home. The dog should be put on a leash and the owner and the dog should stand at one end of a hallway or a room. The owner then waves a tennis ball in front of the dog but does not allow him to touch it. After that, the tennis ball is rolled to the other end of the hallway or the room, and the command “Off” is used to tell the dog not to chase the ball. If the dog starts out after the ball, use the command “Off” once again and give a firm tug on the leash.

When doing this type of training, it is vital that the dog not be allowed to touch the ball. If he actually reaches the ball, he may think that “Off” means to get the ball. This exercise should be repeated several times, until the dog has learned the meaning of the “Off” command. When the dog responds correctly by not chasing the ball, he should be rewarded with a special treat.

After the dog seems to understand his new game, move to another room and try the same thing. Repeat the exercise in several rooms of the house, in the garage, etc. After the dog has seemingly mastered the game and learned the meaning of the “Off” command, you can work with him without the leash, but still only in a safe area like your own home or a fenced in yard. It may take some time for the dog to fully master control of his chasing instinct, and it is important not to rush the process, or to leave the dog off leash until you are sure he is fully trained.

To test the training in the real world, enlist the assistance of a friend to pose as a jogger. It is important that the dog does not see and recognize this person; he has to assume that it is a stranger in order for the test to be valid. Stand with the dog on his leash and have your friend jog by a couple of times while you do the “Off” exercise. If the dog does as he is asked, be sure to provide lots of praise and treats. If he starts after the “jogger”, give a firm reminder by tugging on the leash.

Burt Cotton http://www.dogtrainingnews.org

Copyright 2009 Fine Pet Care.com. All Rights Reserved.

Continued from part 2 we continue our dog training examination of the causes dog aggression and what can be done to prevent and fix these dog training problems.

All dogs have different handling thresholds. Some dogs like lots of cuddles, and are perfectly content to be hugged, kissed, and have arms slung over their shoulders (this is the ultimate “I’m the boss” gesture to a dog, which is why a lot of them won’t tolerate it.) Others – usually the ones not accustomed to a great deal of physical contact from a very young age – aren’t comfortable with too much full-body contact and will get nervy and agitated if someone persists in trying to hug them.

Another common cause of handling-induced aggression is a bad grooming experience: nail-clipping and bathing are the two common culprits.

When you clip a dog’s nails, it’s very easy to “quick” him – that is, cut the blood vessel that runs inside the nail. This is extremely painful to a dog, and is a sure-fire way to cause a long-lasting aversion to those clippers.

Being washed is something that a great many dogs have difficulty dealing with – a lot of owners, when confronted with a wild-eyed, half-washed, upset dog, feel that in order to complete the wash they have to forcibly restrain him. This only adds to the dog’s sense of panic, and reinforces his impression of a wash as something to be avoided at all costs – if necessary, to defend himself from it with a display of teeth and hackles.

Can I “retrain” him to enjoy being handled and groomed?

In a word: yes. It’s a lot easier if you start from a young age – handle your puppy a lot, get him used to being touched and rubbed all over. Young dogs generally enjoy being handled – it’s only older ones who haven’t had a lot of physical contact throughout their lives that sometimes find physical affection difficult to accept.

Practice picking up his paws and touching them with the clipper; practice taking him into the bath (or outside, under the faucet – whatever works for you, but warm water is much more pleasant for a dog than a freezing spray of ice-water!), and augment the process throughout with lots of praise and the occasional small treat.

For an older dog that may already have had several unpleasant handling/grooming experiences, things are a little more difficult. You need to undo the damage already caused by those bad experiences, which you can do by taking things very slowly – with an emphasis on keeping your dog calm.

The instant he starts to show signs of stress, stop immediately and let him relax. Try to make the whole thing into a game: give him lots of praise, pats, and treats.

Take things slowly. Don’t push it too far: if you get nervous, stop.

Dogs show aggression for a reason: they’re warning you to back off, or else! If your dog just can’t seem to accept being groomed, no matter how much practice you put in, it’s best to hand the job over to the professionals.

Your vet will clip his nails for you (make sure you tell him first that he gets aggressive when the clippers come out, so your vet can take the necessary precautions!). As far as washing and brushing goes, the dog-grooming business is a flourishing industry: for a small fee, you can get your dog washed, clipped, brushed, and whatever else you require by experienced professionals (again, make sure you tell them about your dog’s reaction to the experience first!)

If you like this article, you will find much more useful dog training information on our website Dog Training Success where you will find useful tips, tricks and an amazing guide that will help you train your four legged friend with immediate results. No matter what your dogs problem there is a solution and this fantastic training guide will show you how to handle each and every situation in detail. Can you afford not to find our more? Click Here Now

Copyright 2009 Fine Pet Care.com. All Rights Reserved.

Continued from part 1, this dog training article is dealing with dog aggression. Lets continue now and talk more about dog socialization.

How can I socialize my dog so that he doesn’t develop a fear of strangers?

Socializing your dog is pretty easy to do – it’s more of a general effort than a specific training regimen.

First of all, you should take him to puppy preschool. This is a generic term for a series of easy group-training classes for puppies (often performed at the vet clinic, which has the additional benefit of teaching your dog positive associations with the vet!).

In a puppy preschool class, about ten or so puppy owners get together with a qualified trainer (often there’ll be at least two trainers present – the more there are, the better, since it means you get more one-on-one time with a professional) and start teaching their puppies the basic obedience commands: sit, stay, and so on.

Even though the obedience work is very helpful and is a great way to start your puppy on the road to being a trustworthy adult dog, really the best part of puppy preschool is the play sessions: several times throughout the class, the puppies are encouraged to run around off-leash and play amongst themselves.

This is an ideal environment for them to learn good social skills: there’s a whole bunch of unfamiliar dogs present (which teaches them how to interact with strange dogs), there’s a whole bunch of unfamiliar people present (which teaches them that new faces are nothing to be afraid of), and the environment is safe and controlled (there’s at least one certified trainer present to make sure that things don’t get out of hand).

Socialization doesn’t just stop with puppy preschool, though. It’s an ongoing effort throughout the life of your puppy and dog: he needs to be taken to a whole bunch of new places and environments.

Remember not to overwhelm him: start off slow, and build up his tolerance gradually.

- Aggression towards family members -

There are two common reasons why a dog is aggressive towards members of his own human family:

- He’s trying to defend something he thinks of as his from a perceived threat (you).

This is known as resource guarding, and though it may sound innocuous, there’s actually a lot more going on here than your dog simply trying to keep his kibble to himself.

- He’s not comfortable with the treatment/handling he’s getting from you or other members of the family.

What’s resource guarding?

Resource guarding is pretty common among dogs. The term refers to overly-possessive behavior on behalf of your dog: for instance, snarling at you if you approach him when he’s eating, or giving you “the eye” (a flinty-eyed, direct stare) if you reach your hand out to take a toy away from him.

All dogs can be possessive from time to time – it’s in their natures. Sometimes they’re possessive over things with no conceivable value: inedible trash, balled up pieces of paper or tissue, old socks. More frequently, however, resource-guarding becomes an issue over items with a very real and understandable value: food and toys.

Why does it happen?

It all boils down to the issue of dominance. Let me take a moment to explain this concept: dogs are pack animals. This means that they’re used to a very structured environment: in a dog-pack, each individual animal is ranked in a hierarchy of position and power (or “dominance”) in relation to every other animal. Each animal is aware of the rank of every other animal, which means he knows specifically how to act in any given situation (whether to back down, whether to push the issue, whether to muscle in or not on somebody else’s turf, etc etc).

To your dog, the family environment is no different to the dog-pack environment. Your dog has ranked each member of the family, and has his own perception of where he ranks in that environment as well.

This is where it gets interesting: if your dog perceives himself as higher up on the social totem-pole than other family members, he’s going to get cheeky. If he’s really got an overinflated sense of his own importance, he’ll start to act aggressively.

Why? Because dominance and aggression are the exclusive rights of a superior-ranked animal. No underdog would ever show aggression or act dominantly to a higher-ranked animal (the consequences would be dire, and he knows it!)

Resource guarding is a classic example of dominant behavior: only a higher-ranked dog (a “dominant” dog) would act aggressively in defence of resources.

To put it plainly: if it was clear to your dog that he is not, in fact, the leader of the family, he’d never even dream of trying to prevent you from taking his food or toys – because a lower-ranking dog (him) will always go along with what the higher-ranking dogs (you and your family) say.

So what can I do about it? The best treatment for dominant, aggressive behavior is consistent, frequent obedience work, which will underline your authority over your dog. Just two fifteen-minute sessions a day will make it perfectly clear to your dog that you’re the boss, and that it pays to do what you say.

You can make this fact clear to him by rewarding him (with treats and lavish praise) for obeying a command, and isolating him (putting him in “time-out”, either outside the house or in a room by himself) for misbehaviour.

- If you’re not entirely confident doing this yourself, you may wish to consider enlisting the assistance of a qualified dog-trainer.

- Brush up on your understanding of canine psychology and communication, so that you understand what he’s trying to say – this will help you to nip any dominant behaviors in the bud, and to communicate your own authority more effectively

- Train regularly: keep obedience sessions short and productive (no more than fifteen minutes – maybe two or three of these per day).

Continued and finalized in part 3…. see you there!

If you like this article, you will find much more useful dog training information on our website Dog Training Success where you will find useful tips, tricks and an amazing guide that will help you train your four legged friend with immediate results. No matter what your dogs problem there is a solution and this fantastic training guide will show you how to handle each and every situation in detail. Can you afford not to find our more? Click Here Now

Copyright 2009 Fine Pet Care.com. All Rights Reserved.

A dog is an instinctively aggressive creature. In the wild, aggression came in very handy: dogs needed aggression to hunt, to defend themselves from other creatures, and to defend resources such as food, a place to sleep, and a mate. Selective breeding over the centuries has minimized and refined this trait significantly, but there’s just no getting around it: dogs are physically capable of inflicting serious harm (just look at those teeth!) because that’s how they’ve survived and evolved. And Mother Nature is pretty wily – it’s hard to counteract the power of instinct!

But that doesn’t mean that we, as dog lovers and owners, are entirely helpless when it comes to handling our dogs. There’s a lot that we can do to prevent aggression from rearing its ugly head in the first place – and even if prevention hasn’t been possible (for whatever reason), there are still steps that we can take to recognize and deal with it efficiently.

- Different aggression types -

There are several different types of canine aggression. The two most common ones are:

- Aggression towards strangers

- Aggression towards family members

You may be wondering why we’re bothering categorizing this stuff: after all, aggression is aggression, and we want to turf it out NOW, not waste time with the details – right?

Well … not quite. These two different types of aggression stem from very different causes, and require different types of treatment.

ggression towards strangers

What is it?

It’s pretty easy to tell when a dog’s nervy around strange people. He’s jumpy and on the alert: either he can’t sit still and is constantly fidgeting, leaping at the smallest sound, and pacing around barking and whining; or he’s veerrrry still indeed, sitting rock-steady in one place, staring hard at the object of his suspicions (a visitor, the mailman, someone approaching him on the street while he’s tied up outside a store.)

Why does it happen?

There’s one major reason why a dog doesn’t like strange people: he’s never had the chance to get used to them. Remember, your dog relies 100% on you to broaden his horizons for him: without being taken on lots of outings to see the world and realize for himself, through consistent and positive experiences, that the unknown doesn’t necessarily equal bad news for him, how can he realistically be expected to relax in an unfamiliar situation?

What can I do about it?

The process of accustoming your dog to the world and all the strange people (and animals) that it contains is called socialization. This is an incredibly important aspect of your dog’s upbringing: in fact, it’s pretty hard to overemphasize just how important it is. Socializing your dog means exposing him from a young age (generally speaking, as soon as he’s had his vaccinations) to a wide variety of new experiences, new people, and new animals.

How does socialization prevent stranger aggression?

When you socialize your dog, you’re getting him to learn through experience that new sights and sounds are fun, not scary.

It’s not enough to expose an adult dog to a crowd of unfamiliar people and tell him to “Settle down, Roxy, it’s OK” – he has to learn that it’s OK for himself. And he needs to do it from puppyhood for the lesson to sink in.

The more types of people and animals he meets (babies, toddlers, teenagers, old people, men, women, people wearing uniforms, people wearing motorcycle helmets, people carrying umbrellas, etc) in a fun and relaxed context, the more at ease and happy – and safe around strangers – he’ll be in general.

Continued in Part 2…

If you like this article, you will find much more useful dog training information on our website Dog Training Success where you will find useful tips, tricks and an amazing guide that will help you train your four legged friend with immediate results. No matter what your dogs problem there is a solution and this fantastic training guide will show you how to handle each and every situation in detail. Can you afford not to find our more? Click Here Now

Copyright 2009 Fine Pet Care.com. All Rights Reserved.

“Djoowannagwout?”

If you don’t speak dog, that translates to “Do you want to go out?”

It’s a phrase that every dog knows, every dog owner says, and is followed (generally speaking) by jumping for joy, wriggling with glee, and barking with boundless energy.

Keeping the subsequent time as much fun is usually more difficult. Most dogs are familiar with two kinds of “going out.” There’s going out to “do your business,” which is its own art form and a subject for another day. The other is more fun, time-consuming, and depending on the dog, stressful in itself.

Every dog, regardless of age, size, breed or temperament can learn to walk nicely with her person. It does take some patience, some time, and a willingness to be more stubborn than your dog. If you refuse to be pulled along, eventually your dog will stop trying. Like toddlers who constantly test their boundaries, dogs will always try for a mile when they get an inch.

When you’re teaching your dog to walk with you, don’t count on getting anywhere. This is just a short exercise, not a way to get your fitness walk done for the day. You’ll need about 10 minutes, a pocketful of treats for your dog, and a six-foot leash. Make the treats tiny – you’ll be giving a lot of them. Your dog should be wearing a flat collar or harness. You should be wearing comfortable shoes that give you excellent traction – this is not the time for clogs!

Put your dog’s leash on and head outside. Talk to your dog constantly – you’ll feel funny about it at first, especially if you live in a busy neighborhood, but you’ll get over it. At least if you have a dog with you, people assume you’re not talking to yourself.

Set out with a “Stay with me!” or “Watch me!” – very positive and happy. If you’re the most interesting thing around, your dog will pay more attention. Being the most interesting thing is easy if your dog is food-motivated.
As soon as your dog looks at you – give him a treat. Just for looking at you. It won’t take long for Fido to figure out what a good thing he’s got going.

Start walking at your normal pace. As soon as the leash tightens as your dog pulls away from you – STOP! Don’t say anything, don’t tug on the leash, just stand still. As soon as your dog looks at you (trying to figure out what the heck’s going on), give her a treat! Say “Good Watch!.” When the leash is no longer taut – continue walking, even if it’s only one more step. When the leash tightens, stop. When the dog looks at you – give him a treat!

Be sure your dog comes to you to get the cookie. This way we make sure the dog knows being with you is wonderful, the leash loosens up, and you have some slack to start walking again. Be prepared to stand there for a while – it takes some dogs time to figure out what you want, and how to get what they want!

Eventually even the most stubborn dog will figure out that being with you gets her what she wants – a nice long walk and cookies! As your dog learns the exercise, space out the treats randomly. Dogs are eternal optimists and will always hope a treat is forthcoming. As long as they get one sometimes, they’ll hope forever.

Hope Saidel is the co-owner of GollyGear.com, a bricks-and-mortar and online small dog shop featuring fun, affordable and practical products for small dogs. She has trained and competed in Obedience with small dogs for over a decade and is President of the North Shore Dog Training Club.

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