Nutrition Matters

Tip of the Day: A healthy dog is a happy dog! If you feed your dog a high quality meal  your dog will be less likely to have issues in the long run. Sometimes the effects of your pets food won't be noticed until they are older. A poor diet can result in tumors, a dingy coat, dry or flaky skin, ear infections etc. If your dog is experiencing any of the above consider changing their food and experimenting, it may be as simple as that and then you don't have to keep putting your dog on medications because they can't stop scratching.



So Shiney!

 Anybody out there want to share what they do for their pets at meal time?

A Trip to Dodge Point

It has been months since Scout and I have gone to dodge point in Newcastle. Whenever we have a moment of spare time it seems to be filled with construction on the house. Shingling, painting, lawn mowing, laundry  you name it, it seems to take up our time. But this morning we found time and Scout loved it! I took my camera and we sauntered along and while Scout frolicked I took photos. Here are a couple I took.

Here is Scout bounding out of the ocean. Whenever we approach the beach he gives a fleeting glance and I tell him go ahead and he runs for the water. He likes to troll around in the ocean biting at the waves. He is quite amusing to watch!

Photo Friday

Training Tip Thursdsay!...On Friday

Tip of the Day: If you are housetraining your dog and find that they seem to always go to the bathroom once they are inside after being taken out try tethering them to you or putting them in their kennel. If you take your dog out and they don't go and they have free range of the house when they come in it is hard to see the signs they need to use the bathroom if they are in another room. By popping them in the crate for ten minutes, they usually won't mess in there, and it keep them from having an accident and allows you to take them out a second, third, fourth time until they are successful outside.

A Dog who can't wag his Tail

It was a hectic weekend. I did my first wedding gig! It went quite well but I did realize that it is a niche I am not going to explore too much. Like most jobs it was very exhausting. I think I will keep my focus on portraits, children and pets.

On Sunday we finally got our boat up and running and took it for a spin around the lake. It is going to be a fun boat...fast! Scout enjoys these type of recreations. He does things like ride on snowmobiles, 4 wheelers, boats etc. On this particular occasion though he came out with an injured tail. I don't know if it was the awkward sitting in the boat while it spins around or the fact that he did some boat diving. We stopped in the middle of the lake and jumped off the back of the boat to swim and cool off. Once Scout got the hang of it he was launching himself out 5+ feet, mind you he had no running start.

When Monday morning rolled around I had a dog that was depressed, uncomfortable and couldn't wag his tail. It is not too fun having your dog go through that, knowing you can't really help or explain the discomfort. But fortunately working at the Vet I explained his situation and asked to get him some pain medication and monitor him and his tail for a few days to determine if further examining is required. Needless to say today he is on the mend. He is able to wag his tail a bit more, he can lift it a bit higher and I suspect by tomorrow he'll be close to back to his goofy, tail waggin' self!

Photo Friday!

Body Handling

Training Tip of the Day: Help your dog become more comfortable with being handled. To do this use classical conditioning. We are going to pair our hand on our dogs body with food. This helps create a more stable dog and helps make Vet visits a bit less stressful.
For example I'll briefly explain how to get your dog to accept having his toe nails trimmed. Start out touching the foot and feed your dog treats, you stop touching the dog - the treat goes away. We are changing our dogs emotion so that he wants us to touch his feet because it equals something really positive and tasty! Pick up your dogs foot, treat, clip a toe nail, treat or have someone feeding your dog while you trim the nails. I have done this with my dog since he was a puppy and I have quicked him once (cut his nail too short so it bled). He was hardly phased by it and was willing to give his foot right back to me so we could continue with the other toes and feet! Viola!! The power of food!

This method of training applies to everything on your dog, look in his mouth - treat, look in his ear - treats, pull on his tail - treats, tug on his fur - treats, the last couple are great ways to prepare your dog for children but you get the picture!