Every puppy should have a boy.

Erma Bombeck

Robert Sawtelle

Hi

Hope all is well with you and your dog.

I was truly excited when trying to adopt a dog. Indeed, man’s best buddy, you can rely on your pet dog in giving you company, cuddling up together and some can even guard your house.

You need to review your personal lifestyle and needs when adopting a dog. It is a major decision whether or not you would choose to have a puppy or an adult as a pet. Before deciding on which dog to adopt, here is some useful information that might help you decide that I found helpful.

Adopting Puppies

1. Bringing up a puppy is an advantage because this means that you would guide its growth and well being. You would have the chance to raise it up according to what you want. This means you can ensure that it is properly nurtured with the right dog food, ensure that necessary dog shots are given and prevent heartworm at this early stage. Having your puppy personally trained is also a plus since you can teach him exactly what you want.
2. You should adopt a puppy when it is at least 10 weeks old. Puppies need a lot of time to be cared for by their mothers. This is a crucial stage for them. They somehow gain a psychological advantage for both puppy and for the mother dog as well.
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Robert Sawtelle

Hope all is well with you and your dog.

Engaging in sports is not only for humans. It is also well loved by our best friend, the dog. Dog sports do not only make a dog’s life fun, but healthy, as well. Here is a list of dog sports that you may want your dog to get involved into depending on his breed, of course.

Agility

This is when a dog moves through an obstacle course, i.e., contact obstacles, tunnels, jump, etc., as guided by his or her handler. What controls the dog is only its handler’s voice and body language. Without a leash, obedience training is the major requirement for a dog to enjoy this sport. Speed and accuracy are the names of this game.

Carting

Large breeds usually participate in this dog sport. It mainly involves the dog pulling a cart filled with supplies like firewood or other farm goods, sometimes even pulling people. It is also known as dry land mushing and sulky driving and is well known and practiced all over the world.

Frisbee Dog

Commonly known as disc dog, Frisbee dog competition is about a dog and a human disc thrower competing in events such as a choreographed freestyle catching and distance catching. The division of events on this kind of dog sport depends on the handler’s skill and experience. What makes this one of the most popular dog sports is that any kind of dog can participate.

Flyball

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Robert Sawtelle

Hi

Hope all is well with you and your dog.

Dogs can be very sociable, especially Miss Daisy. In fact, they sometimes get too sociable and get aggressive. That is why it is important to train your dog to control behavior.

Moreover, dog training is important to avoid dog-biting incidents. Statistics show that 77% of dog biting cases are mostly those that are within the family.

Hence, with dog training, bad habits are removed and dogs have better control of their feelings and behavior towards environmental and social variables.

However, implementing dog training is not that easy. Certain things must be employed to have positive results. I find the thing most needed in dog training is what experts define as positive reinforcement. This refers to the way people reward their dogs with treats, praises, or both whenever their dogs show positive behavior.

Through positive reinforcement, dogs are able to comprehend that treats and praises will come whenever he shows good behavior. For example, when the owner gives his dog some treats for obediently obeying his commands, the dog will
think that obeying commands when told equals treats. Praise works wonders with young kids as well.

But this does not necessarily mean that when the dog did not obey the owner’s commands, punishment is needed as counter-reinforcement. This should not be the case because punishments will only make the matter worst. What will happen is that your dog will be confused and it will begin to doubt your feelings.

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