Happy Pets

The most important thing when choosing a puppy is that you must be honest with yourself in assessing not only your capabilities and physical fitness for dog ownership, but your character. The best ‘way I can describe to you how to match yourself to a dog is to explain how I match with Labradors, and how various friends I know match with their breeds of dogs. I am going to try and be as honest with you as I can about my own temperament. Firstly, I am basically idle, so if I chose a breed with a heavy coat I am sure I would occasionally miss the daily grooming sessions. Although I love walking and being out in the country, the faster type of breeds would not suit me. I need a slower-moving dog who I can keep within my sight-range. (more…)

Puppy Pet Sit

The first lesson you wish your puppy to learn is Sit. When you’re in possession of his toy, push your puppy gently down into the Sit position. With your right hand cupped around the puppy’s chest, place your left hand on his back near the tail. With your right hand, push gently backwards, while you are easing down with your left. Give a firm, but not loud, command. Never shout at your puppy. It will only lead him to flatten his ears against the noise and ignore you. It’s much better to talk quietly, then he has to make the effort of listening to you. As soon as his bottom is on the floor in the correct position, throw his toy. Repeat this over and over again in your games, which can take place as often and for as long as puppy is keen to play. He’ll have a marvelous time with you. As far as puppy is concerned, he’s not learning anything, for the Sit position is part of the fun. (more…)

With the puppy sitting on your left-hand side, give a quiet, but firm, Wait command. Do not use puppy’s name. Puppy should always associate his name with coming to you and we do not wish him to do that on this occasion. Take one small pace to your right, count one second and return to your dog and praise him. He shouldn’t have had time to move. If he has, just patiently put him back into the Sit position and try again. You are only expecting puppy to wait there for one second. Extend your puppy’s waiting time very gradually. If you rush it, puppy will want to come to you and you have achieved nothing.

Many puppies lose their confidence if they think their owner is leaving them. It’s not a bad thing that your puppy wants to be with you constantly, so you must build his confidence up. (more…)

Jumping

If you own the energetic type of dog, he will no doubt love to race and jump and a dog that is full of beans and wants to be on the go all day long can often be satisfied by five or ten minutes’ jumping in his own garden. But, as with all things you are training your dog, you should show him how to do it. Whatever you do, don’t put a six-foot jump up in the garden and try and clear it yourself, unless, that is, you’re an Olympic hurdler. To begin with, use a very small jump which can be simply made. I usually put the handle of a yard brush across two buckets, giving me about eighteen inches in height. With your dog on a loose lead, run at the jump with him, showing great enthusiasm. Be ready to let the lead go if your dog pulls back or refuses to go over the jump. (more…)

Many people prefer mongrels to pedigrees. I have no preference. The fact that I own Labradors is because of Emma. But I would be just as eager to own crossbreds if we had more room and money. I did own a mongrel for a week and I would have loved to have kept her, but at the time we had Heidi, and Heidi definitely did not like our little mongrel. I came upon Solo purely by chance. My local pet shop does not stock live animals, so I feel quite safe in shopping there. But one day, as luck would have it, I went shopping with a friend who owned a car, so we decided to be a little more adventurous and go further afield. Just like a dog, when it comes to passing pet shops, I can’t do it—I have go to in. (more…)