How to train a dog to beg ?

Begging is a cute trick, with little patience and consistency a dog can be trained to beg very easily on your command. Before training your dog to beg, train your dog to sit on command. If the dog doesn't sit on command you first need to work on his sit command.

Once the dog Sits on command, grab some yummy treats in your hand and hold the treat at his nose, and give him the command 'BEG'. As the dog tries to reach to the treat move your hand upward making sure that the dog reaches up in order to get the treat. Pull it up until he is sitting on his hind end with his paws off the floor, and the treat held in front of him in the begging position. As soon as the dog is in the begging position praise the dog with treat along with love and affection. Repeat these steps several times so that the dog masters the command. It wont be long until your dog is begging on command.

Some dogs won't go into the begging position during the very first training session. In this case, you may need to train a dog to beg in smaller steps. This type of training is referred to as shaping. In such cases praise the dog at every step of the training, along with training the dog in stages. Firstly, make the dog sit after which take the treat close to his nose. Once the dog shows interest in the treat raise your hand above his head so that the dog sniffs the treat and sits on his hind end raising his paw above the ground. Repeat the same steps everyday for few minutes. If the dog makes mistake repeat the complete step again instead of yelling and shouting at the dog. 

Continue to practice this trick over and over again. Always use a happy singsong voice and lots of positive reinforcement. Eventually, your dog will understand and will readily sit up and beg.

The keys to success in teaching your dog tricks are patience, practice, praise, and persistence. When training your dog, every step he takes in the right direction should be rewarded as though he had just won the lottery. Tricks are fun – and learning how to do them should be fun, too.

Puppy Care Tips

Dear pet parent congratulation on your new puppy arrival! You will experience a new life with your puppy. Always keep in mind that your puppy is separated from their mother and litter mates. You must always buy a puppy which is at least 48 days old. After buying a puppy make sure you examine your pup with a good veterinarian. As your puppy is going to experience new environment, sight, smells, noises away from his mother at your house. This can be challenging for you and your puppy. So you must take utmost care of your puppy during this period.

IMPORTANT PREPARATIONS

FOOD : You can continue with home food or commercial food which includes all the necessary nutrients your puppy need or as recommended by your veterinarian. Puppies should be fed at the same time and at the same place each day. They will need four meals a day until they are four month old. After that they will need three meals a day until they are eight months old. They will need two meals a day until they are twelve months old, and then one meal a day after that.

BOWLS : One bowl for food and one bowl for water is must. Try to get heavy bowl so that it cannot tip over (Mostly Ceramic or Stainless steel).

BED : Preferably a comfortable soft bed or basket with walls so that your puppy will feel secured and protected. Line it up with soft blankets.

TOYS : Try to get as much as chewing bones, chew sticks, balls, playing articles so that your puppy would be completely engaged in that.

COLLAR AND LEASH : Use a short leash and soft, light, fixed sized collar, don't use choker or prong collar as your dog is still a puppy.

BATH : Puppy should not be bathed for at least 8 weeks or more. If you need to bathe them because of bad smell, or fleas then you must bathe them as you would a baby. Make sure you bathe them gently keep water away from their head region and use thick towel to dry them. Get another thick towel and keep the pup close to you for body heat until they are completely dry. Dog require the oil in their skin during winter. Bathe them only when they smell or are dirty.

Puppy will be very apprehensive at they will require constant company. Leaving them alone will result in constant crying and barking. So it is advisable that the pup must remain with their owner until they are habituated to stay alone. Socialisation must be done as soon the puppy is vaccinated. You have to introduce your puppy to people, dogs, places. Try to expose him to the surrounding as much as you can. This will help him to grow friendly, resulting in a well behaved dog which can be taken any where. Your puppy will also tend to bite most of the objects during puppy hood. Make sure you consult a good dog trainer at very beginning and know the ways to avoid it.

How to train your dog to Roll Over ?

In order to train a dog to roll over, first you need to train him to Sit, Lie down, Stay, and you are ready to move to an advanced command that is roll over. This trick is simple to teach, however at times it can get tricky and confusing. Hence patience is the key. Train your dog with patience and affection and in no time your dog will learn to roll over. Lets discuss few techniques on how a dog can be trained to roll over.

Before starting on with the training make sure that the dog knows to Lie Down. If the dog doesn't know the command, train him first to Lie Down. Because in order to train a dog to roll over the dog should be lying down first. Keep some tasty treats handy during the training session. Treats that dog doesn't get everyday. Also make sure you have a silent room initially, so that there are no unwanted distraction. 

First command the dog to Lie Down. Once the dog is down. Grab some treats in your hand, take your hand close to his nose and let the dog sniff the treat. Once the dog starts sniffing the treat he will try to snatch the treat from your hand. Make sure that you hold the treats is such a manner that the treats are covered by your finger. Once the dog starts sniffing the treat, gently say rollover and rotate the treat up and around your dogs head so that his nose follows the treat. If you lead your dogs nose with the treat along a path that will cause your dog to roll over as he follows it, your dog will roller over. Say rollover once again and praise the dog with love, affection and some yummy treats. Dog will be not happy if you keep him waiting for the treats, while the dog is in the process to roll over. Hence better keep praising the dog on a high notes such as Good Boy or Good Girl, which will rather motivate the dog and also the dog will not get frustrated to get the treat during the process of Roll Over. Immediately praise the dog with treats once the dog rolls over completely.

Repeat the same thing multiple times, till the dog starts rolling over all by himself without the help of the treat. Once the dog learns how to roll over and doesn't require any support of treat being passed over and above his head. Try not giving him treat every time, instead give him a nice pat on his head. So that the dog will not expect the treat every time you roll him over. Also stretch the timing of praising him with the treat. So that the dog will not expect treat from you as it will be unpredictable for him to get treat. 

Once the dog starts following the trick all by himself, try performing the same trick outside the silent room. You can take your dog to some park or else you can make him perform the trick when there are distractions around. Be patient as each dog is different. Some dog might learn this trick in couple of day, where as some might take months to learn the same trick. Be patient and consistent and your dog will eventually learn how to roll over. 

How to stop a dog from barking at strangers ?

Many of the dog owners must be having this question on why do dog barks when the door is knocked or when a guest visits the house. A dog barking when a door is knocked or when some one is at the door is absolutely normal. However excessive barking is not normal. A dog may bark due to several reasons it can be Anxiety, Excitement, Aggression, Fear. The best way to stop a dog from barking execissively or without any reason is to first condition the dog. This might take a lot of time of yours. As well as a lot of patience is required. You might have to practice this technique over and over again to get the best results from your dog. Now lets learn on how can a dog be stopped from barking excessively at strangers or guest visiting your house.

Firstly, as said you need to condition the dog. Initially keep your dog on a leash, take your dog towards the door. Yourself, start knocking the door with dog on the leash. Once the dog barks take him away from the door. Once the dog is away from the door make him sit and praise his calm behaviour. Try to keep your pocket full with some yummy treats that the dog loves. Repeat the same thing again, once again take the dog close to the dog, knock the door. Once the dog barks take him away by showing him treats make him sit and praise the behaviour. Now try the same thing without the leash and instead of you knocking the door tell someone in your family or friends to knock the door from out. Once the dog runs towards the door and starts barking. Don't open the door. Take the dog away from the door make him sit and at the same time command him to stay as well. Don't open the door fully as it will make the dog more anxious to run towards the door. Just open the door slightly and close it. If the dog doesn't move from his place, praise him and repeat the same this over and over again.

Now, once the dog learns to stay and doesn't move when you partially open the door. Try opening the door completely and you can tell your family and friend to enter the house with a calm and stable energy. If the dog moves repeat the process once again. If the dog stays when you command him to sit and stay, reward his behaviour. Start it off with known people and later you can take help of unknown people whom the dog doesn't know.

Lastly, try to be patient as the dog will tend to run multiple times towards the door as he listens to any noise or when some one is at the door. Repeat the process again and be consistent. Eventually the dog will get an idea on what he has to do and will get use to the noise of the door and when someone is at the door. Now if you have a dog, who is calm and just barks at times when he sees some one at the door, don't try to stop that. As its natural for all the dogs to bark as thats how they communicate. Don't expect them to stop barking completely. If its an aggressive dog, consult your dog trainer before you training him and demonstrating the following techniques. Now the important thing to note, this all are just tips as this is a major issue in some dogs and needs a lot of practice and this technique might not even work with all the dogs. So its better to know your dog first and work with your dog trainer. Try not to yell and shout at your dog, when your dog barks as it will make the situation more worse.

Why is chocolate harmful for dogs ?

Is Chocolate poisonous for dogs ?

Well for humans chocolate might be good for health, however for dogs it is harmful. Now, What makes chocolate harmful for dogs ?. Lets find out the answer to this in todays blog. Chocolate contains "THEOBROMINE". It has a bitter flavour and gives dark chocolate bitter taste. From most of the pets, dogs are commonly affected by chocolate toxicity.

Now the only reason chocolate is harmful for dog is because in dogs it takes longer time to metabolise one of the component of chocolate i.e theobromine. The amount of theobromine in human is so small that risk of poisoning is non - existent. However in dogs mild consumption of chocolate might only cause Diarrhoea and vomiting, but large quantity may lead to heart failure, weakness, coma and even death. Theobromine which is one of the component of chocolate causes vasoconstriction i.e tightening of veins. Which eventually results in increased heart rate. A dog that eats a generous portion of chocolate can become a victim of theobromine poisoning, which can be fatal. 

To be on a safer side, make sure chocolate is kept secure and out of your dog reach. Be careful during holidays as chocolate are all over the house. If incase your dog has eaten significant amount of chocolate, don't delay speak to your vet and get your dog checked at earliest.

Train your dog to bow !

Well yes, train your dog to do the cute trick of bowing by following this simple technique. Once your dog is familiar with Sit and Lie down, then it wont be a trouble to teach your dog to bow. Start on with some treats in your hand. Its better to keep the dog standing. Once the dog stands in front of you and is fully focused on the treat, take the treat close to his nose and lure the treat down towards the ground. Your hand should stay close to your dogs nose. If you take your hand back while on the ground the dog will eventually lie down. Just lure your dog keeping your hand close to his nose, hold on that position for few second and move the hand upward keeping in mind that your hand is still close to his nose. Once the dog stands praise him with treat and affection.

Follow this training every alternate days or every day for 15 - 20 mins. By the time the dog understands he has to go down and he has to hold him self, start praising him verbally as in 'Good Boy, Good Job' in an excited tone. Once the dog stands after listening to your excited tone praise him with treat. Also increase the bow time from few second to a minute as some dogs might take time to adjust their body to the bow position. Once the dog masters the trick, start using hand signals and praise him with affection and toy rather then treat.

Never force any dog to get to the bow position as its a natural tendency for all dogs to bow down while stretching, people facing difficulty to get the dog to the bow position can take the advantage of their natural tendency. Yes, when the dog wakes up and stretches say "Good Bow" and praise the dog with love and affection. Repeat it every time you see your dog stretching and then later try treats and the dog will get an idea on what he needs to do in order to get affection and treat. You can also make the dog bow while the dog is playing with any toy or ball. Most of the dog do learn with treat, but few don't get in to that position even after giving treat. So better start off with "rough - housing". Once the dog goes in to that position while playing or streching, praise him with some jackpot. Be consistent, praise each and every steps he takes and your dog will eventually master the bow command.

Why do dog eats grass ?

There are several pet parents coming up with the same issue that they face with their dog. Now dogs are not cow to graze on a grass. But still most of the dogs are seen doing this activity and its not just domesticated dogs, this behaviour is also seen in most wild dogs as well. It's a common problem which is seen in all dogs and it is also a natural behaviour. Now the main question arrives that why do dog eats grass?. Is it because dogs that eats grass are sick. Well, lets find the reason on why do dogs eats grass and ways to prevent them from doing so.

There are several reasons on why a dog is eating grass, it can be because the dog is sick. Yes, many dog owner claims that when their dog is sick they tend to eat grass in order to get nutrients and vitamins. Other pet parents claim that its because the dog has an upset stomach and after eating grass the dog might vomit, which makes them feel better. Now in most of the dogs its observed that dogs throws up after grazing on the grass. Then why do dog eat grass if they have throw up what they have eaten. Well, not all dog throws up after eating grass. It can be either case i.e the dog is not getting proper nutrition through its food or the dog is having an upset stomach because of which he tends to graze on the grass. 

Now is that healthy and should a dog be allowed to eat grass ? Well, if the dog is eating the grass just because of the boredom, its better to indulge the dog in playing and walking which will divert its attention. Most of the plants and grass have certain bacteria, parasite and most of them have pesticides on them as well. Which may not be healthy for the dogs. Hence considering these point before letting the dog free to eat grass is very important. Grass eating is not at all harmful however if it increases over time medical attention is must. You can find several alternatives by taking advice from vets such as buying a small tray of grass just for the dog, or starting an herbal home garden. 

If the behaviour persist its better to consult a vet, certain modification can be done in the dogs diet. Wherein certain nutrients and fibre can be increased. which will avoid the dog from grazing on the grass. Also a routine check up to the vet is must in order to avoid upset stomach and other medical issue.