Some dog owners see crate training as cruel and unusual punishment, but this is far from the truth. If your dog is appropriately crate trained, they will see their dog crate, as a refuge and both of you will be much happier. Not only is your dog crate a refuge but an important tool in dog training as well.

If you have never used a dog crate then you are in for a treat. There are many different types of dog crates on the market and purchasing the right size is key to success. A cost effective approach is to purchase a dog crate that will grow with your puppy as they age. The important thing to remember here is that the crate should allow your dog to get up, turn around, and stretch out without being too large as to allow them to curl up in one corner.

The issue you will run into in buying a growth crate is that it may not offer your dog the security he or she needs with an open back. To solve this, try hanging a towel or small blanket over the moveable panel. This will give the appearance of being small and more of refuge for your pup.

Before introducing your dog to their crate, you need to set it up with a soft bed, blanket, and perhaps a toy and small bowl of water. Make it as cozy as you can. Keep the dog crate door propped open so your dog can come and go. Once you have done all this, it is time for your dog to meet the crate.

Ensuring you as the dog owner possess the right mindset and the initial introduction is the most critical part to dog crate training. The crate is never used for punishment in fact; when your dog is properly crate trained, they will run to their crate when they have done something wrong. You never want to bang on the crate to get your dogs attention, as this will cause behavioral issues down the road. Instead, your feelings and training toward the dog crate should always be positive.

For the new pup, in the right sized dog crate, will help you in housebreaking, as dogs naturally will not soil where they sleep. Housebreaking using a dog crate can take as little as 7 to 8 days to be successful. For the new pup however, they will need to relieve themselves quite often. During those first few days when they initially arrive home taking your new pup outside about every half hour is common. It will gradually become longer so do not plan to leave a new puppy in a crate for extended periods. By the time your dog reaches six months old, you should be able to safely leave them in their dog crate for up to 8 hours at a time. Any longer regardless of age will cause problems in the future.

Dog crates also offer dog owners the peace of mind knowing their dog will not tear up the house while they are out. There is nothing more frustrating than coming home from work or from an errand to find the couch in shreds with stuffing hanging from your dog’s mouth.  For the smaller dog, a dog crate adds the safety they need from being accidentally tramped on from the kids or a house full of people.

Dog crates also make it possible to safely transport your dog when traveling either by car or plane. Overall, properly crate training your dog is an essential part of their wellbeing and safety. With the variety of dog crates available to pet owners there is sure to be the perfect match for your dog and your house.

Michael, a dog owner for over 25 years, has amassed several dog obedience-training techniques as well as an extensive knowledge of dog health problems. To read detailed information about your dog from temperament to health and shop his Pet Supply Store visit him at Remarkable Dogs Where we are dedicated to providing only the very best for your dog.

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What do we mean by ‘over-boisterous’? Generally, owners use it to mean that their dog is more active than they would wish him to be. Teaching the right behaviors and rewarding calmness can help a great deal when living with an energetic dog. Channel his mental and physical energies into acceptable outlets through games, exercise and training.

Possible causes:

• This can be a natural behavior. Look at what your dog was bred to do. If he is a working type, then a high level of activity is normal and to be expected.

• It can be a sign of stress or confusion. If a dog is uncertain or does not understand what you want, it is likely that he will show a higher level of activity.

Prevention:

• Take care over your choice of dog. A working dog may

look appealing, but do you have the time and energy

necessary to look after it?

• Teach the right behavior from the beginning.

• Reward good behavior. Train yourself to notice when your dog is behaving well, including simply lying down quietly. Ensure that you give him an appropriate reward.

• Be a leader he wants to listen to.

What to do if problems have arisen.

• Follow the above points.

• What was your dog bred for? What do you want from him? If the answers to these two questions are different, look at what more you can give him to satisfy his needs.

• If boisterousness occurs in certain situations only, set up those situations to teach your dog what behavior you would like. For example, if your dog jumps up at visitors, ask a group of friends to call around, one at a time. Instruct them to ignore any jumping up, but to give lots of rewards (in the form of attention, treats and games) for keeping four feet on the floor. Sitting brings even bigger rewards. Ask each friend to leave after about ten minutes and call again immediately. This way, your dog is given clear messages about what behavior is rewarding.

• Be consistent. Ensure that all the family behaves in a similar way towards the dog.

This problem is especially seen in:

• Dogs bred to be active, e.g. working dogs.

• Dogs who are confused about what their owner wants.

• Dogs with owners who are unrealistic about how much exercise and stimulation their dog needs.

The author has been writing articles for several years. Check out his latest website on cheap gym equipment which gives people help and advice to find the best deals for great brand gym equipment such as eliptical exercise equipment.

Dog Behavior – What To Do If My Dog Breaks The Rules And Shows Unwanted Behavior

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From personal experience I would highly recommend cage training a puppy.  It makes the job of housetraining and securing the puppy much easier for both the puppy and members of the household.  If you speak to dog owners that chose to cage train their puppy then you would be hard pressed to find one that doesn’t recommend this technique!

Why cage train?

When you first saw a dog cage you might have viewed it as looking a bit like a doggy ‘prison’? For those who have never used one the mixture of wires and confined space can almost seem cruel.  The good news is that your dog will not see it like this!

Introduced correctly to its cage your dog will come to see it as its own private den in which it can escape for some peace and quiet.  I have lost count of the times I have found Harley lying, playing and sleeping in his cage without any coercion to go into it.  This is the result you will be trying to achieve and I will provide tips in the ‘how to’ section of this article.

My main concern when I bought Harley home was toilet training him.  Throughout the day this wasn’t too difficult as I could take him out every couple of hours.  However, the nights were a different story!  Prior to me purchasing a cage I would often find Harley in the mornings having relieved himself all over the floor and chewing some of the furniture.  Something had to change!

I was introduced to dog cages by a friend and have never looked back since.  It made the job of house training Harley much easier.  Within a couple of months, Harley was trained to sleep in his cage overnight and the ‘accidents’ stopped all together.  I could finally sleep in peace!

Hopefully the above points will be enough to convince you (should you need it!) that cage training your puppy is the way to go.  We’ll now explore how to introduce your dog to its cage so it feels comfortable being in there.

Initial considerations

It goes without saying that there is no ‘perfect’ way to cage train your puppy.  There are numerous articles on the internet on this topic, each of which will tell you something different.  All I can say is that I’ve tried all the techniques I am recommending and they worked for me.  As a dog owner I can give these the thumbs up!

The first thing you need to do is purchase the correct size of cage.  There are two things you need to take into consideration when doing this.  The first thing is that you need a cage that is large enough for your dog to stand up and turn around in.  It also needs a bit of extra room for lying down.  Anything smaller I would consider as cruel but, be careful of buying a cage that is too big.  We’ll get to why this should be avoided later in the article.

If you are yet to purchase a dog cage then I would like to make a recommendation.  I made the mistake of purchasing a small dog cage for Harley when he was a puppy and then another for his full adult size less than nine months later.  In the future I would buy a cage for the dog’s adult size and buy a divider panel that fits inside the cage.  These allow you to divide the cage into sections and increase the space inside as your puppy grows.  This will save you a lot of money!

Now you have your cage there are a few other steps I would take before introducing you dog to it.  The cage needs to be put into a cool location out of direct sunlight and temperature extremes.   I have a blanket placed over the top and sides of my dog cage.  This not only provides shade for Harley but it also has the advantage of making the cage more private for him.  Taking these steps ensures that your dog is comfortable and more importantly, safe when you eventually leave him unattended in the cage for a couple of hours.

When you have decided where to put the cage you should put a blanket inside it to make it more comfortable for your dog to lay in.  Now comes the big part…..getting your dog to willingly go inside the cage.  You need to make your dog to start feeling comfortable being inside the cage and start to see the cage as its own private space.  The best way I found of getting Harley to do this was to feed him his meals in the cage and close him inside.  Once he had finished I would leave the door shut for a set amount of time before opening it again.

Deciding how long to close the door for is something you will need to consider.  I would recommend closing the door for five minutes to start with then, increase the duration of this by one minute every day.  You will eventually be able to leave your dog in there for an extended period of time without causing him any anxiety.  Make sure you are not within the dog’s sight when it is initially closed inside its cage as the idea is to get him feeling comfortable inside it without you being around.  Initially, the dog may whine when it is in the cage but I found it was best to ignore this unless Harley sounded like he was in severe distress and then I would have let him out.  Thankfully, Harley didn’t show any stress signs so I never had to resort to releasing him early.

Placing safe toys (ones that can’t be destroyed or swallowed) and treats inside the dog cage will also encourage your dog to use it.

Sleeping overnight

I wouldn’t recommend sleeping your dog overnight in the cage for the first month at least.  You need to give the dog time to adjust to his new home so it would be counter-productive to close him in there before it becomes comfortable.  When your dog is ready to sleep overnight in the cage then there are a couple of methods you can try;

Method one would be to sleep the dog in the cage where it is normally positioned.  And, whilst the dog may whine initially it should calm down within a couple of minutes.  This is the approach I took with Harley and it worked.

I would have taken this second approach had Harley made a fuss for a continued period of time.  When the dog is taking a break between his whining (you don’t want him to know that’s why it’s getting the attention!) I would move the cage into the bedroom and sleep the dog in there so it can see its master asleep.  This should calm the dog.  I would then move the cage one foot per night towards the door until it is out of the bedroom.  When the dog has finally learned to sleep overnight in the cage it should then be safe to move the cage back to your desired location.

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, the dog cage is an invaluable tool in toilet training your puppy.  As a natural instinct dogs do not like to soil their dens so a caged dog will try to hold off going to the toilet until you release him.  A younger puppy will obviously wake you a couple of times during the night as they are unable to control themselves as well as an older dog.  However, if it’s a choice between a couple of trips to the garden during the night or having to clean dog mess in the morning I know which option I would choose!  It is important that the cage is not too large for your puppy.  If it is then you may find that the puppy chooses a corner in which to soil without leaving the rest of the cage disturbed.  For this reason I would recommend the use of a cage divider as mentioned above.

Once your dog is sleeping overnight in its cage it is important to place a water bowl inside it.  This can be done by placing the bowl on the floor of the cage or, if your dog is prone to knocking it over there are bowls you can buy that screw onto the sides of the cage.  This is particularly important during the summer months as dogs sweat through their mouths and need the water to cool them down.

Precautions

Never leave the dog unattended in the cage for long periods without prior testing.  When you feel the dog is ready, have a couple of test runs by leaving it in the cage for the desired time without leaving the house (although try to make it sound like you have gone away!).  This will enable you to see if your dog can be left alone in the cage without experiencing any stress.  It is always good to be around initially in case there are any problems you need to attend to.

Your dog should never be left in its cage for too long as it may start to become distressed.  Harley spends a maximum of eight hours in his cage and this has taken fifteen months of training.  I would never leave him any longer than this in the cage and not even this long when he was a young puppy.  It is a gradual process and, if you follow your instincts everything should be okay!

And one final point, never use the cage as an obvious punishment for your dog.  You want your dog to enjoy being in there so if it starts to get a negative impression of the cage then this will not happen.  It has been tempting to put Harley in there when he’s been naughty but I usually resist it.  If I do need him out of the way I find the best approach is to remain calm and ask him to go into his bed (i.e. cage).  He follows my command without being aware that it is actually a punishment!

Introduced correctly, your dog will learn to love its cage and will often make its own way there for a sleep.  For this reason, I would leave the cage door open at all times during the day so your puppy can go inside whenever it wishes to.  If you keep the dog in a routine of setting into its cage with a given command it will eventually go there and learn to settle until you are ready to open it up.

Reprint Rights

You may reproduce the content of this article onto your own website. However, to do so you must include a link back to Pet Supplies Devon.  Thank you.

Gary Mullen from Dog Cages.

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Our dogs are not all that dissimilar from us when it comes to health. Dogs can experience obesity, cancer, arthritis, anxiety, etc. Knowing when to make a Veterinarian appointment and when to allow your dog to work through an illness is the question pet owners frequently ask. It is not as if your dog can tell you what is happening so being prepared and understanding dog health problems are our best defense.

When any dog is not feeling well they begin to show signs and one the easiest for pet owners to recognize is a change in behavior. If they seem disoriented or slightly off-balance, this could be a sign of an ear infection. Checking your dog’s ears regularly and keeping them clean during regular grooming can help prevent an ear infection.

Often the signs that your dog is having health problems will show up in urine and defecation. An intense odor from urine may indicate a bladder infection while an elevated need to relieve themselves could be a sign of Cushing’s disease.  Changes in color and viscosity in defecation may point to a digestive problem. This could be as simple as changing your dog’s diet or brand of dog food to quickly or perhaps something worse.

One the more serious dog health problems is obesity. Dog obesity can lead to a host of issues like heart disease, diabetes, and joint problems. Keep your dog trim and fit by reading the labels on their dog food bags. Most inexpensive commercial dog food contains fillers and sugar. Moreover, while an active dog at a very young age may seem to be able to burn off the calories there is nothing offered in the food to build their immune system. Older inactive dogs will quickly gain weight and experience all the health problems that accompany dog obesity.

Several different brands of dog food are designed specifically for your dog; changing ingredients as a dog ages. Diet is a wonderful preventive for dog health problems. A good quality dog food with wholesome ingredients will provide the protein a growing and active dog needs while giving their immune system a boost. By feeding your dog the appropriate dog food for their age and activity group, you can prevent costly Vet visits down the road.

Allergies are another dog health problem that can affect some dogs. Dogs will show similar symptoms as humans when suffering from allergies. Watery eyes, sneezing, and runny nose are common. Check your household cleaners and see if they are pet friendly. If not, observe where dog spends his time noticing if he/she is coming in contact of the cleaner.

Generally speaking, when your dog reaches the age of 10 to 12 years old they are considered a senior citizen. Depending on the size of the breed signs of old age, may appear earlier or later. Dog health problems at this time in their lives could be cataracts, hearing loss, cancer, and joint pain associated with arthritis. The signs to look for are licking of the joints, slow walking especially up stairs, and cannot seem to hear you when you call or bumps into furniture as they walk through the room.

No matter the symptoms of dog health problems your four-legged family member is demonstrating never take a chance. If symptoms persist after you have checked all the common issues mentioned in this article consult with your Veterinarian or use the service on this websites home page and “Ask a Vet.”

As pet owners, we speak for them so keeping track of your dog’s behavior, diet, and daily needs are your best defense to dog health problems. Regular bi-annual checkups from your Veterinarian as well as observation while making some minor changes at home can prevent a host of dog health problems.

Michael, a dog owner for over 25 years, has amassed several dog obedience-training techniques as well as an extensive knowledge of dog health problems. To read detailed information about your dog from temperament to health and shop his Pet Supply Store visit him at Remarkable Dogs Where we are dedicated to providing only the very best for your dog.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/pets-articles/dog-health-problems-guide-to-understanding-1523638.html

Dog tracking collars are utilised by hunters who use their dogs to track game, usually birds. They can be used on all gun dogs and are mostly used on pointers as they normally cover the most ground when it comes to hunting. There are several different types of dog tracking collars available. The 2 most commonly used today are those that emit signals through radio frequency and GPS tracking collars that emit signals from satellite transmissions.

There are 2 parts to all tracking collar systems – the receiver and the transmitter. The transmitter is affixed to your dog’s collar. Most receivers today are a collar with a small antenna. This is very light weight and are just as comfortable as a regular collar on your dog. The antenna will broadcast the signal to your receiver when your dog is hunting.

Radio frequency dog tracking systems work by sending signals to the receiver through radio frequencies. You normally have to adjust the receiver as it can tune on a many channels. Radio frequencies can be transmitted around buildings and trees, but they do get weaker when challenged with these obstacles. When you are hunting, you are most likely to run into trees, ravines and other areas where the signal will get weaker.

As your dog moves, you will be able to track him by getting signals from the receiver. The signals will get stronger as you get close to your dog. If you have a GPS dog tracking system, it’ll tell you the precise distance of your dog. Traditional radio frequency dog tracking systems will not be able to tell you the distance but offer more of a range and distance than their GPS counterparts. Most radio frequency tracking systems have lights that blink to let you know when you are getting close to your dog so that you do not have to employ a beeping sound, which can scare away birds and confuse your dog.

it is a good idea to be familiar with using a dog tracking system before you take your dog out and go hunting. Hunters who aren’t familiar with this kind of system may have a tough time using them to track their dogs. It’s a good idea to practice tracking the transmitter before you really put it on the dog. You can do this by putting the transmitter somewhere that you can track it using the receiver before you use the system to track your dog.

When your dog is out on the hunt for birds and game, he does his job. You have got to let him out of your sight so that he can go about his business. But that being said, you don’t wish to lose your dog. And this could happen if you are hunting in dense woods or massive open spaces. When you use a dog tracking system, you won’t only be in a position to find your dog when he has retrieved or flushed game and birds, but you will be better equipped to find him if he gets lost.Dog tracking Collars
.

Rest assured knowing that your dog is well behaved. Dog Training Collars
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