There’s A New Dog In Town: Don’t Make A Big Dog-Choosing Mistake!

When buying a new puppy, you have to consider your place of residence. Are you located in a busy city or out in the country? Are you staying in a house, condo or apartment? It would certainly be difficult to raise a dog in outer space or under the water.

There are three prime factors to consider when choosing the right puppy and your place of residence should be a big influence on your decision.

1. Not all dogs sound alike. Some bark more than others. Some bark louder.

2. How active are you? The dog you get should match your exercise habits because dogs need exercise too, and the amount differs from one breed to another.

3. How big is the dog? If renting, check with the landlord what the size limitations for pets are. If you have your house, check with the home owner’s association.

An Easy Mistake

Some people think that big dogs are suited to live in a rural area with a large backyard to play in, while small dogs are meant to live in a condo. And grand mansions with luxurious furniture should be the house of rich dogs.

Apartment living actually works for some
large dogs, and rural homes sometimes are perfect for small dogs.

For example, if you are thinking about owning a Greyhound, you need to know that this breed is a sprinter, not a long distance runner, and although he enjoys a good jog with his owner, he will be equally satisfied with a 15 to 20 minute brisk walk in the morning and at night.

Greyhound dogs are also generally not loud barkers, which makes them well suited for apartment or condo living. The main concern with owning a large dog in a condo or a high-rise apartment is carrying him up and down the stairs if he’s non-ambulatory due to age or injury, and there’s no elevator. This will, however, lead to impressive biceps.

These dogs are also sometimes used in races on weekends.

The Jack Russel Terrier on the other hand, keeps on barking so are not ideal for apartment living. Neighbors might get angry and you might even get evicted.

Many small breeds bark incessantly, have enormously high energy levels, and throw water balloons out the window, making them a poor candidate for apartment life.

So before getting a dog, consider how noisy they can get, how much attention they need, and how often you can take them out for a walk. You might realize that you would rather buy a fish or a plant.

Learn more about dog training tools. Stop by Ed Randall’s site where you can find out all about how to train a dog and what it can do for you.

Dogs Who Are Aggressive With Their Territories

All dogs do have a certain level of aggression and that is perfectly understandable for them. In fact, this is something that hockey players, a car salesman and you, as a human being experience.

certain level of calmness among our domesticated animals. The most common aggressive behavioral problem displayed by dogs is called “territorial aggression”. Quite simply, this describes crazy behavior on the part of a dog whenever a stranger approaches his home.

What causes such aggressive behavior?

As stated earlier, it is natural for your dog to want to defend his home and assert his command over the territory. However, the following scenarios may cause your dog’s aggression concerning his territory to unnecessarily escalate:

1. Package delivery – A delivery person hurriedly leaves your house and just drops off your package absent-mindedly. What your dog might be thinking is that his loud barking drove the man away, and this aggression has the tendency to go further.

packages late, or throw them around in the truck, especially if marked “fragile.”

2- In The Car – If you are riding the car with your dog, your unreasonable territorial and aggressive dog might bark more to signal “keep out of my car, this is my territory!”. This action, even when done unintentionally is completely wrong since your dog doesn’t own the car. Naturally, nobody will want to get near your car. This will leave your dog thinking he is the winner and thus be noisier and bark more with this feat.

3. Whenever your dog is acting up and barking at the door (for whatever reason) and you yell at him to shut him up, you may not realize that yelling at the dog only creates more aggression. Your dog will just think that you are “supporting” his aggression towards the

Your very strange “bark” will be noticed by your dog. But, he will consider that very action a great help.

Most owners do lock up their dogs or keep them in an isolated area when entertaining guests and other people inside the house; but it could possibly increase the dog’s aggression. This might be a good way to keep visitors safe, but will increases your dog’s natural senses due to aggression.

The “trespasser” will be easily tracked most particularly if your guests have a distinct smell like when they’ve eaten garlicky food, haven’t changed their socks, or have worn perfume and cologne. Your dog will feel too much anxiety and stress because he cannot do what he’s been high wired to do – defend the territory at all times. Not that we are saying that you let loose your dog, so your guests will receive an attack; but there are other ways to treat this case of aggression.

Understanding your dog’s aggression is just one of the important dog training techniques, it is best to visit Ed Randall’s site to learn more on the best dog obedience training to discipline and tame your unruly dog.

It’s A Dog’s Life

There is a phrase used by people who have little in their lives but their work and commitments at home, with little scope for fun. “It’s a dog’s life”, people will sometimes mutter when the stream of demands on their time simply will not stop. They mean that it is tiring, unrewarding and punishing. And yet, if you look at the average dog, their life seems pretty sweet in comparison. Think about this; would you swap places with your dog? Most of us would probably say “yes”.

However there is, it must be said, something in that well-worn phrase which chimes with the dog-owners among us. A dog, after all, is rarely given the freedom to do absolutely what it wants. If a human being had to lead a dog’s life, the chances are that we wouldn’t do all that well at it. As humans, we can go and get a snack when we feel like it, our toilet is convenient and hygienic, and we can ask for things and be instantly understood. For a dog, things are generally at the mercy of their owners.

When you are training your dog, then, it is wise to cut it some slack. As far as it is concerned, you are exhibiting some very strange behavior that it will not understand initially, and if it is slow to respond then this can be understood. It is not a stupid dog for getting things wrong. In fact, by paying attention to you it is being very obedient.

You Don’t Have To Be Cruel To Be Kind

There is a very commonly used phrase that most of us have heard and many have used, which goes as follows: “You have to be cruel to be kind”. Others among us will look at that phrase, or hear it said, and point out the inherent flaw in it. You do not have to be cruel to be kind. You have to be cruel to be cruel, and kind to be kind. In actual fact, cruelty and kindness are very rarely mutually applicable. Getting that straight will sort out a lot of problems, in life and when training your dog.

Now, certainly, there are times when you will need to be stern with your dog. Sometimes it will exhibit behaviors that you would really rather it did not. Some owners will tend towards the cruel side of things when punishing these behaviors, often punishing their dog with a physical blow. It should be recognised that punishing a dog consistently with physical reprimands will lead simply to either a hostile dog who will lash out without warning, or a lifeless dog which is scared to do anything for fear of reprisal.

There will be times when you need to reprimand your dog physically. A quick tap can often suffice when it is behaving in a threatening manner without good reason. Restraining it by the collar when it goes to attack a person or another animal is fine. But by beating your dog, all you are doing is removing the essential element of all pet-owner relationships – friendship.

The Benefits Of Doing It Yourself

There are people, many of them, who make a living from training dogs. They will take your dog for a period of time each week and teach it commands, behaviors and tricks that will make you clasp your hands in joy, and yet the thing about this is that most people don’t want to do things that way. As much fun as it may be to inherit a dog who will behave like you’d always dreamed a dog could behave, it takes away something that should be there between humans and dogs – the connection that makes humans and dogs such great partners in crime (metaphorically).

It takes longer to train a dog if you have no experience of doing it, and this is why many people are prepared to part with hard-earned cash to allow a professional to train their pet. For some of us, this kind of expense is prohibitive, and for others it may be more than affordable but a needless waste. We want to train our dogs, ourselves, because they are ours. Where is the fun in leaving it to someone else?

There is also the fact that in training your dog, you build a bond with it. many dogs will react strongly to their masters’ voice, while not paying heed to the same commands from others. Although a professional dog trainer will take every care to ensure that your dog learns the command and not the voice, there is undeniably something important about being the one from whom your dog learns to sit, stay and roll over. It is the all-important connection.

The Instinct Of A Dog – And How To Train It

Dogs are, in many ways, essentially simple animals. The typical pet dog will be free with its friendship if it is encouraged to do so. If it is left to its own devices and treated like a machine for entertainment, it will not be so keen to play favorites. Dogs respond to their pleasure stimulus more than anything, and it is by using this that you can train a happy, content dog while having a lot of fun yourself into the bargain. Go to a dog-friendly park anywhere in the country and you will see dogs responding to their pleasure instinct, and making their owners happy into the bargain.

One of the most simple commands, and a game that any dog will love to play, is “Fetch”. If you take your dog to a park where it can be let off its leash, take a ball with you and see the sheer joy that it gets when you sling the ball as far as you can and yell “fetch!”. It pins its ears back, and sets off in full flow, chasing down that ball, picking it up and bringing it back for another round. It does not question why you keep throwing the ball, but keeps bringing it back for another go – often waiting at your feet until you do.

This has a lot of applications in training a dog. It will be ready to learn from you if you are willing to give it the time and attention it wants. It will burn up a lot of excess energy which can make dogs lose concentration in training settings. It will also learn to respond to commands – although full marks go to you if you throw the ball, say “stay” and it does so. This can be considered something of a miracle.

A Dog’s Faith And Loyalty Are Not Unquestioning

It is often said of dogs that they are the real “dumb animals” of the popular cliché. This is said unquestioningly, despite the fact that dogs can provide incredible help in terms of guiding the blind, finding drugs and explosives, and guarding their family in a way which is both touching and reassuring. However, a dog learns to do this by establishing a bond with its owner. If you are of a mind to train your dog, it is good to remember that a dog will be happy to learn from you just so long as you are ready to be a good owner to it.

The “dumb animal” jibe is often raised because dogs have a reputation for being loyal. But this bond between animal and owner is not arrived at immediately, and not immune to a dog’s emotions. If a dog is mistreated or neglected by its owner, that bond will either weaken or never form at all. A dog has a lot of loyalty to give – but it will not necessarily give that loyalty where it is not encouraged to do so.

You encourage a dog’s loyalty by rewarding it when it is good and by showing it understanding and friendship. It will not demand and insist on being given treats, but it will not be enthusiastic with its friendship to you if you punish it without measure or reason, or if you ignore it until it suits you not to. You can train your dog, but you need to love it if you want its attention.

How Your Dog Will Communicate With You

So many people speak about their dogs in terms of how they wish they were. If you had a dollar for every time you had heard or said the words “If only he/she could talk, the stories we would hear…” you’d probably be a very rich dog owner. But if dogs could talk, would they be so special to us? The chances are that we would still adore them every bit as much as we do, but the fact remains that much of what we get from owning a dog comes from the interaction that we have because they cannot speak. It just means that we find other ways to communicate.

Dogs can tell you a lot with a look. If they are hungry, they will make it clear by very patiently following you and looking pointedly at where they know their food to be kept. They will then thank you for feeding them by wagging their tail and affectionately nuzzling you – which may or may not be welcome at the time depending on the ratio of dog slobber to the price of your outfit. But, in many ways, the truth is that your dog will train you to some extent while you are training it.

Dogs may not be able to talk, but they communicate a lot with their eyes, their tail and their body language. And of course, they will bark. We learn to read these barks. A short, sharp bark will often signify excitement. A deep, low growl will warn of danger or threat. For many owners, the inquisitive yip is the best of all – the dog wants to learn from you, and trusts you to teach it.

What People Say About Dogs

Humans have a relationship with dogs going back many years. At one time, the dog’s main function for humans was to act as a hunting partner – the human tracking down prey with the help of the dog, then killing it and the dog retrieving it. over time, the emotional link between humans and dogs became more social, and has evolved to the point where we simply keep dogs as pets – our special friends who never become enemies due to a petty squabble. Humans have a lot to say about dogs, ad have said it in some wonderful ways.

Mabel Louise Robinson, a writer, once said that from a dog’s point of view, its master was “an elongated and abnormally cunning dog” – which sums up the pack mentality, as does Holbrook Jackson’s line that man is “a dog’s idea of what God should be”. Dogs are popular, in many cases, because they see humans as someone to look up to, and this kind of devotion is attractive to anyone. Dogs are unquestioning, as noted by the unknown author of the quote “one reason a dog is such comfort when you’re felling low is that he doesn’t attempt to find out why”.

There is a tendency among humans to refer to their dogs as being like another human being, but the author John Holmes feels that this is unfair to our four-legged friend. A dog, he said, is not almost human, “and I can find no greater insult to the canine race” than to describe it so. Dogs may well be easily pliable and respond well to training, but each has its own personality and mind. Do not try to train this out of your dog, as that is what makes them special.

The Truth About Humans And Dogs

Although there is constant debate between people about which animal makes a better pet – cat or dog – it is the dog that has taken the title of “man’s best friend”. The major reason for this is that dogs are easier to train than cats, and are considered to be more easy-going than cats for pretty much this reason. It is far from impossible to train a cat – indeed, if you watch its behavior for some time you will see how they often train themselves. Dogs, however, are more likely to respond to a human’s command.

Part of the reason for this is that dogs are pack animals, and in every pack there is a leader to whom the other animals will look for examples on how to behave and for a command of some sort. When a dog is a domestic pet, the pack mentality does not disappear. Without a larger dog to respond to, the dog subconsciously elects you as the pack leader, and will look to you for guidance. This makes it easier to train a dog. It searches for some sort of validation through your response to it.

While some people prefer cats exactly because they are more independent and autonomous, the fact that humans are social animals means that dogs will feel more comfortable with them than will cats. As a consequence, there has for some time now been a strong link between humans and dogs which, in the main, we do not have with cats.

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