Dog care sheet

Abusing animals
I get sick when I hear of people that abuse their pets. I can't understand this. If an animal is shown love, it will return that love.. Maybe these people just don't know how to show love.
If this is the case, they should not own pets. I have seen so many pets that are being abused, it makes me sick. I think anyone that abuses pets in any way, should do jail time over this.

There are a lot of animals in the humane society because of ignorant people that can't take proper care of their pets.
Then there are the people that say, well the dog just won't listen to me, probably because they keep the dog on a chain all the time and don't spend much time with the dog and the dog is not fixed.
Animals have feelings too. I wish more people can understand this.

Neuter/spay your pet
I firmly believe in neutering or spaying your pet. All mine are fixed. If a male dogs is not neutered, that can possibly cause prostrate cancer and could be more aggressive..
Spayed and neutered dogs are generally happier because they are free from sexual anxiety and are therefore calmer and more content to stay at home, less likely to fight with other dogs in the house.. They will get along better.

This procedure is NOT cruel to the animal.
What is cruel, is a dog that is not fixed and chained up all the time.

Chaining a dog
My opinion on chaining a dog outside all the time is cruel. I hear of many people chaining their dogs outside and this is where they stay.. if this is how this dog is to be treated, then I don't think these people should have a dog. Dogs want to be part of the family. they need lots of love and attention. Then I hear people tell me "I don't have time for a dog" well we are self-employed and work 12-14 hours a lot. but we also have 5 dogs. they get a lot of love and attention here. They are part of the family and they know it..

On the other hand, I don't believe in letting a dog run to the point where it can get out of the yard. this could be very dangerous also, they could get hit by a car., shot, poisoned. .
so my solution is fencing. it makes it so much nicer with a fence around the yard.
But of course the bottom has to be secured so they can't dig under the fence. I put electric fence around the bottom. one zap and they stay away. I also would put logs at the bottom of the fence and staple it to the fence. this keeps it so they can't dig under it. There is also the underground fence which is very inexpensive.

We have a doggie door for our dogs, so they can come and go as they please. This way if they need to go outside at night they can. Doggie doors are very easy for dogs to learn.. The doggie door with the heavy plastic is a good choice... I DO NOT recommend the plexi-glass. I had this at one time for a short while, most of my dogs were scared of it. The one dog that wasn't scared of it, did use it, but he got his foot caught in it.
So I returned this type and bought a good one with a heavy plastic.

Traveling with pets
I think it is great that some people will take their pets with them.. but, what I don't think is great when they are left in the car. especially on hot days. A dog's body temperature is much different than people. they sweat differently. they get overheated easier.. I get so upset when I see dogs in a car with the window cracked just a little.. My thought is, leave the dog at home if they have to wait in the car for more than 5 minutes.

COMMUNICATING WITH YOUR PET
I have found if I talk to my pets all the time, they begin to understand words. I am always telling them how pretty they are. If they are being really good and quiet, I make sure I tell them "how good they are".
But in general I just keep talking to them about anything, they look at me as though they really want to know what I am saying.. In time they will understand more words than people realize.
I can generally understand 90% of what they want and they understand 90% of what I would say to them

Talk about anything, even the weather. Most pets like to hear people talking to them. .I have five dogs, I don't just talk to all of them at the same time. I also talk to each one. I will say their name then look at them and talk to them.. If they are napping, I will go to each dog and talk to them also.

I hear people tell me how bad their dogs are ,how they won't listen, how they chew furniture and more.
well it possible these dogs are not getting enough attention and love. some dogs require more attention then others.

So, basically, if you show your dog lots of love and attention, you will receive the same in return

Jumping Dogs
When a dog jumps up at you, the dog generally is showing his love and wants to near the owners face.. The best way to stop a dog from jumping, is to correct it at a very young age.

To correct a dog or puppy from jumping: Two people would be best at this method. The dog should have a choke collar on and put on a long rope, cord or chain. The owner should leave the house, then return (however long it takes for the dog to get excited to see his/her owner)
The helper holds the rope. As the owner approaches the dog the long cord should be quite loose and as the dog goes to jump up, the cord should be jerked hard by the helper until the dog is pulled very sharply and unexpectedly to the ground with the command "down". If this is done several times, the dog has no idea where this correction is coming from and thinks before repeating his/her jumping up. When the dog don't jump, make sure he/she is praised.

Another method, mostly with larger dogs, when he/she jumps on you. knee him/her in the chest. you don't need to do this with a lot of force. Make sure you yell "NO" to him/her at the same time... When the dog gets down, praise him/her for being down.. scoot down to praise him/her for not jumping.. The dog just wants to show his/her love and don't understand that jumping on its owners or guests is wrong..
You may need to do this several times before your dog learns, he/she is not suppose to jump.

Understanding your dog
Dogs are no different from people as for characteristics and temperaments.. Dogs can have nervous breakdowns, just a person could, but dogs get recognized as bad-tempered or disobedient. Some people don't think of stresses of life, the noise of traffic, the perpetual human rat-race, which can affect dogs also. When dogs are left at home when the owner leaves, it also puts confusion and stress on dogs.

I hear many people buying dogs from previous owners or from the humane society. The new owners get upset with the new dog when she/he is hyper, disobedient or tries to run away.
It takes time for the new dog to get use to his/her surroundings.. The new environment is very stressful for a dog. Chances are, it would take longer for a adult dog to adjust to his/her environment than it would for a puppy..

There are many people out there that have dogs and don't understand them. If these people would just do a little research on dog behavior, this would help. People should try and understand life from a dog's point of view before blaming him for everything that goes wrong.

How many words does your dog know? If he is not spoken to, he obviously is not going to understand much.. Does your dog stay with you most of the time you are home.. Is he/she part of your family.. The effort that is put into a dog makes a difference on his/her behavior.
Don't except to have a well behaved dog that is left on a chain all day with no attention..

Altering you dog also helps with behavior. I can't stress this enough.. Unless you plan on breeding your dog, I highly recommend this.. There are so many unwanted dogs, why would people want to bring more into this world...

Correcting dogs that chase and/or kill chickens, ducks or anything.
This is one problem that is tough to correct.. But, it can be done. However, the hunting dogs are the ones that are more prone to chasing poultry or other animals.. It is natural for hunting dogs to chase and kill other animals..

I have three coonhounds that use to do chase my chickens and have killed some of them.
It took a little while to break them of this and be able to trust them when I am not around.
One dog at a time can be trained.. I would be the collar on the dog, then go hide so the dog could not see me or associate that it was me doing this.. When the dog would begin to chase a chicken, I would zap her.. This will most likely have to be done several times.. Another way is, when the dog starts to chase the chicken, yell "NO" if the dog don't listen, then zap the dog.. It is very important that you DO NOT zap the dog unless he/she is in the act of doing something wrong..

Several people have told me that once a dog gets a taste of blood, there is no stopping him/or. This is not true.. As I said, my hounds did kill several chickens, a couple geese and some rheas.. So there is hope.. I now leave all my dogs loose on the property with my emu and all the chickens, ducks and geese.. The dogs no longer bothers anyone.. However, they will hunt up wild rabbits, raccoons, opossums or basically anything that is wild.. I don't want to correct them for this, because this is part of their nature.. Besides, it keeps the wild animals away from my farm animals..

Feeding Dogs
I recommend a good brand of dog food such as Purina.. I don't recommend the generic dog foods. I tried this once and it made my dog sick. I use mostly Purina products. I sometimes switch the food. Sometimes I will feed them "Kibbles N Bits", or other flavors of it.
I also buy canned dog food and mix a little of this in their dry food.. Sometimes I will mix a little ground meat in their dry food.. Guess they are spoiled and won't eat dry food alone.

Some researchers have found that feeding your dog three smaller meals a day is better for the dog than one big meal a day.. This also spreads their food intake though the day, where it will lessen a dog begging for food.. However, I now can put one dish of food per dog in the morning where they will eat part of it, when they get hungry, they will come back to their dish and eat a little more later in the day..

Liter Training a puppy
This is a task that sometimes could take a while.. To start with, the puppy should be brought outside every 2-4 hours with hope he/she will do their business.. If the puppy does do what it is suppose to, praise him/her.. "GOOD BOY" say this several times.
If the puppy should dirty in the house, gently put his/her nose toward the spot (not in it)
then bring the puppy outside.. I had my female trained in one day.. Now the problem is nigh time. They should be brought outside once during the night. If the puppy cries, when you are sleeping, don't ignore it, bring it outside..

Some people crate train their puppies. I never had and never will. If you are concerned about if the dog should dirty. then put it in a cage. (not a small one) keep the puppy where you sleep.. I would put the puppy in the bed with me at night.. If it had to go to the bathroom, I would know, the pup would wake me up. .Pups don't generally dirty where they sleep..