It is very important that you feed your dog a high quality dog food. If corn is in the top of the ingredient list don't buy it! Dogs digestive systems were not made to process corn products. I highly recommend feeding a raw diet, which is what I now feed. If you are not going to feed raw here are a few recommendations. The cost of the food may seem high but your dog will utilize more the nutrients. You will have less poo and your dog will have a lush coat.
Canidae, California Natural, Eagle Pac, Flint River, Innova, Evo (made by Innova), Solid Gold, Wellness
Here is an article that is to the point. http://www.wikihow.com/Choose-Healthy-Dog-Food
I feed raw meaty bones. I buy meat on sale at the grocery store. My dogs eat a lot of chicken legs and pork chops. The meat must also contain bone for calcium. It is a myth that dogs can’t eat chicken bone, they can’t eat cooked chicken bones! (Foxes would be in big trouble if they couldn’t eat chicken.) You must also feed organ meats as about 10% of the diet a week. I try and feed organs once a week. Green tripe is also an excellent food source. There are some great raw feeding yahoo groups and books available. You will want to feed about 2% of the dogs body weight, more for puppies.
Another popular raw diet is BARF.
NO FLEAS: I have always fed a high quality kibble and have not had fleas in at least 5 years!!!
House Breaking
It is my hope that your puppy has a great start a potty training when they leave Grandview.
Here are some tips:
Pick an area of the yard you would like the puppy to use and always bring the puppy to that spot
Bring the pup out every ½ hour to 2 hours. Always after waking from a nap and 30 minutes after eating. Playing also seems to simulate the need to potty.
Use some phrase like "go potty" and praise the pup while they are going in the proper area
If the pup potty't in the house tell the pup NO and bring him to the proper area. (Never call the pup to you to scold it. The pup will soon learn that when you call him something bad happens and he won’t want to come when called.) For a young pup if I don't catch them in the act I just clean up the mess and don’t worry much about it. For an older dog you may want to bring them to the soiled area and scold them then bring them to the proper area outside.
Keep your pup in a create or on a leash to restrict wandering throughout the house until fully house trained. I often keep pups on a leash attached to the open create so they can go in our out. The create is in the main part of the house so the pup never feels alone.
Create your pup when you leave the house.
Like children some dogs take longer to gain full control or their bladders so don't get discouraged. You are welcome to give me a call if you have questions or are having problems.
Crate Training:
For my medium sized dogs I generally like a 36" create. Some of them come with a divider panall to use to make the create smaller for puppies. I usually don’t bother with them myself.
I like the Midwest brand but any crate will do. You will want a wire crate.
I often shop at petsmart.com, dog.com or petco.com – whoever is offering FREE SHIPPING.
How to crate train?
One method that works great for me is to tether the pup to the create in a area of the house near the family. I feed the pup in the closed crate and keep comfy blankets in the create. The pup associates the create with its home. If the pup doesn’t like the create…
Put the crate in the living room or by the computer and throw treats into the create. Every time the pup goes into the create after the treat say the word “create” Do this daily for 5-15 minute sessions. After a while start closing the door for a minute and praise the pup for being quiet. Keep the door closed for longer and longer intervals.
You should start training your pup soon after you bring him home. No later than 12 weeks. A 12 week old pup can learn to sit and lay down.
Enroll in obedience classes as soon as possible but often there are age requirements. I wouldn’t wait any longer than 4 months old. By 7 months you will have a well trained adolescent dog.
Where to find classes – The human society is a great resource, your vets office, the local paper and the phone book.
Training Method – I prefer clicker training. It is the most enjoyable and positive training available. Never use a choke chain on a puppy.
Ignore the bad behavior and praise the good.
Try not to use the word NO too much. There are some dogs who think their name is No! (I’m not joking.)
Sometimes your pup will act naughty to get attention, even negative attention so just ignore it or correct the situation without causing a fuss. (When my pup steels a shoe or diaper I always praise them when they bring it to me when called. I’m happy he came when called and I have turned a bad behavior into a positive experience. Puppies love to chew so keep your shoes in the closet and the dirty diapers in the trash!)
How to train?
Training can happen in just 5 minutes a day. Get in a quick training session right before a meal. Always make your dog sit or down before you feed him. It is a great way to do some obedience training and show your dog that you control the food and he has to earn it. This helps easily instill proper pack orderer, the dog is always at the BOTTOM.
Name Recognition:
Say the pups name and then reward him for looking you in the eyes. Start every training session off this way. You want your pup to learn when you say his name to respond “what” by looking at you. Do this 5-10 times in a row.
(If you are using a clicker click when the pup looks at you then treat immediately.)
Sit:
Hold a treat in front of the pups nose and raise your hand up and slightly back. Your dogs nose will go up and his bottom will naturally go down. When he sits use the word sit and give him lots of praise. Do this 5-10 times in a row. Once your dog starts to get it you can just use the word sit.
(Using this method you are also teaching the hand signal which is an upward motion with your palm up.)
Down:
Start your pup in the sit position. Hold the treat in front of his nose and bring it straight down to the ground and as the pups nose follows the treat slide it way from the pup and he will slide into a down.
Training Tips:
Don’t repeat the command! You don’t want your dog to lean that you need to ask for sit 5 times before he has to do it. Just ask once!
If you get frustrated stop. You can do more harm than good if you get frustrated at your pup.
Please read The Other End of the Leash to avoid many of the common training mistakes.
