Gifts, Supplies & Information
At last, a book about your pet that emphasizes total care, training and companionship! You”ll not only learn about the specie-specific traits of your special pet, you”ll also learn what the world”s like from your pet”s perspective; how to feed, groom and keep your pet healthy; and how to enjoy your pet through training and activities you can do together. The English Springer Spaniel is written by a breed expert and includes a special chapter on training by Dr. Ian Dunbar, internationally renowned animal behaviorist, and chapters on getting active with your dog by long-time Dog Fancy magazine columnist Bardi McLennan.
At last, a book about your pet that emphasizes total care, training and companionship! You’ll not only learn about the species-specific traits of your special pet, you’ll also learn what the world’s like from your pet’s perspective; how to feed, groom and keep your pet healthy; and how to enjoy your pet through training and activities you can do together. The Border Collie is written by a breed expert and includes a special chapter on training by Dr. Ian Dunbar, internationally renowned animal behaviorist, and chapters on getting active with your dog by long-time Dog Fancy magazine columnist Bardi McLennan. Best of all, the book is filled with info-packed sidebars and fun facts to make caring for your pet easy and enjoyable.
What Labs Teach Us Wall Calendar: The most popular breed in America proves it has much to teach. Photos of Labs are paired with charming life lessons from the dog’s perspective. Large format displays the candid images of some of the world’s finest nature photographers. Grids provide plenty of space to record appointments, birthdays, and reminders.
If dogs could talk what would they say is the best food to keep them in tiptop condition? Would they recommend a selection of cans and kibble or would they recommend a fresh rabbit and half a chicken? Or would they crave fresh, raw meat, like their carnivore ancestors? In Work Wonders: Feed Your Dog Raw Meaty Bones Australian veterinarian Dr. Tom Lonsdale inspires us to see a dog’s dietary needs from a dog’s perspective into taking account Nature’s teachings, easily understood science, and sound common sense. Work Wonders provides essential information for dogs and their owners, veterinarians, educators and anyone interested in dogs, diets and health. Eight entertaining and informative chapters lead you through the practical essentials of dog feeding including how to find sources for fresh, healthy meat as well as how to safely store and prepare a diet of raw meaty bones. It is easier than you think! Tom Lonsdale’s 2001 landmark book, Raw Meaty Bones: Promote Health, as featured on
Tastes among humans differ, but one thing is constant: your dog will eat just about anything off the table you give it. That may be fine when it’s just you and the family. But when you have guests over, it can be embarrassing. Here are some tips for how to get pooch to stay away during meal time.
The first step is not to start a bad habit.
Dog’s have a natural hierarchy with the alpha at the top, followed by the beta, and so on. In the wild, the alpha eats first, then food is shared by the rest – once the alpha ‘gives permission’. Permission can be denied with a growl or a snap of the teeth.
When you act as the alpha – as you should at all times where your dog is concerned – you control access to the food. But being too easy going gives the signal that it’s open season at the table. If you don’t start the habit they may start it for you, but it doesn’t pay to encourage them.
The next step is to be consistent. If you don’t want the dog to beg for food, don’t feed it sometimes, then deny it at others. The dog has no way in advance to know which times are appropriate and which aren’t. You’ll become frustrated at having to repeatedly try to make the distinction for him and order him away.
Dogs operate by scent. When they smell food, that’s a signal to approach. If you allow them to act on that, a pleasant experience (for them) becomes a bad habit (from your perspective) very quickly.
Human food is often less than ideal for dogs anyway. Most of it is digestible, but it isn’t balanced for dogs the way commercial dog food is. The ideal dog diet depends on a carefully controlled mixture of fat, protein and other categories of food. The percentages are tested and blended by commercial dog food manufacturers. There’s no way for you to duplicate that at the dinner table.
You can train your dog not to beg for food basically the same way you would train them to perform any other desired behavior. Try voice commands ‘go’, ‘sit’ and the rest. This is not the time, however, to reward obedience with a treat, since that’s counterproductive. It only reinforces the link between food and behavior at the wrong time.
If voice commands prove inadequate, you can try leash training. This may require some creativity if you are already at the table. You can wrap a leash around a sturdy pole in the dining room. As you tug on the leash toward you, if it’s wrapped around the pole, it pulls the dog away. Take care not to bruise the dog’s throat by getting carried away.
If you have help, you can sit at the table and start to eat, while another holds the dog a few feet away by the leash. As the dog starts to come toward the table, you give the command and they tug the leash. Dogs learn quickly this way to associate the verbal command with the physical restraint.
As with any training exercise, patience and persistence are essential. But sooner or later, they will respond, even when they smell food. They learn in the wild, they can learn even more easily in the home.
