Dog in the Car: How to Have a Car-Happy Pooch

Riding in the car freaks a lot of dogs out. Some shake until you swear their bones will snap. Some whine or bark, stressing out themselves and you. Others leap around from front seat to back creating a dangerous situation for both of you and everyone else on the road with you. Some get so upset they get a case of diarrhea which certainly no fun.

Wouldn't you like to change that? Wouldn't you like to have a road trip buddy who's a pleasure to travel with, your dog joyously sticking his head out of the window letting the wind blow back his ears on the way to play frisbee at the beach or dog park?

There are times when you have to take your dog somewhere in the car. They have to go to the vet or groomer or you're taking them to stay with a friend when you go out of town. That's part of the problem most dogs have with cars and being so fearful of going anywhere in them. It's because every time they do, something bad or unpleasant happens to them. Understandable. We'd be a little freaked out over that, too.

If your dog is fearful, let's get him over that. The first thing to do is to put him in the car with you. Right there in the driveway. You aren't going anywhere - you aren't even going to start the engine. You're just going to sit there and talk to him in a calm, happy voice and pet him for 5 minutes. At the end of the 5 minutes, get both of you out of the car, praise him and give him a treat.

Play with him for a while, something fun he enjoys, then repeat the process for another 5 minutes. Praise and play. That's enough for one day. Do this for several days in a row, or maybe skip one day but not more than that if you can help it, extending the time in the car by a minute or two each day.

Once he's staying calm in the car, try it with the engine running. Don't drive anywhere, just run the engine so he'll get used to the sound and vibrations. Again, pet him, praise him and play with him afterwards. He needs to unlearn the unpleasant associations and replace them with good ones.

When he's cool with that, try a short trip around the block, then longer trips, always praising, treating and playing with him afterwards. You will have a road trip buddy soon, one who looks forward to it!

If your dog enjoys riding in the car already but gets rowdy and too hyper to make it a pleasant experience for you, there's an easy way to fix it. Have him on his leash and when you get to the car, but don't open the door until he's calm. Once he is, open the door and let him jump in. Sit there with the car engine off until he's calm again and sitting or lying on the seat. Praise him for being such a good, calm boy. No treats for this one, his reward is to get to GO.

Start the engine but don't move unless he's calm and quiet. Sit there for as long as it takes. Drive around the block a few times, pulling over any time he starts to get rowdy or bark. Sit there until he's calm, praise him, then continue. You will be amazed how quickly this works with most dogs, even the most excitable.

Now that you've gotten this far, GO! Take your dog places - quick trips are great, even if it's just a quick trip to the drive-though window at the bank or lunch in the car at the Sonic. Show him that car trips are fun and routine and you'll have a well trained, car dog buddy forever.

Too funny!!!

Because I have to...

It's lovely that folks enjoy my articles. Really. But it entirely sucks that a few are outright stealing them, without attribution, word for word and in their entirety for their "vampire" blogs! Vampire blogs is my term for bloggers who don't write their own content and in fact, don't even visit their blogs except to post ripped off content, using it as their own to get adsense clicks or something.

Let me spell it out. Reprinting my posts or articles is fine as long as there is a link back to the source, that would be my blog or website, wherever it comes from. That would be terrific even!

But I'm about to get real pissy and start reporting illegal copyright infringement on a few sites who are clearly ripping off not just me but a lot of others who take the time and put in the effort to write actual content.

Talking to you, "Derek".

Consistent Commands: Don't Train Your Dog to Misbehave

Many dogs are “problem dogs” because their humans either: 1) never took the time to train them at all in the first place or; 2) trained them inconsistently, giving them mixed signals to the point that the confused dogs just ignore all commands or; 3) actually rewarded bad behavior. None of these are the dog's fault. The responsibility lies squarely with the human.

Like children, dogs need to be taught appropriate behavior. They don't come knowing how to behave, when and where to potty or what's okay to chew on and what isn't. When they're excited they bark and jump. When puppies play, they nip. They're dogs. That's what they do.

Too few people have a specific plan when they get that new puppy or dog, thinking they'll just deal with whatever comes along when it appears. That is not the best approach to anything really, not if you want to be successful. It isn't enough to teach your dog “sit”, “stay” and “come”. Life is a lot more complicated than that. Have a plan. Be specific and the training will follow naturally.

Here are a few questions you need to ask yourself to help get you started:

Where is your dog allowed to potty? Some people with teeny little dogs, particularly in high-rise apartments and the like, are happy to have their dogs paper-trained. Most want their dogs to eliminate outside with some wanting to limit the area allowed to a specific place in the yard, especially those with young children who also play in the yard.

Where do you want your dog to sleep? Will he share your bed or your child's? Have his own bed? Where will it be?

Do you want to allow your dog to get on the furniture? All of it, some of it or none of it?

Is your dog allowed in all areas of the home? For example, some may not want a dog to be in carpeted areas due to shedding and allergies or such. Some don't want them in their bedrooms or children's rooms.

Do you mind if your dog jumps on you? Small dogs aren't likely to knock anyone over and many find that being jumped on by a little guy is no big deal, others find it entirely annoying. Big dogs are another story, that should be a given, a no-no.

It's also a given that it isn't appropriate to chew your furniture or Italian leather shoes or bite the neighbor! But just because you know these things, doesn't mean your puppy or dog does. Plan for it all to potentially happen and teach your dog better before it does by instantly stopping any behavior that could lead to it.

Once you've answered these questions and any others of importance to you, there's your Dog Rule Book. Now follow it consistently. If there are other humans in the house, they need to know these dog rules and to enforce them consistently also so the dog doesn't get confused with mixed signals. Dogs don't really do “sometimes it's okay, sometimes it isn't”. It either is or it isn't.

Having a well-behaved dog isn't difficult when you have a plan and stick to it consistently. But before you can teach your dog the rules, you have to know them yourself. The rest is easy.

Pat's Peeves for Friday

So I have a peeve. A couple actually.

I'm always poking around on the internet, reading articles and trying to keep up. I also write for several article services like Ezine so I like to see what other people are writing about.

Man, there is some really horrible stuff floating around. But before I get to that, I want to say that most of it is good, positive stuff. Some isn't worth much in actually giving you a lot of information, but it isn't destructive.

Here's the dumbest bit of advice I've seen and I've seen it in a couple of places: to stop a dog from barking excessively, put a bunch of pennies in a metal coffee can and shake it to make noise when the dog starts to bark. I'll grant it may work once when the surprised dog looks at you with a WTF? But it certainly isn't going address the issue or do anything to stop it, probably the reverse by increasing the level of excitement. Dumb.

One article I read a few days ago was about "separation anxiety" in dogs - a very real issue that can result in a lot of grief and destruction if that's the way it manifests. The peeve it set off in me was that it was entirely preachy with some advice I majorly take issue with.

First, the author got all huffy about people referring to their pets as "kids" or "children" and "best friends", saying they are NOT people, they're DOGS and lecturing that it's a terrible, horrible thing to humanize them this way.

Now really. Maybe there are some few souls who really are humanizing their critters to everyone's detriment. I've never met one during my 56 years of life with people and not-people. When we refer to our pets as "kids" - I often refer to my spaniel as my "son" in a joking manner - it's a reflection of the love we have for them and the responsibility we feel. We do owe them, in a basic way, what we owe our children when we bring them into our homes and lives: nutrition, shelter, education, health care, etc. Fortunately for us, that doesn't include a driver's license or college fund, but you get the idea.

My Little is absolutely my "best friend", at least the way I define it. He's with me more than anyone, he's never judgemental. He's as devoted to me as I am to him and his companionship is soothing, loving and fun. He protects me from danger by warning me if there's something wrong. He makes me laugh. He's not the best conversationalist, but I know a few humans who aren't so good at that either.

This does not mean I don't know he's a Dog. That is, in fact, what I love the best about him, his Dogness. I don't want him to be human - it would ruin everything.

The author went on to ascribe the basis of separation anxiety in a dog to his human spending too much time with him and allowing the dog to sleep in the bed at night. What?! Please. Separation anxiety can be due to a number of things, the breed even since some are more high-strung or, like my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, bred to be companion dogs so they feel separation more intensely. I have seen abandonment issues (another manifestation), some extreme, in shelter dogs and abused dogs.

Humans can, and certainly do, make the problem worse often by making a big deal out of leaving rather than treat it as the matter-of-fact thing it should be. (Parents of human children do this a lot, too.) A pet's boredom when he's alone is also often a factor. But never, ever have I seen a case of separation anxiety become the result of too much time spent with a pet or from allowing a pet to share the bed at night. What this author inadvertently does is recommend punishing an anxious dog. Shame. Serious peeve.

And NO ONE is kicking my Little out of our bed. Nightie snuggles are a big part of his job description and he is the best!

So those are my pet peeves (literally) for today. What are yours?

Oh, Yes You CAN Train Cats!

From lolcats

So I've been ignoring cats thus far. It isn't that I don't adore cats - I do - it's more that they don't adore me as much! They don't instantly adopt me like dogs do, though they always come around pretty quick when they realize I'm a great source of treats, play and lovies. Cats are all about rewards and what's in it for them. Just saying "good kitty!" is rarely enough - they require bribes! I love that about them. I've always had a thing for critters with "attitude".

My friend adopted a new cat not long ago – or more accurately, he adopted her. Boudin is a terrific cat, a cute gray tabby with a ton of personality and as stubborn a critter as I've ever met. He's an adult male with no manners, always on the kitchen counters and table where he doesn't belong, playing much too roughly to the point of quickly drawing blood with teeth and claws, hiding under the sofa to attack your bare feet (which admittedly would be pretty funny if it wasn't so painful), his consistency with the litter box... well, less than consistent. He's also a total lover and a delight to have around other than those few sticking points.

One evening when I was visiting, Boudin kept jumping up on the table where we were eating dinner. My friend hollered “NO!” at him and put him back on the floor. Clearly he wasn't taking her seriously, doing it over and over again while she did the same thing over and over again. This was nuts. So I asked her, “Why don't you train him?”

She looked at me like I was insane. “He's a CAT!” she laughed, “You can't train a cat! If you had cats, you'd know that!” Okay, I admit, I don't have a cat, but I've trained dogs, ferrets and parrots and even taught Oscars (fish) to take meal worms from my hand, so of course, a cat can be trained.

After dinner, I asked my friend to get me a package of Boudin's favorite little treats and I sat down on the floor with him to prove to her that Boudin could not only be trained, but he could be trained quickly. I offered him a treat which he immediately took from my hand and ate, looking at me for another one. That's just what I wanted. First lesson learned: paying attention.

With another treat in my right hand, I touched his nose with my left hand, saying “touch”, then gave him the treat. When he looked at me for another treat, I repeated, touching his nose with my left hand, saying “touch”, then giving him the treat with my right.

After repeating this a few times, he had to earn the treat. I held my left hand a few inches from his nose and said “touch”. When he looked at me, not understanding, I moved my hand a little closer and repeated the command, “touch”. After a few tries, moving my hand a teeny bit closer each time so he'd make the connection, the light went on in his little puddy noggin and he touched my hand with his nose. “Alright, Boudin! Good boy!” and he got the treat from my right hand.

Within a few minutes, I was placing my hand far enough away so that he had to get up and move to my hand to touch it with his nose to get his treat. Then he had to touch my hand 2, then 3 times before he got his treat, so he wouldn't expect a treat every single time he obeyed a command once he'd learned it (very important).

Boudin had learned his first “trick”. So much for not being able to train a cat. Pffft! It's easy. Point proven.

Now that he'd learned to associate a treat with a task, training him to do about anything within his physical capability could be accomplished pretty quickly by applying the same technique, even the basic manners that he lacked. This fun and easy “touch training” technique is how I've started all my "kids”, moving from there to more and more complex behaviors.

[Hint: Keep the training positive always as opposed to trying to teach a negative. Train them to do what you want them to do – don't try to train them to not do what you don't want them to do. In other words, I could train Boudin to stay on the floor or in areas where I want him to be only. I wouldn't try to train him to NOT jump on the counters. See the difference?]

Training your cat (or any other critter) is a matter of: 1. figuring out what motivates them and do that and, 2. figuring out why they do what they do and encourage the good behavior by using 1.

There are a couple of excellent cat training courses I've found that I can highly recommend. The first, Complete Cat Training, is a "meat and potatoes" course. It's a very clear and easy step-by step approach that will have your cat obeying you quickly. The other, Cat Secrets Revealed, takes a more kitty psychology approach, getting you inside your feline's brain. They're both terrific!

What's Really in that Pet Food?

In March 2007, most pet owners grew very concerned about the food they were feeding their dogs and cats with the announced melamine-poisoned foods on the market. Being “mom” to my adorable and, I thought, very well-cared for King Charles Spaniel, I watched the lists daily with worry. I had believed the food I was feeding him was high quality and safe, yet I visited their website daily for reassurance. And daily I read that the food was safe, they didn't use products from China, trust them.

My dog started to experience diarrhea the day we moved to a new home. Being a sensitive soul for whom stress has this effect, I didn't worry much until day 3 when it not only continued but seemed to worsen. Again, I checked the websites to see if his food was on any of the recall lists. It wasn't. That night I had the news on in the background, sitting straight up when the latest list was announced – his food, the food that “had never used products from China”, was on the list.

They lied. I had been poisoning my beloved best friend.

Of course, I immediately disposed of the poisoned garbage and the next day, started cooking for my dog, thinking it would be temporary until the problems were resolved. I began to research what my dog needed nutritionally to make sure I was giving him everything he required to be healthy and happy.

It was that research that shocked me, then just made me furious beyond description. I found out what was really in dog food (and cat food and other pet foods), and it is disgusting, dangerous and poison garbage even without the melamine. I was sickened by what I learned, knowing I had been feeding this to my pets for years, thinking I was doing right by them with the “high-quality” foods I paid premium price for. Not any more. Never again.

Here are some of the “quality” ingredients in your pet's food:

* “meat and poultry by-products” is material that comes from the slaughterhouse and dead animals, such as road kill and euthanized companion animals, classified as condemned and unfit for human consumption. It includes lungs (even when filled with pneumonia), spleen, brains, livers (including those infested with worms), bone, beaks, feet, heads, cancerous tissues... the list goes on. Be assured, if it is remotely fit for human consumption, it isn't in your pet's food.

* “meat and bone meal” is the ground refuse from restaurants and grocery stores, dead stock, road kill, euthanized animals, including stomach contents, blood and hooves, cooked until the grease from it rises where it is removed and the moisture squeezed out. It also may contain foreign materials such as metals, hair, glass, mold, pesticide contamination and more.

*Fat is usually listed high on the ingredients in pet foods that give off an appealing odor so that our pets will eat the garbage. They are made up of rancid restaurant grease and rendered refuse often filled with impurities such as hair, hide, bone, dirt or polyethylene.

* Corn flour, corn bran, corn gluten meal are the corn products left when all the nutritious ingredients, used in human products, are removed.

* Wheat flour, wheat germ meals, are nothing more than what is swept off the mill floors after everything has been processed.

* Artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners and preservatives, including those believed to be carcinogenic and are banned from human foods like BHT, BHA, Ethoxyquin, Propyl Gallate.

If you can read that and then open a can or bag of food for your pet and feed it tonight, you have a stronger stomach than I do!

That's why I now cook for my dog. I know exactly what he's eating and that it is good quality, nutritious and safe (as safe as any of our food is these days). The added benefit is that it's even less expensive! I watch for specials, especially for meats, and stock up the freezer when I find them, which is often. A lot of meat and chicken is greatly reduced in price when its shelf life is nearing its end, and fine if its cooked or frozen immediately.

I only spend a couple of hours or so once a month cooking up a big batch of food, placing it in small containers with about 3 – 4 meals in each one (he eats twice a day), freezing it until I need it. I add a couple of tablespoons of low-fat plain yogurt to a serving, mix it up and “nuke” it for about a minute to get it warm and delicious for him. He loves it!

Best, he looks terrific, better than he ever did before, his coat gleaming, his eyes sparkling, endless energy, perfect weight and a healthy, happy glow.

This is not a difficult thing to do! There are many excellent recipes available and now there are cookbooks dedicated to pet food recipes, including good quality treats and biscuits that your pet will adore and that you can feel great about giving them.

I do highly recommend doing some research to make sure you're giving your dog everything he requires. For example, dogs need organ meat like liver. I personally can't deal with beef liver - can't look at it and the smell is nauseating for me - so I use chicken livers.

The best resource I have found for recipes, that even includes recipes for dog biscuits and treats is an ebook from John Miller Healthy Food for Dogs: Homemade Recipes.

It's only $29.95, which you will save in the price of commercial food quickly. It has 245 good and easy recipes for both young and old dogs and most are very economical, saving you a lot over even grocery store pet food. He even shows you how to make dog safe insecticides and fertilizers. It's a ebook so you can download it instantly and start cooking tonight!