Dog Runaway

Dogs on the loose is not good, not good at all! For one thing the owner misses it, and for another the dog is lost, scared, and misses it's owner. Scared dogs bite, and can be put down without any thought. There are tons of other accidents that can happen to your dog. That's why it is important to find your dog right away, or have your dog find you.

It's pretty confusing, I mean, how could a dog find you and your home? Actually, it's quite simple. A dog has a nose, sense of direction, and can be trained, correct? Right. So teaching your dog where it lives is rather easy. It takes time, and love, and treats but it can be a lifesaver. Someday your dog won't even care to run away!

First, your dog needs to love you. He needs to understand that this is home and he is not a wild animal. (it takes time!) If your dog wants to run away every time the door is opened, you probably don't have the best relationship and you may need to work on it. Second of all, your dog needs to get use to his home. He needs to be able to sniff it and go around it outside and inside and inspect it, that will help him know which house to sniff out. And last of all, take your dog on many walks around your neighborhood. Get him use to the layout and way it looks. That will help him find his way back.

Micro-chipping your dog and having him wear a collar with a tag is important too. If you have not trained him where your house is, he can get lost and never come back, but with a chip and a tag, people can find him and return him to you.

While training your dog it is a life saver to also train him to remember the boundaries of your house and know what outside is like. Take him on a walk or outside every day so then he has no reason to go outside. Once the door opens, he won't even care to go out or he may go out but just wander a few steps and come back inside. Make sure he is fully trained before letting him freely outside

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Blog posts schedule is now Wednesday and Thursday. Check back tomorrow for a new post!!

Dog Trick: Spin

Spin

Beginner trick.

To teach your dog to spin, find something that motivates him (food, toy, ect.). Put it up to his nose  and move it around his body. He should follow it with his nose, making him spin.

Also, I do not post on the weekends, next Monday I will post something new, though!

Dog problems

Lots of dogs tend to deal with behavior problems, that's sometimes why they end up out of a loving family and into a shelter.

Dealing with aggressive dogs is a lot easier the some people think, it still takes work and time but it's not awfully difficult. Instead of letting your dog be the boss from the beginning, you need to dominate at first and always let him know who's boss.

Ways to let your dog know who is boss:

• Don't let him on the furniture-- if he's on the furniture, he must be top dog like you.
• If you are looking him in the eyes, don't look away. He needs to be the first one to look away, not you.
• Don't let him jump up on you, people who live with you, or house guests. If he does, turn your back to him.
• Make him walk beside you or behind you on the leash, lead dogs walk in front!
• Don't feed him table scraps

While letting your dog know his is boss, it is still important to show him love and affection and not let him be scared. It is also important to socialize him at a young age, and teach him to feel comfortable around everyone and everything. Scared dogs often lead to biting and growling, it is their defense.

Some dogs tend to be very timid and shy from their traumatizing pasts. If you are dealing with one of those situations, don't try and boss around your dog. It is important they know that you are top dog, but it is also important not to terrorize the poor thing. The best thing to do is get it over it's past and socialize it. (Make sure you know what you are doing, and that it is safe, before you put your dog face to face with it's biggest fear)

Thanks, Everything Dogs

Health Tip: Treats and Dog Food

Most people are very cautious and careful about what they buy for their dog, and that's great. You should always be careful what food you buy for your dog, but if you can't afford some high quality dog food, well don't worry, your dog probably won't drop dead if you feed it just regular old dog food.

When looking for dog food check to see if the top ingredient is meat-- dogs are omnivores but mainly carnivores. (They are omnivores because in the wild Wolves eat deer belly which contains plants). You want your dog eating a lot more steak then carrots.

What to look out for:

• Soy
• Artificial ingredients
• Corn
• Garlic
• Sweeteners
• Animal digest
• Animal by-products
• Cellulose

Feeding your dog a natural diet is good, meat, seafood and some veggies. You don't need extra ingredients, most meat, veggies, and seafood will provide the Omega-3 and other important vitamins your dog needs.

Lost Dog?

Great! You found a lost dog, it won't come towards you, it's absolutely scared out of it's mind...

When addressing a scared, lost dog that is threatening you as you come closer, get on your knees and offer the dog a treat (that is, if you have one) the wrong thing to would be to approach the dog. Instead, let the dog approach you.

Most dog biting incidents happen because of people not being able to understand a dog. They try and warn us  but sometimes it just doesn't work. Always let the dog approach you and sniff you instead of chasing after it. Especially since some playful dogs will run away because they think you are playing chase with them.

If the dog does approach you, let it sniff you before you take it home or to a shelter. Try and keep a spare leash in your car or in your purse (tiny slip-on). If you meet up with a loose dog. Remember to be super careful if you are using your car to get it places, because it may have problems in the car.

After you have the dog in your car, you should go to the vet and have the dog looked at. Dogs are not feral and they do not belong in the wild. They need humans to support them and guide them. Living a few days in the wild may cause damage to the dog (dehydration, skin problems, hunger, ect.). Most lost dogs aren't in the wild long enough to have problems, if it looks like the dog is perfectly find to you, there is probably no need to take it to the vet. Just remember to bathe, feed, and water it right when you get home!

Now that the dog is healthy and taken care of, you need to decide what you are going to do with it. If it is wearing a collar with a tag it is important that you call the phone number or try to locate the address right away. But if it isn't you can consider taking it to a vet or shelter and seeing if it is micro chipped, but not all dogs are. If it isn't, take a picture of the dog and description then post it all around town. If someone recognizes the dog they may know who it belongs to and you can track down the owner. 

If you just can't find the owner and you have been searching and advertising all the time, you can either keep the dog or give it to the shelter. (Preferably a no kill shelter!)

Be careful when working with a lost or stray dog-- they can take time and patience getting use to you and the new surroundings. It is best not to have animals or kids around the dogs, in case something gives the dog a temptation to bite. If you don't feel comfortable working with a stray dog or taking one home, call a shelter and stay with the dog until they come and are able to pick it up.

Smart Dogs

Most of the time dogs are usually as smart as there breeds suggest. Border Collies and Poodles are known to be very smart like Chaser, the incredibly smart Border Collie who is able to remember the names of 1000 toys. And Poodles, even with their fashion and frou-frou personality they are extremely smart and bright. And then there are the Irish Setters, who aren't very bright and not easy to train.

It is important to get a dog that is like you, and it shouldn't matter on the smarts a dog has. Unless you couldn't handle training a dog that isn't eager to learn, or you can't stand how smart and tricky the Border Collie is.

When choosing a pet to bring home, researching and asking questions to people who may have the type of dog you want is important. You may want an Irish Setter for it's beauty and grace, but when you bring it home you may be stunned that it is so hard to train and get it to pay attention. Here are dogs that you need to  think twice about getting:

Top 10 smartest dogs:

10.Australian Cattle Dog

9. Rottweiler

8. Papillon

7. Labrador Retriever

6. Shetland Sheepdog

5.Doberman Pinscher

4. Golden Retriver

3. German Shepherd

2. Poodle

1. Border Collie

                                          Top 10 least smartest dogs:

10. Basset Hound

9. Beagle

8. Mastiff

7. Pekingese

6. Bloodhound

5. Borzoi

4. Chow Chow

3. Bulldogs

2. Basenji

1. Afghan Hound

Health tip: Dog Coats

You may think that bathing your dog isn't such a big deal-- you know, just throw on some shampoo, scrub, and rinse! Easy! Well, if you want your dog to have a dander-free, shiny, and healthy coat, you should consider what shampoo you are using on your dog. The type of dog food your dog eats will also depend on how your dogs coat looks. Fatty acids and fish oil are good for your dogs skin and coat.

Sebum and Omega-3 can help you with your dogs skin.

Sebum is the oil in your dogs coat. It naturally keeps your dog's skin hydrated and healthy. If your dog gets more omega-3 in the Sebum, then your dogs coat will be healthier. Omega-3 helps when your dogs skin is itchy, sore, dry, and irritated. Omega-3 reduces that and helps with the Sebum to give your dog a fancy coat.

You can get omega-3 from the food your dog eats or you could even get them in supplements (which aren't bad or not natural). Fish is where people get omega-3 (fish oil) from because it has the most amounts of omega-3 in it. You can also find omega-3 in chicken fat, or some plant oils.




But keeping your dogs coat healthy also depends on the shampoo you use. Using human shampoo is not good for your dog since the PH of the skin is different on both humans and dogs. And don't expect your shampoo to make your dogs hair as nice as yours.

When you are looking for shampoo you want some that is loaded with essential oils. It is also good if it has "PH balanced just for dogs" on it. Omega-3, oatmeal, aloe vera, and other ingredients will keep your dogs coat healthy and clean.

You want your dog to smell good, but be careful about the scents-- they may smell good but they can be artificial. The best scents to use should not be artificial. Lavender, a natural scent, can repel bugs and smell great at the same time!

So, it may take some time to test and find a good dog shampoo... The kind of dog shampoo you should look for should make your dogs coat be: dirt-free, tick and flea-free, dandruff-free, shiny and glossy (not greasy), and a non-tearing formula. Your dogs coat should look healthy, clean and pure.

Note: I do not post on the weekends, so my next post should be on Monday.

Dog Trick: Crawl

To learn this trick your dog must know: Sit, and lie down

To teach your dog to crawl, have him lie down, put the treat close to his nose and then drag it farther away, the dog should crawl and chase after the treat, once he crawls, no matter the distance, you can give him the treat. If instead of crawling he stands up and runs after the treat, try again and do not reward him until he crawls.

Everything Dogs

Everything Dogs is an online magazine blog that shares facts, news, training tips, health tips, dogs up for adoption, and dog breed facts.

Right now there is no schedule as to when I may post on this blog, but probably it will be every day for the first few weeks. Keeping the blog updated and up and running is a big priority for me.

Thanks, 

Everything Dogs Owner