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Harmony at Home: How to Prepare Your Dog for a New Baby
By Jennifer Shryock
Created 2008-08-01 08:00
Baby news
There is nothing more exciting, or more anticipated, than the arrival
of a new baby. Whether a family is adopting or experiencing a
pregnancy, expecting a baby brings on many hopes, dreams, and
questions. Often, some questions focus on the relationship between the
family’s four-legged “baby” and the soon-to-arrive human baby.
Will our dog accept the baby?”
“Will our dog be jealous?”
Questions like these weigh heavily on the minds of many dog-loving
families. However, with the confident and constant supervision of their
trusted adults, most dogs adapt just fine to the new family member.
There are simple activities that can help ease the
transition—activities that families can practice
before a baby arrives.
Lay the groundwork
before the baby arrives
Make a list of the behaviors your dog currently uses to get your
attention. Does your dog drop a moist and slobbery tennis ball in your
lap while you are watching TV in the evening, “asking” you to throw it?
Does your dog nudge you, wanting to be patted while you read a book or
talk on the phone? Pick the most common behavior
[1], the one that may become problematic when you are tending to a
newborn. Will you appreciate your dog bringing a soggy ball to you
while you are holding your baby? Will you be able to pat your dog while
you are feeding your newborn? Plan ahead to decrease some of these
attention-seeking behaviors, and you and your dog will be more
successful once baby arrives. read more...
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Learn More About Training Your Dog - The 'Down' Cue
Goal: To have your dog happily lie down when you ask it to. We don’t teach our dogs how to lie down since they already know
how. Our goal is to have verbal control over the ‘down’ behavior.
Resources: You will need to have some small yummy treats (about the size of your small fingernail) and a toy.
Training Steps
- Hold a treat just under your dog’s nose. Slowly move your hand
straight down to a spot between your dog’s front paws letting your dog’s
nose follow your hand down.
Where the nose goes the body should follow. As your dog’s stomach hits the ground, say ‘
down’. When it is completely down say
‘yes’ and give it a treat. Repeat this process 10 times.
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Now, without a treat in your hand use the same hand motion
to guide your dog’s nose to the floor. As you move your hand say
‘down’ to your dog. When its stomach hits the ground say
‘yes’ and give your dog a treat. Repeat 10 times.
- Next, say ‘
down’ to your dog while using just your hand signal. When its stomach hits the ground say ‘
yes’ and stroke them (no treat). As you practice, give your dog a treat every other time it goes down.
- To increase the duration of the ‘down’ behavior, ask your dog to ‘down’ then count to 4 before you say ‘
yes’
and give it a treat. Continue to increase the delay before giving it a
treat. With practice you will soon be up to 30 to 60 seconds.
- Practice the ‘down’ behavior in the evening when your dog is quiet.
Put it into a ‘down’ next to your chair. Every few seconds give it a
small treat or stroke if it remains in the ‘down’ position.
DogSmith Tips – To generalize the
‘down’ behavior, have your dog ‘sit’ & ‘down’ before you open doors,
give it its food bowl or put on its leash. Another good exercise is to
do doggy ‘sit ups’ as follows; have your dog go from ‘sit’ to ‘down’
and then back to ‘sit’ four times and then give it a treat. Always give
your dog the treat when it is in the correct position, ‘down’ or sit’.
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DogSmith Dog Park Behavior Review -
Dog Park Red Flag Behaviors That Require Intervention:
- Excessive mounting
- Pinning (holding another dog down and standing stiffly over them)
- Shadowing another dog (following) incessantly
- Bullying: repeatedly bothering another dog that does not want to interact
- Fast, non-stop running with a group – high arousal situation
- Full-speed body slams
- Putting head repeatedly onto another dog’s neck or back
- Staring with a fixed gaze directly at another dog
- Snarling or raised lips
- Showing teeth
- Hackles up at the shoulders
Read more more on how to recognize appropriate and inappropriate behaviors at your local dog park.
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If You Are Aggressive Your Dog Will Be Too
Science Daily (Feb. 18, 2009) — In a new, year-long University of
Pennsylvania survey of dog owners who use confrontational or aversive
methods to train aggressive pets, veterinary researchers have found that
most of these animals will continue to be aggressive unless training
techniques are modified. Contact your local DogSmith, certified dog
trainers and dog behavior counselors. Non-Invasive, Non-Aversive Techniques.
The study, published in the current issue of
Applied Animal Behavior Science,
also showed that using non-aversive or neutral training methods such as
additional exercise or rewards, elicited very few aggressive responses.
“Nationwide, the No. 1 reason why dog owners take their pet to a
veterinary behaviorist is to manage aggressive behavior,” Meghan E.
Herron, lead author of the study, said. “Our study demonstrated that
many confrontational training methods, whether staring down dogs,
striking them or intimidating them with physical manipulation does
little to correct improper behavior and can elicit aggressive
responses.” Read more
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The Stunning Truth About 'Complete & Balanced' Pet Food
While vitamins and minerals play a fundamental role in the diet of companion animals, your dog or cat can quickly develop nutritional deficiencies that
impede normal functioning if it isn’t regularly consuming the right
vitamins for its species in the right amounts.
According to Suite101.com, a few of the many jobs vitamins do in your pet’s body include:
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Aiding in the release of energy from other nutrients
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Acting as free radical scavengers
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Serving as co-enzymes or enzyme precursors in various metabolic processes
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Helping to preserve cell membrane integrity
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Aiding in blood clotting
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Aiding in the transmission of nerve impulses
Read more
To learn more about a holistic premium pet foods call your local DogSmith or visit our website, enter your zip code and click on nutrition.
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Care business may be the best investment you can make. Take it from the
likes of J. Paul Getty, who said the only way to make a great deal of
money is to own one’s own business and Warren Buffet who prefers owning
a business to passive investments. We believe that you can be
successful in just about any business if you are willing to work hard
enough but with the DogSmith systems and methods we take the expense of a trial and
error approach out of starting your own business. In addition, because
of our mission, vision, ethics and values combined with our unique
DogSmith pledge you will be proud to be a DogSmith. The DogSmith is
synonymous with quality and expertise in the pet care industry. We help
pets become family!®
Franchise territories available across the US.
Visit www.DogSmithFranchise.com and take the franchise tour or simply call and request more
information from the DogSmith Franchise Director.
No
Obligation.
Ask about our Small Business Economic Stimulus Package
Valid until December 15th 2010.
1-888-Dog-Smith (364-7648)
The DogSmith Mission
The DogSmith exists to enhance the lives of pets and their owners by
improving their relationship and the quality of the life they share,
through;
- Providing professional support and training to Pet Dog owners.
- Supporting and assisting animal shelters and rescue organizations to minimize the number of unwanted animals.
- Offering affordable and professional care to family pets so that pet ownership is never a burden.
The DogSmith Vision:
Every DogSmith will work toward a world where people and their pets
live together to the mutual benefit of each. Through our efforts,
skills and training, we can significantly reduce the number of unwanted
pets and provide abused, neglected, and abandoned pets an opportunity
to find their “forever home”.
The DogSmith Key Values:
- Do no harm.
- Emphasize a ‘holistic’ approach to dog training and pet care by
attending to the physical, emotional, and environmental well being of
pets in our care.
- Support, through our Canine Rescue Resources programs, humane societies, animal shelters and rescue organizations.
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