Ruger the German Shepherd pup graduated at the Bass Pro Shop Saturday Dec 27th. She did excellent and is a future Therapy dog.Great work mom and dad! Iris is a puppy graduate of my puppy classes and signed up for 10 more. She graduated and will soon get her Canine Good Citizen. She was just one short You can do it Iris. And so can you Dad. 

 

Two more pass the Canine Good Citizen! Sampson the great and Bo the herder. Both did wonderful and passed with flying colors. And one more graduate: Jesse. He's a beautiful lab/husky mix and as smart as he is handsome.

Good Job!

 

*On a sad note, you have read and heard about the dogs Rex and Phoenix in my newsletters and in class. Sadly, Ron Klein, owner of Rex and Phoenix passed away suddenly while on vacation in Germany. Our hearts go out to Diana Klein, his wife and his whole family. I will always remember his calmness and patience with Rex (a german shepherd) in puppy class. And how proud Ron and Diana were when Rex and Phoenix passed their Canine Good Citizen and then later became Certified Therapy Dogs. Our hearts will be sad for a long time missing him.    

The AKC S.T.A.R.sm Puppy Program will reward responsible owners who take the time to train and socialize their new puppies. The program is a natural pre-curser to the AKC Canine Good CitizenŽ Test. "S.T.A.R." stands for Socialization, Training, Activity and a Responsible owner, all of the things a puppy needs to have a good life. Start life on the "right paw." "The AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy Program will provide dog owners with the tools to raise and train their dog responsibly and prepare the puppy to become an AKC Canine Good Citizen," said Dr. Mary Burch, AKC CGC Director.
www.akc.org

 

I think this is a wonderful program and something I will incorporate into my puppy classes. I am an AKC CGC evaluator and can administer the Test. Upon passing, owners receive: 

I am not a movie buff. I can not even tell you the last movie I went to. But this I gotta see. I read (and cried) through the book. Knowing it was a true story and the many yellow labs I have had and currently have in class, I will definitely see this one. Another reason, I got 2 tickets for it for Christmas so it's a freebie. I also had a yellow lab foster named Buddy. Much like Marley. We finally found him a great home. If I can find the mud picture of him, I'll include it next time. It's a fond (and messy) memory. So if you're like me and don't see movies much-go see this one. I think you'll love it. I'll give you a full report after I see it. And if you want to, if you see it and want to give me some comments about it, I'll put them in the newsletter also. Email them to playfulpooches@msn.com. It'll be fun.

 

 

Food and mealtimes are a big issue to most dogs. It is a basic need and they need to eat. But they can have manners and must know at all times that you control the food, not them. For most dogs, having them do something before they eat-such as sit, down, paw, watch me, wait, stay or a myriad of other things-helps them to work for their food. It helps you to have a few moments of training time within your otherwise busy day. 

 

I would not keep the dog's food out all day. They can start to get the idea that they control  the food, they eat whenever they want. Also it can lead to obesity for some breeds. I know my beagles would look like whales if they could eat all day at their leisure. And for puppies, having 2 or 3 mealtimes can help you with housetraining. You can better predict potty times. Most dogs do best on 2 meals a day. With puppies or underweight or diabetic dogs, 3 meal times are good.

 

If your dog is still having a problem with who's in charge of food, you may have to eat first, like the pack leaders do. You don't have to change your mealtimes to accommodate them but eating something first before they eat gives them the pack leader idea. You have to control this vital resource. You can do it.

 

(Next leadership area-who's in charge when you come home? Do you get mugged and hugged or are you greeted with calmness? )  

Barking is normal dog behavior, but too much is noise pollution and can get you fines in some neighborhoods. First try to understand why he is barking. Look at it from the dog's perspective. Is he bored, trying to get attention, have to go potty, hungry, thirsty, wants to play, walk, guard the house, sees a leaf fly by or hates the mailman? It's kind of like trying to figure out why a new baby is crying. After a while you recognize certain crys and know what they want. Same thing with dogs. 

 

If it is someone or something he is barking at, try to distract him from his object of barking and then give him something else to do. It can be anything that keeps him occupied doing something other than barking-fetch, chew on a bone, go lay down on his bed, find a toy. Teach him a word for quiet-it can be quiet, hush, that's enough, that'll do. Just stay away from Shut up. Not that nice really. Although I did have a client who's quiet word was Zip it.

 

Be sure you are not rewarding barking. He barks, barks, barks, barks for you to play and finally you give in and play, he just got what he wanted by barking. Think about what you would rather have him do instead of barking and teach that. Or let him know that a couple barks at the doorbell will do, thank you. (see door manners in last newsletter).