Happy Valentine's Day to you and your canine! Give them some special treats and love on this special day. Let them know how much they mean to you. They show us how much we mean to them everyday.

 

  Snow, snow and more snow. More classes called off because of snow. But what this gives you is more time to practice. Especially if school or work is called off. What are you going to do anyway-shovel more snow? Practice training but make it fun. Take it out in the snow. Use popcorn for treats while you train and watch a movie. Have your dog chase and fetch snowballs. Or find biscuits or treats in the snow. Lots of things you can do to make training fun while we are snowed in.  

 

 

Valentine kisses and hugs and howls to all,

 

 

P.S. Here are some closed dates coming up: Friday, Saturday and Sunday April 2-4 for Easter, Sunday May 9 Mother's day (always go up my mom's) and Saturday, Sunday, Monday May 29-31 for Memorial day.

P.S.S. If bad weather is threatened, call my voice mail 513-939-3647, my cell 513-503-9703 or check my blog www.thedogteacher.blogspot.com for the latest update or cancellation.      

Here are some recent outstanding achievements: CGC-Olive  Graduates of Adults class:  Olive, Winnie and Drover. AKC Star Puppy: Dusty, Hershey, Snickers and Indy. We are so proud of all your achievements. You are awesome! And it was so much fun to have you guys in class.

 

Your dog learns great skills in class. But it"s all for nothing if he does them no where else. So here's some ideas for training in real life. Because life happens

 

-Wait: in and out of the car. Every time. Be consistent and pretty soon you won't even have to say Wait. They just will.

-Sit: for petting each and every time someone wants to pet them. Also Sit for breakfast and dinner. And Sit to have their leash put on. It is kind of the canine version of Please.

-Down: while you are on the computer, practice Down stays, vary the length of time and the distance from you. While you are watching a movie and need to get a snack, Down Stay till you return. They might not be good at it yet but with practice they will.

-Touch: target my hand-use for attention getting exercises at vets, training classes, to get your dog to come right to you and to get him back by your side on a walk. 

 

These are just a few. Bring training classes into real life. That's when you need it most.

My grandpa brought him to our house as a pup. He sure got his socialization in as we had a big family(10 kids). And lots of friends. My dad went to work right away on a fence. It was not high enough at first and he jumped over. He had to add an attachment to the top that made it look like a penitentary. I don't know if it was to keep the dog in or us in. In those days, dogs mostly lived outside which our Butch did. He had a dog house and under the covered patio. In very frigid temperatures, mom would let him spend the night in the kitchen or the hallway by the furnace. I think he fancied living outdoors because of all us kids. All day we'd be playing outdoors and at night he finally got a break from us. And he could guard the yard. I remember once when he got out of the fence, I guess someone forgot to close and lock it. My mom grabbed a pack of hotdogs and set them on a plate just inside the gate door of the yard. In he went and mom closed and locked the door. Too funny. He was a shepherd and live to an old age. He was the beginning of a line of dogs that mostly included shepherds. Maybe that's where I got it from.  

Is it for my dog?The real question is: Is my dog right for doggie day care? Not all dogs are. I will say that dogs that have some training fare better in day care than dogs that don't. When shopping for a daycare for your dog, it pays to visit, talk to the owners and watch the dogs playing and interacting.  All doggie day cares are not created equal. All have a different flavor if you will, not good or bad (for the most part) just different. Most of them do evaluations to see if your dog fits in. Generally it is recommended that your dog attend day care at least once a week. I usually don't recommend every day because they get too tired and cranky like we do after a whole week of work. Day care can be a great socialization time, energy burning time and canine fun time. Just make sure your dog is enjoying themselves. Then dog owner and dog have a great day.