Itchy Dogs?

There it goes again! Jingling tags and scratching seem to fill the air. Does non-stop itching drive you and your dog crazy?

What's the cause? We blame this time of year, right? It's the end of a very long winter, especially here in Northeast Ohio, when our furnaces have been working extra hard keeping our homes warm; we have dry skin, so our dog must too? Sure that can be the reason! Then Summer comes along and still our dogs are itching!! Fleas, of course, that must be the reason but not one flea can be found!

Dang! Now my dog's skin is raw and her coat is patchy from all the scratching. I feel really bad, I think it's allergies. A dose of antibiotics ought to do the trick!? Nope.

Let's face it, your dog is as dry as the Sahara Desert!

What your dog needs is water. Really? She is drinking all the time?!! Yup, because her DRY dog Food is soaking up all the water in her body to digest all the dry food she is eating!! Think of that dry little morsel as a sponge that is going to absorb all that it can until it bursts. Here you are putting a whole bowlful of sponges in your dog's stomach. NO wonder your dog is itchy! Did you know that is takes 4x the amount of water to break down dry dog food?

Here is one solution; Soak your dog's food before you give it to her. Maybe this will help somewhat but don't worry, I have more on this "Itchy" topic and we'll talk about it soon.

My Best,
Dru

Out of the DogHouse LLC website www.ohiodogtrainer.com
Contact me, Dru Therrian, with any Questions 440.286.9070

No Free Lunch

When we bring a dog or puppy into our home, we get ready just like waiting for the arrival of a baby; We have Everything in place; the crate, dog bed, a bunch of toys in a basket, a cupboard full of food and tons of treats.

We greet our bundle of fur of whatever size with open arms and opened house; Nothing is too good for our new member of the family and we'll gladly give it to them.

Then over time, we notice our dog isn't quite turning our to be the loyal companion we had hoped. Some problems seem to be popping up; Not listening, kind of crazy, out of control and the rules we had hoped to establish never really took root. We realize we have spoiled our dog with too Much of Everything freely given.

So let's fix this!

Here is how...No Free Lunch.

What does this mean? No Free Lunch is your opportunity to take the entitlement from your dog that believes they "Own the Place" by making them Work for their food. It means not just asking for One Sit and then released to eat their whole bowl of food. It means asking your dog to work for each mouthful until their portion is finished.


By changing how you feed your dog, you can teach your dog to pay more attention to you and be more cooperative. You also will be able to teach them more by hand feeding instead of just giving a Hand Out. You will have a dog that wants to work for you and you will be happy to Pay your dog for their good work.

What kind of work will you ask your dog to do?

Out of the DogHouse LLC website www.ohiodogtrainer.net
Any Questions? Contact Dru Therrian 440.286.9070

Opportunity Lost

O Dear....You're running late, hurrying down the hallway, and the doors to the elevator shut before you get there....Bummer. Is this detrimental? No, but it would have been nice and made your day run smoother if you got in before the doors closed. Yes, that's the way it is with puppies too! That darn Window of Socialization seems to close faster than we expect and then the Opportunity is Lost.

We have only a short amount of time (when puppies are 8 to 16 weeks old) to socialize "Everything" our puppy needs to know to be a well adjusted adult dog. What are we doing during those critical weeks in our puppies' lives? You may think you are doing enough but are you? 

What if?
1. Your puppy doesn't get to be around children. Will they afraid of kids?
2. Your puppy has not gotten  to swim and you own a cottage on a lake.
3. Your puppy has not left your property but you want a therapy dog.

By missing those things, will this mean your puppy won't be well adjusted? Maybe not but there is no guarantee except it would be better to do everything you possibly can to get through that Opened Doorway rather than having the doors closed forever.

Today people are taking advantage of the Window of Socialization by going to Puppy Primer Workshops with Linda Kaim. You can too, because Linda will be here in Ohio. Here is the info:
http://www.lionheartk9.com/dog-trainers-in-maryland/ohio-seminar/

Don't get caught with the door closing on your puppy or the Ohio Puppy Primer Workshop; the deadline for registration is April 10, 2015.

Out of the DogHouse LLC website www.ohiodogtrainer.net

Contact Dru Therrian with any Questions 440.286.9070

Got Puppies?

I love this quote from the Bugs Bunny show "I will name him George, and I will Hug him, and Pet him and Squeeze him" . If you aren't old enough and haven't had the pleasure of viewing this or are a tad bit older and don't remember, look on Youtube "The Abominable Snow Rabbit". It's a Classic!

Yup, isn't that what we think we will do when we get a puppy?! Love 'em, Hug 'em and Squeeze 'em until they are a great adult dog. Yes siree, and our new puppy will certainly love us just as much and be as Sweet as Pie. UM/HUM... our new bundle of fur is gonna show us how much they love us by not being able to keep their needle sharp little teeth off of us!

But we know better, we all know having a puppy means Responsibility! That's what we tell the kids anyways. So our 8 week old puppy comes home to join our family and we hop right online to Google what to do next. With no easy answer to our questions, we find we are confounded by all the conflicting information along with what we heard from our breeder, vet, groomer, family member, friend and next door neighbor.

Want an easier way to learn?  We want to teach you what is takes to START RIGHT and STAY RIGHT from the day you bring your puppy home until his first birthday and beyond. Puppies don't come with manuals but they sure create a lot of opinions!

Here is how. SAVE the Date; April 18 -19 come to our two day workshop called Ohio Puppy Primer. We want to Show and Tell you what to do, how to do it and when is the best time to start.

No more guessing or being confused because Linda Kaim of Lionheart K9 from Maryland, is presenting on how to raise the smartest puppy ever. And even if you have had your new puppy for a few weeks or months, Linda has developed a program called "Resetting for Success"; Working with an older puppy past the Optimal Socialization Window.

With "Hands On" puppies and lecture, Ohio Puppy Primer will provide information, methods and strategies that will guide you and your puppy or puppies you work with through the Critical 8 - 16 week Socialization Window.

Check out our Flyer and then click on the link to register! Your puppy's future as a Great Adult dog is in your hands.

 http://www.lionheartk9.com/dog-trainers-in-maryland/ohio-seminar/

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Out of the DogHouse LLC website www.ohiodogtrainer.net
Contact Dru Therrian 440.286.9070