If a puppy bites another puppy too hard, the other pup yelps loudly in pain and stops playing with him. This teaches the biter that such a degree of bite force results in an undesirable outcome: social isolation. When other puppies bite him, that’s how he learns what that pain feels like. (This is one of the reasons that puppies removed from the litter too early are often ‘maladjusted’ – they’ve missed out on some of the important lessons their mother and littermates have to teach). Even pups that have learned basic bite inhibition from their siblings usually need to be reconditioned again upon entering their new home: humans are much more easily damaged than dogs, so it’s necessary for us to intervene and refine the puppy’s bite pressure even further. A dog without any concept of bite inhibition is both annoying and dangerous to have around: a harmless play session can rapidly turn into painful ordeal. Puppies aren’t capable of inflicting serious damage – although their little teeth are razor sharp, their jaws are too weak to do much more than elicit a trickle of blood – but an adult dog can do a great deal more than just scratch the surface, and it makes very little difference to a wounded human that the dog “didn’t mean to do it”! Here’s what to do to teach your dog good bite inhibition. Note: this same technique is applicable to older dogs, although the same results may take a little longer to attain. – When playing with your puppy or dog, you’ll need to choose the level of mouthing that you’re prepared to accept.

Some owners are content for their dogs to touch their hands with their teeth, as long as no pressure is exerted; others (particularly those with large, strong-jawed dogs) prefer to get the message across that no tooth-contact is acceptable whatsoever. – Whenever you reach your level of tolerance with your pup – he might give you a good nip, or he might just grab your fingers gently in his mouth – squeal shrilly and loudly in pain and immediately turn your entire body away from him. Get up and walk a few paces away from him, keeping your face and eyes averted. Don’t speak to him, and don’t touch him. The aim here is for the puppy to be completely socially isolated for the next 20 to 30 seconds – long enough for the lesson to sink in, but not long enough for him to forget what it was that elicited such a response and start playing with something else. (Note: if there are other people present, you’ll need to ensure that they mimic your behavior here – don’t allow them to start playing with or otherwise paying attention to the puppy or dog, or else all your good work will have been undone). – Most young dogs, and some older ones, seem to have an innate need to chew something – anything! – whenever they’re being played with or petted.

To keep the focus off your hands, and prevent him from learning what a delightful chew toy your fingers make, supply him with a more appropriate chew: anything with a slight give to it should do the trick. Rawhide bones, pigs’ ears, or squeezy rubber toys all go down a treat. – If he should start snapping for your hands or face while playing, correct him quickly with a sharp, “No!”, or “AH-ah-aaah!” He should stop, startled. As soon as he stops, praise him (you’re praising the stopping, not the original behavior – don’t be confused by their close proximity) and then quickly redirect his attention to an appropriate chew. When his jaws close around it, praise him again and give him a pat. – Never use physical force to correct your dog for inappropriate chewing or mouthing. Not only is it mostly unnecessary, but in most cases it will actually encourage further nipping and biting. The cold-shoulder technique (as outlined above) is the most effective, and humane, manner of conveying your displeasure to your dog. He wants to please you: he just has to figure out how to do so. He has a much better chance of doing so if you refrain from corporal punishment and give him 30 seconds of isolation instead.

If your dog’s getting really revved up and is making repeated attempts to nip you, despite cold-shouldering him, he might need to cool down a bit. In this case, the ‘time out’ method is appropriate: take him to his crate, or to a small room by himself, and leave him there for five minutes to chill out a bit. When it’s time to bring him back into the heart of the household, you can start playing again – just try to tone it down a notch or two until you’re sure he can tolerate the play without further nipping. – For a dog that needs little encouragement to become overexcited and mouthy (high-energy herding breeds in particular are prone to this), choose non-contact play whenever feasible. Frisbee and fetch are great choices; even tug-of-war, provided your dog knows a reliable ‘drop it’ command, is suitable. Avoid rough play like slap-boxing (where you hit the sides of a dog’s face gently with open palms) and full-on wrestling at all costs: these games encourage nipping, but also call a dog’s instinctive aggression into the mix, which is something to be avoided. Keep games friendly and low-key instead. For more information For further information on typical doggie behavior, including a fantastic resource for training how-to’s and loads of detailed information on preventing and dealing with problem behaviors, check out Secrets to Dog Training. Written by a professional dog-trainer, it’s an absorbing guide that deals with all the subjects a responsible dog-owner could ever want to know about – well worth a look. To visit Secrets to Dog Training, just click here

I remember when I tried leash training my pup Seamus (English Bulldog) at about 3 months old.  It was a nightmare to say the least!  He wouldn’t move no matter how much I tried to entice him with treats or his favourite toy.  I remember I had to literally carry him to the park before he would move an inch (stubborn bulldog!!)  The reason was I was doing it all wrong.  I didn’t do any leash work with him prior to bringing him out side the house which I now know to be essential at such an early age.   After doing a lot of research on the internet and also speaking to local puppy training experts I finally cracked it, I really couldn’t believe how far he came with a small bit of training each day.  So here are my 3 tips for leash training puppies.

1) GETTING THAT COLLAR ON!

So what you want to do first is to get your puppy used to wearing his collar.  Buy a small thin collar (it’s more comfortable at this early stage of his life) and place it on his neck.  He will at first try wriggle around and try get it off, this is perfectly normal.  Do this for an hour or so at a time preferably during feeding or play time for the first few days and then increase the length until he is completely comfortable with it.  Please only do this when your puppy is in your sight as he could get it caught in something and hurt himself!

2) APPLY THE LEASH

Once your puppy is comfortable with his new collar you can then introduce the leash.  Again I would recommend a thin leash at this early stage.  Attach the leash to the collar and drop it to the floor allowing your puppy to examine and play with it for a few minutes (I would do this in your living room or kitchen at first).  He will then start to walk around with the leash trailing behind him and most likely annoying the hell out of him but it’s for his own good!!


Now try pick up the leash and walking him around the room, constantly praising him as he walks alongside you.  If he starts acting up trying to bite the leash, stop, remove the leash for his mouth, get him to sit and reward him with a small treat then praise and continue to walk.  Persistence is key and he will eventually learn to walk beside you comfortably.

3) YOUR FIRST WALK OUTSIDE
In my opinion I would avoid busy streets with lots of traffic as this will most likely terrify and distract your puppy.  Find a quiet street or bring him to a local park and start from there.  As your dog starts to walk with you constantly praise him in a happy voice.  There will still be distractions/noises/smells but don’t let your puppy get too distracted and try and pull you along and to the side, you must stop him in an authoritative voice, get him to sit and praise and continue.

TOP TIP!  Also try walking 10-20 feet and turn with the puppy praising him when he willingly turns with you, this helps the puppy concentrate on you and not that big juicy tree to the left.

This is how I trained my two dogs to walk on a leash.  All dogs are different and have different personalities and more work may be needed in some cases but don’t let this put you off because going for a nice long walk can not only do wonders for your dog but for you too..  And who said leash training puppies wasn’t fun

Please let me know how you get on and if you have any questions leave a comment below or fire me an email and I’ll try help you out.

Unfortunately both of my dogs shed quite a lot, something I didn’t quite realize when I bought them!  There’s nothing worse than dog hair all over your clothes and furniture.  I used to constantly brush off endless amounts of dog hair from my work clothes every morning before going to work.

I remember once my friend agreed to drive my dog down to the kennels as I was working, he sent me a picture message later that day of his back seat, it was destroyed!  Dog hair all over his back seat, and Seamus hair is quite short so really gets stuck in to fabric.  I laughed at first but was also very embarrassed.  I know it’s not the dog’s fault but I realized at that point I had to find a dog shedding brush that actually worked!

I did try various dog shedding brushes but with not a lot of success.  Then one day doing some research on the net I came across a lot of talk about ‘The Furminator’ (sounds like a futuristic dog shedding brush!)   So I did some more research and watched a few you tube videos about it.  Looked really great and like no other dog shedding brush I had seen before and helps to reduce the shedding up to 90%, be removing the loose, dead undercoat without damaging the topcoat.  I couldn’t believe how much hair it was brushing out of the dog, you could have knitted a cardigan for your granny’s birthday out of it!

I decided to buy the medium size one of Amazon.com to suit my Bulldog.  It seemed a little expensive at the time but I would actually pay double for it now after actually putting it into action.  You always think that the sales videos these companies put out are some what hyped up to try lure you in but  you could have put my dog’s before and after pics up as part of the video!  I have my furminator dog shedding brush about 16 months now and it’s still working 100%, I even use it on my Rottweiler although she could really do with the large version but still works never the less.

In my opinion this is the best dog shedding brush on the market, well worth the investment and does a top job to match.

When we bought our 8 week old Rottweiler (Macy) we initially intended on getting her spayed at the age of twelve months as I was lead to believe that they normally don’t come into heat until after 12 months.  This is something I really should have checked with my veterinarian when she got her first vaccinations.

But after only 6 months Macy came into heat (or season as otherwise known).  We were very surprised and shocked at the same time as we had a 2 year old male English Bulldog who humped everyone who came into the house!  This was not good news as we had to try and separate them for 3 whole weeks, which was a pain in the head to say the least as the bulldog was constantly trying to get up on her.  Not good!

Symptoms of dog heat cycle

Your female dog usually comes into heat every six months.  It normally starts by your dog paying a lot of attention and constantly licking her vulva, you will notice some swelling around the vaginal area.  You will then start to notice dark red drops of blood from the vagina (we noticed on our kitchen floor tiles) This does calm down after a few days and does not produce as much blood as at the beginning.

At this point (about 7 days into the dog heat cycle) the blood changes its colour to more of a salmon colour as the heat process continues.  The vulva (area around the vagina) starts to swell alot more and softens up as her progesterone level begins to rise and her body gets ready to release the eggs from her ovaries.

Some people put doggy nappy like things on there dog during the dog  heat cycle but personally I wouldn’t as it would just cause the dog to get agitated and stressed in my opinion.

The total time the dog heat cycle lasts on average is 21 days but this could vary depending on your dog.  The actual breeding time is only two – three days in the whole cycle but can be difficult to judge exactly which days these are.

If you intend of breeding your dog please do it responsibly!  Some females although in heat will not want to ‘breed’ and will get quite aggressive with the male dog so always be careful when attempting to breed your dog.  You can bring your dog to the veterinarians around the 10th day of her cycle where the veterinarian will do a test to see if she is ovulating, I also believe there are home tests you can buy on-line to judge this too but I have not tested them so I can’t really advise on this.

Things to remember during her dog heat cycle

• Do not bring her for walks during this period.
• Keep her confined to your back garden and make sure she cant get out.
• Keep all male dogs away from her.

Spaying your dog

If you don’t want her to ever have puppies bring her to the vets to get spayed.  It is a very common and simple procedure where the veterinarian will remove her uterus and ovaries with little or no complication.  A lot of veterinarians will actually recommend that you get you dog spayed at the age of 8 months as these procedures can also prevent a lot of cancers female dogs get as they get older.

Dog heat cycle

Diarrhea in dogs is actually quite common from time to time.  I remember a few months back I came down one morning to let Macy our 8 month old rottweiler out to go to the toilet, to my horror she had a real nasty case of diarrhea in the night, I mean it was everywhere and stunk the house out for days!  This went on for about 3 days.  I later found out why, caught her drinking from a blocked up shore, luckily I found out and fixed it or she would have kept doing it and possibly gotten a lot worse.  What I’m saying is you can’t watch what your dog chews or eats all of the time but you can help prevent it buy exploring your dogs play area and checking for things like blocked up shores, rotten food, slugs etc..

The important stuff!

Most of the time diarrhea in dogs passes in a couple of days but on rare occasions where it doesn’t clear up your better off getting him checked out by the veterinarian just to be on the safe side.  Your dog could also dehydrate fast from severe diarrhea ESPECIALLY in young dogs so be very cautious.

Diarrhea in dogs can be caused by things like viruses, parasites, flu as well as being stressed or over excited over owners coming and going.  A lot of the time diarrhea in dogs comes from him or her eating something strange that obviously disagrees with their stomach so don’t feed your puppy anything that you wouldn’t feed your own child.

If you have a litter of puppies at the age of 2 weeks and get a dose of diarrhea its probably down to them having worms, when worms become active the cause diarrhea in dogs.  You wouldn’t normally give pups of this young age worming tablets but in this case it is advisable (please check with your veterinarian).  Ask your vet for a diarrhea in dogs care sheet as it is very common in young puppies.

How to treat Diarrhea in dogs at home

Fast your dog for 24 hours (puppies 12 hours) but give plenty of water, this will give your dogs digestion system time to recover and heal itself.  Then get a 50/50 mixture of boiled rice and chicken for the next 2/3 days, if the diarrhea does not go  after 3 days I’d advise you to bring him to the vet to get checked out as it could be a bit more serious.  As mentioned above, dehydration is very serious while your dog has diarrhea especially in young puppies.  Try encourage your dog to drink as much as he can handle.

The food factor

If you have recently changed your dog food this could also have triggered your dogs diarrhea especially if you have opted for a cheap brand.  A lot of the cheap dog food brands out there are full of vegetable mulch and carbs which in turn pass straight through your dog.  I know were all going through tough times and trying to tighten our purse strings but its important to feed your dog a good balanced food or it could essentially cost you more in the long term in vet bills!

*Please note these are only guides to treat diarrhea in dogs and probably best to check with your vet before you try these home treatments.