Category: Dogs

6 Things to Consider Before You Adopt a Dog

Post author By Marjorie Lewis
Post date August 13, 2022

Congratulations! You’ve decided to adopt a dog! Dogs can be amazing companions, excellent cuddle partners, and complete a family. The excitement of adding a furry friend oftentimes overshadows the long-term responsibilities that come with owning one. Making an impulsive decision can lead to frustration, and stress for both you and the dog. Before adopting a dog there are several things that you should consider to ensure you are prepared for the long-term responsibilities that come with owning one.

What Are The Reasons You Want To Adopt A Dog?

Before taking the final steps of adopting a dog, ask yourself:

What is the motivation for wanting one?
Have you recently gone through a major life event? Are you looking for a short-term feeling of companionship?
What does your lifestyle look like?
What do you envision your life being like in 5 – 10 years, does having a dog still make sense?

Additionally, there are ways that you can get a sense of what it would be like to be a dog owner full time, such as fostering. By temporarily fostering a dog, you can get a realistic picture of what daily life would be like as a dog owner, and it does not require a long-term commitment.

What to Consider When Adopting a Dog

Do You Have The Time It Takes To Care For A Dog?

Having the time to care for and spend time with your dog is one of the most important parts of being an owner of one. You always have to keep in mind that they rely on you every day for food, water, potty breaks, exercise, and attention. Some questions to ask yourself regarding your time are:

What does your daily schedule look like?
Do you work from home?
Is your schedule flexible?
Do you have time to train your dog?
Do you often go on overnight or weekend trips?

When considering adding a dog to your family, the time that is required is often not realized. This leads to the owner feeling overwhelmed which sometimes results in the pet being put back up for adoption. Be realistic about how your daily schedule can be impacted before making a final decision.

Can You Financially Afford A Dog?

Having a dog is EXPENSIVE! It’s similar to having a child. In addition to the basics like food and veterinary care, you have to include crates, harnesses, insurance, toys, training, and boarding. While you may see an adoption fee as being affordable, that is just the beginning. Annually, owners spend an average of $1,480 on pet dogs’ basic expenses. While this can give you an estimate, pet owners generally spend more than that on their furry friends.

What Does Your Household Look Like?

Think about what your current household situation looks like right now and how you think it will change over the next several years. Think about things like:

Do you have children?
Are you expecting to have them?
Do you have aging parents that may need to live with you?
Do you have a yard?

Having a dog and a busy family is very different from living single, or with two retirees. Keep in mind that as your family grows, so does your dog.

What Type Of Breed Is Best?

Many dogs that are offered for adoption are often those of mixed breeds. Therefore, you may not know exactly what you are getting. By doing a little research on different kinds of breeds you can get a better understanding of what their adult size and general temperament will be. There is an overabundance of benefits to adopting a mutt and some of them are listed here.

What Has The Dog Previously Experienced?

When adopting a dog, you never really know what their experience has been. Some of those who put their animals up for adoption often try to give as many details as possible, but who is to know what is true or not? Most often very little information is known about the life experiences that the dog has had. A puppy born and raised in a safe foster home will probably have fewer training and behavior challenges than a two-year-old that has been passed on from living life on the streets, through a shelter, or multiple adoptive homes before being chosen by you. Just like humans, dogs can carry mental and emotional baggage and you have to ask yourself if you are able to provide the patience, love, understanding, and training if necessary.

Animal Communication

Adding animal communication to your resources for making the adoption as smooth as possible is always a good idea. During a telepathic communication session, a dog is able to share thoughts and images from his previous experience. They can let you know their favorite things and also the things that trigger fear or aggression. Getting to know the history and personality of your pet through animal communication helps get your relationship off to a solid start.

Dogs

Polite Service Dog Etiquette

Post author By Marjorie Lewis
Post date July 21, 2022

Why do you have a service dog? Can I have one? What does a service dog do? Every day, people who have “service dogs” are asked a myriad of questions. Below, we have included several facts that are important for those who do not have them to know. Before we get into them, let’s clarify what a service dog actually is.

Types of Assistance Animals

In the United States, there are 2 types of assistance animals defined by the federal government:

1. Emotional Support Animals (ESA): Under federal law, persons with disabilities do not have public access to these animals. This is because these animals are not required to be trained and are not limited to dogs. However, emotional support animals do have access to housing under the Federal Housing Act. One must have a letter from a qualified professional stating the animal’s presence is needed to mitigate symptoms for a person with a disability.

2. Service Dogs (SDs): These dogs assist people with disabilities and have been trained to perform specific tasks to mitigate symptoms of the person’s disability. Federal law defines service dogs as dogs but does have an exception for miniature horses that meet specific criteria. Service dogs have been trained to alert to changes in body scent indicating a medical issue, guide the blind, retrieve items, alert for sounds, sense allergens in an environment, etc. The person with the disability has access to public areas with the service dog. These dogs must be well-behaved and cannot interfere with an entity’s ability to conduct business. Behaviors not suited for a service dog would be untrained bladder and/or bowel control, pulling to greet people or other animals, uncontrolled vocalization, etc. In the event that a dog begins to have behavioral issues, it’s a good idea to consult an animal communicator to see why.

Encountering Service Dogs

If you see a person with a disability using a service dog, there are two essential things to remember when one encounters them:

Speak to and maintain eye contact with the person and not the service dog.
The dog must focus on the handler and its work. Therefore, your behavior should not interfere with the dog and its ability to complete its tasks for its handler.

The following is a list of what is considered an interfering behavior:

Whistling, barking, or cooing at the animal
Putting your hands out to pet the dog without asking for the handler’s consent
Maintaining prolonged eye contact (staring) at the dog
Praising or commanding the dog.
Allowing children to interact with the dog without asking the handler’s permission
Asking the handler why he/she needs the dog
Asking the handler to have the dog demonstrate its tasks
Approaching the person and sharing stories about your dog or someone else who uses a service animal
Asking the person to educate you or your children about service animals
If you are out in a public area and are allergic or afraid, federal law mandates the person with the service animal has rights to the area. Therefore, it’s important for you to avoid the handler and the dog and not scream or run from the dog if you are afraid. If your allergy is life-threatening, please let the manager of the establishment know so that both of you may be accommodated.

It is polite to remember that the health and safety of the handler depends on the focus and attention of their assistance partner. Please respect the space around the working pair. When appropriate, many dog handlers will be happy to share information about the role of working dogs, however, please let them initiate the conversation.

Dog Training Dogs

When to Invest in Dog Aggressiveness Training

Post author By Marjorie Lewis
Post date June 30, 2022

Do you have a puppy that’s starting to display aggressive behaviors or an adult dog that is the neighborhood terror? No matter the age of your dog or how long they’ve been displaying aggressive behaviors, dog aggression is a difficult situation for both the dog owner and the dog they love. If you’re starting to consider when to invest in dog aggressiveness training, you’re in the right place!

When you’re dealing with dog aggression, you essentially have 2 choices:

You can use punishment tactics to dissuade your dog from being aggressive.
You can get rid of the root cause of the aggression.

I personally believe that finding the root cause is the ONLY way to approach this as punishment is not effective, and is cruel. Plus, did you know that when you use punishment, your dog’s aggression is likely to get worse – 43% worse to be exact.

Identify Triggers

First, you’ll need to identify triggers to get to the root cause. Is his response triggered by fear of a situation, a particular person, or even another animal? Or is his behavior motivated more by territory protection or male dominance?

Some of the common causes of dog aggression include:

Fear
Pain
Illness
Anxiety
Uncertainty
Frustration
Protectiveness
Resource guarding
Misunderstanding
Past experiences

Address Health-Related Triggers

If your dog is being aggressive because of a health issue or being in pain, it’s important to get those addressed right away by your veterinarian. If you don’t have one, make sure to:

Find one that specializes in treating dogs.
Ask about their approach to pets and medicine.
Ensure they have a clean facility.
Get a good feeling from them – sometimes those hunches are all we need.

Animal Communication for Determining Specific Triggers

Once health- or pain-related issues are resolved and they are still showing signs of aggression, it’s time to bring in an Animal Communicator to dig a little deeper.

An animal communication session can be quite helpful to identify the specific trigger(s) for your dog’s aggression. Once the trigger is identified, it is much easier for you and your trainer to develop training strategies to modify the behavior. Otherwise, you’ll just be trying different things and hoping they work. Asking your dog how he sees and interprets the situation and how he feels during the experience are important clues that can lead you to a successful outcome. Such a successful outcome that it may be something you can correct on your own without the use of a trainer. If you’re not sure about how an Animal Communicator can help or what it is, take a look at these frequently asked questions.

When to Invest in Dog Aggressiveness Training

If your dog is snapping, growling, or biting, once you’ve identified and resolved their triggers, it’s time to invest in dog aggressiveness training. As a dog owner, you can’t take any chances of your dog lashing out on someone or something and you being held responsible for it. So, it’s better to be safe than sorry and if they’re still displaying aggressive behaviors, chances are they need aggressiveness training to course-correct them.

Dog Training Dogs

I Need A Trainer for Dogs Near Me

Post author By Marjorie Lewis
Post date June 14, 2022

Have you been trying to get your dog acclimated to you, the kids, or even the delivery guy who frequents your house and it just seems like no matter what you do, it just isn’t working? You’ve probably tried so many things like getting rid of all the distractions, breaking training up into short sessions, giving a favorite treat as a reward, and so on, only to still not be able to keep your dog’s attention. After putting so much effort into training your dog and not getting anywhere with it, you have to be saying to yourself “I need a trainer for dogs near me – sooner than later!”.

I get it! The time has come and you can’t put it off anymore – you know your dog needs a trainer. So, how do you choose the best dog trainer? Not all dog trainers may be right for your dog – or even you. Before your search begins, ask yourself these questions:

What do I need to effectively train my dog?
Has my dog been difficult to housebreak?
Is my dog chewing on our belongings or barking all the time?
Is my dog aggressive to other dogs or visitors?
Is my dog difficult to walk on a leash?
How is my dog when riding in the car?

Each of these situations requires a different approach and technique, and possibly even a different location, for training so it’s important that you get an understanding of exactly what the issues are so that when you are interviewing trainers, you can ensure that they have experience solving these problems and have the ability to train where you need them.

What to Consider Before Hiring a Trainer

Before committing to a trainer, consider the questions above and determine whether it would be feasible to train your dog elsewhere or if, without a doubt, you’d need to train your dog at your home. When making this determination, you may even want to consider some free webinars or training classes held by Your Dog’s Friend so that you can become more knowledgeable about behavior issues, health issues, and training techniques. These classes are especially good for those who are new dog parents! Equipping yourself with this knowledge can help you make this determination and ask potential trainers the right questions to ensure they are the right fit for you and your dog.

Some other things to take into consideration are:

Do you need hands-on, more individualized training?
The age of your dog.
Is your dog a puppy that is just beginning to learn manners and commands?
Did you adopt an adult dog that has some behavior or fear issues from the past?
Are you looking to teach basic commands such as “Sit” and “Stay” or have you reached the point of advanced agility training?
The breed of your dog – is yours a working dog, such as a herding breed, or is your dog a small companion breed?
The items you’ll need to effectively train your dog.

Getting Others Input On Dog Trainers

Once you’ve considered these, start asking others who they’ve used and even make a trip to your local pet supply or feed store for recommendations. My personal preference is always to choose a trainer that uses positive reinforcement training. I personally believe this is the most effective method of dog training. Positive reinforcement training essentially focuses on rewarding your pet for good behavior, rather than punishing bad behavior. No matter how much you trust the people you get suggestions from, always interview the trainer. Ask about their training and experience and then evaluate if it matches your needs? Even write a checklist if you have to. Also, The American Kennel Club offers a good article on choosing a dog trainer if you’re looking for more guidance.

Animal Communication as a Resource for Choosing a Trainer

No matter what your training challenge or the trainer you choose, animal communication can really help you! During an Animal Communication consultation, I am able to ask your dog about particular triggers for their behavior.

Is it fear or aggression driving their reaction?
What is your pet’s personality – outgoing and friendly or wary and reserved?

Each pet has a unique preference for learning styles and environments. With Animal Communication, we can discover these unique preferences and choose a trainer that best suits their needs. We can ask general questions such as “how do you feel in a large group of dogs?” or get more specific and ask “what is holding you back from entering the tunnel on the agility course?” Once we discover how the environment feels to your dog, we can better select a trainer that matches its unique personality and learning style. This can save you a lot of time and headache when searching for the right trainer!