It is quite simple to teach your dog to touch a bell with his nose. You can then hang the bell from a doorknob to let him ring when he needs to be let outside.
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Posts by Wendy Welch
Dealing with Normal Puppy Behavior: Nipping
[print-me] When puppies play with each other, they use their mouths. Therefore, puppies usually want to bite or “mouth” hands during play or when being petted. With puppies, this is rarely aggressive behavior in which the intent is to do harm. Because puppies are highly motivated to exhibit this type of behavior, attempts to suppress it or stop it are unlikely to be successful unless you give your puppy an alternative behavior. The goals of working with this normal puppy behavior are to redirect your puppy’s desire to put something in her mouth onto acceptable chew toys and to teach
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Dealing with Normal Puppy Behavior: Chewing
[print-me] Puppies may be just as much work as human babies – maybe more so because puppies can’t wear diapers and they have very sharp teeth! It’s definitely true that, similar to infants and toddlers, puppies explore their world by putting things in their mouths. In addition, puppies are teething until they’re about six months old, which usually creates some discomfort. Chewing not only facilitates teething, but also makes sore gums feel better. Although it’s perfectly normal for a puppy to chew on furniture, shoes, shrubbery and such, these behaviors can be a problem for you. A puppy won’t magically
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Children and Dogs: Important information for Parents
[print-me] Living with a pet can be beneficial to children. Pets can enhance a child’s self-esteem, teach them responsibility and help them to learn empathy. However, children and dogs are not always going to automatically start off with a wonderful relationship. Parents must be willing to teach the dog and the child acceptable limits of behavior in order to make their interactions pleasant and safe. Selecting a Dog What age is best? Many people have a “warm fuzzy” image of a puppy and a child growing up together. If you have a young child and are thinking of adopting a
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Your Talkative Cat
[print-me] Vocalizing is one way for your cat to communicate with you and with other animals. Some cats “talk” more than others, but most cats do make noise some of the time. We’re all familiar with the meaning of hissing and growling, but there are also many other sounds that your cat is capable of, and a variety of reasons for vocalizing. Medical Reasons If your cat’s behavior changes suddenly, the first thing you should do is take her to your veterinarian for a thorough health examination. Cats often hide symptoms of illness until they’re seriously ill. Any change in
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Trimming Cat Claws
[print-me] The act of trimming your cat’s nails can seem like a daunting task, but there is good news: A team of people working with a cat can get a nail trim done in 20 seconds flat. A little trickier is doing this alone, but rest assured, it can be done! Unfortunately, there is also bad news: Many cats are not tolerant of nail trims, and many people are not skilled in the process. Below are some pointers that will hopefully help cat owners keep their cats’ nails trimmed. 1. Know those nails! Most cats have 18 nails (five on
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Declawing Cats
[print-me] Adapted from the MSPCA and revised by the ASPCA’s Companion Animal Services Department The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals encourages owners to seek alternatives to declawing their cats. If you are thinking about having your pet declawed, please take a moment to consider the following information. Claws Are Important to a Cat A cat’s remarkable grace and agility and its faultless sense of balance are due to a great extent to its retractable claws, which allow it to establish footing for walking, running, springing, climbing, or stretching. A cat’s claws are also its best defense
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How to Transition Your Cat to an Indoor/Outdoor Lifestyle
How to Transition Your Cat to an Indoor/Outdoor Lifestyle Want to give your cat some fun in the great outdoors? A slow start is key! Every cat is different; this could take from two weeks to a month or more. It’s important that your cat become acclimated to their indoor home, first. So please make sure kitty has a good amount of time inside with his family before beginning the process to acclimate them to indoor/ outdoor living. When your cat is feeling confident and calm in their indoor environment, they’ll be much more confident in their new indoor/ outdoor
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Training Cats with Positive Reinforcement
[print-me] Training your cat has important benefits. You’re stimulating his body and his mind, which helps keep him healthy. And spending time together means you’re strengthening the bond you share. It’s helpful to work with behaviors that are less than desirable and you can also teach fun tricks like wave and fetch, or teach him a range of useful behaviors like sit, stay and to come when called. Reward behaviors that you want Simply put, if you want your cat to repeat a behavior, reward that behavior. It’s important to make sure that you’re rewarding the behavior you want and
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A Great Addition
We found Margo at an adoption event with HSHV. Poor thing was missing so much hair and didn’t really look to be in the best health but something just said she needed a loving home so we adopted her. She’s not exactly the breed people thought she was by looking at her, but what a great puppy she is turning out to be. She’s smart and energetic and loves to play fetch. She looks beautiful now that her hair all grew back in and is getting the love she deserves! Thank you HSHV; she’s definitely a great addition to our
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