Cattle

Archive for March 6th, 2010

The first time your dog receives a correction from the bark control collar he may react in a way that concerns you. He may yelp or yip or jump slightly. Do not be alarmed by these reactions. His first reaction to the correction will always be his most intense.

After the first few corrections his reaction will lessen. He will eventually just stop barking and remain calm. It is advised that you observe your dog’s reactions to the correction.

You should notice an improvement in your dog’s barking within the first week of training. At this point many dog owners feel that the “problem has been solved”. In some cases this may be true, but in most cases the training is still not complete.

Most, if not every dog, will “test” this new learning experience, i.e., they will increase their attempts to get away with barking. This testing period usually occurs during the second week of training. When it does occur you must remain consistent – do not alter your use of the bark control collar.

Once your dog is trained, you must continue to place the dog bark control collar on him in every situation in which he must be quiet. He may see a new dog or a squirrel through a window for the first time and he may bark. If he is not wearing the bark collar he may get away with barking and his training may suffer a setback. If he is wearing the bark collar, he will stop barking immediately and any setback will be prevented.

Moreover, you may have a need to train your dog to do other things. If you decide to use another type of training tool, be selective with the type you use while your dog is wearing the bark control collar. Generally, it is best not to let your dog wear more than one collar at a time.

Never use a metal choker collar while your dog is wearing the anti bark collar as it may trigger false signals and possibly false corrections. If you must have a second collar on your dog consider the use of a nylon choker collar or other nonmetallic collar.

If you use a leash, attach it to a collar other than the one used for the bark control collar. You should never attach a leash to the collar and you should never pull the bark control collar while it is on your dog. Doing so you may cause injury to his throat.

It was just in the newspaper – how the mailman delivered the post while the owners held back the big snarling dog; meanwhile the little dog dived between them, jumped up and drew blood from the postie’s leg!

Just one of the many reasons why realtors and prospective house buyers alike do not like to view an empty home with a dog in it! Of course he is friendly – and yet …..why take the chance?

Pointing out the problems of showing a home that also houses a pet can often make pet-owners defensive; it is often inconceivable to them that their little “Tootsie” would offend! Even the most friendly of pets can become troubled about strange people coming into their home.

One of the solutions often used is to shut them in the laundry room, which will then make most prospective buyers want to give your laundry room a miss. If they do brave it and open the door, the dog rushes out, maybe too over- friendly at the chance to finally interact with ‘friends’ and plants its paws prints all over their new cream pants.

What’s worse, the dog will not go back in the laundry room and the realtor can’t seem to leave the house without the dog coming too! This type of scenario is not in your favor, as it does rather distract the prospective buyer from remembering the unique points about your home – although they will remember the color of your dog!

It would help if the dog was in the garage or some place where a) there is alot of fresh air and b) where it is not necessary for the buyers to enter. The laundry room will certainly have a ‘doggie’ smell after your pet has roared around it all day, whereas the garage has fresh air coming in from all sides.

This brings us to the smell of the home, another touchy subject. Often non-pet owners will notice a smell in a house that seems associated with a pet. When the dog bounds up to confirm this suspicion, many possible buyers will start to wonder if they will be able to get rid of the smell once the dog has moved out.

Rather than putting your friends on the spot by asking them if your home has its own smell, play it safe and assume that it does. If you have a pet, wash all its blankets and keep them clean. Encourage your pet to sleep outside more often if possible. This clean routine will apply to other pets in the house: guinea pigs and hamsters can also leave an odor in the home, but this does usually go when the cage is removed.

The new type of air fresheners that plug in and keep the air sweet for 24/7 are very effective. However, if they do manage to disguise the smell of a dog, they will not be able to fool anyone who has a real allergy to your pet.

Some buyers have allergies and they do not care if they see an animal or not – they simply do not want to go into a house if an animal even lives there. This is especially true for people with a severe allergy to cats.

In these cases, you have to come clean and be up front with the realtor; even if you have removed all traces of cat. The troublesome allergens just float in the air and are completely undetected by most of the human race.

The prospective buyers will have to trust that if the listing realtor says no animals, he is speaking the truth – so ‘fess up and don’t put your realtor in the dog house.