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Training your dog to “sit” is probably the first thing you will train your puppy to do. I write puppy because you can start the training as soon as the puppy has settled in his new home. You might think this isn’t that important, a dog knows how to sit. Well, I think it is very important. Read on and you will found out why and how to train your dog to sit.

1. This first one is easy. You just start by saying “sit” every time the puppy sits itself. He learns to associate the word sit with the action. This is a tip you can use in all training.

2. Take out his favorite treat and keep it in your hand. Sausage usually works well but remember to cut it in small pieces so the puppy can swallow it fast.

3. Sit down on the floor so you get to the same level as the dog. You are less threatening when you sit. More important is that you are close to the dog so you can reward him faster. More about this soon.

4. Slowly move the treat over your puppy’s head. The intention is to get the puppy to smell the treat (he will) and follow it with his nose. He has two options. Either back still standing or sit down. It’s easier to sit down.

5 Immediately as he sits you say “sit” and give him the piece of sausage. This is the key factor to all training. The reward has to be exact in the same moment as the dog does the right thing.

6. Praise the dog. Show your joy with your voice as well as with your body language.

7. Repeat these steps 3-5 times. Not more than that though, as it has to be fun! On the other hand you can repeat the steps several times during the day.

8. In the next step you should try these steps while standing up. You can try to see if the dog reacts only to the word “sit” without your hand and the treat. If he sits down you obviously should praise him and if he doesn’t don’t care. You should never show your disappointment to your dog when you are training.

This is pretty easy for the puppy. In a day or two you will get him to sit with your “sit” command. Now you can try to make him sit down beside you. This is actually a preparation for the heel training. There you want him to sit as soon as you stop walking. If you have thoughts about obedience competitions with your dog you should consider the exact position where he sits and also how fast he sits. That is however off topic in this article.

The next level is to strengthen the word so you get the dog to sit in every situation no matter what’s going on around him. This is an ongoing process and you should never stop training. Use every new situation to train him. Make him sit with new people, new dogs and new surroundings.

It’s quite easy to train your dog to sit. If you consider not training your dog my advice is, think again. When you start training with your new puppy you get much more than the sitting part The puppy loves to do things with you. He learns to listen to his name. He gets used to training and doing things with you and on your initiative. This all together strengthen your position as the leader, and the puppy feels secure. When the puppy falls asleep in the evening his last thoughts should be: “This is really a great pack!”

A devoted dog owner does everything humanly possible to ensure their dogs hygiene. However, one area that bewilders dog owners is how to brush my dogs teeth?

Why Brush A Dog’s Teeth?

Dogs suffer from a variety of tooth problems, just like their owners:

1. Loose teeth
2. Abscess teeth
3. Cavities
4. Periodontal disease

The common symptom of periodontal disease is bad breath. In fact, 98% of all dogs with bad breath suffer from periodontal disease. If there is a delay in treatment, the bacterial infection can develop and spread to the dog’s kidney, liver, heart and brain.

Thus, it becomes important to brush the dogs teeth.

Steps In Brushing A Dog’s Teeth:

Many dog owners take their dogs to the vet for a regular teeth cleaning. Many vets offer medical plans for pets that include this important routine. Usually they will put the dog to sleep or medicate the dog to avoid bites. This is safer for the dog and the vet. However, if you cannot afford to do this and/or choose to do it yourself, below are the steps to take in cleaning your dog’s teeth.

1. Allow a vet to check the dog’s teeth before brushing. Otherwise, brushing may be painful, and it will associate brushing with pain.

2. The dog needs to be used to the owner checking its mouth regularly. Reward the dog for cooperation.

3. Get a pet dental kit from a pet store. It needs to have a pet toothbrush, pet toothpaste and a finger toothbrush that the owner can wear on a finger and brush the dog’s teeth.

4. Human toothpaste is not edible and dogs are likely to swallow toothpaste. Therefore, try to buy beefy flavored toothpaste that the dog can enjoy. In addition, avoid toothpastes with detergents, salt or baking soda. Instead, try to buy toothpastes containing fluoride and enzymes, as they are good for dogs’ teeth.

5. Ease in the brushing process. On day one, merely wipe the dog’s teeth with gauze. Later, adapt the pet to warm water brushing. Finally, add toothpaste.

6. To brush the dog’s teeth, place the brush bristles at a 45-degree angle to the teeth, at the border where the teeth meet the gums. Gently, move the brush in an oval motion, to complete ten back-and-forth motions. Then, move the brush to cover at least 3-4 teeth at a time.

7. Remember to brush the dogs teeth all the way to the back, which is where most problems develop.

Other Important Tips:

A dog’s dental hygiene will not be flawless, if you only brush the dog’s teeth. Try some of these tips to ensure a good dental health for the dog:

1. To avoid the onset of periodontal disease, take the dog to a vet for regular checks.

2. Vets can also clean the teeth occasionally to remove tartar deposits.

3. Feed hard foods to the dog or give bones or hard toys to chew on.

These are certain systematic ways of avoiding dental problems, but do not forget to brush your dog’s teeth regularly.

For some these two notions might seem too far apart to present any similarities. But still, more than we know, dogs as object of our love or repulsion, affect our lifestyle.

Each and every one of us has gone through at least one experience that included a dog. Whether sad or fortunate, these experiences exist and cannot be ignored. As every other marking moment emotions triggered by a dog at some point influent our ways from that moment on.

Just for fun I want to show you what I mean by giving a rather unknown example to prove my point.

Let’s say you are over 30 and tried already every diet in the world to loose a few ponds. And naturally, nothing worked. Well, one evening, rainy evening of course, you come across a little fluffy puppy abandoned just next to the garbage can in front of your house. You don’t necessarily like dogs, but this one seems different and so alone, maybe even a little sick, that you feel pity (you think) for him and take him in…just for the night. And then you keep him another night, and another one till he officially becomes your pet – you can’t deny it anymore. You walk him every day at fixed hours and, although you forgot all about your weight problem being too busy petting the little pet, you amazingly reached undreamed results in that particular problem. Surprised?

You shouldn’t be, it’s known (by some at least) that regular daily 10 – 15 minutes walks are the best diet of all. Try them on your own and you might get bored and give up. But with a dog, the walks are a must, they have to be done, you can’t miss any of them.

So, the little innocent dog not only made you a better person since you let him into your house (and heart), but also solved the problem you had that all your determination and lost money on diet products couldn’t solve.

If I wasn’t convincing enough, just try it. Get a dog. And miraculously you will be a different person.

At some stage in your life as a horse owner, you may find it necessary to stable your horse. It may only be for a couple of nights, a week or a more permanent situation. No matter your reason or the length of your horses stay, it is important that you clean the stable at least once a day.

So you arrive at your horse’s stable with a cheery “Good Morning!”. You organize their breakfast, change there pajamas (rugs), maybe go for an early morning ride (nice and chilly on those crisp winter mornings). But no matter what else you do, there is one thing every owner of a stabled horse must do. And that is to clean up the mess, from the night before.

What a mess!! It really amazes me the mess one horse can make within 8-10 hours! I have been greeted with a wide variety of “Good Morning” situations from my horses over the years. From finding poo in the feed dish (which is still hanging on the door!), to finding poo right in front of the door in the walk way! No matter the mess, it still needs to be cleaned up. Not only can a dirty or poorly cleaned stable cause diseases to fester but it will smell bad too.

Here are some simply steps to help you in cleaning out your stable!

You will need a good stable fork/rake and a wheelbarrow or bucket.

It is always helpful if you can remove your horse from the stable. This way you aren’t worried about him/her escaping. If you can’t make sure they are tied up securely.

Remove any other objects which may get in your way, such as water buckets and horse toys.

Using your stable fork/rake remove all large visible piles of poo.

Remove any obvious wet patches.

Starting on either your left or right in a circular pattern around the stable, toss a fork full of stable bedding towards the side of the stable, remove any poo or wet that this process uncovers.

Remember to dig down to the floor so that all the bedding gets exposed, and continue till you are back to where you started.

Your stable bedding should now be all piled up around the sides of the stable and the floor exposed. If the floor seems wet (will be in most cases) it is great if you can leave it exposed for a few hours to dry out.

Starting at either the right or left, pull the bedding down from the edge with your stable rake, so that the bedding comes back to its original level and covers the previously exposed floor. Continue around till you are back at the start.

You may find that you need to smooth out the bedding so that it is level and covers the floor evenly.

I have always found it a good idea to leave an area in front of the door free from bedding, this will help reduce the bedding that gets ‘walked’ or ‘kicked’ out by your horse.

You may find that when cleaning, some bedding drifts into the water. It is always a good idea to clean out your horses’ water after finishing the stable.

It may be necessary to add some new bedding to you stable, this is usually done once a week, but depends on your horse.

It will also be necessary to remove all bedding from your stable on a regular base. This will depend on numerous factors and is up to your discretion. If it is getting smelly – then its time for a full clean out!

Now that you’re done, you can enjoy some quality time with your beloved horse!

Happy Horsing

Tina Williamson

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