Training A Puppy To Walk On A Leash

Writen by Chris S

The good thing about training a puppy to walk on a leash is that you can prevent any problems before they eventuate. It's much easier to start leash training early on with a puppy, than to re-train an older dog with established leash behavioral problems.

Having a properly leash trained puppy makes life much simpler and safer for the dogs future. And of course it means that taking your dog for a walk is an enjoyable experience, for both you the owner and also your dog.

How To Train A Puppy To Walk On A Leash

The first step can take place as soon as you get your young puppy home. Just get your pup familiar and comfortable wearing a collar. A simple buckle collar is fine for this purpose. Put the collar on when you feed your puppy or when you are playing with him. Most puppies don't have a problem with the collar, it may just take a little getting used to. If your puppy is rolling around or trying to scratch the collar off, don't take it off him at this time. Wait till he has settled down or forgotten about it, then take it off.

The next step is similar to the first, it involves the leash. This time get your dog used to the look and feel of his leash. For young puppies all you need is a light weight, thin leash. You can upgrade to a fancy leather leash when your puppy is properly leash trained if you like. Put the leash on your puppy and just let him check it out and drag it around with him (always under your supervision). Once again your goal is to make your puppy comfortable with the leash and not fear it in any way.

When your puppy is comfortable wearing the collar and dragging the leash around (may take up to a couple of weeks) it is time for you to pick up the other end of the leash. Make these first leash training sessions short, sharp and fun. And always keep in mind that your goal is to communicate to your dog that pulling on the leash is never acceptable. Therefore you must never reward his pulling by giving in to him. Be consistent with your message to him and always praise his good behavior (in this case, walking on a loose leash).

To start with just walk around the house with the leash in hand, and your puppy trotting along side you. Give him plenty of vocal praise, petting and even a few treats. At this early stage puppies love to follow their owners around, you should use this to your advantage. If your puppy pulls on the leash (which he will, don't expect him to just know this stuff) immediately stop. Don't yank him back over to you with the leash, just call him over and praise him when he comes. Then set off for more of a stroll and repeat this correction each time your dog pulls on the leash. It must be every time he strains on the leash, you have to teach him that when he pulls, it gets him nowhere. The same correction applies when your puppy sits down while you are walking. Don't yank him forward to you, just stop and call him toward you.

This leash training method results in your dog not pulling and you not pulling, just a nice loose leash hanging down between you and your dog. It will take a bit of persistence and patience on your part, but it is well and truly worth it.

Chris Smith is a dedicated dog owner and creator of http://www.dog-obedience-training-review.com

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Pet Loss

Writen by Steven Quid

When a beloved pet dies, some people simply accept the pet loss, as a regular part of life. People that have strong feelings for their pets are deeply affected by their grief. In taking responsibility for owning a pet, we accept the burden of every aspect for that pets life.As a pet grows from a baby to adult, that pets responsibility and affection becomes a way of life to us. This mutual bonding becomes an exchange of need and fulfillment between owner and pet. It's ironic that we become dependent on our pets as well. We rely on their needing us.

When a pet eventually dies, as we all must, we are never prepared emotionally, from our pet loss. We first get an extreme case of separation anxiety. Our routine and patterns are disrupted abruptly by the loss of our pets. Understanding the phases of grief and mourning that other people have gone through, can help us through our loss and bereavement. Often the way we react depends upon the circumstances of how our love ones pass, and how attached we were to them.

Shock and Disbelief

This usually is the first stage. Weather the pets death was sudden or expected. It doesn't seem real. We have trouble accepting the truth, and are not equipped to handle the reality of the pet loss. We all experience this to some degree.

Anger

When the numbness wears off, we are often overwhelmed by anger. This emotion must be released and let go. Withheld anger can become a potent force in self destructiveness. It is common to feel anger when something we love is taken away from us.

Depression and Grief

We feel overwhelmed and very sad at the loss of our love one. All we seem to care about is the loss of our pet,and our own misery. Appetite loss, and difficulty to sleep are signs of this emotion. Depression is the most normal of the stages to our pets death. We need some time And privacy to recover through our depression and grief.

Give Yourself Time

The length of time to recover varies with each individual. Some need more time and support than others. We have to give time for release of grief without diminishing the memory of our pet. We never lose a sense of bereavement for a pet. But we do learn to be less and less overwhelmed by their death.

Moving On

No matter what method you choose, a Pet Memorial, or Garden Memorial etc... You should offer a simple eulogy to help closure to the event. It's a chance to be involved with the final experience with your pet. And to realize your loss and express feeling about it. It will give you a chance to say, "You are gone, but not forgotten"

Your relationship with your pet is very special. Keep them in your heart and they will never be forgotten.

Pet Loss Click Here!

Shih Tzu Color Highly Prized Colors And Markings

Writen by Connie Limon

By the 1930's, the Peking Kennel Club was faced with the existence of a variety of colors. The Peking Kennel Club wanted to do justice to the facts of history regarding the highly favoured Imperial color of "Tawny or honey-coloured or Golden - The Yellows." At that time, their Shih Tzu standard read: "All colors permissible, single and mixed. Tawny or honey-coloured highly favoured." The British Shih Tzu standard read: "All colors permissible," but adds the words, "a white blaze on the forehead and a white tip to the tail are highly prized." And now the French Shih Tzu standard of the mid-1950's comments "honey-colored and white are rare and much appreciated."

It has been said the color "white" in Shih Tzu is recessive and such Shih Tzu should not be bred. However, there is fact that a leading French breeder in Peking - not the Countess d'anjou - had a large number of all-white Shih Tzu. There is question of who actually appreciated the all-white Shih Tzu. Was it the Westerners more than the natives of the Peking? This question arises out of the fact that there seems little doubt that a "a pure white dog, being the color of mourning to the Chinese people, was not an asset, because the Chinese people truly hate to be reminded of death." The aversion did not apply to the white markings on the head or the tail. This could also account to the scarcity we now have of the all-white Shih Tzu. Down through time, the American Kennel Club judged them in the Miscellaneous Class, which ran "all colors are allowable but in general the darker shades predominate. The white blaze, collar, socks and tail-tip combine to create a highly prized ensemble" of a Shih Tzu.

Since the Chinese regarded the yellow-colored Shih Tzu as especially precious we can also understand that it was particularly difficult for westerners to get hold of them. In the Lion Dog Through the Looking Glass (a publication during the 1950's) it is told that the black and white, and grey and white were the first found on the market at street fairs in China, yet even in their cases exportation was at first forbidden. It seems to me we can conclude, the Shih Tzu owners and breeders of Peking, The Chinese People, were extremely possessive of the Shih Tzu in their favoured color, of Yellow, yet were also somewhat possessive of all of the other colors as well. The Shih Tzu was surely very highly treasured by the Chinese people in those days. They were selfish with them. Makes one think they knew something about them very secret and most likely it was something that brought them great emotional pleasure. All humans are drawn to anything that brings them great emotional pleasure.

When it did become possible to export specimens of the breed, the least favoured colors were the most easily obtainable. Some years later, in the Great Britain show ring the dominant colors were black and white, grey and white and shades of brindle and white with a few solid blacks. Even today, these are the same exact colors I started out with in my breeding of the Shih Tzu. I have a few of the Chinese Yellow, honey, or golden colors. Most plentiful to purchase for me has been the black and the white, the grey and white and the brindles. I still tend to believe our deep hershey chocolate color is a "new" color in the breed, as is the "blue." The American Kennel Club has just recently added the color "blue" to their list of colors on their AKC registration forms.

Color in the Shih Tzu is so fascinating and to me are the most beautiful shades of several basic colors of the black, gold and grey. We might even owe the highly prized white tips to the tail and on top the head to the very early French breeder who had the all-white Shih Tzu that left us few descendants. White still seems to be harder to find, and does not seem as popular as the blue and chocolate in the years of 2000. I have one white female, Bailey of whom I am hoping to produce other solid whites, but also the chocolates and blue's as I mate her to my different males. Visit us and sign up for our NEW weekly ezine for future breedings to see what we come up with.

Connie Limon publishes a FREE weekly newsletter. A professional newsletter with a focus upon health and wellness for you and your pets. Coupons for shih tzu puppies and other products are offered to subscribers. Updates of available puppies. Sign up at http://www.stainglassshihtzus.com