My latest Painting - Shih-Tzu

Isn't he adorable! His mommy is a radio personality in Oklahoma City. Along with his sister he is spoiled rotten!

How to Potty Train a new puppy

"HOW TO'S of  POTTY TRAINING

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*It takes some effort to get your dog or puppy pott trained.

*You have to be consistent.

*You have to be diligent.

*Expect accidents.

Have an acceptable area where you will allow him to relieve himself.  Such areas would be potty training pads, newspaper, pea gravel area and "certain" places in the yard.  Place papers or pads near the outside door. Using a cheerful, sweet voice with praise will help him to know he did good especially when does his business outside! 

After using the paper for a short period of time on the inside of the house...move it just outside the door while the puppy is young.  You will eventually be able to do away completely with the paper outside.

If you expect your dog to use the restroom outside...he must be able to get out of the house.  We put in a doggy door and it was the best thing we ever did.  However, we do have a small fenced area to keep them confined to the back of the house.  Happy dogs rarely leave their yards and will usually go back inside the house and sleep if you leave.  But you also have to consider if theft would be an issue in your neighborhood. 

To keep your dog from scatching on your door, teach them to ring a bell simply by adding a bell on the floor near the door.

Restrict your puppy to one or two rooms, perferably rooms that are used a lot.  This way if an accident should occur, you will be able to use your "other" UNHAPPY voice.  But don't scream or hit...I know it can be hard but you have to control your actions too.  Never let a new puppy have full run of the house.  Kiddie Gates are a huge plus with restricting your new puppy's access to bedrooms and other areas that don't have doors.  Keep an eye on him, and watch him for signals that he may need to go out.   Sniffing, circling and whimpering or he leaves the room suddenly is a good indication that he is about to potty on your carpet.  Try your best to not make any sudden moves, loud voices or scare him...just gently pick him up and take him to "his" area.  Yelling tells him that peeing or pooping is wrong.  When in-fact it isn't wrong.  Every living thing eats and has to eliminate at some point!  The last thing you want him to do is to sneak away and do his business.  If you don't catch him in time, let it go, take him to "his" pee pee area whether it's a spot in the yard or a pee pee pad.  Talk to him sweetly and tell "Pee pee here, be a good boy"  If you are using newspaper or pads, dab up the pee where he had his accident, put it back near the outside door and he will identify that with where he should go next time.  And whatever you do, when he does pees in "his" area do make a big deal of it and tell him how good of a boy he is!  If you see him pee outside...tell him "what a good boy you are, Pee pee outside"  By repeating certain words he will eventually learn to relate them to what he is doing. 

If you have to leave your home, confine your pet to an area that would be easy to clean up but NOT a small bathroom or pen.  Couping him up will not teach him anything. 

Sometimes even adult dogs still have accidents.  Dogs that are not neutered or spayed have a higher incidence of eliminating in the house. Scent marking is another form of undesired elimination and can be managed by neutering and refreshing housetraining.

Try not to aquire a  new puppy on Saturday or Sunday and then go to work on Monday, that is not enough time for him to learn what to do.  A week off from work would be the best way to spend good quality training time with hime.

BELLY BANDS and DOGGIE DIAPERS  for little girl dogs are a great source of help for potty training and "MARKING TERRITORY".  When my little yorkie boy come to live me he was 6 monts old.  I put a belly band on him.  Got his attention by looking in his eyes and saying "No Pee Pee in the House".  He wore it for a couple of weeks and thankfully only had 3 accidents in it.  When he had an accident I would get his attention by looking into his eyes and repeated, using my "UN-HAPPY" voice, "No Pee Pee in the house".  The first week he was taken to the "Pee & Poop" area which was a graveled area EVERY TWO hours.  And especially after eating,drinking and waking from a nap.   Keeping your dog on a schedule is key to potty training success.

 

Last, do not have unrealistic expectations of your puppy..he will have accidents before he fully learns! Never rub your dogs nose in his pee or poop.  Use postive reinforcement with your "UNHAPPY" voice to let him know that it is not acceptable.  Never hit or scream....

 

My latest painting is of Cows!

The paint isn't even dry on this one! These cows reside in our Back Yard Safari...ha ha

Check out my latest doggie paintings

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF WHISKERS!

The Wonderful World of Whiskers July 30, 2009

Look closely. Those extremely adorable whiskers on your dog’s face do more than highlight her natural good looks. They’re actually high-tech doggie sensory devices, hard at work around the clock. Just last night your dog used them to navigate her way to the water bowl in the dark. We wanted to know more about quite possibly the cutest part of a pup’s face, and found all the answers from Phyllis DeGioia’s article "Your Dog’s Secret Surveillance."
Whiskers are just one of the highly-tuned secret agent tools your dog has on board to explore and respond to the world around her. Now look even closer. See that dark skin springing a whisker or two around your dog’s nose, above her eyes and under her chin. Think of them as beauty marks with secret powers. Dr. Carol Foil, ACVD, a veterinary dermatologist consultant with the Veterinary Information Network in Davis, CA explains, "The little beauty marks are mounds of nerves and other connections that make the whiskers function as tactile (feeling) hairs. Dogs have one mound of compound follicles, but they can have more than one whisker in the mound."
Whiskers that sprout from these areas are called "vibrissae," which are typically found in clumps, and they have the power to transmit information to your dog’s brain about her balance and movement. Without them, she’d struggle to assess her spatial relationship to other things.
That’s just one of the reasons dog whiskers are so sensitive to touch. They’re perceptive enough to sense the change in wind flow. So whiskers are ultra sensitive, even painful if brushed against their natural direction. In fact, playing or petting a dog’s whiskers can feel like a pinch in the face. So, for your dog’s comfort and happiness, it’s best to let those sweet whiskers be. That said, many show dogs often have their whiskers trimmed, plucked or worse, surgical removal.
Having originally been bred to guard and hunt, dogs rely on their keen sense and not on their whiskers quite as much as cats do. So cat people, don’t tell the dog, but your kitty’s whiskers can do everything your dog’s can and more. While cats depend on their whiskers to gauge the size of openings before passing through and can even help direct her precision before jumping long distances and dashing past obstacles, kitty whiskers are also great indicators of feline mood. When kitty’s happy or curious, the whiskers are pushed forward. But when they’re pushed back, pet at your own risk. You see, a little whisker wisdom can go a long way.