Girls toys: Social media, flowery lacey things and cell phones.

Doggy toys: all of the above.

Like it more than not – your puppy is going to become a part of the family soon, and what that means is it’s time for puppy-proofing! Remember – you’re dealing with an adventurous animal that has no concept of right or wrong, inside or outside or many other things that you might be expecting ahead of time.

First off, remember they like to chew. Having chew toys out and about ready for them to play with is essential. High voltage power cords to your private theater and surround sound equipped entertainment center – are not. Keep those as hidden. That goes for television, phone and computer wires. If you have a smaller puppy – this means looking out for those hard to get to places because, believe it or not…they’ll get there.

Your puppy has a nose for what you were hoping they wouldn’t find!

Those new Emporio Armani shoes your wife adores? You may as well kiss them goodbye if you don’t put them out of reach while you’re gone. If your puppy can find trouble – they will. Besides, how can one of those normal toys make you so ‘excited to play’ than something expensive you hold dear.

Puppies are omnivores and can eat anything! Make sure that cactus, dinner on legs (in other words: your cat, chinchilla, rabbit or other furry creature around the house) doesn’t end up on the wrong side of the plate. You’ll have to coach them into playing nice at the beginning. Don’t worry so much later – but, it’s up to you to protect the others. If your cat is a fighter, then pay double attention to their eyes and nose. The claws hurt, and could seriously damage your puppy while in developmental stages.

Related posts you and your doggy will appreciate!

• Food Aggression – Your Hand’s Worst Nightmare
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• The Crate. Dungeon – or Godsend?
• Doggy Psychology 101 – Puppy Roles
• Puppyhood – The Ins and Outs of Old Faithful

Obviate the ‘woof’ before it happens!

Think about it. The screaming ambulance sirens, the gushing blood and one thought running through your head “Why, oh why!? did my cute little puppy do that!?”

No, this isn’t another dramatized episode of Dogs of our Lives, this is the cold hard truth as it could happen to you! (Well, it could…)

Food aggression can be stopped before it happens, here’s how!

When setting down your food for your puppy, make sure it’s in an area which is low impact without any distractions. Quiet. Peaceful. These two factors alone will help your puppy feel relaxed while eating – which will lower their stress levels during mealtimes. What this does, is allowed them to eat in peace. You like it like that too – don’t you?

If your puppy has to eat their food too quickly – then they may become defensive or aggressive about their eating area. They need time to relax and ingest everything in their own sweet time.

Just like with Monika on Friends – you had to eat quickly if you wanted to eat at all. If your puppy had a large litter, then odds are that they had to fight for their food: both from the teat as well as from the dog bowl at weening time. This could have instilled competitive and aggressive characteristics long before you were even aware of it.

So, to help your puppy you should start weening them by keeping them on a leash (which gives them direction from your leadership) and sit quietly by while they’re eating. This not only helps with authority, but helps them get used to having someone/something near their food bowl while eating. This is not a time for juggling, playing the saxophone or generally playing Call of Duty while your dog is eating. Just wait a few minutes and later you’ll understand why that was so important.

After your puppy has gotten used to your presence then you will be able to bend down and start stroking them softly while they’re eating. Not as a distraction, mind you, but as a way of desensitizing them to having people and activities going on around their food bowl. Naturally, use that fun voice you love to use with your puppy (think, high and happy – which generally annoys people who aren’t used to being around dogs).

Your final success will come when you are able to reach down into their food bowl without them growling, attacking with a vengeance or even looking at your strange.

Related posts you and your doggy will appreciate!

• Puppy-proofing your home!
• Houston … we have a problem!
• Doggy Psychology 101 – Puppy Roles
• The Crate. Dungeon – or Godsend?
• Puppyhood – The Ins and Outs of Old Faithful

Playing “Catch the Puppy” with your partner late at night?

Playing “Dammit – get in the crate right this instant” after an evening’s exercise?

As funny and frustrating as this situation may be – oh-so-familiar – common, we understand. Not that we’ve actually been there (hence the funny part of this ) In order to help, we’ve put together a training tips best-of list to help you through these painstaking moments. Follow our guaranteed steps to save you headaches, backaches and a plethora of other sprained ligaments and joints all while trying to get your puppy into the crate!

1. Trick-or-treat. No this isn’t halloween and no you shouldn’t be trying to scare your puppy either – shame on you!   Actually, the trick is a treat. Your puppy is going to be super excited about an extra tid-bit before going to bed and entering their crate will be seen more as a ‘do this and get a cookie’ type of action instead of a ‘run for cover and never be caught till death!’ kind of game.
2. The leash is your friend. Before your puppy is even aware of what’s going on (as in: hey, “it’s bedtime” which can quickly turn into “my master need exercise before I go to bed” type of time. Leash them up and calmly walk them to their crate right after you’re playing with them or after you finish your nightly movie/reading session. They’ll be none-the-wiser about it as well. Unless, of course, you feel like running around the house.
3. Congratulations, you’re on IDOL! So, ok. I’m not insisting you actually sing the songs of a doggy siren and you don’t have to be Medusa to get your puppy inside, but if this is a normal activity and everyone’s excited about it – then there’s no problem. Puppies need a lot of sleep throughout the day and it’s your responsibility to direct their attention there.

Related posts you and your doggy will appreciate!

• Doggy Psychology 101 – Puppy Roles
• Puppy-proofing your home!
• The Crate. Dungeon – or Godsend?
• Food Aggression – Your Hand’s Worst Nightmare
• What to expect with your new puppy!

Uhhh… yeah. You don’t?

Shame on you! A crate!? It’s a modern day dungeon chamber designed to torture the poor and emotionally unstable puppies around the world by cruel owners who don’t understand. Or is it?

Using a dog crate doesn't mean you're sending them to doggy hell

Many dog owners swear by them – many detest them. To be fair however, we need to understand the purpose of the crate and the psychology of your dog’s DNA.

Dogs are den animals. They like a safe, dark place which is easy to protect and far away from any dangers that may or may not be lurking in the shadows to gobble them up, whether it be a real monster with impressive gobbling up powers or an imaginary monster with even more impressive history of gobbling up.

Crates serve as a dog’s den, and in this sense it’s a safe place for them to be. Safe for them, and safe for your $1,000 Williams Sonoma coffee table with various other attractive chew toys just laying around the house waiting to be had. Slippers. Shoes. Hats. Your cat. Name it – a teething puppy has the ability to chew on just about anything. That is unless, of course, they’re waiting safely for you in the crate. You puppy shouldn’t be another lit-up decoration on your christmas tree because it found the cord laying about.

“To crate – or not to crate: That is the question.” – Every new puppy owner

Other benefits of using the crate besides your doggy’s health and safety…

Having read my housebreaking article then I’m sure you’ll appreciate the benefits of helping your young pup get used to not forcing you to use the mop – again. Instinctively, your young pup doesn’t want to poopulate their living conditions. That’s gross. For them, it’s a shame and instinctively wrong to do that. Using a crate will greatly increase your housebreaking learning curve by applying to their instincts and not to your mopping skills.

Go to your room! (Almost)

Find luxury dog crates with style and it's like sleeping in doggy heaven!

Crates also help in the development of social boundaries between you and your dog. If your puppy was born to be a loose cannon, a wild child, a vagabond answering to no man then…heading to the crate serves as a safe way for you to keep your temper as well as enlighten your puppy in the sense of social acceptable behavior. Of course don’t go overboard and lock them up the entire time on principal – but this helps them develop in a healthy way.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

In order to love someone, you have to miss them. If you are tired and angry and your puppy starts getting into trouble – being in such a state you might just take out your frustration on your dog. That is the worst possible thing you can do – as such a course of action will not be forgotten by your puppy any time soon. (Think: All their life.)

Although I personally just use a bed which serves as Mis’ka’s den – the benefits of using a crate are evident. It speeds up the overall learning process with your dog – which for a person of low levels of patience would be extremely important.

Remember – it’s up to you do develop your relationships and your puppy needs the best from you so they can be the best for you.

Related posts you and your doggy will appreciate!

• Doggy Psychology 101 – Puppy Roles
• Puppy-proofing your home!
• Houston … we have a problem!
• Food Aggression – Your Hand’s Worst Nightmare
• Crate Training 101 – Palace d’Puppy vs Dungeon d’Dog

Actually – think of the crate as a holiday in the Rivera d’Safetyhood

First off – unless you’re making gobs and gobs of cold cash, then do with it as you will. In fact, buy some of our dog treats right away – or a LOT of our dog treats. Otherwise, if you fit in with 90% of the rest of the population but a crate your puppy can grow into.

How to choose a crate?

d'Palace of Dreams Dog Crate from Dog House Treats

Look at our luxury line of Dog Crates of course!!! Shameless self-promotion, we know! You have to forgive us for that! Don’t forget to take these important tips into consideration even if you don’t buy one from us though!

Think of yourself as a dog for a minute. What would you need to do? Stand up (without crouching over), be able to turn around to get into a more comfortable sleeping position and of course have enough cushions, blankets or pillows for them to snuggle into. No, you can’t invite any other dogs to stay with you. This is a one-dog crate!

Setting up your crate

There area many different types, and to be honest the style is up to you. You can buy a cheap one or have one custom made by us to fit the decor of your room/furniture. Regardless of where you get your doggy crate – make sure that when you assemble the crate your delicate little creature isn’t in the house as making all that noise is a sure way excite the little guy. And when you excite the little guy – you know what that means: Mop time! That and you could scare the hell out of them.

Now, when you’re finished with the assembly then all you have to do is slowly introduce this masterpiece to your dog. Do this slowly and with care. Naturally, they’ll be a little curious about this new contraption and little do they know that it will serve as the Palace d’Puppy for a long time.

Put some toys, blankies or most importantly something like THIS! in there as this will not only excite them (in a non-mop inducing kind of way) but will show them that the evils heard of places like “The Dungeon d’Crate” is actually the often dreamt about Palace d’Puppy! This important transformation is completely up to you and it depends specifically on your ability to ease your new dog into it – without force or coercion. Treats work much better.

If you ended up with a metal type crate and not a plastic one – make sure you put those blankies in there. This will deaden the sounds of the metal monster (aka – cage) and will ultimately make it an easy transition for them to get in.

Luxury Line of Dog Crates from Dog House Treats

Location. Location. Location.

The three rules of where your Palace d’Puppy should be placed summed up: Location. Make sure that it is:

1. Quiet. If you put this in the main living room where everyone is up and about living the glamorous lifestyle of the rich and … free – then your puppy will have a hard time correlating Palace d’Puppy with the Dungeon d’Crate. Make sure it’s quiet – like, heavenly quiet.
2. Make it somewhere close to where you sleep. A little whining may occur at the beginning but in time your puppy will be able to smell all the wonderful scents that you leave in your room. Whether your partner likes it or not – this is comforting for your puppy to know you’ll be back there. It’s your place, and they’re safe there.
3. Puppies need their own space. Make sure that you close it up – as this will give them the time they need to recharge their batteries without having to worry about getting into trouble, or doing something wrong which so often happens with so much natural talent for it. This means the crate – as simply gating off and area won’t serve the same purpose. If you remember right dogs are den animals and need their safe place just like you.
4. Just like in life, your attitude to the crate is going to influence your dog. If you think of it as the Dungeon d’Dog and not as the Palace d’Puppy then they will instinctively feel that. Be excited about using the crate as it serves the purpose of making them feel at ease. Later in life – they will spend quite some time alone as you’re about your day and they need to adapt to this situation as early as possible. You’re teaching them life-long skills they’ll use to survive!

Related posts you and your doggy will appreciate!

• Houston … we have a problem!
• The Crate. Dungeon – or Godsend?
• Doggy Psychology 101 – Puppy Roles
• Puppy-proofing your home!
• Food Aggression – Your Hand’s Worst Nightmare