I’ve long wondered that myself.

If we fed our yellow labs, Daisy and Beaux the recommended servings for their size, they would be among the 45 percent of dogs in this country that are considered overweight. The number for cats is higher, at 59 percent.

We learned with Daisy and Beaux that it is trial and error in trying to figure out how much to feed them so they get enough food without overfeeding them and making them obese.

Could some of the pet owners who have overweight cats and dogs in the U.S. be feeding according to their pet food’s packaging recommendations? What are these recommendations based upon?

Those are the questions we’ll attempt to answer in the coming weeks on this blog. Stay tuned.

Do you feed the amount of food as recommended by your pet food packaging?

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Not because I didn’t think we could find 5,000 people who like our company, but getting 5,000 people to just click on the like button seemed like a lofty goal.

Was I ever off base! We not only found 5,000 people who came to the page and became new friends, I was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from the animal loving people who Tweeted, blogged, posted on Facebook, emailed and begged their friends to join the effort.

One of the most hardworking individual volunteers, Kristy Ritter, who volunteers for Half-Way Home Rescue, one of the recipients of the food, posted about the effort every single day of the campaign, most days more than once!

We had the huge support of the bloggers through Be the Change For Animals, including Kim Clune, Rod & Amy Burkurt. Lisa Spector with Care 2 and owner of Through a Dog’s Ear, also helped push us over the top during that last week.

We cannot name everyone who put in such as great effort, but there were many others and we would like to send a big thank you to them all!

Some may ask why we tied a campaign to gain more Facebook friends to sending food to homeless pets. It’s simple. I’m proud of what K9 Cuisine stands for. I founded the company in an effort to make it easier for pet parents, just like me, to get quality food for their 4-legged family members conveniently and at an affordable price.

I see the benefit of helping spread the word of our mission by getting more Facebook friends who can learn what we’re all about so they too, can have the option of convenience when feeding their pets quality, nutritious food.

Now homeless pets that are waiting for their second chance and furever homes will benefit from having some good meals too and the rescues that help them will have one of their biggest expenses taken care of for awhile.

Thank you to our friends, old and new, for assisting in this effort.

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That’s why we’ve recently implemented the K9 Cuisine Membership Rewards Program. No, you don’t have to put another plastic membership keycard on your overloaded key chain; you don’t even have to sign up. Ordering from K9 Cuisine automatically enrolls you into the program.

Here are some of the benefits:

•  Earn Membership Reward Points on every purchase
•  Membership Reward points never expire
•  Membership Reward points available 30 days after purchase
•  Accumulate Membership Rewards points or use them as you go
•  Membership Reward points will automatically appear on the “Checkout” page when available
•  You can also join our Membership Rewards mailing list and receive exclusive MR offers and discounts
•  Membership Rewards may be donated to a shelter or rescue
•  K9 Cuisine will match all donated points

Saving money on your premium pet food and treats couldn’t be any easier with this program.

I hope to hear from some of you on how you like it when the program gets into full swing and you’ve accumulated some points.

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Some are a little silly. For example, October is “Positive Attitude Month.” Why is there a special month to remind people to have a positive attitude? Why wouldn’t you want to concentrate on having a positive attitude each month of the year?

Some are serious and we at K9 Cuisine feel that Adopt-A-Shelter-Pet-Month helps bring more awareness to the millions of shelter pets waiting for their fur-ever homes.

Depending on what numbers you read, between 2-6 million cats and dogs don’t make it out of shelters, which is why we feel we need to support the cause to bring more awareness about the shortage of adopters.

I don’t like to toot my own horn here at K9 Cuisine, when I make a donation or do a good deed for pets; I like to keep it on the QT.

However, in the spirit of “Shameless Self-Promotion Month,” which runs from October 1-31, I will say I’m proud that we participate in worthy causes such as Never Shock a Puppy and Adopt-A-Shelter Pet Month through corporate donations.

But these efforts should never be about me, or K9 Cuisine, but the animals we hope we are helping.

As the Never Shock a Puppy campaign continues, I hope you will continue in joining us in supporting that effort.

This month, we are also challenging our friends and customers to help us build our Facebook fan base with our Fans for Food campaign.

I’m pledging to donate two shipments of pet food, 5,000 pounds of dog food total, to two separate grass roots rescue organizations if we reach our goal of gaining 5,000 fans by the end of the month. For more information on the rescues we’ll be helping, go to Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell’s Rescue Me blog and read her latest post.

It’s easy to help us get the word out. Tell your Facebook friends, Twitter followers and your friends and family through email to simply go to our Facebook page and press “like.”

The thousands of cats and dogs these two rescues help each year will be grateful.

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Last weeks post, Balls are for… Chasing!, I told you the tale of my dog, Beaux’s, experience at losing his manhood from a guy’s point of view.

I met the creators of helpjoey.com at the recent BlogPaws West conference and it was hilarious. Their mission is to teach abstinence to dogs!!! Check out their website and I think you’ll agree, they have a unique take on helping the pet overpopulation problem.

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Suppose, for example, you decide to teach your dog to sit while you’re both in the kitchen.  At the same time, though, your kids are buzzing around nearby, and you’ve got something going on the stove. Think Fido’s going to be able to concentrate on what you’re trying to teach him? Think again.  Between the proximity of the kids and the proximity of a delicious-smelling meal-in-progress, Fido’s probably going to have a little trouble focusing on where you want him to put his tush. There are just too many distractions going on around him.

And sometimes those distractions are internal, not external. For example, if you try to teach your dog that new cue when you’ve just gotten home from work and Fido’s been alone all day — well, good luck with that. Fido is probably way too glad to see you to focus on learning something new. He’s also probably in dire need of a bathroom break, and he undoubtedly could use at least a little exercise.  In short, he’s got way too many distractions going on within him.

That’s why, when you’re teaching your dog something new, you need to create an environment that’s as free of distractions as possible.  Pick a place and time where no one else is around, when there’s little noise or other occurrences to overload his senses, and when you really have the time to focus on your four-legged friend. And make sure that he can focus on you, too.

That said, it’s important to realize that while distractions aren’t good to have when you’re initially teaching a new behavior, they’re very good to use to perfect that behavior later on. For example, once your dog consistently sits on cue in a distraction-free environment, start adding distractions to build that consistency. For example, bring him outdoors (in a safely enclosed area, please!), or ask him to perform the behavior when the kids are around.

If he has trouble concentrating on what you’re asking him to do, dial back the distractions a bit.  Go back to the low- or no-distraction environment, work there a few times, and then try adding distractions again.

And of course, no matter what stage you are in teaching a new behavior, make sure you provide an incentive that your dog will want to work for. In most cases, that incentive will be a fabulous tasting, wonderful smelling treat.

Once you figure out when to bypass distractions–and when to utilize them–your training sessions are likely to go a lot more smoothly.

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But, of course, I’m gonna write anyway.

Proper training is one of the loveliest gifts that you can give your aging canine companion. Not only do you build the bond and improve the communication between you, but you also help to keep her mind sharp. Just as continuing education helps keep human beings interested in life, so too does continuing education for dogs. kBut that doesn’t mean you can train a senior dog exactly the same way you train a puppy. Here are some ideas for adjusting your dog’s training as he ages.

Keep it short. An older dog may not have the endurance or attention span that he did when he was younger. For that reason, it’s a good idea to keep your training sessions short–no longer than 10 minutes.

Keep it fun. Drill-sergeant techniques have no place in dog training–especially when the dog is a sensitive senior. Positive reinforcement, gentle encouragement, and lots of good feedback in the form of praise, petting, a short play session and/or treats are much more likely to keep your older dog enthusiastic and engaged.

Adjust the treats. Your older dog may love his training treats as much now as he did when he was younger.  However, as he ages, his metabolism is likely to slow down. That means he’ll put on weight more easily than he did when he was younger–and excess weight may well shorten your dog’s life, not to mention put him at risk for a variety of health problems such as cancer, arthritis and diabetes. Either give your dog much tinier portions of his current treats, or switch to low-calorie fare such as frozen veggies and fresh fruits (If you opt for those fruits and veggies, be prepared for him to poop a little more often! That extra fiber can up your pooch’s, ahem, productivity).

Adjust the activity level. Your older dog may not be up for strenuous fetch sessions or flyball training anymore. But that doesn’t mean you can’t play “hide the toy” or some other game that makes him fire up a few brain cells. And it certainly doesn’t mean that you can’t teach him a few new manueuvers such as putting his toys away.  Maybe you could even train him to pass the Canine Good Citizen test, if he hasn’t already done so.

Always end on a good note. Now, more than ever, it’s important to end your training sessions on a positive note. Make sure that the last thing you ask your dog to do in a session is something that you know he can do easily–and then give him plenty of reinforcement when he does. As our four-legged friends age, their mortality becomes clearer and they become dearer to us. Don’t mar this uniquely sweet time in your lives together with unnecessary negativity.

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Basically, for the past two weeks, I’ve been walking around on two broken feet and didn’t even know it. Well, okay, I knew about the first foot, but only yesterday did I get the second foot X-rayed (long story). That’s when I got the word that not only did I break a bone clean in two, but that I’d need surgery to have the broken bone realigned properly. Hence, my date with destiny today.

Meanwhile, for these past two weeks I not only trekked through Greece and London but also, when I got home last week, faithfully walked Allie, my Golden Retriever.  My Golden girl sometimes gets boisterous on our walks–but, amazingly, over the past week or so she has been careful to match her pace to mine. As I venture down some steps with her on leash, I can ask her to “Wait” at each step–and she does.  I can remind her that I need for her to “walk nice,” and she does. would.  And every few steps, she turns around and looks at me, as tbough she’s asking, “Are you doing okay?”

Moreover, if we walk uphill, Allie walks out in front of me as far as the leash can stretch so that she is literally pulling me up the street. She’s not running as she does this; she’s walking slowly. But her pulling action really has helped me get up the street, even if it’s also kept me from realizing what a number I did ‘on my foot.

And now that I’m home, Allie’s been right here with me, staying out of the way of me and my walker, but not staying too far away. I can walk along with the walker and ask her to sit next to me, I can direct here where I need for her to go by pointing. And she’s been coming over often to offer kisses and other forms of canine encouragement. (But before you tell me that she’d make the perfect therapy dog — well, that’s not gonna happen. Allie’s not keen on car rides to health care facilities or anywhere else. But she’s turning out to be the perfect therapy dog for me.)

What, you may ask, have my foot-related woes got to do with positive training?

Simple. When we use positive training with our dogs–particularly shaping, either in training or in games–we encourage our dogs to think for themselves. We encourage them to strategize. A game like “Show Me Something Else” prompts our dogs to try figure out what we want them to do. Instead of our merely expecting them to respond to our commands like canine robots, they’re responding to our cues from true understanding, and also bringing something of themselves to the interaction.

The clearest difference between command-based training and positive training that I’ve ever seen was on the TV show Greatest American Dog, which was telecast on CBS a few years ago. There were a number of very well-trained dogs–but the differences between two dogs, Galaxy and Andrew, were remarkable. Galaxy did whatever she was told to do, but she seemed afraid to do anything at other times. She seemed timid, almost frozen. Andrew, on the other hand, was totally confident in what he was doing. Guess which dog was a positive training alumnus?

I’m not the gifted trainer that Andrew’s person, Laurie Williams, is. As I’ve readily admitted, my dog isn’t perfect (and I’m not either). But by using positive reinforcement to train Allie, I’ve encouraged her to think for herself. Communication flows two ways between us. I won’t be  able to walk Allie again for a little while–thankfully, my husband can and will handle that detail. But when I am back to dog-walking, I suspect that because Allie’s been encouraged to think for herself, she’ll discern whether I can handle her leash-walking antics or not. And if she decides to resume those antics, I may even be glad that she does.

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And it’s also supposed to be fun–for both of you.

That’s where playing games with your dog comes in. By playing games with your dog, you can exercise his mind, reinforce behavioral cues and, above all, have a good time. And because all of these games can be played indoors, you can play them anytime, even when the weather’s frightful. (That brings me to another plus of game-playing: they give your dog exercise, which can help keep him mellow and happy, not to mention healthy and fit.)

Here are some great games to play with your dog:

Hide the toy. Bring your dog to your bedroom and show him a favorite toy. Ask him to sit and stay, or–if you know he won’t hold the stay–close the bedroom door. Hide the toy in another room, where your dog can find it easily. Release him from his sit and/or open the door, and tell him to find the toy. Then, watch him sniff everywhere until he finds it!  When he does, praise lavishly and otherwise make a big fuss over him. As he becomes better and better at this game, make it more challenging for him by hiding the toy in harder-to-reach places. But don’t cheat: the toy has to be someplace where your dog can retrieve it!

Hide and seek. This game, of course, is when you are the, ahem, toy and your dog needs to find you. If your dog has a rock-solid stay, place him in one room and then go hide somewhere else. When you’re secure in your hiding place, ask him to come–and when he finds you, make a big fuss over him and give him a treat. You can also play this game by having another person hold your dog until you’re ready, and then have that person release him.

Show me something else. This game, which is a variation on Karen Pryor’s “101 Things to Do with a Box”, is a great way to keep your dog’s mind sharp and get him to really think. Allie and I *love* playing this game.  To learn how to play it, have your a box or cone or other object (maybe milk carton?), a clicker and treats ready and then click here.

Have fun!

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As you view this video, notice how the 13-year-old Golden Retriever’s tail wags happily whenever she responds to a cue, and how obviously eager she is to perform. Despite her sensory impairments (partial deafness and sight impairment), she’s a happy, healthy-looking dog who not only is clearly exercising her mind but is also still getting a kick out of life.

Enjoy!

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