Rupert's Puppy Face

Puppy proofing table scraps.

2007-08-24T20:50:00.000-07:00

First off, it's not a good idea to feed your dog un-sorted table scraps, for several reasons; doing so fosters begging, some foods are toxic to your dog, some meals are high in fat content, sugary foods and starches can cause cavities that are super expensive to fix and if your dog gets a tummy ache from the food you fed him... he can't yell at you.

That said, there are enormous benefits to foregoing bagged dog foods and putting puppy on an all natural diet of proteins, raw bones, vegetables, and starches. But that's a whole different chapter. For now, lets concentrate on foods that are bad for your dog.

1.) Cooked bones: They become brittle and can splinter, which means that your puppy is ingesting sharp flinty pieces that can damage the soft lining of the throat or puncture his stomach lining. Fish and chicken bones are especially bad.

There are cheap marrow bones available in the meat section of your supermarket. You can give those to puppy, raw of course and they're good for his teeth and they are indestructible.

2.) Raw eggs, chicken: Because of salmonella. If you can't resist giving puppy these things, cook them first.

3.) Candy, gum, soda, sugary foods: Dogs get cavities too, except tooth decay is exerbated by the fact that they don't have their teeth brushed every day. Also, sugary foods are fattening, and can lead to obesity, and diabetes. Plus, if your dog gets cavities, he can't tell you his teeth are hurting, and doggy dentists are super expensive and of course, dental visits are scary (well for me they are).

4.) Beer, alcohol: (DUH) This is not funny. Invariably some idiot will try to give your dog beer. Of course dogs like it, but it's bad for them. It can cause intoxication, coma and death, alcohol is a poison.

5.) Onions: Even what appears to be a small amount can kill them. Garlic cloves aren't very good either. I recommend avoiding things seasoned or cooked with onion powder as well.

6.) Chocolate and Caffeine: Chocolate is toxic to dogs. Dark chocolate and baker's chocolate are more dangerous than milk chocolate but all of them are bad for puppy. You need a somewhat larger amount of it to cause problems, especially with milk chocolate, so an M&M or two won't kill puppy.

7.) Grapes and raisins: They cause liver failure in dogs. Large and small quantities of both should be avoided.

8.) Mushrooms: Be careful of the ones that shoot up in your yard, they're often irresistible to dogs.

9.) Artificial sweetner: Xylotol is the ingredient to watch for. It's used in sugarless gums and candies, so avoid them.

10.) Macadamia nuts

Still curious? The Animal Control Poison Center's website:
http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pro_apcc_poisonsafe

'Pet' Peeves, when owners misbehave

2007-08-11T03:12:00.000-07:00

Bad dog.. I mean owner!

There are some things that every dog owner should be aware of.

1.) Not everyone likes puppies: So don't let your puppy bother people who don't want to be bothered. Most people will approach you and your puppy if they want to say hi, and that's fine. But not everyone likes your jumpy, happy puppy. Be respectful of this.

2.) Respect the rules: Be careful of bringing your puppy into stores, shops and beaches. The signs say 'no dogs allowed' for a reason. Puppies pee and poop whenever it suits them and a store owner will not like a mess in their store. So respect the rules and if a place prohibits pets, then don't bring puppy.

3.) Supervise puppy: Puppies are like kids, take your eye off of them for a second and a whole wall is covered with crayon marks. So if you bring your puppy out, watch him to make sure that he is behaving. Be careful with children, puppies are notorious biters and children have soft skin-- if puppy bites a little one's face, and the mark leaves a scar, the parents could sue.

4.) Bring poopy bags and clean up after puppy: If your puppy poops in a public place, clean it up. Nobody likes stepping in dog poop. OK? Especially on beaches, when you're barefoot. Karma.... enough said.

5.) No jumping: Train your dog. There's nothing worse than a dog who jumps on you and plants a nice muddy paw print on your clothing. It's your responsibly as an owner to train your dog so that he's socially polite with strangers.

Showing puppy his new world

2007-08-11T02:12:00.000-07:00

Spending time with your new puppy during these formulative few months is important. Your puppy is so eager to explore everything around him because it's all brand new!

You need to be there to expose him to new things so that he'll grow into a well-adjusted and confident dog.

There are certain things that will frighten puppy; loud noises, swimming, crowds of (tall) people, car rides, vet trips, the vacuum cleaner.

The only way to alleviate these fears is to expose your puppy to these things without traumatizing him. That means that you should not try to shield him from situations or things that frighten him, but you should try to make him comfortable with those things by building up his confidence.

Think back to your first day of school. It was scary, having to ride the bus and being away from home and in a strange place with strange people. But you did it, and after a few days, it wasn't so scary anymore.

Puppy feels the same way. The vacuum cleaner is scary, because it makes loud noises, looks funny and moves quickly. But you're going to have to use your vacuum cleaner and so puppy will have to learn to like it.

Here are some guidelines for exposing your puppy to new things:

Let your puppy have control. DO NOT forcefully make your puppy face something he is afraid of. For example: Do not corner your puppy and confront him with a roaring vacuum. He will feel more comfortable if he knows that he can run from a scary thing.

If he feels trapped, his heart rate will skyrocket, his adrenaline will kick in and he will be terrified. So, just start the vacuum, keep him in the room and let him keep his distance if he wants to. After he realizes that he can escape if he needs to and that the loud noise won't hurt him, he'll relax (this may take a few times).

Be confident in your puppy. Do not encourage your puppy's scared behavior by fussing over him when he shows fear. If you do that, you are rewarding insecure behavior and your puppy will learn that being afraid will get you to fuss over him with attention.

Lead by example. If you show no fear, and if you don't expect him to be afraid, then he'll relax. Dogs are very perceptive-- things like happiness, excitability and confidence are contagious. If you are talking in an upbeat positive voice, your puppy will know that there is nothing to fear.

Realize though, that anything that hurts puppy will make him afraid of it, and if this happens then it will be hard to reverse the trauma. So, be careful to avoid exposing your puppy to things that will hurt him.

An example: Rupert used to have an affinity for wires.

Our phone chargers, iPod cords, laptop cables were all shredded by puppy teeth. Mike became a wire-patching expert and our cords all bore electrical-taped scars-- until he chewed through a lamp cord that zapped him. He quickly abandonned the habit.

In this instance, it worked out in our favor (thank goodness he wasn't seriously injured) but if, for instance, he'd been hurt by a vacuum cleaner-- we'd have problems.

Before you start training puppy....

2007-08-09T04:19:00.000-07:00

**The methods discussed here are meant for a puppy and not a dog that is older. Older dogs require different methods of training.

------------

There are some things you should know before you attempt to train your puppy.

You are older, bigger, smarter, and more patient than your puppy, act like it.

Keep your training sessions short, and realize that your puppy has just been exposed to the world and everything is interesting to him-- which means his attention span is short, veeeery short.

To minimize potential distractions, beginning sessions should take place in a calm, boring place, so that your puppy can pay attention to you. Later, when he's mastered the commands in this quiet place, you'll want to add distracting elements, so that your dog can practice obeying you in all circumstances.

Start by using really desirable treats, and use really small portions. I prefer lunchmeats, because dogs love them, they're relatively healthy, easy to break into minuscule pieces and puppy can smell them.

Be positive. Make this fun for your puppy. If your puppy learns to love learning than he'll look forward to training sessions and he'll try hard to understand what you want. So talk in an excited tone and praise like crazy when puppy does something well.

Keep your patience. If you feel yourself getting frustrated, stop immediately.

Take baby steps to reach a training goal. That means in order to teach your dog a complicated command, start with a simple behavior goal.

Here's an example: You want puppy to lie down on command. Start with low standards for praise and reward and then up them when your puppy can consistently reach the low standard.
See? Ok so instead of expecting puppy to lie down perfectly on command the first session, lower the treat to the ground and praise and reward puppy when he stoops down to reach it. So he associates lowing his body position with getting a treat. Do this a few times and then up your standards. This session, say the command, "Down" while lowering the treat and don't reward until his elbows touch the floor. When he can do this regularly then make him put his head down. He's mastered the command when he can do it consistently in the presence of distractions.

Practice makes perfect. You want puppy to obey you in all situations, so once your puppy understands the command at home, practice commands in places where your puppy is likely to be distracted.

You want your dog to obey others. So involve others in training. Ask friends, family members to help you. Tell them how to do it, show them and then let them do it and try to not to interfere. That way puppy learns that he is expected to obey all humans.

Puppy toys are important

2007-08-09T01:37:00.002-07:00

You want your puppy to be interested in his toys. If he likes his toys, he won't like your shoes. He needs you to show him that his toys are the most fun objects in the world.

If your puppy is chewing on something that is not appropriate, pick him up silently, remove the object and replace it with a fun toy and play with him for a few minutes so that he associates the toy with fun times and not the forbidden object.

You don't even have to scold him, if his toys are funner than the forbidden objects, even when you're not around, he'll prefer the toys to the unfamiliar objects. Think about it, playing with his toys will remind him of the fun and exciting times he had with you. Your puppy loves you. If he learns that forbidden objects don't have any appeal, he'll abandon interest in them.

Your puppy needs many different kinds of toys. He needs chewy toys, because he's teething and he needs to satisfy his uncomfortable teething urges. He needs plushy toys to romp around with, bones to keep him busy while you're away, and tennis balls to chase.

A lack of interesting toys will make him search for things around the house to play with (your leather wallet for example). Too many toys you say? No such thing.

Despite the $20 dental bones we buy him, Rupert's favorite toys are sticks that he finds from outside. He sneaks them into the house and we find them hidden in random places.

Name your puppy's toys.

If your puppy picks up a chewy toy say, "Chewy toy! Good boy!"

This is called labeling. If you label your dogs actions, and you do it consistently, he will associate those words with the corresponding actions.

If your puppy is bringing something to you, encourage this behavior! You'd rather have him bring you a forbidden object than run away from your with it, so even if he has something that you don't want him to have, encourage him to bring it to you. Pat the floor and say"Bring it back, Good boy!"

Rupert now recognizes the names of several different types of toys. He has; rope toys, yucky bones (rawhide and marrow bones) and his chewy toys (rubber things) his monkey (plush toys) and sticks. If I ask him "Rupert, where's your monkey?" His head will whip around and he'll go looking for it, when he spots it I say "There it is!" and he dashes off to go get it.

He also knows, "Go get your [fill in the blank toy] it's upstairs." He'll take off upstairs, and minutes later, he'll have whatever I've asked him to bring. Teaching him the stairs thing was easy. Every time his feet touched the stairs or he was walking upstairs with me I'd say "Upstairs! We're going upstairs, good boy!" He was confused at first, but he quickly learned.

Dogs are truly amazing creatures and they can learn to understand you, if you take the time to teach them.

Realistically, you're going to lose some things.

2007-08-09T01:05:00.000-07:00

Keep in mind that having a puppy means you'll have to sacrifice some things.

Puppies chew, and they don't know the difference between a Mac makeup collection and a nice rawhide.

One day I came home from classes and Rupert was all happy to see me. He gave me his usual doggy smile and that's when I noticed the big purple globs wedged in between his teeth.

Then I saw a large black smear running across his face.

What did you do? I asked him ominously.

He slinked back, understanding the phrase. I walked upstairs and found that my makeup collection was eviscerated; splintered pencil-liners strewn about, pots of eye shadows in crumbles and lipstick tubes opened up and mushed into the carpet.

He is a dog.

He doesn't know that a pot of Mac shadow runs for $17. I had left my makeup out, unattended and he'd been too curious not to investigate.

Dogs don't have hands, so they investigate things with their mouths and noses. In this case, my makeup collection fascinated him, he was bored because I was not home and I wasn't there to tell him that my makeup was off-limits, so he decided it was worth a thorough investigation.

I cleaned up the mess and reminded myself to puppy-proof the house better next time, (after calling Mike to berate him about HIS bad dog.)

There will be chewed shoes, stained carpets, muddy paw prints, and the occasional swallowed valuable(or in a previous case a swallowed dose of ear-infection medication).

This is part of owning a puppy. In moments like these, you have to put your anger aside and realize that you had it coming. If you can't afford to replace the shoes, don't leave them accessible... or don't get a puppy.

It really is that simple.

Learning doggy language...

2007-08-09T00:14:00.000-07:00

Talk to your dog.

In a normal speaking voice, make eye contact with your puppy and speak to him often. He will learn to listen to you and he will associate certain words with certain actions. This will happen all by itself.

Don't be concerned at first, when people look at you strangely. Eventually, your efforts will pay off and people will be impressed that you have a dog who is so attentive to you.

Remember that your body language and tone are just as important as what you are saying.

Be consistent and use the same words and voices to describe the same things.

Every time your puppy does something that you want to reinforce, say in an excited tone, "Good boy, ohmygosh you're such a good boy!" The excitement is contagious and your puppy will learn what to do to make you happy.

Your puppy is very impressionable and if you are happy and excited, he'll be happy and excited. He will learn that when you say "Good boy!" he is doing something that will make you give him attention, and you'll pet him and there may be treat involved.

The training potential for using this technique of word association is limitless.

When we went to the beach I wanted to teach Rupert how to jump over the waves. So I'd stand in the surf, knee deep and every time a wave came I'd take a huge leap up as I said "Big boy jump!" He got the point quickly, after about an hour of me and Mike jumping over the waves like morons in front of people who no doubt thought we were crazy. Now Rupert knows how to get into the ocean, by jumping over the waves, and when I say "jump" he goes flying up into the air.

With Rupert, I use a very loud harsh "Hey!" when he is doing something wrong that I'd like him to stop doing immediately. One time, Mike and I were cooking and I dropped a piece of steak on the floor, Rupert saw it fall and dived in, figuring that anything on the floor was fair game. Without thinking I yelled "Hey!" and Rupert actually spit out the piece of steak and sat down politely.

Mike and I stopped, surprised and impressed.

"Wow" we both said at the same time, as we stared at each other.

Ground rules....

2007-08-08T04:09:00.001-07:00

In my frantic and insatiable desire to know everything about everything, I hit the internet and spent a few hours learning about dog training, the history of the breed, and anything else that popped up.

I realized that we needed to set some ground rules.

Rule number one: We had to act as a team to share the work, divide the responsibility and make the efforts to train and be patient with puppy.

Rule number two: Consistency. We have to back each other up, and remind each other that we have to be consistent with puppy if he's ever going to learn anything.

Rule number three: We have to be patient with puppy. The little guy will never ever be hit or roughly handled, and we are committed to his training and well-being.

Rule number four: We will make time to teach puppy and expose him to his new world.

Rule number five: We have to realize that having this puppy will change our lives for a while. He relies upon us for everything and if he is effected by everything we do. We are determined to be good parents, and we are dedicated to his care and training.

Making decisions: We talk about what kind of dog we want him to be. We decide that we want him to be friendly and unafraid of people, other dogs, car rides, children and cats. We want him to love the water and the ocean because we live near the beach when we're back in NJ. We want him to be good with children and we want him to chase after sticks and wrestle with us.

After my research, I tell Mike that he's an American Labrador retriever. The breed was created for it's good nature, intelligence, love of water and boundless energy. We look forward to having a dog that can keep up with us physically. We decide to give him plenty of exercise every day.

Right now, puppy sleeps a lot. He has a vet appointment but he's so little and he doesn't play very much. We have no idea that three months from now we'll have a out-of-control monster with crazy-high energy levels and a frantic-jumpy-exciteable nature.

We name him Rupert.

"We should change his name," Mike says looking worried. "When people ask what is name is, and I say Rupert, they look at me funny."

Puppy's first night

2007-08-08T03:39:00.000-07:00

We were completely unprepared for the random purchase we'd just made. We have no name for him yet and all we know about him is that he's squirmy, whiny and loud.

So we go to the 24-hour Wal Mart on the way home to pick up puppy supplies.

We buy him some things:

-Carpet Cleaner
-Leash and collar
-Flea medicine
-Chewy toys
-Puppy treats
-Baby dog chow
-Crate

Then we stop by the Virginia tech drill field on the way home to let him go potty. We're determined to be the best puppy parents ever and so we wait for him to go to the bathroom.

Nothing happens. The little thing sits at the end of the leash, crying.

So we take him back to Mike's apartment. As soon as we get him inside and take off the leash, we notice a dime-sized pee stain on the carpet. The puppy wanders away from the spot, exploring the apartment.

We are strangely excited, our first puppy mess. We know there will be many many more and we work together, grabbing paper towels, spraying the carpet cleaner and then scrubbing it up. (Little did we know that three months later, we'd be fighting over who's turn it was to clean up the giant pool of smelly urine that Rupert would leave so often.)

Then we follow the puppy around, competing for it's attention as we enticed it with toys and treats.

Puppy was tired and passed out. We set up his crate, food bowls and toys.

Now we had to name him.

Everything starts with "sit"

2007-08-08T03:37:00.000-07:00

Everything you will teach your dog starts with the command "sit."

It is a simple command that they can learn immediately. Before you attempt to teach your puppy anything, read post "Before you start training puppy."

Sit is important for your dog to master for two reasons. One: He learns to pay attention to you when you give commands. Two: It's a way to control your puppy and calm him down if you need to.

So go to a quiet place and arm yourself with treats. Let puppy smell the treat, then when he's paying attention say "sit" and move the treat just above his nose and back over his head until it's just out of his reach.

His nose will follow the treat back, and he should come to a slight sitting position, if he does (even if he's not sitting completely) praise and treat.

If he tries to bite the treat, cover it with your hand, and say "no" but keep your hand above his nose. He'll see that he can not get the treat but he'll still want to smell it. Take your hand back and then repeat the process.

When he can sit consistently when you give the sit command, it's time to let someone else do it. Ask a friend, family member or stranger to help you. You want your puppy to obey all people and not just you. So give your helper a treat and tell them to make puppy sit.

When puppy has mastered this part it's time to add distractions. Take puppy outside, try to make him sit when he's excited.

Then practice this command over and over. Tell him to sit before you put down his food bowl, before you give him new toys. Once your puppy learns that he gets rewards for sitting, every time he wants something, he'll sit politely for you.

I can tell when Rupert wants something from me. If I'm opening up a new bone for him, he plants his butt politely down and waits for me to open it because he knows that he won't get it until he is sitting. No command is even necessary.

How we ended up with a puppy

2007-08-08T03:10:00.000-07:00

So I was completely obsessed with getting a puppy. For an entire week, I had been pushing Mike, easing him into this puppy idea, and by pushing I really mean shamelessly begging.

I listed every reason why we should get one and he calmly offered a proper and fitting rebuttal for each. After he’d exhausted my supply of pro-puppy arguments, I was certain that getting a dog was a terrible idea, and the debate was laid to rest.

The next day he says, "Leanne, I think we should get a puppy."

"Mike, I think you're crazy."

The tables were turned and it was my turn to convince him that getting a puppy was a horrible idea. It didn't work and the next thing you know, we are running out to get a newspaper. We call the first few numbers for ads we see and get some odd responses (we're in Virginia at this point, there are some strange people there...) and finally we reach a normal-sounding person who tells us she has three yellow labs left.

"We're just going to look, ok?" he says.

"Nobody just goes to look at puppies," I tell him. Duh.

The breeder lives on a farm, we drive there (about an hour away) that very same night.

We get there, meet the family and they bring the puppies out.

"We're making this decision together," I remind him.

"Yeah, same team," he says without paying attention.

Two larger puppies run around the yard, they look strong and healthy. A smaller one runs clumsily over to Mike and plops down in front of him. He stoops over to pet the furball that's biting at his legs.

I chase after the largest one and manage to wrangle the squirmy body. " I like this one," I said, inspecting him for cloudy eyes, dry nose and other unhealthy puppy signs. He seems unafraid of me and he's writhing furiously, trying to escape my grasp to run around with the other puppies in the open yard.

"Leanne, I want this one," he says. He's holding the little guy, who's limp in his hands, whining. Mike is obviously not as careful in his puppy screening as I am. The puppy is the runt and he looks sick.

The breeder watches us, and I say quietly, "Mike, he looks sick, we don't want a sick puppy, they're expensive."

She must have heard, because she said, "Well that's our little one. He was sick, that's why his arm is shaved, he was on an IV."

I shot Mike the I-told-you-so look.

She continued, "He was throwing up, so we brought him to the vet. They say he's ok, he just needs to gain some weight back."

Awkward silence.

"I'll give him to you for cheaper, we want him to find a good home," she added.

"We'll take him," Mike says.