new dog Archives | Crossbones Dog Academy

Choosing A Best Friend: What to Consider When Finding a New Dog

There are so many choices when it comes to adding a new dog to your household. There are hundreds of breeds to choose from, not to mention the thousands of wonderful dogs in shelters across the country. If you have never had a dog before, or haven’t had one since childhood, it can be overwhelming! Here are some things to consider when adding a dog to your family.

Not all dogs would be so tolerant of this child’s advances! (Photo Credit: Giulio Nepi)

Do you have children? Dogs weighing less than ten pounds are not recommended for homes with very small children as they will not handle roughhousing well.

Terrier breeds can get nippy with small children due to their heightened “prey drive” – they have a strong desire to go after small, fast moving things that make high pitched noises. Toddlers fall into that category. For that reason, I also don’t recommend terriers for households with small pets.

When choosing a dog for a home with young children, consider a medium to large sized dog with a stable, easy-going, happy-go-lucky temperament. Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers, and mixes of those breeds, are popular choices because they tend to fit this description.

If you are a busy parent, consider adopting or purchasing an older puppy or an adult dog. Puppies require lots of socialization and training, and most working parents are just too busy to add that to their to-do list.

Consider the dog’s energy level and compare it to yours. If you are busy and don’t have a lot of time to be active with your dog, consider a smaller laid back dog like a Bassett Hound or some of the larger toy […]

By Katherine Ostiguy, KPA CTP|2016-02-02T15:34:26+00:00February 2, 2016|Helpful Hints, Puppies|Comments Off

Top Tips for Housebreaking

At Spring Forth Dog Academy, I work with a lot of dogs that are relieving themselves in the house. Housebreaking seems to be one of those things that either goes smoothly or is really troublesome. A lot of it depends on how your dog was raised, both before and after you acquired him.

Photo Credit: Rachael Voorhees

Puppies raised on wire floor pens, such as dogs sold in pet stores, learn to relieve themselves where they sleep, making crate training and housebreaking difficult. Often new owners bring their puppy home and set them up in a playpen or crate with newspaper covering the entire floor, encouraging him to go anywhere he likes, whenever he pleases. These mistakes can create a habit of pottying in the house that can be tough to break.

Here are some of my favorite tips for teaching dogs to go potty outdoors.

Pick up the food bowl. “Free-feeding” your dog – leaving the bowl full of food all the time – is a bad idea for a myriad of reasons. Switching to feeding your dog two or three times a day, at the same time every day, is an easy way to regulate your dog’s “#2” schedule. Basically: scheduled input means scheduled output. Dogs typically relieve themselves shortly after eating a meal, but if your dog is picking at his food dish whenever he pleases, there is no way to take advantage of this function. Check out my post on free-feeding for tips on fixing this problem.

Clean up well. Even if it’s on a tile or linoleum floor, simply wiping up an accident with a paper towel […]

By Katherine Ostiguy, KPA CTP|2015-12-30T15:36:01+00:00January 7, 2016|Training|2 Comments

Puppy Nipping: A Plan to Stop It

Puppy nipping is one of the most frustrating behaviors that new owners report. It hurts! But you’ll see a big reduction in puppy nipping in a short period just by getting some human cooperation.

If this is a familiar sight, it’s time for a new training plan! (Photo Credit: Renata Lima, Flickr)

Let’s start by examining why your puppy is putting his mouth on things. I don’t like to spend a ton of time pondering why a dog is doing what he’s doing, but puppy nipping is such a frustrating behavior for owners that I find it helps to consider the puppy’s point of view.

Beginning at a young age, puppies bite each other during play. This behavior starts before you bring your puppy home from the breeder or rescue organization. The puppies are play-fighting and learning their own strength. If they bite a littermate too hard, the other puppy will respond with a high-pitched yelp. This tells the biter to tone it down next time.

This is why a common nugget of advice is “If your puppy bites you, shriek in a high-pitched voice.” This sometimes causes the puppy to stop. But sometimes the puppy thinks your noises are fascinating and bites harder next time; it gets him excited and worked up!

It just depends on your puppy… and your ability to make a high-pitched puppy yelp, something most men can’t do. I prefer to use methods that work more reliably. Here is the plan we use with our clients, as well as in our Puppy Day School program.

Step One

Institute a new house rule: everyone interacting with the puppy is “armed” with a soft, biteable toy. It should be long enough […]

By Katherine Ostiguy, KPA CTP|2015-11-23T02:27:07+00:00November 23, 2015|Helpful Hints, Puppies, Training, Tutorials and How-To Guides|Comments Off