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[SCARS Dog Of The Week] Meet Denver

Denver

Denver is a very very sweet boy with a friendly and outgoing nature. He loves learning new things and is very clever. Denver will easily fit into any home.

Breed: Hound Crossbreed Age: 2 years Sex: Male Dog Friendly? Yes Child Friendly? Yes Cat Friendly? Unknown

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[SCARS Dog Of The Week] Meet Taya

Taya Taya is an absolute darling with most  relaxed and easy-going personality out there. She is young, very people-orientated and will fit into most homes easily. Breed: Shar Pei x Age: 3 years Sex: Female Dog Friendly? No Child Friendly? …

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[SCARS Dog Of The Week] Meet Messer

Messer Messer is a very handsome, easy going and happy fellow who just wants your company.  He does get on with other dogs but would prefer a home by himself. He has been around children and would easily fit into …

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[SCARS Dog Of The Week] Meet Zahli

Zahli Zahli is a very sweet-natured girl who is outgoing and friendly. She would be best suited to a home without other pets where she can be the centre of attention with her new forever family. Breed: American Staffy x …

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In Home Dog Training

In home dog training, obedience training, house manners and leash manners

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[SCARS Dog Of The Week] Meet Bond

Bond Bond is a happy boy, gentle and very outgoing. He is good with other dogs, eager to please and has already learnt some basic obedience! Breed: Staffy x Age: 1 year Sex: Male Dog Friendly? Yes Child Friendly? Unknown …

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[SCARS Dog Of The Week] Meet Sage

Sage Sage is a gentle and beautiful girl who is just after love. She has some basic obedience and really loves the company of humans! Breed: Staffy x Age: 2 years and 11 months Sex: Female Dog Friendly? No Child …

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How To Bandage Your Dog’s Injured Paw

Because they get exposed to numerous potential hazards whenever your dog is walking, the paws are some of the most injury prone areas on your dog’s body. Paw injuries can be in the form of cuts, scrapes, blisters (caused by …

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Training Your Dog To Walk On A Leash – How Do You Do It?

Whether you have just adopted an older dog or brought a new puppy home, you might need to introduce your new pet to a leash. It’s not only good dog etiquette to have your dog on a leash when you’re …

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How To Get Your Kids To Care For Their Dog

They will beg, and they will plead. They will promise to forever take care of the dog that you get them – and you will believe them. After the novelty of a new pet wears off, however, it often becomes …

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Taking Your Dog Camping – What You Need To Know

In most situations, vacationing with your dog is not possible for a number of reasons such as logistics, pet restrictions and practicality. Camping provides you with the perfect vacationing option that doesn’t necessitate you to leave your furry companion behind. …

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Crate Training Your Puppy – The Why And How

Crate training is the process of teaching your dog (in this case your pup) that their crate is their own special place associated with good things; where they can go to hide out when they feel uneasy or to relax when they need to.

Being den animals, like their wild cousins, the wolves, dogs have a natural tendency to feel a sense of security when they’re in a small den-like enclosure. This behaviour can be seen when dogs get scared, running to hide under a table or behind a piece of furniture.

Crate training uses this natural instinct to get your puppy used to staying in a crate for house training or to keep them out of trouble when you can’t keep a constant eye on them.

Benefits Of Crate Training

Crate training your puppy has several benefits, the key ones are:

Giving you pooch her own space where she can get comfortable and feel secure

Helping speed up house training – dogs will generally not eliminate where they sleep

Keeping your pup out of trouble when you can’t supervise him

Preventing damage to your items when you can’t keep an eye on your puppy

Getting your dog ready for when they need to be kept in a crate, for example, when they’re travelling or at the veterinarian.

The benefits of crate training your puppy are numerous, but care must be taken to ensure crating is not abused – which could easily make it a cruel practise.

Steps For Crate Training Your Puppy

You need to keep two things in mind when crate training your puppy: going into the crate should be associated with pleasant experiences; and, patience is critical – rushing could cause your dog to resent crating.

Crate training could take anywhere between a week and a month depending on the personality of your puppy.

Here’s how to crate train your puppy:

Get a good crate

A good crate should be large enough for your puppy to be able to get in and turn, stand, and stretch out comfortably. But do not get a crate that’s so large as to allow your pooch to move to another spot when they toilet in one. This will make it difficult to house train your pup.

A metal crate with a tray floor will do just fine. You could also get one that is partitionable so that you can adjust its size as your puppy grows.

Make sure the crate is comfy enough by placing your puppy’s bedding on the crate’s floor. It might help to cover the crate with a light blanket to create the illusion of a den.

Introduce your pup to the crate

You should place the crate in a location that’s frequented by people such as the living room, kitchen, or bedroom so that your puppy doesn’t feel isolated. You want going into the crate to be a positive experience, so don’t force your puppy in. Just leave it open and let them explore it by themselves out of curiosity.

You can entice him to get in by putting his favourite treats inside; or better yet, by placing a puzzle toy or a Kong toy stuffed with treats inside the crate. Place the treat further into the crate each time until you pup goes all the way inside.

Repeat this until your pooch can go into the crate comfortably without hesitation. Reward your puppy each time they go inside with a treat and a short praise like “good!” or “Yes!”

Feed your puppy inside the crate

Once you puppy is fine going into the crate, start shutting the door for short periods (just a few seconds at the beginning) while your dog plays with their toy or enjoys their treat inside. Extend this time gradually until you can get them to stay for about ten minutes while they’re preoccupied.

Serve their regular meals inside the crate as a way to extend their in-crate time. Depending on your puppy, there might not be any protest – but some may start whining when you lock them in. Open the door and let them out when they do. Make sure to stay close when she is inside the crate so that you pup doesn’t get anxious.

Extend crate time

When the puppy is comfortable staying in the crate for longer durations, you need to ensure that he stays calm inside the crate even after he finishes his food or treats.

Because you don’t want to be feeding them all the time while they’re in the crate, start leaving them a while longer with just their toy after they’re done eating. You can give treats periodically, but make sure to stay close to the crate.

After the pup is fine with this, start moving away from the crate – each time creating more distance but still remaining in the room. If your pup starts whining, get back closer until they stop and then move back away.

Next, do some activities in the same room like working on your computer or cleaning while your puppy’s in the crate. Get them used to stationary activities like reading or eating, and activities with motion like cleaning or cooking. Ignore whining noises if any and pop-back periodically to give a treat.

Leave the room

Once your dog is ok with you being away from the cage but in the same room, now start going to other rooms but still staying inside the house. Again, ignore noises and drop-by periodically to give a treat. Reduce the treats gradually until you no longer have to give them.

You can start to pair a cue with the action of going into the crate such as “go to bed” or “in your crate” so that you can call up the action easily in the future.

Take your pup out to eliminate each time you take them out of the crate so that they can associate toileting with being taken outside after crating.

Crating your puppy overnight and when leaving the house

After your puppy is ok with you leaving the room while they’re locked in their crate, then you can start leaving the house. Keep it short initially, a few minutes, tops, and increase the time gradually.

Don’t make a fuss when you’re going out or coming in. crate your dog a few minutes – up to 20 minutes – before you leave and take him out a few minutes after you’re back. This will help ensure your dog doesn’t associate crating with you leaving or returning home.

When keeping your pooch in a crate at night, make sure you’re in the same room at first so that you can monitor their reaction and act accordingly. You can keep your puppy in a separate room later when they’re more used to crating. Remember never to leave your pup in the crate for more than 2-3 hours without taking them out to toilet – even at night.

The trick to crate training your puppy is ensuring you don’t leave them in the crate for longer than they can handle. 2-3 hours is the ideal time to crate a fully trained puppy before letting them out to play or toilet.

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Keeping Your Dog Healthy – A Beginners Guide

In this beginner’s guide for keeping your dog healthy, read about dog ownership for newbies, how to prepare your home to be dog ready and dog safe and get top tips for keeping your furry companion physically and mentally healthy.

Jump To: How do I prepare my home? What tips do I need to keep my dog healthy?

Owning a dog is a wonderful and rewarding experience. Few things can beat the feeling of arriving home to an excited tail-wagging furry companion, and owning a dog is beneficial to people of any age and background. And while a dog will definitely inundate you with joy and love, owning one does come with numerous responsibilities and even a couple of challenges to boot.

For new pet parents like yourself who might still be in the honeymoon phase of dog ownership, you will quickly realise that there’s quite a bit more that goes into keeping your furry companion in good health than you might have figured. That’s because your new four-legged companion will need to be provided with nutrition, care, love and entertainment for the rest of its life.

Although there’s quite a bit of work to be done to keep your mutt healthy and happy, you’ll be glad to discover that the potential drawbacks will be dwarfed by the benefits once you get into it.

First Things First – Preparing Your Home

If you’re planning on getting a dog or have just adopted one, getting your home ready for your new housemate is the first thing you need to do if you haven’t already. You will need to dog-proof your home to ensure your dog does not suffer any harm or cause any damage. You should:

Cover and secure electrical cables around the home.

Keep your socks, shoes and anything else that dogs can chew on in closets and cupboards.

Gather and store any potentially harmful chemicals in cupboards where your pet cannot access them.

Secure your trash by keeping it in lidded cans to keep your pet from scavenging through it.

Purchase the necessary dog supplies including food, food and drink bowls, collar, leash, doggy bed, dog crate, safe toys, identification tags and disposable doggy waste bags.

Additionally, if your dog will be living with you and your family, you will need to establish some responsibilities as well as a couple of house rules like which rooms the dog cannot go into, whether they can climb on furniture, and who’s responsible for walking the dog. Brief your family to ensure everybody is on the same page regarding their roles and the rules.

Top Tips For Keeping Your Dog Healthy

Now that your home is ready and everyone concerned knows and understand their role with the dog, we can get to the nitty-gritty of keeping your pooch healthy and happy. Here are a few crucial tips to help you keep your dog healthy as you begin your dog ownership journey.

Monitor your dog’s health from the start. Like humans, dogs also need doctors – or veterinarians in this case. Do some research online or ask for recommendations from friends to find a good vet in your area to help out with your dog’s medical issues. Ideally, you should research and find a good vet even before your new pet arrives home; if you haven’t yet, you need to do it immediately.One of the first things you need to do for your new furry companion is taking them to the vet for their initial visit. This is especially important for puppies who might not have had any veterinary care before.

Your vet will check your dog for any disease symptoms – including checking for parasites such as worms – and administer any vaccines required to keep your dog from catching common canine diseases. If you wish, you could also have your dog implanted with an identification chip and desexed for breeding control while at the vet’s office.

Provide your dog with proper nutrition. Dogs, just like people, need to be kept on a nutritious diet to maintain good health. While dogs can feed on just about anything – including human food – it’s recommended that you invest in high-quality commercial dog food as it’s developed to suit their systems and provide all the nutrition they require to stay healthy.Consult your veterinarian on the type of food you should feed your dog as well as the number of meals you should provide them with. Usually, a mature dog will require to be fed twice per day. The number of meals required will increase up to six for puppies that have smaller digestive systems and require more energy for growth.

Get your dog into a feeding routine as this will also help you with house training for your furry friend – dogs usually need to go to the bathroom about half an hour after they eat. Avoid human food as much as possible as this can cause health or weight problems with your pet.

But food is not the only thing dogs need to survive. Make sure your mutt is properly hydrated by giving it adequate water. Ensure your dog has got access to water at all times so that they can drink when they feel thirsty.

Keep the pests away. Because of its fur, your dog is a magnet for pests; the most common ones being ticks and fleas. These pests, if not prevented, will affect both your pet and your family – so it’s best to keep them at bay.You can keep your dog free of pests by cleaning its coat regularly, preferably with a shampoo that repels pests such as anti-flea shampoo. Most dogs will only require to be bathed at least once every month, but this will depend on your dog’s breed and activities. Inspect your dog’s coat for pests, especially ticks, which you should remove carefully so as not to cause your pet any harm.

Additionally, you should keep your dog’s fur trimmed if it’s a hairy breed. All dogs should have their fur brushed regularly to keep it untangled and debris free. Also, make sure to trim your dog’s nails as these could irritate its paws if left unattended. Be careful not to cut the nail’s inner part (called the quick) as it is alive and could irritate your pooch.

Help your dog keep fit through exercise. Your furry friend, just like yourself, needs to keep fit through exercise for optimum health. The amount of exercise required by your dog will depend on its breed, with some requiring more exercise to burn energy than others.Your dog requires to have at least one long walk each day or two small ones. This is especially important if your home does not have an enclosed yard where you can release the dog and let it run around freely. Games such as fetch can also be used while you are walking your dog to make the exercise routine a bit more intense for your dog.

Socialise and play with your dog. Dogs are pretty smart creatures which makes maintaining their mental health all the more important. Provide your dog with mental stimulation by playing with it and socialising it with other humans as well as other dogs. Introduce your companion to many different people, dogs, sounds, sights and smells to ensure they’re mentally well adjusted.Let your dog be a dog by allowing it to play and express behaviours normally associated with that particular type of breed. If your scent hound loves following scents, let it sniff away once in a while! You could even make a game out of it.

You can also keep your dog stimulated and entertained by providing training. Use a reward-based training for about 10-20 minutes twice a day depending on your dog’s concentration span. This not only prevents boredom but also helps you bond with your pet friend.

Finally, remember to always treat your new pet companion with love and respect and exercise patience especially in the initial days of your relationship. Sometimes it takes a while for dogs to adjust to a new environment. Otherwise, enjoy your new pet!

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Tips for Travelling With Your Dog

Dogs have become such a huge part of our lives that most people wouldn’t even dream of leaving their dog at home while they go on vacation.  Leaving your dog behind at home means that you need to find someone to care for them or leave them with a kennel.  The kennel option can be expensive for daily costs because of the requirement of having all shots up to date.  Here are some tips for going away with your dog:

Transportation Options

Flying on a plane?

Check with the airline in advance to determine any excess baggage fees, requirements and breed restrictions.

Make sure that your crate meets guidelines and put a familiar blanket and toy inside for your dog.

You may want to speak to your veterinarian about a sedative to give to your dog before you check him into cargo.  Medicating your dog is not recommended, unless your dog is extremely anxious.

Some airlines will not fly an animal in their cargo in extreme hot or cold weather because the temperature in the cargo hold is extreme too.

Driving in a car?

It is important to take plenty of rest stops to allow your dog to have bathroom breaks.

Stop at green spaces if you are going for a long drive so that you and your pooch can stretch and exercise.  Bring your dog’s favourite toys to play fetch with or take a walk together.

Pack the necessary items you will need along the way including poop bags, a collar and leash and any vaccination and ID tags that should be affixed to the collar.

There won’t always be water readily available where you need to stop, so bring a container full of water and something to pour it into.

Purchase a seat cover or place a blanket on the seat if you want to protect your car seats.  If your dog is going to be in the back of your car, install an approved safety barrier to keep the dog in the back.

Bring your dog’s bedding so that they always have the familiar smell home with them when they travel to new places.

Bring your pet insurance information with you (if you have some) in case you need to visit a veterinarian on your travels.

Pack your dog’s water and food dishes and bring enough food for the trip, particularly if your dog enjoys a specialized diet and you cannot purchase the food anywhere else.

If you plan on taking a long trip in a car and your dog has not had much experience riding in a car, it is a good idea to get them acclimatized.  Take several short trips around your local area and get your dog used to the idea of riding in the back of the car.

If your dog gets car sick easily, you will want to refrain from feeding them before your trip.  Ensure that you have a decent amount of time (overnight) out of the vehicle and feed your dog then.

Never leave your dog inside a hot vehicle.  In the summertime the heat inside of your car can reach astronomical levels that will kill your dog.  If you have to go somewhere where you can’t take your dog to a local pet sitter if possible.  Some accommodations offer this type of service, so it is a good idea to find out in advance.

Driving a truck?

If your dog will be in the back of your truck they should be in a crate that is protected from the wind and weather.  If the weather is hot, make sure that there is shade that the dog can lie in.  Never place a crate in direct sunlight.

Be sure that the crate is secured inside the box of the truck.   There should be ventilation holes on the sides of the crate.

Never leave a dog in the box of a truck loose (not in a crate).  It is dangerous for a dog to not be secured because he can jump out of the box and hurt himself.

Other Tips

Bring a squeegee to remove dog hair from carpets.   If your dog sheds a lot the hotel carpet is going to be caked in hair.

Keep your dog in a crate while you move around the hotel room.  Your scent should be all over the room before your dog comes into it.

Never leave your dog unattended in a hotel room or anywhere.  Dogs bark and become anxious and can disturb other guests.   A bad experience such as this can turn a dog-friendly hotel into a non-dog-friendly hotel.

Walk your dog and run him if possible so that he will be played out and ready to sleep once you get into your hotel room.

Take your dog for a health check before a long trip to ensure that he is fit for the trip.  If your dog takes medication, be sure to bring it along so that you have it on hand to give to him on a regular basis.

If your dog is not crate-trained, put him inside the crate for short periods of time and don’t use a negative tone or make it seem like it is a punishment.  Put blankets and a treat inside so that your dog will look forward to going into the crate.

Consider a permanent means of identification such as a microchip.  If your dog runs off it may be difficult to recover him, especially in unfamiliar surroundings.

A dog crate should be sturdy, with adequate ventilation and should be clearly labelled with stickers that say “live animals”.

Travelling with your dog can be an amazing experience, but it takes some preparation.  Make certain that you have all of the things that your dog needs before you leave home.  Your dog needs a lot of exercise, so don’t keep him cooped up in a hotel room or a car without regular walks.  If you make the trip fun your dog will enjoy himself as much as you do.

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Tips For Keeping Your Pet Calm In Thunderstorms

Thunderstorm season can be stressful for certain people and for their pets.  If your pet gets stressed out during a thunderstorm it can be stressful for everyone in the household.  What can you do to keep your pet calm and reassure him or her?  We have several tips for you that we hope are helpful and relieve some of the stress during these natural occurrences:

Keep your pet inside the house when there is a thunderstorm happening outside. If your pet is outside then they are going to panic and may run off somewhere.  This can lead to many different and tragic scenarios.

Pay some attention to your pet but be careful not to “cuddle” them because this can help to encourage their fear. This can make the situation worse because you are teaching your pet that their fear is justified.

Keep your pet in an enclosed and insulated area. This will help them to feel safe and protected from the storm that is happening outside.

Offer your pet plenty of fun activities to keep them busy if you are not going to be home. Leave a few treats too.

Purchase a Thundershirt, a pressure blanket or some type of wrap. These items “swaddle” your pet and help to calm anxiety and other stress reactions.

Act like all is normal. Your pet will notice if you are feeling anxious during a thunderstorm and will react to it.

Offer a “safe haven”. This could be an area that is under a bed or in a closet.  Place a towel or blanket there and some toys so that your pet knows that he or she is welcome to hide out there and ride out the storm.

Cover up the noise. Run a fan or humidifier to drown out the noise or make it less noticeable.   A TV or radio may be a bad choice because the reception can cut out during a storm.  A DVD or other type of pre-recorded program could be a good choice.

Make sure your pet is wearing a collar with up to date ID tags so that if they do escape they can be returned to their rightful owner. Microchips are a good option.

Bake something in the over to mask the common smells that occur during a storm.

Download soothing therapy music for dogs if you have a dog.

Offer positive reinforcement when your pet is calm. Give them a reward for being quiet and not reacting to what is going on outside, the same as you would if they did a trick or a good behaviour.

If your pet has extreme reactions to bad thunderstorms, speak with your veterinarian. The veterinarian could provide specific suggestions because they are familiar with your pet.  In the most extreme cases they may even prescribe anti-stress medication to help calm your pet.

When you know that a storm is approaching, prepare in advance by making certain that your pet has a safe place to weather the storm.  Stock up on treats and other items that you may need during this stressful time.

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How To Stop Your Puppy Being A Fussy Eater:

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