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Preventing problems in puppies helps develop good dogs
By Pet Connection Staff
May 26, 2009
What’s the secret to a great dog? The lessons he learns when he’s a puppy! From Gina Spadafori and Dr. Marty Becker in this week’s Pet Connection newspaper feature:
Puppies need structure, consistency and lots of positive reinforcement. But more than anything, they need your time. Every minute with a puppy spent training, socializing and preventing problems will save you time and aggravation down the road.
Teach your puppy to get things right from the start by removing opportunities for undesirable behavior, such as limiting your pup’s access to areas where he can chew things you’d rather he leave alone. Keep him where he can’t get into much trouble, and give him a toy to chew on instead. Don’t forget to praise him for making the right decision — even if the right choice was the only one offered.
In training, stick to the positive. Use praise and treats to motivate and reward your puppy as he learns the basic building blocks of good behavior.
Get more tips on how to raise a great puppy here.
Does your cat wear a collar?
More than a few cat owners won’t collar their pets, fearing that the material will become caught while the animal’s roaming. That seems especially true of people with indoor cats, who are certain their cats will never slip out.
If your cat isn’t collared, consider this: Less than 2 percent of all lost cats are ever found, according to the National Council of Pet Population Study and Policy. While free-roaming cats are obviously more likely to be lost, even indoor pets can get out. These cats are truly fish out of water outside, since they don’t know the neighborhood and will have a hard time finding their way home if they wander very far.
One solution to providing pets with safer collars is to use breakaway collars with a slide-on tag. Breakaway collars offer an elastic panel or quick-release clasp meant to allow a cat to escape the collar if snagged. Slip-on tags such as those made by Boomerang will put some ID on the collar without leaving anything dangling and in danger of catching on something.
No matter if your cat has access to the outdoors or not, the best insurance you can buy to increase your pet’s safety is a tag and a collar to put it on. For more protection, have your veterinarian give your cat a microchip ID — and be sure to register your information.
Dr. Marty Becker and Mikkel Becker Shannon have a warning for pet owners about poisoning:
The top 10 plants responsible for poisoning dogs and cats, according to a 2008 analysis of claims to the Veterinary Pet Insurance Co., were: raisins and grapes, mushrooms, marijuana, lily, walnuts, onion, sago palm, macadamia nuts, azalea and hydrangea. For more information, visit petinsurance.com or the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center.
Plus: Dealing with pet weight problems; potty tips for puppies; pet-friendly travel. All this and more, in our Pet Connection newspaper feature, which you can read right here.
You can also see it exactly the way we send it to our client newspapers here. (PDF)
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All of my cats were bought lovely breakaway colars. Three out of the six have figured out that they ‘breakaway’ and expertly remove the offensive piece of neck jewlery. They’ll rub up against a chair corner, or the edge of the stairs, hook the collar with the edge and then pull. It takes a few tries, but they do manage to remove the collar. They also tend to help one another in these situations — the only time they seem to cooperate with one another.
I resorted to having them all microchipped, and only having three cats wear collars.
Comment by Shauna — May 26, 2009 @ 7:05 am
I’d say that the average time a breakaway collar lasted on one of our cats, complete with Boomerang tags, was 48 hours. I found them a couple of times, but then they vanished.
I then tried a close-fitting stretchable collar on our neutered tom cat, who was the most prone to go out and about. The third time he came in with it over his lower jaw from trying to pull it off was the end of that.
At this point, everyone is microchipped, we make sure everyone is accounted for at some point during the day (easier because we both work at home) and serve a wet food “dinner” at the same time each day.
I understand the issue of lost cats not getting home, but, for us the collars were a non-starter and not for lack of trying.
Comment by Susan Fox — May 26, 2009 @ 9:55 am
I’m thinking maybe my cats aren’t as smart as everyone else’s. I’ve lost one collar per cat per year … and I always have a back-up ready, with a Boomerang tag on it.
This is the one I get:
http://www.arcatapet.com/item.cfm?cat=9679
Comment by Gina Spadafori — May 26, 2009 @ 9:59 am
I totally agree about pups. If the unwanted behaviors never get into their vocabulary to begin with, then as adults they have a lovely clean base to grow from… So many year-old dogs on Craigslist: Been left in the backyard, not housetrained, not fixed, never walked on a leash, hysterical for any attention, that are now needing homes because nobody “has time for them”. UGH. So, what do these unmanaged dogs know how to do? Bark for hours, jump up on people, knock kids over, leg-hump, trash-can wrangle, dig, etc and oh, boy, let’s get a nice home for you now! So, so sad that “benign neglect” of young animals is widely tolerated. Good for Dr. Becker for getting the idea out there, as basic as it is. Make your investment of time and management up-front and your dog’s adulthood will be so much more carefree. I really need to stop looking for a 2nd dog on Craigslist, it’s such a bummer.
Comment by Bonnie Story — May 26, 2009 @ 10:32 am