“A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.” Josh Billings (1818-1885, US Humorist)

This morning I was driving along a busy street, in a fog, sipping strong tea when I saw the geese. I have come to think of geese as very large rats with wings. The outlying Chicagoland area is so infested with these birds that you have to be careful where you step. The best thing I can normally say about them is that it’s fun for the dogs to run them off, and I frequently use the cantankerous fowl as distractions. When you can call a six month old pet Lab off a flock of geese, I figure you have a recall.

Now I never said geese were stupid. That has never been my opinion. They seem to know it is more likely they will be harassed by dogs on my property than on my neighbor’s. Therefore, they avoid my grass. Or perhaps they just have an aversion to dog urine. Either way, we’ve reached an understanding.

Frankly, with the vast numbers of them around, I never understood why we weren’t eating them. Then I saw the pair of geese along the road.

One was lying dead on the median. The second was crossing two lanes of busy traffic. Cars were whizzing past the live goose, back drafts unbalancing it. But it waddled on, unaware or unconcerned of the hazard. That goose appeared to have one single minded purpose…reach its unmoving mate.

Before I continue, let me emphasize that I am not a scientist, geneticist, nor a zoologist. I am a dog trainer. I am well read, and most of what I believe comes from what I have read combined with what I observe. Can one even be a good dog trainer without keen powers of observation, reading and interpreting what one sees?

Geese, as most people know, mate for life. Their bond is undoubtedly instinctual, a product of natural selection in which strongly bonded pairs must have a greater likelihood of successfully raising young, thereby propagating the species. If the gene succeeds, the gene continues.

Sounds simple doesn’t it?

But it got me to thinking about the nature of bonding. And of course, that got me to thinking about dogs, and the nature of their bond to humans. While it has been proven that a duck will “imprint” on and follow a human if it is the first thing it sees after hatching, I think of “imprinting” and “bonding” as two different things.

Imprinting is a simple instinct stamped into the brain that dictates the duckling will follow its mother. She is likely to lead that duckling to sources of food and shelter. This increases the offspring’s chances of surviving infancy, reaching sexual maturity, mating, and propagating the species. Again, the gene succeeds, the gene continues.

But what is bonding?

I think of it as something more complex. Something more bound to social order. Instinctual? Probably. Still related to survival? Definitely. But still complex.

Dogs in the wild, since their earliest descendants, understand social order and collaborative hunting. A well ordered pack of wolves can successfully hunt, shelter, raise offspring, and pass on their genes. A pack suffering from social strife will not have clear leadership or collaboration, and will eventually die.

Dogs understand this on a genetic level. It is why a properly socialized dog understands how to communicate with other dogs using their species’ unique and understandable body language. It is why we, as dog trainers, are sometimes described as being able to “read” dogs. We’re simply recognizing attitude and thoughts, and yes, even emotions, by interpreting body language. And that is precisely what allows us to shape dog behavior by using our own body language to clearly show a dog what we want from them.

But why do dogs CARE about what we want from them? That is the question that has both mystified and thrilled me ever since I got my first dog at the age of 11. Why is a dog willing to be trained? Why do they thrive on it in fact? Why is a dog remotely interested in what we want from them?

A cow doesn’t much care. So we eat them. Most horses I have known and ridden will yield to humans, but they seem to me to prefer their own company to mine when given a choice. But because they yield to us, and helped us form our nation, as a culture, we’re horrified at the idea of eating them.

Wolves, I am told, are canids whose behavior can be somewhat modified by men. But they will generally return to behaviors for which they are genetically programmed, regardless of what training they have had.

So what is it about dogs? Why do they care about what we want? Why did my first dog remember and perform his utility signals exercise into his dotage, way after deafness, strokes and until shortly before he died at seventeen and a half?

His name was Gus. He was a Sheltie born April 29, 1969. He came to me in a dream several years ago and he spoke to me in words that did not come out of his mouth, but which I heard in my head. These are the exact words of the interchange.

“Where are you?” he asked, intense in his sadness.

“I’ll come to you one day,” I told him.

“But I have been waiting so long,” he said.

“Because it’s not my time yet,” I told him. “But I will come.”

He paused, but only briefly.

“I’ll wait for you,” he said.

“Find Bobbi and Frannie,” I said. “They are Greyhounds They are mine too, and they will know you. They will wait with you.”

“I will,” he said, and he left me slowly, reluctantly, at my bidding. I woke up crying, as I cry now recounting the experience.

I have always known that dogs care about us on the deepest possible levels but only recently did I put together my own concept of why. I think it was that dream of Gus. I told you he spoke to me in words. The words did not come from his mouth. They came from his mind into mine. But they had a voice. And that voice was my own.

 My waiting dog spoke to me in my own voice. We love our dogs. But they adore us on a level beyond love. They are what we ask them to be, becoming part of us if we ask them to. I think Gus came to me that night, or perhaps my unconscious summoned him, because I was finally ready to understand the answer to my long held question.

Dogs care about what we want from them because, when led properly by man, they consider us to be more than their pack mates. We provide more than food, shelter and more than comfort. We provide dogs what the concept of God provides to us, a sense of meaning, comfort, a sense of purpose, a sense that we are not alone.

Dogs do not love us. They worship us. But not from afar. They live with their gods. They worship us from the foot of our beds, they adore us as they look at us, and they long for us even as we touch them.

Trained dogs submit and yield to this worship readily. It satisfies them on a level which humans with our questioning mentalities may not fully comprehend. The faith of a dog, particularly a trained dog, is absolute. He never questions or has a crisis of faith. He doesn’t believe. He knows.

Have you ever noticed that after putting a dog through even a basic course of obedience, other behaviors change for which you have not trained? If you do your work artfully, the dog gives up undesirable behaviors without even being commanded.

This occurs because the dog always knew his owner didn’t like the behaviors. After all, they grumped and yelled when he did it. He simply didn’t care. He felt no particular compulsion to give up a treasured behavior such as jumping on guests.

But when a dog is trained, he learns to look at his humans in a whole new way. He learns that the bond has more meaning that he ever knew before. He learns that he no longer has to make every decision for his life. It’s not satisfying to a dog to pull on the leash and be out of control. Yet, if that behavior is all he knows, he’ll do it over and over. I now see that behavior as a cry for help, the way the dog shows his profound need for leadership.

But once the dog has learned to yield his decision making to a human, a bond between dog and handler is formed that knows no limits of depth. So why do dogs care about what we want? Why are they willing to do what we ask of them if we can only show them clearly what we want? Why will they yield their willpower to ours?

They do it for the love of man. They do it because they love us more than they love themselves.

Is it genetic? The gene succeeds so the gene continues? Probably. But I think it’s more than that. I think the dog has a void that only we humans can fill. Even those of us who succeed the most with dogs don’t quite have the same love for dogs that they have for us. We can’t. We don’t have that gene. But we can understand and honor the dog’s need for leadership.

We can bring a dog to a place where his need for us is absolute yet doesn’t destabilize the independent nature of his being. Lest you take from my words the idea that I am a tree hugging dog spiritualist, I will tell you flat out that I am not. I am a dog trainer. I both correct and reward my dogs. That’s pretty much the way life treats me.

The ultimate reward for us both is a bond during the dog’s lifetime that exceeds any other comfort he can ever know. And after the dog’s death, he brings a form of comfort that some, like me, have not known before.

Someone is waiting. Someone who loves me more than he loves himself.

Watch the video related to Dog Day Care

This virtual tour of Minnesota School of Business’ Rochester campus (rochester.msbcollege.edu ) shows you the veterinary technology lab, operation room, massage therapy clinic lab, health fitness lab, medical assistant facilities, Mac and PC computer labs, and more. Minnesota School of Business – Rochester offers offers accredited masters, bachelors and associate degrees and diplomas on campus and online to students in south-eastern Minnesota and beyond, including Zumbrota, Pine Island, Plainview, Kasson, Byron, Stewartville, Chatfield, Spring Valley, St. Charles, Austin, Winona, Owatonna, Faribault and Northfield.

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Marc Goldberg, CDT -
About the Author:

Marc Goldberg, CDT is a certified dog trainer specializing in the rehabilitation of difficult dogs and improving relationships. He is President of the International Association of Canine Professionals (IACP) and Editor of SafeHands Journal. The author also educates professional dog trainers in his techniques. Visit him on the web at http://www.trainingdogsinchicago.com or http://www.chicagodogtrainer.com.

Dog behavior training is very important in preventing aggression and teaching dogs to interact properly with their handlers, other members of the family and other pets. You need to understand how to train your dog properly so that it will be the devoted, loyal and loving companion that you desire.

The original dogs were probably orphaned wolf pups that were adopted by human centuries ago. These wild dogs learnt to perform behaviors that their human handlers taught, such as guarding the cave or scaring predators. In exchange, human probably provided them with food, shelter and protection.

This relationship still exists and of course, dogs can still perform valuable jobs, including herding, guarding property, people and livestock, and others for their human handlers.

The hierarchy
It is important to know that dogs are pack animals. In the wild, packs are formed and there is a hierarchy in this “society”. The hierarchy or structure remains unchanged, unless there is death or injury to the alpha dog. The alpha dog is the leader and the pack does not challenge its leader.

Hence, to train your dog properly, you need to become the alpha dog. Only then will your dog respect you and will follow your commands without question. This respect forms the basis of all subsequent training.

In today’s lifestyle, there are many advantages from training your dog into a well-mannered and obedient dog. For starters, the puppy or dog will be fun to be with. In addition, a well-mannered dog puts everyone’s mind at ease, especially dogs with negative image such as the Doberman, Rottweiler and Pit Bull.

Puppy and dogs have inherent bad behaviors and it is also important for you to understand the factors behind these unwanted behaviors. For example, chewing and destroying furniture may be a sign of separation anxiety. Once you know the root of the problem, you are already taking the first step to eliminating dog behavior problems.

Understanding dog behavior
Some dogs exhibit unwanted behaviors because of stress and its inability to copy with that stress. A good dog training program will teach the dog to tolerate greater levels of stress without becoming a problem animal.

It is easy to confuse human behavior with dog behavior. Although some dog owners may see their dogs as almost human, it is important to understand that dogs and humans have very different motivations and reactions to similar situations.

However, humans and dogs do have a common trait… and that is the need to form close social bonds and groups. Bonding is an important element to both humans and dogs. As the adage goes, “No man’s an island”. The saying probably applies to dogs as well!

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More to come in this description box. But this video is of the beginning steps of how to train your dog to love being left alone as well as how to set up a error free environment to leave your new puppy in. This video is low quality 1-because its so long, but I wanted you to get a sense of “real time” from it, rather than a slick 3 min tutorial- which will be coming as well going over all the steps and problem shooting 2- because I had to use a different camera because Frys Electronics screwed up MY video camera! dog training clicker training whining barking crate pen how to stop seperation anxiety home visit clicker training a new chihuaua chihuahua puppy rescue

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John Lim -
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More Free Dog Training Tips at DogTrainingArtist.com
Visit our website now for FREE dog training resources, information and dog training ebooks.

There are many choices when it comes to rewarding your dog with a treat for obeying your commands, and these treats make a big difference in your dog’s attitude towards you in learning new tricks, and why wouldn’t they? To get anything in life you have to give something back and dogs are no different, you help them and they’ll help you. Simple.

But what are the best rewards and treats to give your dog in times of good behavior? Well for starters you won’t be short of treats to try, the markets as it is now is full to the brim of all the fancy rewards and treats you could ever think of.

One of the favourite for dog owners is to treat their dog to homemade treats from recipes that can be found across the internet in many places, some of my favourites and personal recommendations are listed in the products page of www.dog-behavior-training.co.uk along with other tips on dog training there.

Consumer products are also a good choice when rewarding your dog; these include chewing toys which can be very rewarding for puppies and dogs alike. Saving one of their favourite toys for when they behave well makes everything more exciting for your dog and causes them to want to perform more for this reward.

If a chew toy is not to your dogs liking then they may instead enjoy a tug toy, tug toys are good for your dog’s teeth the same as chew toys are and it enhances the relationship between you and your dog as you play with them. Be careful while using these toys as some dogs may think of this game as good behaviour and will start tugging on trousers or other annoying or destructive things.

The last toys I am going to talk about are the throwing toys; these are good to calm your dog down when they are over active or if you just want to reward your dog with quality playing time for their good behavior. These toys range from a simple tennis ball to special durable dog Frisbees and help you to react with your dog wile also training playing the ‘fetch’ game.

There are lots more dog toys available, probably at your local pet shop. It is a good idea to keep in mind what textures and current toys your dog likes to play with or chew before making your choice but as long as your dog enjoys it, it can be used as a good reward and training method.

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Here’s an easy method that you can use to stop your dog from jumping on friends and family. Don’t forget to rate this video, leave comments and subscribe to my channel. You can also get my FREE ebook “101 Ways To Improve Your Dog’s Behavior” at: www.amazingdogtrainingman.com

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For more information visit our dog training website at this link… Dog Training

Many animal lovers fall in love with dogs since they are considered as faithful and loving pet. They take the dogs as their pet and they treat them as their own children. If you decide to have a dog as your pet, there are many things that you need to concern so that the dogs can grow well, healthy and well-trained.

If you want to buy puppy, you can check pug puppies for sale. You can see the puppy pictures on that site and decide your choice. If you have just brought in a puppy to be the new member of your family, the most important thing that you should pay attention is the dog health. The puppy is fragile to diseases especially if you bought it from the breeder. That’s why the puppy needs routine check-ups and shots to maintain their health and immune system. You need to take the puppy to veterinarian so that you will find out right away if the puppy has a health problem. While, you are in veterinarian, you can ask him the good nutrition that you can give to your puppy so that it can grow well. Good nutrition is important to its growing development so that it can reach dogs life expectancy. Beside its health, you need to concern on its training. You need to become the master and the leader so that it will obey you.

Be a good master for your dog and it will be your best friend forever.
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We all love our dogs, and this alone is a good enough reason to care for our dog, but there are many other reasons that we should all offer dog care to our pets, for example the health and happiness of our dog is the first thing to be noticed, and secondly learning how to provide this dog care yourself will increase your relationship and bond no end.

There are many online resources for dog care available, but I would like to show you a few extracts from a book that has everything rolled into one on the way of dog grooming and explain how to´s, techniques, tips and an explanation of the benefits for you and you dog that can be obtained through correct dog care at home.

We all know that there is more to dog care than a brush through there coat – although this is an important part of dog care I would like to drawer your attention to other areas and activities that can result in the mentioned benefits and play a great part in dog care;

Eyes and Ears –

Once you have mastered grooming the coat you can move on to the next stage of grooming, caring for the eyes and ears – again this is not a difficult task, but requires a little more care than the coat. As with humans the eyes, and especially the ears are delicate organs in a dog and we have to be sure we can help our dog benefit, minimize the risks, and at the same time ensure we are not creating any danger for our pet.

Eye Care

The importance of eye care is something that many dog owners do not take into consideration as much as should be, the general eye infections suffered by dogs are caused by bacteria which has been allowed to seep into the eye, so regular cleaning is a must – also whilst cleaning will be the best opportunity to identify the most common eye problem for our pets, Conjunctivitis, this can be noticed by a redness around the eye and a greenish, or yellowish discharge…

Dental Hygiene – A part of dog care many owners omit!

Much of the dental hygiene crosses from grooming into health care, I have tried to separate the two but parts go hand in hand, however there will be another book in the series shortly that will cover health care and mouth issues in your pet deeper, for now we will try to keep with the grooming topic, and base this section around dental hygiene for a healthier, and better looking dog without too much consideration for the health issues – although these are a main factor in dental and mouth care…

And also the nails and paws are a main part of grooming when you look to dog care to show your pet you love them. Learn more about all these topics and much more with the help of ‘The Perfect Dog Grooming Guide’ which can be seen at www.Perfect-Dog-Grooming.com.

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To potty train a puppy, avoid stressing out about accidents, try crate training, and take the dog to the same spot in the yard every time. Be consistent and fair when potty training a puppy using advice from aprofessional dog trainer in this free video on puppies. Expert: Heidi Dixner Bio: Heidi Dixner is the owner of Red Rover Pet Services in Nashville, Tenn. Filmmaker: Dimitri LaBarge

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Mark Grey,
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For puppies and small dogs under 30 pounds (13.6 kg)

1. Place the dog on a flat surface, right side down.
2. Place your cupped hands on either side of the rib cage over the heart, immediately behind the point of the elbow. (For puppies, use yourthumb on one side of the chest and the rest of your fingers on the other.)
3. Compress the chest 1 inch to 11?2 inches (2.5 to 4 cm—that should be onequarter to one-third the width of the chest). Squeeze for a count of 1, then release for a count of 1. Continue at a rate of 100 compressions per minute.
4. With one-person CPR, administer a breath after every five compressions. With two-person CPR, administer a breath after every two to three compressions.

For medium and large dogs

1. Place the dog on a flat surface, right side down. Position your self behind the dog’s back.
2. Place the heel of one hand over the widest portion of the rib cage, not over the heart. Place the heel of your other hand on top of the first.
3. Keep both elbows straight and push down firmly on the rib cage. Compress the chest one-quarter to one-third of its width. Compress for a count of 1, then release for a count of 1. Continue at a rate of 80 compressions per minute.
4. With one-person CPR, administer a breath after every five compressions. With two-person CPR, administer a breath after every two to three compressions.

Continue CPR until the dog breathes on his own and has a steady pulse. If vital signs do not return after 10 minutes of CPR, the likelihood of success is remote. Consider stopping CPR.
Note that CPR has the potential to cause complications, including broken ribs and pneumothorax. Also, never practice artificial respiration or heart massage on a healthy dog; you can seriously injure the dog.

For puppies and small dogs under 30 pounds (13.6 kg)

1. Pull the tongue forward so it is even with the canine teeth. Close the dog’s mouth.
2. Place your mouth over the dog’s nose. Blow gently into the dog’s nostrils. The chest will expand.
3. Release your mouth to let the air return. Excess air will escape through the dog’s lips, preventing overinflation of the lungs and overdistension of the stomach.
4. If the chest does not rise and fall, blow more forcefully or seal the lips.
5. Continue at a rate of 20 to 30 breaths per minute (one breath every two to three seconds).
6. Continue until the dog breathes on his own, or as long as the heart beats.

For medium and large dogs

1. Proceed as for small dogs, but seal the lips by placing a hand around the dog’s muzzle to prevent the escape of air.
2. If the chest does not rise and fall, blow more forcefully.
3. The breathing rate is 20 breaths per minute (one breath every threeseconds).