DogTrainster.Com

Article Source: examiner.com
Article by: Emily Randolph

Apparently, I have the dubious title of ‘most gluttonous of the Dog House’ so I was assigned to write this piece about making holiday dog treats from scratch. I heartily stand behind the idea of homemade treats because you can control the ingredients. It’s a four-paws-up and a-tail-wagging concept. I have personally taste-tested (of course) the below recipes, and think they are all woof-a-licious.

Note: When investigating and creating your own dog biscuits, be sure there are no onions or chocolate ingredients, as both can be toxic to canines.

RECIPES:
Apple Cinnamon Doggie Biscuits
Source: DogCook.com
1 package apple, dried
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 Tablespoon parsley, freeze-dried
1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
1 cup ice water
1/2 cup Corn Oil
5 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered milk
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon corn oil

Put the apples in a food processor so those pieces are small. Combine in a bowl all of the ingredients — can add oil or water if dough is too dry. Using a rolling pin roll out dough to about 3/16″ thick (can make thinner or thicker). Using a cookie cutter – cut into shapes — place on cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for approx. 20 -25 minutes (until golden).

DAISY’S PEANUT BUTTER BISCUITS
Source: DailyDrool.com
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup quick oats - uncooked
1 cups hot water
1/4 cup olive or vegetable oil
2 eggs- lightly beaten
3 to 4 tablespoons peanut butter- smooth
2 to 3 tablespoons of your favorite nutritional supplement

Combine peanut butter, hot water, oil, and eggs in a bowl. Mix until smooth. Set aside. Combine flour, cornmeal, and oats in a separate bowl. Mix well. Pour the bowl of the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients. Mix well with hand mixer until dough forms.

Knead dough on a floured board until no longer sticky. Add flour as needed. Roll out dough to inch thickness. Cut into shape with a floured bone shape cookie cutter. Place on a lightly greased or non-stick cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes, or until firm to the touch. Remove from oven and let cool until hard. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. (Dough can be frozen for later use.)

Cheese Biscuits
Source: AllNaturalDogTreat.com
1 1/2 c. Flour
1 1/4 c. Grated Cheddar
1/4 c. Veg. Oil
4 Tbl. Water

Preheat oven 350 degrees. Cream the ingredients together, adding the water one tablespoon at a time to help bind the dough. When it begins to form a ball, roll it out on a floured surface, using cookie cutters, cut the dough into fun shapes and place on cookie sheet. Bake approx. 10 min. until lightly browned. Makes about 30 med. size biscuits.

Article Source: dogtreats.recourcesandinfo.net
Article by: Jake Poole

When training your dog some people prefer to use dog training treats to reinforce their dogs desired behaviors and when used correctly can be quite effective. There are different schools of thought on this and there are other dog training techniques, which also involve positive reinforcement like praising your dog when they repeat the correct behaviors. However a good quality-training treat will really get their attention when you want it.

A good training treat for puppies or full grown dogs is one that is soft and can be eaten very quickly typically in one gulp. In fact the smaller it is the better. Also you don’t want to use hard treats because these will leave crumbs behind. This will distract your dog which will take their attention away from you because they will be to busy looking for the crumbs that they left behind.

Some people prefer to make their own homemade treats for training. You could use cooked meat like chicken or beef and some people even use small pieces of cheese. You could probably try any one of these to find out which one really excites your dog and gets their attention.

There is also a wide selection of commercially available treats that could be used for your training sessions. Some of these commercial treats are freeze dried meat like poultry, beef, chicken liver, even bison and some are 100% grain free which is great for the dog that might have grain allergies.

When using this training technique you should always combine praise when rewarding you dog with a treat for performing the correct behavior. One thing to think about is to start shifting toward more praise as a reward than treats when your dog begins to consistently perform the correct behaviors. This will help in keeping their weight under control also.

Article Source: examiner.com
By: Jeff Millman

This is always a concern with dog guardians. Over-treating can lead to an overweight dog or intestinal difficulties if your dog is especially sensitive. Here are some tips to get your worries under control and avoid over-treating your pooch.

Calorie Bowl
This is a term that I coined in my dog training videos. This is a strategy that you can implement instantly and use daily.

1. Portion out your dog’s daily food intake into a bowl. For instance, let’s assume your dog gets two cups of dry food per day.
2. Instead of the full two cups, put 1.5 cups of food into the bowl and .5 cups of high quality treats (see Treat Suggestions below)
3. Throughout the day, grab handfuls of the contents of the Calorie Bowl and do short training sessions with your dog, or put portions of the food into Kongs or other stuffable toys
4. At the end of the day, if there is any food left, put the rest into your dog’s bowl

Use “Life Rewards”
Now that you are using the Calorie Bowl, you can also incorporate “Life Rewards” into your routine. Life rewards consist of using a variety of rewards throughout the day that you would provide for your dog anyway. If you shift your thinking a bit, you can do quick training sessions before all good things and your dog will benefit from more training. Here are some suggestions for using Life Rewards with your dog. Don’t forget a mentally stimulated dog is a happy dog!

1. Toys. If your dog loves toys, put them away until you are doing training sessions. If you keep them out all the time, your dog can quickly become bored with them and then they are less interesting and rewarding.
2. A game of tug. Dogs that love to play tug can be rewarded with this activity. Do a quick training session, play a game of tug, ask for a “drop”, do more training and then reward with another quick game of tug. Put the toy away when you are done so it is interesting the next time you use it as a reward.
3. Walk. Do a quick training session before you take your pooch for a walk.
4. Chew Toys. Giving your dog an occasional chew toy? Do a 5-minute session before he gets his chew toy.
5. Frisbee. If your dog loves to play Frisbee or chase a tennis ball or other toy, do training while you are playing. Suggestions include Drop, Sit, Down, Stay, Come, and Stop. Ask for more behaviors each time you throw the toy.
6. Running. Dogs love movement. While you are walking your dog, reward him with running or other fast movements when he performs behaviors that you ask for. For example, walk a bit, ask for a Sit, say, “Yes” and then run a bit, ask for a Stop and gently put the brakes on. Say, “Easy” walk slowly while you give praise, “Good, good, good” and then run a bit more. See my Intermediate Leash Walking Video for step-by-step instructions.

Treat Suggestions
When you are using treats, you should only use high-quality treats. “Treat” does not mean junk food. Avoid food coloring, sugar and by-products. I use mainly meat-based treats and other high-quality food items and use very small treats. As long as your dog’s system can handle the food item, you can be very creative with your food offerings. If you are not sure if your dog can handle something, give a small quantity for a few days in a row with no other changes in his diet and monitor his ability to digest the new treat.

Premium treats may seem more expensive, but usually if you calculate the cost they can be similar in price to the unhealthy well-advertised treats with the cute names and shapes that make them look like bacon, sausages or other meat products. Use small pieces of the high-quality treats and they will last a long time.

Kong You can use a variety of food items including dried liver, pasta, cheese (not every dog can process dairy), sweet potato treats, steamed chicken, dried chicken, venison jerkey, duck meat, lunchmeat (watch the salt), oyster crackers, peanut butter, etc.

As mentioned above, stuffing Kongs can be a wonderful way of making food and treats last longer and provide more mental stimulation. My new favorite Kong stuffing recipe:

1. Pasta
2. Cheese
3. Dried chicken
4. Melt cheese in microwave
5. Put in freezer overnight

Last night it took my dogs 2 hours to work their way through their frozen Kongs and then they were exhausted! Do not make the Kong too difficult for a new dog or he will get frustrated and ignore it, no matter the quality of the stuffing. Allow food to fall out easily at the beginning until he is really motivated to interact with the Kong.

Just remember, dogs need mental stimulation. If you only provide physical exercise, your dog can still be bored and possibly destructive.

Source from: blog.oregonlive.com

by Deb Wood

Sprite isn’t a quaking, cowering dog.

But she is shy.

When I picked her out, both her breeder and I thought she was an extrovert. And she is — when she’s someplace she knows well with dogs and people she likes. So, she was pushy among her litter mates and pushy here at my house.

All that changes when we walk out the door. She’s barky at other dogs because she doesn’t trust them. She pulls back from strangers’ hands because she assumes they might be trouble. (This from a dog who hasn’t had a bad day in her life.)

Interestingly, this brings me full circle. My dog Goldie, who passed away last year at the old age of 16, was a terrified, frightened, very shy dog when she came to me when she was 2 years old. Back then — pretty much a lifetime ago in the world of dog training — no one I could find knew what to do to help her. Over time, I learned, and found people who knew things I didn’t know.

All of my writing started with a book called “Help for Your Shy Dog” — which I wrote to help people who were in my situation. It’s still a big seller almost 10 years after it was published.

The lessons I learned from terrified Goldie (who was a happy if quirky dog by the end of her long life) I’m applying to Sprite.

Those lessons include:

Train your dog. The more a shy dog has a sense of normalcy, the calmer she is. Training helps immensely.

Be a leader — in a kind and gentle way. Sprite has to work for her treats (with a “sit” or other obedience command). She gets fed meals rather than free-feeding. The more she sees me as a gentle, kind, predictable leader, the more confident she will feel. The operative words are “gentle” and “kind.” No yelling, rolling the poor dog on her back, or threats. Just give her positive, happy, joyful leadership.

Expose your dog to the world. Shy dogs, like shy people, gain confidence from facing their fears and excelling in a situation. One of those activities for Sprite is the play group I talked about in Wednesday’s blog. She meets new dogs and makes friends, and that builds her confidence.

Don’t Over-do the exposure. Meeting other small, friendly dogs for a limited period of time is good for Sprite. If she were dealing with dogs that might hurt her, or doing the activity for so long that she became overwhelmed, it would make her worse.

I compare these situations to a shy child who’s asked to recite a poem in class. If she recites the poem in her friendly classroom and they cheer — she’s built confidence. If she tries to recite the poem and forgets her lines in front of a booing auditorium full of people — she’ll come out worse for the experience.

Shy dogs need to have their envelope stretched, but just a little bit at a time. They need to succeed each step along the way, just like that little girl reciting the poem.

Believe that your dog will get more confident. What I do know is that Sprite will always be a little bit wary and somewhat leery of new situations. I also know that, with training, continued careful exposure and socialization, and tons of time together, she will learn to be comfortable in places that now scare her.

In fact, in the last month I’ve had a couple of knowledgeable dog trainers remark on what a confident little dog my Sprite is. I knew that was behavior she’d learned, and it made me proud of the work my girl and I have done together.

Source from: travelguy.typepad.com

Just About Dogs
By J. Foley

Most people today are aware of the fact that obesity is becoming an epidemic worldwide.  The problems that this condition bring about have nothing to do with how one looks, but rather the fact that obesity is associated with diabetes, sleep apnea, arthritis, and a myriad of other very serious health problems.  And what is truly sad about this epidemic is that it seems to actually be affecting pets as well!  No doubt the type and amount of dog training treats that owners indulge their pets with has a lot to do with this problem.

Many owners, especially those with a new dog or new puppy, are far too eager to reward their dog with an edible treat or with table scraps, and most have very little knowledge of how dangerous this can be to a dog’s health.

If you’re an owner that may be guilty of overindulging your pet with dog training treats, what are some things you need to consider when it comes to the type and amount of treats, and what are some of your other options for rewarding your dog?  Let’s take a look at the subject of dog training treats and see what other choices you have.

For one thing, remember that dog training treats are not your only option when it comes to rewarding your dog.  Pets respond to positive attention from their owners just as much as anything else, and perhaps even more so.  Petting your dog, giving her reassuring words, and playing with her are just as rewarding as any fattening treats!  Choose some favorite toys that you and the dog can play with for a few minutes, such as a ball you can toss around or a rag that she can tussle with while you hold it.  This means that you can play with your dog for a few minutes in place of those dog training treats without having to spend hours at the dog park.

Positive attention and rewarding your dog can also mean petting and grooming as well.  Dogs enjoy being brushed if it’s done properly, and this type of physical attention when used in place of dog training treats can keep a dog calm and soothed, as opposed to making her fat!

This doesn’t mean that you need to stop using dog training treats altogether; they simply need to be used more sparingly.  Also, consider the ingredients of the treats you choose.  Some these days are nothing but fat and sugar, but if you do some shopping, you’ll find other brands that are leaner with protein and very little fat.  Dogs enjoy the taste of protein as much as they do anything else, so finding dog training treats that are made with lean meats such as chicken and turkey are just as enjoyable to your dog as any other.

If you find that your dog is becoming overweight then it’s time to rethink how and when you use dog training treats and think about other rewards instead.

Source from: americanchronicle.com

by Mailey McLaughlin

Whether your dog is just a puppy or well into adulthood, there are many things you, as a pet owner, need to be aware of. Training your dog is an important step in starting off on the right foot and teaching him obedience. All dogs - no matter how old - need some form of training so that they can be easily handled in all situations. A wise investment in your new best friend would be basic training or obedience classes that will help you to build a bond and learn to control your dog. TV shows, books, and articles abound on dog training, but tips that are truly effective are harder to come by if you don’t do the necessary research.

There are many reasons for training your dog. Training allows the dog to understand your expectations, helps him become calmer and more relaxed in all situations, in new places, and with new people, provides him with much-needed structure, makes him easier to manage, and perhaps most importantly, helps keep him out of the shelter. Unfortunately, the biggest reason that dogs are in or are returned to shelters is due to their lack of training and out-of-control behavior.

Dog Training Tips: The Necessary Commands

Because dogs thrive in packs and are naturally social, once they come to your home, they expect you to be the leader. Training your dog appropriately with a few highly effective dog training tips teaches him to follow you, understand your necessary commands, and learn to accept his place in your “pack.” To avoid problems later in life, it’s recommended that you enroll your pet in obedience and/or training classes early on, or at the very least, begin training your dog yourself, rewarding him each time he learns a new command. The following dog training tips are some of the more vital guidelines in ensuring your pet will be a well-behaved, functioning member of your family. If you have the patience and the time, here are some ways to begin training your dog at home:

* Always enforce your commands - don’t let your dog ignore a command, but most certainly reward him when he does follow it. If your dog does not follow it immediately, help him perform the command, then reward. Above all, however, do not call your dog to you and do anything negative to him when he comes. If he disobeys and you react with anger, your dog will learn to fear you and may not listen to you in the future. Attempting to integrate any other dog training tips after that may be futile.

* Reward your dog immediately when he listens. Positive encouragement in the form of treats or praise is always welcome and helps the dog learn that he is doing well at responding to what you say. During training, have treats in hand and deliver them quickly when the dog performs correctly. Don’t punish your dog or ‘rub his nose in it’ should he have an accident. When training your dog, these tips will help you avoid discouraging or even confusing your pet.

* Master one command at a time - go slowly and over time, your dog will learn the command. Don’t overload multiple commands into one training session as this approach will likely result in failure. Most experts recommend 5-10 minutes at the most for one session. You’ll need to be patient during the process of training your dog; chances are that your dog won’t respond to every command or even learn them in just a few weeks - it will take time.

* “Sit,” “Come,” “Stay,” and “Lie Down” - these are perhaps the four most important commands your dog needs to know, and all helpful dog training tips from books or your vet should cover these comprehensively. Once your dog masters them successfully, you will be able to manage him in all situations and control his behavior around other people and animals. For dogs that may like to run free, “come” is a necessary command should he manage to wriggle out of his collar and/or leash.

* Maintain solidarity with training - in family situations, make sure that everyone follows the rules with training your dog. If you’re the only one using commands and the rest of the family is ignoring certain behaviors that the dog exhibits and not re-enforcing the dog training tips you’ve been using thus far, then your one-on-one training sessions will largely be forgotten. Re-enforce commands each day as repetition is key.

* Keep it fun - this is a time to grow and bond with your pet; make training your dog fun for both of you. Once he masters the basics of these dog training tips, move on to the fun tricks, like “roll over,” “shake,” and “play dead.” Your dog will begin to look to you because you’ll have made your role clear.

Assume the Role: You are the Pack Leader

It is your responsibility to be aware and responsible for your pet - your dog relies on you to take care of him at all times. Providing him with a healthy diet, plenty of exercise, and one-on-one training will ensure that he has a long, healthy, and happy life with you. Don’t leave his behavior up to chance - you can ensure that your new best friend is obedient and happy just by integrating some of these simple dog training tips into his routine. Assume control as leader of your pack and your dog will look to you in all situations that may arise.

You are the best person when it comes to training your dog - he trusts you, after all. More importantly, training your dog will keep him safe and protected, which is something all dog owners should want.

Article Source: articlebiz.com

By: Scott Williams

As we all know,training dogs has never been easy. If not for the tools that we use in dog training we may have gone nowhere and probably rats became man’s best friend. As a dog lover, I actually shudder at the thought. And if that were the case, then there would never have been a domesticated dog and they would all be in the wilderness living like wolves. Thank God for the training tools.

One of these tools happens to be the Dog Training Treats, also known as doggie treats but for this purpose, are to be used as a training tool. Using dog training treats is also known as the reward method in dog training. Training treats are very effective in the learning phase of the training.

A pat on the head may be sufficient for some dogs who has shown good behavior, other dogs may need a little incentive to consistently respond to our commands. Treats thus become an excellent way to reinforce desired behavior if they are used properly.

Using dog training treats is one of the most positive and encouraging ways to train your dog to behave in an acceptable manner. This is a better alternative to other training methods that use violence and physical punishment. The dog training treats method is used together with a lot of praising for something the dog has learned and done well.

Using training treats also gives your dog something to look forward to during these training sessions. They are always happy to receive these treats from you and they don’t even know it’s a learning process.

It is important to note that in using training treats the reward must be given to the dog immediately. Otherwise the dog might believe that it is being rewarded for another thing that he has done rather than the behavior that we want rewarded.

Consistency should also be practiced by the owner and all members of the family that interact with the dog. The same commands should be used by all so as not to cause the dog some confusion. It also means that we should reward the desired behavior and not the unwanted ones.

For the dog training treats to be fully effective, always use treats that your dog really likes. Something enticing and irresistible to him. It should be small and soft, something that he could gulp down immediately. Something from your refrigerator can be used as treats like small pieces of hotdog, cheese, cooked chicken and beef have proven effective. While others prefer to purchase small soft commercial dog treats that are readily available.

Most dogs prefer the food treats but some of them respond to toy treats rather than the former. In the same way, give your dog their favorite toy every time he has done good in the training process.

There are two ways in using training treats. First as a reward for a desired behavior, and second as a motivator, in the class of the carrot and stick method, to induce a certain behavior.

Using training treats is an enjoyable learning experience for the dog and his owner/trainer. But full knowledge of using training treats is essential. If used in an improper way, the dog might develop some unwanted traits like always expecting treats before doing something desirable or even begging.

Dog Training Treats is an important tool in training. It also strengthens the bond between the owner and pet more than any other training method because it is not based on fear. Trust and respect grows between them and the experience is something that cannot be forgotten easily. Training treats make the training process fun for both dog and owner simply because the dog gets a reward and the owner gets so much satisfaction in getting the desired behavior from the pet.

As pet lovers, we all know that, that feeling is priceless.