Animal Behavior College

The dog days of summer are coming to an end, marking the arrival of the last official summer holiday, Labor Day. Celebrations often include barbeques, picnics and an assortment of other outdoor activities. As with many other holiday commemorations, Animal Behavior College (ABC) reminds pet owners to take precautions to ensure they keep their pets safe and secure on this special day.

ABC recommends the following 6 Pet-Safety Labor Day tips:

Keep Them Hydrated. Hot weather can overheat your pet, increasing the chances of dehydration. The symptoms of dehydration include increased heart and respiratory rates, loss of appetite, dry mouth, sunken eyes and listlessness. Ensure your pet has easy access to plenty of fresh water, and if the weather is unbearably hot, move him to a cool air-conditioned room.

Watch Them Around Children. Children are naturally curious about animals and enjoy playing and petting them. However, some dogs and cats do not interact well with kids. Dogs can become anxious, stressed and exhibit verbal behaviors and aggressive actions such as growling and biting. Cats can scratch and bite. To avoid potential problems and signs of trouble, keep cats indoors and away from the fray. Closely monitor all interactions between your pet and children. If your dog ignores commands and becomes combative, move him to a secure area or crate.

Set Ground Rules for Guests. Labor Day food staples such as hot dogs, barbeque ribs, spicy foods and alcoholic beverages are hazardous to your pets health. Alcohol is toxic to dogs and cats. Dogs can develop inflammation of a digestive gland and other painful and serious conditions. Ask guests not to feed table food or snacks to your pets. Instruct them not to leave unattended alcoholic beverages within their reach.

Watch Your Dog Around Water and Avoid Too Much Sun. Not all dogs can swim, so do not force your dog into the water. Supervise him around pools and large bodies of water. Additionally, dogs and cats can get sunburn especially if they have short hair, pale skin and thin coats. Sunburn increases their risk for developing skin cancer. If it is not possible to you are your pet out of the sun, be sure to apply sunscreen that is made especially for pets.

Hire a Pet Sitter. With an abundance of activities and guests to tend, hiring a pet sitter is an option. They provide personalized care, giving owners an opportunity to enjoy a worry-free celebration.

Lastly, Keep Your Pet Calm. Guests and celebration activities can overexcite your pets. Be patient with them. If possible, safely secure them in a quiet, relaxing place and be sure to check on them often.

Animal Behavior College offers certification and continuing education programs. To become a dog trainer, obtain dog-training certification or to learn more about the college, visit our website at http://www.AnimalBehaviorCollege.com.

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About Animal Behavior College Animal Behavior College is the premier international vocational school specializing in certified animal career training programs. ABC has created a powerful team of skilled advocates who are devoted to nurturing the human-animal bond The founders of ABC have spent years developing and perfecting affordable career programs, many of which combine home learning with hands-on training externships with professional mentors. To date, more than 28,000 students have enrolled in ABC programs including over 1,900 in ABC’s cat training program.

Even the best dog in the world, a.k.a. your dog, will from time to time exhibit behavior that is unacceptable. The thing to keep in mind is that the bad behavior or bad habit is not done to annoy you. There is usually something specific that triggers the behavior. Finding out the cause of the unwanted behavior should be the first step. If the cause can be identified, you can begin training to change the unwanted behavior. Whether you want to get rid of bad behavior or just want your dog to learn something new, it will take some time, effort, and patience. Whatever the reason, training should be an enjoyable experience for you and your dog,

The earlier in your dogs life you start training the better. You can start training as early as 6 to 8 weeks and maybe even earlier. However, remember that dogs are intelligent and it is never too late to train your dog. Your dog needs strong but kind leadership. It is important that your dog always knows that you are the leader in this relationship.

Training Tips:

1. This is a learning experience for your dog but is also a time of bonding between you and your pet. The time you spend training your dog should be fun for both of you.

2. The training sessions should be fairly short, between 10 and 15 minutes. It is better to have short, frequent training sessions rather than long, infrequent ones.

3. Training should be a good experience for your dog so you should not use negative reinforcement. Determine whether food or praise is the more powerful reward for your dog. If food is the main motivator, try to schedule training sessions before meal time. If praise works better, try to train at a time when your dog is craving your attention.

4. Use short one or two word commands. A good place to start would be with some basic commands sit, stay, come, and heel. Reward your dog immediately after a correct response to make sure your dog makes the connection between correct behavior and reward. Gradually increase the amount of time your dog has to obey your command, for example, in the STAY position before you give a reward.

5. Initial training should be in a quiet place free from distractions. Once your dog has progressed, you may want to move the training to an environment with more distractions.

6. Use a leash when you start the training. As your dogs responses to your commands improve, continue to increase the length of the leash between you and your dog until your dog obeys your commands without using the leash.

Make the pups know who’s in charge

Hunting the right hound

Some of the oldest breeds of domestic dogs are the speedy sight hounds. Today the slow, prodding bloodhound is usually used by law enforcement to track renegades or missing persons.

Made up of guardians of livestock and property, police dogs, sled dogs and rescue dogs, these workers come in all shapes and sizes, from the standard schnauzer to the great dane.

Both routinely in the top five breeds, the labrador retriever and the golden retriever together account for nearly one-quarter of the more than 1 million dogs registered with the akc every year.

Very bright and rather determined breeds such as rottweilers, dobermans and akitas have become extremely popular, even trendy. The instinct to herd in some of them can be strong in these breeds even if most of these are now plain companion dogs that have never even seen a sheep. That’s part of the fun. Their individual skills, original purposes and temperaments are almost as varied as their origins.

The world’s most popular breed of dog is no breed at all. Mixed breeds, random breeds, mongrels, mutts or curs – call them what you will, they make up the majority of the worldwide dog population.

The anatomy of a canine

Like all mammals, the canid family is able to control body temperature through various physical functions. Called thermoregulation, this ability allows canids to thrive in all types of climates, from the subarctic to the sahara. Coat. Even the size of a canid’s ears plays a part in temperature control. You might as well read the information about it. Such hot-weather species as the fennec fox, a tiny african desert dweller, sports oversized ears to maximize heat loss. The arctic fox, on the other hand, has minuscule ears to minimize the effects of the frigid weather in its northern homeland.

The ears of wild canids, like wolves and foxes, come in only one shape: natural. Among the most common varieties are the erect or pricked ears sported by many of the more wolf-like breeds, such as german shepherd and basenjis, and by semi-domestic canids, such as dingoes and new guinea singing dogs. Most hound dogs feature hanging or pendant ears, while many terriers have semi-erect button ears in which the tips fold over and hang in a v-shape, partially covering the opening.

But among domestic dogs, selective breeding has produced a number of different ear types, each with its own names, courtesy of dog breeders, fanciers and kennel clubs.

Why the help?

You will learn the whys and hows of the following situations: barking all the time – halt this annoying habit and preserve silence! Digging in your yard – learn the easiest and most effective way to stop your dog from destroying your yard! Jumping up on people -learn the fastest way to teach your dog to stop jumping on everyone they see!

Escaping – does your dog always seem to find a way to escape or run away from his pen or house? Learn how to stop this frustrating and dangerous habit! Constantly whining – does your dog whine for food or whenever he/she is put up? Finally, be able to stop this! Going to the bathroom inside – finally be able to teach your dog to stop this habit.

It doesn’t matter how old your dog is! Pulling on the leash – do you feel like your dog walked you when you get back from walking your dog? Learn how to teach your dog to stop pulling on the leash! Chewing on everything – finally, be able to stop your dog from chewing on and destroying everything you own!

Biting people – does your dog nip or bite at other people? Learn how to stop this scary habit! Eating feces – does your dog eat feces? Learn how to stop this disgusting habit! Running out the door – does your dog bolt out the door as soon as it is opened? Finally, be able to stop this!

Proper training techniques – learn the proper and correct training techniques so your dog will clearly understand commands and enjoy learning new ones. Over 10 fun tricks for your dog – learn over 10 tricks both you and your dog will love. Including sit, stay, come, fetch, stop, shake, speak, kiss, lie down, and more. Please visit the website listed below for more information.