“My dog doesn’t listen.”

Coming when called (aka Recall) is an essential skill that all domestic dogs should possess. It can be extremely useful in day to day situations where redirecting a pooch out of the way of household foot traffic is required. Moreover, an effective recall can be lifesaving in outdoor situations where a distraction may draw a dog’s attention into unsafe circumstances with cars or reactive dogs. One would think that teaching a dog to come would be easy, yet many pups are seemingly oblivious to their human’s requests for attention. Why?

Are you interested in some new training classes for you and your dog? Do you want a change from all the obedience work but still want to build nice, polite skills in your dog? Well, we have two classes starting soon that would be a great option for you!

Most people with pets assume their furry friends will be taken care of when they pass away. I mean, wouldn't you assume that you will outlive your pet? In most cases, the answer is yes, but definitely not in all cases. If the unthinkable happens, and your pet outlives YOU, do you have a plan?

"All lives are stories," said Matt Smith in his last episode as The Doctor on Doctor Who, "just make sure yours is a good one." Over the last 8 and a half years, it has been my honor and privilege to have DogBoy’s as a part of my story, and it has been very good. But all stories have chapters, and all chapters must end. So it is with sadness mixed with anticipation that I announce my departure from DogBoy’s at the end of May to take on an exciting new position at Apple Computer. Today, May 22nd was officially my last day at DogBoy's Dog Ranch.

Have you ever scarfed down a meal while you were in a hurry? I have, and my stomach usually doesn’t feel great afterwards. I can only imagine the same is true for my dog. You may have seen it already on our shelf: a bowl with three columns in it. It is not a weird new round Lego; it is a very cleverly designed bowl for the dog that inhales his food. 

Ever wonder what shampoos we use here on the Ranch? Very often, we get questions from our clients, who really love the smell of our shampoo and want to know where to find it. We use two different shampoos here at DogBoy’s: Tropiclean’s SPA Pure Hypo shampoo and Cloudstar’s Buddy Wash 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner. We need high-quality products that are gentle on a dog’s skin for an affordable rate. Over the years we have tried out several different types of shampoos and have found that these two best fit our current needs. Both of the shampoos are soap free, use natural ingredients, and are gentle on dog’s skin and coats.

When I was twelve years old, my parents decided it was time for me to have a dog of my own. I couldn’t be more excited! We went through the newspaper and found the perfect dog:a Wirehaired Fox Terrier. We were so excited to have this brand new family member, and yet we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into!

Here at DogBoy's Dog Ranch, we live and love dogs so much, and we are thankful every day that we get to do this job.  In the early days of DogBoy's, things where very different than now, but very much the same still.  We use to say that we "create wild-domesticated dog packs", meaning we would pick our play groups to run the same way that wild packs or wolves would run their pack...with a heirarchical social structure.  Although we now know this isn't necessarily the true way dogs "run" together, the basic idea still stands. The dog world has changed A LOT in the last 25 years and even more in the last 10 years.  One of the biggest changes is the explosion of dog parks around the country, especially in the super-dog friendly cities like Austin and the surrounding areas.