DogBoy's Dog Blog

1. How Much Time Do You Have For A Dog?

Before getting a dog, make sure you have the time for one. You should have a clear idea of your family’s activity level, and how much time you have to dedicate to training and enrichment activities. Examples of enrichment activities with your dog include:

• Exploring a new park together.
• Hiding their food bowl for dinner time.
• Teaching them new tricks and games.

You will want to make sure your dog’s energy and needs will be compatible with what you can give. Dog’s age, breed, and upbringing can contribute to their overall behavior.

2. Go Get A Dog Crate Immediately

The dog crate is AMAZING! It’s a great tool to help with housetraining young puppies as well as adult dogs. Crates also help keep your house safe while your new dog is adjusting to their new environment and learning what types of behaviors are acceptable in their new home.  You should treat any new dog in your household as if they aren't house trained initially.

Snakes are everywhere in Texas - yes, even at DogBoy's. From brushy areas to tall grass to piles of rocks and logs, snakes love to hide in cool, dark places. Their penchant for hiding makes them especially dangerous to adventurous dogs who enjoy exploring and sniffing about. So, what type of dog owners would benefit most from this seminar?

I’m just going to say it: I am not a fan of dog parks. There, I said it. Here’s the reason: Typically, they are overrun with dogs with poor manners whose main exercise outlet is a weekly trip to the dog park. These dogs tend to be pushy and overly friendly.

So, you love your dog, and your dog loves you. Actually, your dog thinks you’re the bee’s-knees. Here’s the problem: Your day to day sometimes gets too busy to always connect with your dog.

We get this question a lot from our customers:

“What are some ways to connect with my dog on a deeper level and on a daily basis?”

I want to give you ten tips for how to connect with your dog daily. Dogs need regular interaction. They don't have an autopilot setting. You don’t have to go to great lengths to connect daily, but dogs are very social animals and will definitely benefit from extra interaction with you.

#1 Have them do work or tricks for their food

Dogs love to please and food is a great reward. So rather than just letting them eat out of the bowl whenever they want, you can get some playtime in and make them work for it. You'll both be excited, doing something fun together, and connecting with each other.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a human anxiety disorder that causes those affected by it to disrupt their daily life by getting caught up in patterns. For example, the urge to turn the light on and off 33 times before you leave any room. It is not a very well understood disorder, and can be very difficult to live with. Oftentimes, you will hear someone make a joke along the lines of “oh yeah, I’m so OCD about that”.

It's no big secret, most dogs don't like getting their nails trimmed. Many dogs, especially dogs that might be on the spoiled side, will do everything they can to keep you from clipping their nails.

When this topic came across my desk to write for the DogBoy’s blog, I was very excited. This is a heavily discussed topic among professionals and the public alike, and it also frequently appears in the media.

Back in November, I was lucky enough to attend the Pet Professional Guild’s very first Force Free Summit. While I was there, I was able to attend a seminar presented by Ken McCort on this very subject. It was a fascinating seminar, and it left me feeling much more educated on how breed and behavior inform each other.

It also provided me with an answer to the question. The answer: Yes, and no.

Bath time with your puppy can be very stressful. It can be stressful for you, but it can be especially nerve wracking for your dog. There are several reasons for this:

• Some dogs don’t like getting wet.
• Some dogs won’t get in the tub.
• Some dogs had a bad experience with the tub previously.  
• Some dogs want to jump in the tub, AND bring you in with them.
• And, some just avoid it at all costs (kind of like most cats you know!)

Thankfully, there are some things that you can do to make bath time a little less stressful for your puppy. These steps apply to new puppies, old dogs, or dogs that simply aren’t super fond of baths. If you, or someone you know has had a frustrating time giving your dog a bath recently this list is for you.

10 Steps For Bathing Your Dog

Fence fighting between dogs is one of the most common nuisance behaviors that I talk to dog owners about. A lot of owners will shrug it off, insisting that “they just want to play”. Sometimes, that is true. We see it out here sometimes:

Snakes are a big problem for dog owners in Texas. This isn't just a problem in rural areas. For people in urban areas there are also risks of dogs becoming victims to snake bites. Unfortunately, there are not many training options for snake avoidance without the use of aversive techniques like shock collars.