Pet Product Review - RESOLVE® Pet Stain Cleaner
My advise for the day: you have a puppy? Then you need RESOLVE® Pet Stain Cleaner.
Everyone knows that puppies and kittens make little messes and accidents. That's why you need a bottle of Resolve on hand at all time. It is great for getting the stains out that are caused by urine, feces and vomit. But did you know that Resolve also has an odor neutralizer that actually discourages pets from resoling the same area?
Aside from pet stains, it works wonders on unforeseen stains such as when your pup knocks over a glass of red wine. This happened to me just last week when my friend Patrick came to visit. Not knowing rule #1 of puppy ownership "never put anything of value or prown to accidents on the floor". Puppies come out from nowhere like a tornado. And in this case Patrick put his glass of wine on the floor where it subsequently got knocked over. I call that a pet accident.
Lucky for me I had RESOLVE® Pet Stain Cleaner.
It did take three sessions of spray cleaning but the wine stains came up and my rug was saved. I really recommend this product. You can get lots of information by going to the Resolve website: http://www.powerofresolve.com/index.shtml
I bought my 22 FL. OZ of Resolve Pet Stain Cleaner at Walgreens for $8.49. You can find it at nearly any quality supermarket.
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We did a post over at Scratchings and Sniffings on a fairly common puppy problem called "excitement urination." That's when your pup is so excited to see you he just can't hold it and lets go with a little puddle every time you come home.
Excitement urination has a kissing cousin called "submissive urination". Although both may occur in the same situation, submissive urination is more behavioral in origin and has some different characteristics. It's important to know what you are dealing with to effectively manage either problem.
Can Old Dogs Learn New Tricks?
I am often asked, "Is it too late to train my dog?"
99.9% of the time the answer is "NO, It is never too late to work on training!"
While I am only too happy to make exceptions for dogs who are physically limited (blindness, deafness, incontinence, etc...) I am generally NOT inclined to excuse bad behavior on the basis of age.
This is not to say that old HABITS won't be more difficult to change.
But, for the most part: Training a dog, is training a dog.
There are 3 basic parts.
1) Establishing a GOAL.
2) Breaking your goal into SMALL STEPS that your dog can achieve.
3) Providing encouragement, support and REINFORCING SUCCESS.
However, it can be difficult to focus on training new behaviors when you are busy dealing with the results of older, more annoying behaviors.
A common mistake is to put energy into the wrong end of the behavior equation. My clients are often too focused on "the best way to punish their dogs bad behavior." In their zest for finding the perfect punisher (squirt, pinch, roll, choke, pin, rub, shock, squeeze) the miss the point completely.
I read that I should ...
Somebody told me to ...
I heard that dogs need ...
I was thinking I would try ...
My neighbor used a ...
Focusing on "what to do when your dog messes up" is a terrible plan! Imagine if airline safety focussed 90% of their energy on what to do when the planes crash.
This is not to say that I don't punish bad behavior. The only way to reduce any behavior is to punish it, but punishments are tricky to do well. Most dog owners dole out punishments that are late or too harsh. Or, they don't even punish the dog they just nag it or say something and follow that with no consequences.
When punishments are done badly they ruin relationships and dogs. If you want to successfully teach a dog to DO something BETTER, you must REWARD the things they are doing RIGHT. Sometimes your dog will need help getting there.
Goals help you form a reasonable plan.
Try picturing "Your Perfectly Behaved Dog."
What is she doing?
Here is example:
When my family is eating I would like my dog to lie on her bed quietly. This is a GOAL!
"I don't want my dog to beg." is NOT a goal, it is an unreasonable request for an animal that evolved as a scavenger.
When guests come over, I want my dog to sit in the hallway while I answer the door. This is ALSO A GOAL.
"I'm sick of my dog jumping on people." is NOT a goal, it is a complaint.
In short, your older dog CAN learn new tricks, but you might have to spend some extra time helping them get things right. Remember just KNOWING better is not enough. Your older dog will have a long history of doing things their way. Be patient, set reasonable goals, help them get it right and MOST IMPORTANTLY --REWARD, REWARD, REWARD. In fact, even if you feel like you did most of the work, you MUST still reward your dog. This will give them incentive to try it your way again.
Pet Product Review - CLEAN+GREEN by SeaYu The Only Eco-Friendly Aerosol Pet Cleaning Product
Ok, today is Earth Day!!! Happy Earth Day! I'm in beautiful California where the weather is just gorgeous and I can't think of a better day to help SeaYu launch their new line of odor and stain aerosol cleaning products called CLEAN+GREEN.
The people at CLEAN+GREEN sent me some samples, so I was really glad to test them out in time for Earth Day, but also to help me clean up after that little minature Pinscher house guest I had the other week. You may remember, the one that pee'd all over my oriental rugs. Ok, I'm venting... but the timing was perfect.
Now, as you know every pet household must have cleaning products in their house to combat the occassional accidents and mishaps. Even, Champ, my perfect little Sheltie had one the other day on the wood floor. Now my position is if you're going to buy anything, especially cleaning, disposible, waste bags, or such, try your very hardest to make sure it's eco-friendly and biodegradable. Well finally we have an aerosol product that is. But, I'm not a scientist that can prove this, I leave this up to the people at SeaYu.
As for the products, yes they are great. When you use CLEAN+GREEN, you can tell the odor is removed without any perfumes or chemicals. Its kind of weird, its more of an odor eraser. I did use it on the rug that my minature house guest wet, and I can say that the odor is gone. Unfortunately, the stain was in the rug so long that that dye of the rug did change slightly (only I can tell). So, CLEAN+GREEN Rug cleaner is not going to do miracles.
Now on the wood floor, I used the CLEAN+GREEN for a more solid mess-up. After good old water and a bit of soap, I used the CLEAN+GREEN for wood floors. I sprayed it on and let it sat, and low and behold, no smell or residue. Usually I pour tons of oil soap all over the floor, and then furniture polish make it shine. CLEAN+GREEN is a lot less.
Which brings me to another point I like, you don't need tons and tons of product to make it work. A few sprays. Not like some "miracle" products that require a full saturation and even then may take up to two weeks to work. Please, what a waste.
Anyway, I really liked the CLEAN+GREEN products that were sent to me for rugs, furniture and for wood floors. I hope they send me more samples as they grow their line. But until then, you can get CLEAN+GREEN at www.PetFoodDirect.com:
http://www.petfooddirect.com/store/product_detail.asp?pf_id=116469014&dept_id=450&brand_id=1781
If you've got a product you think will pass the Secret Shopper Test, send an email to SecretShopperBlog@gmail.com
1. Crate Training Your Puppy is the fastest way to have a completely house-trained pup.
Taking a puppy out for frequent potty breaks and rewarding the puppy for appropriate elimination is only 1/2 the battle. Crates teach puppies how to hold their bladder until they are outside the "den" and in the correct place.
2. Crate Training keeps your puppy safe.
Puppies can get into anything in a second. Sometimes it is just annoying when they chew things, but sometimes it is really, really dangerous. Wires, small ingestible items (I found a green thumb tack in puppy poop once), and certain foods can be dangerous for puppies.
3. Crate training teaches puppies how to settle down and stay in one spot for a reasonable amount of time.
If they never practice "chilling out" in one location when they are young, they are unlikely to do it later. Of corse they are young so they will need help settling down. Chews, kongs, and other food puzzles are excellent items to give to your pup in a crate.
OTHER THOUGHTS
Puppies can generally hold their bladders for only short periods of time.
A general rule of thumb is: 1 hr for every month of age. A 2-month old puppy will need to be let out of the crate for a potty-break somewhere between 1.5 - 2 hrs.
Do not expect your pup to hold it when they are running around.
A free-roaming pup might pee every 10-30minutes. Puppies will generally hold their bladder if they are in a small, confined space (your crate). At about 10-12 weeks I find that most pups can make it through the night without needing a potty-break, but this does not mean that they can "hold it" or be crated for that long during the day.
If your pup has just peed and pooped then spend time with them in the house.
Supervise them carefully and re-direct them onto their toys if they start to chew on anything inappropriate. After about 30-minutes your 8-10 week old pup will probably be "feeling the urge." At this point you can take them out again or crate them for 1hr. so that they have a chance to practice "holding it" until they are taken to the potty spot again.
