www.pedigreeddogs.net%2Fdog-care-tips-9%2F" height="61" width="51" />
Get your puppy to “come”
By spending a lot of time alone with your new puppy you will slowly start to create a bond with him which will build a connection that will last a lifetime. One of the first things that you will want to engage in when it comes to training your puppy is to get him to follow you from room to room around the house. When you walk away from your puppy and he begins to crawl in the direction that your feet are going, start repetitively speaking the words “Come, Let’s Go”. Move quickly yet be sure that he can still see where you’re going
Take care hiking in forests
The natural woodlands and deep forests can be some of the most exciting terrain for your dog to explore. There are endless adventures to uncover and natural curiosities everywhere your dog turns. However, because the forest contains plenty of mammal life, it makes for great hunting and trapping. And this presents a life-threatening danger to your dog if you are exploring terrain that should be off-limits.
Avoid using guilt when training your puppy
In order to step in and start puppy training successfully, be sure to do so without the use of guilt. This is another falsehood that many inexperienced dog owners tend to follow. They think that by using guilt it is going to make more of an impact on their puppy. In a way, they are right – an impact will surely be made and it will not be a positive one!
By: Dr. Mark Clayson
About the Author:
The main thing about dog care and dog grooming is the benefits are enormous, from the happiness and health of your dog to the enjoyment and saving made by you, these are just a couple of examples, and below is an extract from a chapter entitled ‘The Benefits of Grooming’ from The Perfect Dog Grooming Guide by Alan Brown which I feel shows the benefits that can be gained through grooming and dog care, some of which are too easily overlooked or underrated by many dog owners;
The first thing I would like to drawer your attention to, and to end any rumors that you may have heard is that grooming your dog does improve their health in many ways which we will mention a little more through this chapter. As well as this benefit you will also find that your relationship with your dog and the affection they show you will be somewhat increased. Also through grooming your dog you will come to know them better and have the opportunity to spot possible health issues that may have gone unnoticed previously.
So let us break these benefits down a little and go through them piece by piece; reverting to the health benefits we mentioned, firstly when we think dog care and grooming we immediately think of brushing our dog so let´s start there. When you brush your dog you remove all the dead hair from their coat, leaving only the healthy, this eliminates many of the bad odors emitted by your dog’s coat, as well as helps to keep them cooler, looks cleaner and reduces your dogs scratching and itching.
To make grooming your dogs coat easier and to help maintain the goodness reached through grooming it is advisable to bathe your dog and use a quality dog shampoo regularly – although you must pay attention to over bathing your dog, like humans you can easily strip the natural oils from the coat and reduce the healthiness that way. We mentioned dog shampoo, and that was deliberately mentioned, as human shampoo contains different ingredients and must not be used on our poets under any circumstances.
Another benefit of grooming or brushing the coat is the stimulation it causes to the blood flow which in turn increases and improves the blood supply to the hair follicles and aids the overall health of the dog’s coat. Also brushing has a similar effect as massage and can aid the stimulation of the lymphatic node which is another means of improving your dog’s health, and we shall cover this a little more in another chapter.
Grooming also consists of dental hygiene and care of the eyes and ears…
This shows how dog care is not only good for your dog, but for you also, and you can benefit a whole lot more from the content of The Perfect Dog grooming Guide which can be seen at www.Perfect-Dog-Grooming.com.
By: Mark Grey
About the Author:
Mark Grey,
mark@markfreelance.com
The German Shepherd Dog also known as an Alsatian comes literally from the German Deutscher Schäferhund. They are a relatively new breed of large-sized dog originating in the late 19th century. They are part of the Herding group that was originally developed as a working dog for herding sheep.
The German Shepherds strength, intelligence and obedience they are often employed in police and military roles. The Alsatian is also one of the most popular breeds around the world.
The breed originates from a dog named Hektor Linksrhein. Hecktor so stunned Von Stephanitz that he purchased it and renamed him to Horand von Grafrath and founded Alsatian Dog Society.
Horand von Grafrath became the heart of the Alsatian breeding programs and was bred with many other society member dogs.
The Alsatians popularity has increased rapidly throughout the 20th Century, though taking dives in popularity in the early days due to health problems from poor breeding and after the world wars with anti German sentiment. To such an extent that the UK Kennel Club renamed it to “Alsatian Wolf Dog”, a while later the wolf dog appendage was removed and in the late 70s, the Alsatian Dog was back as the official name, though it is still often known as the Alsatian. The German Shepherd popularity was helped by animal actors such as Rin Tin Tin and Strongheart. Now it is in most countries the third most popular dog breed.
They are a large dog of between 55 and 65 centimetres ( 22 and 26 inches) at the withers and weigh between 22 and 40 kilograms ( sixty lb).
The Alsatian’s face has a long square cut muzzle, a doomed forehead, a long neck, strong jaws, large erect ears (that are often pulled back when on the move), black nose and brown, medium-sized eyes. With a bushy tail.
Alsatians come in many colours, the normal versions are the red/black and tan/black types with black masks and saddles. Less common versions include the sable, all-black, all-white, liver and blue types, which may not fit country breed standards. Alsatians have a double coat. A thick close dense outer coat, which sheds all year round and a thick undercoat. The long-hair variety is rarer.
The Alsatian, like many working dogs is very intelligent, and are considered to be the third most intelligent breed of dog (Border Collies is deemed to be number one by Stanley Coren in his book The Intelligence of Dogs). This intelligence combined with their strength makes the breed sought after as police, guard, and search and rescue dogs, the Alsatian rapid learning ability and ability to interpret instructions are better than other large breeds.
Alsatians are known for aggression and have been restricted in areas as a result. Statistically, in the United States, the Alsatian is responsible for more random bites than any other dog breed, and have a known tendency to attack smaller dog breeds.
Additionally research has shown that German Shepherds are the third most likely dog breed to attack a person and in a different study, Alsatians accounted for nearly fifty percent of the dog bites that needed medical attention, compared to a more typical twenty of bites requiring medical treatment, not a surprise with their strong jaws and sharp canine teeth.
The problem is not with the dog, but the owners. As with any clever energetic dog (or person), if they are not regularly exercised and kept occupied, they can become troublesome. Good dog training and dog socialisation are crucial for a dog like the German Shepherd. The Alsatian is different from the collie, which a lot of its aggressiveness has been removed by breeding for shows, the Alsatian does not seem to have lost this character.
They can bond very well with their family, however they can become over-protective of their family and territory. Due to this they may appear a bit aloof.
German Shepherds are rapid learners and are highly obedient and not easily sidetracked, but due to their tough personality, you need to be very forceful with them.
The Alsatian will need to have two good walks a day. They are not a dog for a busy family who cannot give them the time and attention. For this reason, busy couples regularly ask professional dog walkers such as London dog walking to help out by walking them for a few hours a day.
Poor breeding has led to common genetic health problems, elbow and hip joint problems (dysplasia) which is painful for the dog and may cause arthritis. The German Shepherd also suffers from monorchidism (one testicle), weakness of temperament, and missing teeth, as well as folded or bent ears which never fully turn up when reaching adulthood. The Alsatian is often has ear infections due to his large and open ears.
Alsatians, like many large bodied dogs are sensitive to bloat, this is a very dangerous and often rapidly fatal problem, so if you think this may be a problem, go straight to the veterinary. Bloat is a gas build up in the stomach, caused by a number of different causes. The symptoms of distress for no apparent reason, a firm distension of the abdomen, general weakness, depression, problems breathing, hypersalivation, and retching without vomiting. A high rate of dogs with bloat have cardiac arrhythmias (around forty percent), loss of appetite, vomiting and weight loss.
The Alsatian also suffers from Degenerative Myelopathy, or DM is a neurological disease and are more likely to have Von Willebrand Disease, a common inherited bleeding disorder, which shows in variable degrees of bleeding tendency, commonly in the form of easy bruising, nosebleeds and bleeding gums. .
In spite of these problems, the German Shepherd is sturdy with simple dog care and the average lifespan of a German Shepherd is around 9 years, which is normal for a large dog breed.
The German Shepherd has great olfactory sensitivity so is one of the most widely-used breeds in a many roles requiring this ability, including cadaver searching, search and rescue, explosives detection, narcotics detection and mine detection.
So the Alsatian is a wonderful clever dog that will bond well with you, if you have the time and energy for him. Not advised for busy working families.
