Forums

Dogs that eat too fast…

2009-11-07T17:41:50Z

Hello again,
It’s Shannon. My 7 month old puppy Jasper is a serious chow hound. He eats a whole bowl of food in 2 minutes flat. He practically inhales and food or treat he gets and he barely chews his food. I am worried that he will choke on something or that he will get sick and vomit. My breeder says..."No Shannon, he wasn’t starved or teased or anything. All of my puppies get “free choice” food. Meaning, I leave it out all day and they can eat whenever they want. I keep the bowl full for puppies. The only time I would take it away would be at night. I have some dogs that inhale their food like that and others that just eat it at leisure. Each dog is different. My guess would be that maybe he’s afraid if he doesn’t eat it quickly, the Akita or the Shiba will get it. Or maybe he just really likes his food!”. Any ideas on how to curve this behavior??? Thanks

Halloween Tips

2009-10-11T16:38:20Z

In this week’s Newsletter, the Online Dog Coach trainers posted their Top 10 Halloween tips:

#10: If your dog is trick-or-treating, keep him or her on a short leash.
#9: Be sure your dog’s costume does not impair his or her vision.
#8: Train your dog to stay at the door
#7: Keep a positive attitude - Halloween is a great opportunity to train good behavior when the door bell rings
#6: If you have a split screen door, take the top half out to allow you to hand out goodies while keeping your dog safely in the house.
#5: Keep the candy bowl and kiddies’ loot away from your dog - it can make them sick.
#4: If your pets are overzealous at the door, it might be better to put them in another room while you are attending to trick-or-treaters.
#3: Leave the front door open so you can see the trick-or-treaters before they ring the bell.
#2: Rent a dog training facility for a doggie Halloween party for other dog lovers that would rather spend the evening with their four-legged friends.
#1: Turn off the lights and pretend you’re not home!

We would like to hear from the Online Dog Coach community!

What are your Halloween tips, both humorous and serious?

Puppy Success Stories!!!

2009-10-05T14:10:49Z

My name is Shannon. About 3 Months ago I bought a Miniature Australian Shepherd from a breeder in Texas. What a Fantastic Dog!
Anyways, He’s 6 Months Old now and he knows a lot of commands and he is obedient about 90% of the time! He learned everything very fast and I am very happy to say that even though he is afraid of many things, he still is the perfect dog!!!
Jasper Knows...(I measured his learning in days. A day of learning is 3-15 minute sessions per day.)
“SIT"-Which he learned in 3.5 days. He listens to this command 95% of the time.
“DOWN"-Which he learned in 6 days. He listens 75% of the time.
“COME"-He learned in 4 days. He listens 95% of the time.
“STAY"-He learned in 9.5 days. He listens about 65% of the time, but he is still learning this. I was really impressed because today I made him do a sit stay in the backyard by the bushes, then I walked to the front yard, where I could still see him, said “BREAK” and “COME” and he came running to me, and didnt move until he was told!
“LEAVE IT"-1 day. Listens 85% of the time. Usually I make him Leave treats alone or I drop something. Today I tried something new. I threw 3 different toys, all in different directions, and told him to leave it, and he just stood there and looked at me.
“GIMMIE PAW, GIMMIE THE OTHER ONE, GIMMIE BOTH"-3 Days. I taught my puppy to give me paw, then to give me the other paw, and then to give me both if I put my arm out. He listens to this 100% of the time!
He also will go fetch whatever I throw and bring it back to me.
He has learned to catch a mini tennis ball.

I have to say. This website has helped me a lot. I thought training would be a big pain, especially if I had to go to Training School with him-which is expensive, but it was easy and free. I couldnt be happier with the outcome of training so far!!! Thanks ODC!!!

-Shannon

Megan of Winged Flight

2009-10-05T18:08:12Z

Megan was a gift for my first Australian Shepherd, Callie. I got Megan for Callie’s first birthday present. They had the same father, and different mothers. At 5 weeks her breeder knew that Megan would be an excellent example of the breed, and she was. She was a blue merle, blue eyes, very sweet. Never had a fight with another dog (except her sister once or twice, and I know it was her sister’s fault).
Megan was an excellent performer in agility, obedience and freestyle dance. Megan qualified for AKC Nationals twice in her agility career. She was in the blue ribbons most of the time. She wanted to please me so she performed flawlessly. She was a bit of a ham, and loved doing tricks and dancing in front of audiences. Her specialty was the cha cha, and a routine to Staying Alive. The Bee Gees’ beat was perfect for her movements. What a delight....
Megan went to the Rainbow Bridge on Sept. 15th, 12 days before her 15th birthday. She was ready, I was ready. We had the vet come over and we took her out to the agility ring on a blanket with cherubs. She looked as beautiful then as always; she went with dignity. I miss her...........

Boy or Girl?

2008-05-03T19:48:10Z

Are there advantages/disadvantages of boy or girl dogs?

Dog Anxiety issues… help?

2008-05-07T14:44:51Z

(From a friend of mine)…
Miller, our Collie mix rescue, was OK after our trip to the vet yesterday, but last night was a bit clingy. And was worse this morning with me, and now this afternoon with Val. He MUST be by our sides at all times. If I’m on the couch, he wants me touching him. Or wants to be up on with with Val. This is new behavior for him.

The vet said it sounds like anxiety. Over what, we don’t know. I tried looking up dog anxiety online, and all I could find was stuff on separation anxiety - like when we’re away from home. As far as we can tell, he has no problems when we’re gone. I think he just sleeps most of the time.

But we’re unsure of how to handle him when he’s super clingy. We don’t want to love on him - since that would reinforce the behavior. But you can’t punish him, either.

Anyone gone through anything like that? Any suggestions?

Agility Champion at 9 years old!

2009-08-30T18:18:44Z

My 9-year old cocker spaniel finally earned the USDAA Agility Dog Champion (ADCH) title. As pup, TJ was always willing to please for a treat, but he never had the “border collie drive” for agility. In fact, one of my early trainers commented that he seemed to enjoy the sport but he was NEVER going to be a champion.

TJ and I have had our ups and downs over the past 7-years of competition - we have had good stretches of consistent and slow trying to beat that darn course time, we had a year of fear at shows and avoidance (probably the most frustrating because he did everything perfectly at practice), we had fear of the teeter, and finally fear of the weaves.

Just as I was thinking TJ might retire before finishing the elusive Championship, it all seemed to fall into place with qualifying runs coming as if we were just running in the backyard (BTW, those are the runs that I cherish and remember the most because we are truly a team working as one). Finally, on August 2, 2009, TJ earned his last standard qualifying run to complete his Agility Dog Championship.

So what’s next? Whatever TJ wants to do and keeps him happy - no retirement yet - maybe we will earn a bronze championship…

Brianna
Greatful Ower of ADCH TJ

Puppy Names

2008-04-11T19:04:45Z

There are plenty of books to help one select the perfect name for human babies. Let’s start the Online Dog Coach library of dog names.

I’ll start… my husband and I are both engineers, so we named our two golden retrievers Kelvin and Rankine. Can anyone guess our theme? Hint: Rankine’s full name is Rankine on the Rise.

Pick a Hand Challenge

2009-09-18T14:35:22Z

How smart is your dog?

Teach your dog “Pick a Hand” this month and post your photos and story here!

Go to the Pick a Hand lesson to learn how to train your dog to pick the hand holding the hidden treat or toy.

Post a new topic, or reply to this one with your dog’s story by October 15. Attach your photo(s) using the Attachments field.

We will pick one dog to highlight in an upcoming newsletter.

Good Luck!

Colorado Hikes with Dogs

2009-09-07T13:45:48Z

I thought it might be fun for our Colorado members to post their favorite dog friendly hiking trails.

My go to quick hike is St. Mary’s Glacier - close to Denver, relatively short (3/4 mile to glacier), off-leash, and lots of water for my retriever. This trail is steep and rocky so be sure to where your hiking boots.

Directions: Take I-70 to Exit 238. Follow County Road 275 about 9 miles to trail head on left. Parking can be a little crazy. There is a lot that charges $5.

Today, Aaron and I tried a new trail up Hwy 285 near Bailey. The trail is called the Brookside-McCurdy Trail in the Pike National Forest. We hiked for about 3 hours. It was a relatively easy hike, no hiking boots needed, nicely groomed trail, slight changes in elevation (both up and down). Only bummer was no water for swimming and it was in the National Forest so leashes were required.

Directions: Drive west from Denver on Hwy 285 for about 37 miles to Bailey. Turn left on County Road 64 across from the Conoco gas station. Drive about 0.5 miles to a fork in the road. Take the left fork (dirt road). Drive about 1.5 miles, turn left into the trail head parking lot.

We found this trail in a new book called “Best Hikes with Dogs Colorado” by Ania Savage. As we hike through the book, we will post our experiences - the book has 80 hikes.