ACV

ACV benefits

SFgate article on raw feeding

http://articles.sfgate.com/2009-03-31/living/17118349_1_pet-food-raw-pet-pet-owners

Dog Books

I've been reading a few dog books lately, all of which I can recommend.

The Other End of the Leash
My favorite of the 3. It's about dog perspective. In fact I may want to read it again I liked it so much.

How to be your dog's best friend (revised)
I would highly recommend this to all dog owners-- esp new ones. I didn't really learn much but it's an interesting read nonetheless. It goes into how you should pick a pup, how to train, how to solve behavior problems, house training, what questions to ask a breeder, how to deal with death, etc. good A-Z coverage.

Help for your fearful dog
I actually bought this first and never read it but it's interesting too. I'm learning a few things too. For example, one of the ways you help a fearful dog is training. Obvious. But even those Kongs or the food dispenser toys are mental stimulation. I used this fact for draining the pup's energy (see last blog entry).

Marley and the pup

This weekend we were babysitting a coworker's puppy. The image above gives a false impression as it was quite the work.

I don't want to make this a long post and quite frankly I'm sick of reflecting. The pup is 7-8 mo. old and has bounds of energy. not to mention the fact that he's away from his owners and in a new environment. He has no manners at all. Extreme tugging on the leash. Puppy energy. Some case of separation anxiety. A lot of whining. Other quirks but those are the major ones.


I was pretty worried after the first night and very worn out the 2nd day. but I learned a lot. My strategy was basically to impose rules and give him a lot of mental and physical stimulation (training, walks) to wear him out.

Entering and leaving the house requires a sit (for Mar it requires a sit-look). The pup was quick to learn this but will still try to bolt in and out.

I found some technique to teach him to walk nicely on a leash via the power of google. Pretty simple actually. put leash on dog. when you show the dog the treat, as any dog owner will tell you, the dog's attention will shift to you. Walk slowly and place the treat behind you. basically conditioning the dog to follow you. Lots of praise as well. In an isolated environment it works. On the walks, however, I've tried corrections, stopping, reversing directions, treats, and using my feet to body block and tapping his hind legs. This morning i made sure before we left the gate that both dogs were calm. What's odd is that Mar walks better than he usually does; hardly any marking and not once pulling in front of me. I wonder what he is observing. Maybe it's the pack mentality since there are 3 of us?


I have the pup tethered to me at all times. a pup has no business with free reign of the house. He would constantly try to play with Mar. By now he doesn't try. Not that there's anything wrong with playing but after a few play sessions I could tell Mar was sick of it. I have to respect Mar in this case.

I never needed to do this with Mar but I create a coin jar to startle the pup during bad behavior. I used 13 pennies in a used TJ omega 3 vitamin bottle-- for maximum effectiveness of course.

About 24hrs more-- can't wait till it's just Mar.

More Mar

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Marley in the porch

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re: Boy, 2, dies after being bitten by family dog

http://bit.ly/7SdD06

what this article doesn't talk about is why dogs bite. it pisses me off how uninformed people are about their dogs. I know very little IMO about dogs but I feel like I know 1000x more than people who have had dogs all their lives. the amount of misinformation and lack of information is astounding. what gets me is that the AP ends the article saying that weimaraners aren't usually aggresive.

people... dogs bite for all sorts of reason and aggression is just one. Fear is one reason. in the case of the AP story... does it not occur to anyone that dogs carry their young by holding their scruff with their mouths. Dog does that to a baby and it's a bite. and it's aggressive?

here's some advice that i've read elsewhere. don't let your dog near any baby. no matter how awesome your dog behaves. no babies. that's it.