Mans Best Friend » How To

Training your German Shephard

Sebastien — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:27:05 +0000

I have had the wonderful privlage of training a couple of German shepherds in my time. German Shepherd training, if done right can be a relatively easy task. Make sure that you start to train your dog at an early age to refrain it from undesirable habits. It is very important that you become the pack leader of your pet because it can be dominant and take over that role if you don’t. You need to gain the dogs respect by consistent love and lots of obedience training.

Obedience training will not only enrich your relationship with your pup but it’s a great way to establish the social hierarchy in your home between your dog, yourself, and your family. You can make your dog sit and wait to be fed (this is the easiest thing to start with in my opinion-can you say motivation), or make your dog wait for you to walk out the door first.

Training your German shepherd helps your dog to acknowledge your role and leadership because you make him wait to get what he wants until he obeys your commands. Just like any other dog, good behavior must be recognized and rewarded with positive reinforcements during training. To prevent him from becoming a one-man dog, make sure that all family members in your household take part in the training. This is a very important step and you will be sorry if your dog ends up not taking commands from anyone else.

The German Shepherd breed is known for having an intense sense of bonding with its’ owner(s). They need consistent attention and deep affection to prevent its behavior from turning negative. They can have a tendency to get goofy and get a little out of control when no one is looking or paying attention to them for long periods of time.

A German shepherd is a working dog so give it a daily job or an activity to do to keep him from finding his own, which could eventually lead to trouble (with a capital T). The real test of training is where your dog actually performs the commands with distractions all around at any given time and any place. During training once you feel comfortable with your dog obedience command progress, practice these commands in different areas of your yard and your home. Make sure you set a daily schedule, keep your sessions short and sweet, and make dog training fun for your German Shepherd.

How to Install a Dog Door

Sebastien — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 02:53:21 +0000

I just finished installing my first dog door so I thought I would compile a quick how to for you. Installing a dog door is reasonably simple. First thing you need to do is pick the door in your home that can accommodate the dog door. You do not always need to place the dog door in a door; if you have the proper tools you can put it in a wall, but these instructions are for door mounting only.

Next you will need to pick out the proper size dog door for your pet. The package that the dog door is in will help you determine the correct size for your pet’s size and the correct location on the door it should be installed.

If no instructions then follow this, you will want the dog door to be a least 1″ wider than your pet and 1″ taller than your pet, but no more than 2″ in either direction. When measuring your pet you will want to measure from the top of the shoulders to the chest of your pet, just behind the front legs. Remember, if your pet is not fully grown you will need to make sure you adjust for future growth.

When you place the dog door on the door think about the size of your dog and where the top should be. The top of the dog door should be high enough to let the shoulders of your pet to fit through without the dog bending down. They should only have to lower their head. If you measure the dog properly, the bottom will be in the correct place.

Now that you have the dog door, here are the tools you will need and what each tool is used for.

Drill – this is needed to drill the four corners of the door where the doggie door is being installed. This way you have a stopping and starting point for your jigsaw.

Drills Bits – drill the four corners and to drill pilot holes for the frame of the doggie door.

Jigsaw – Use this to cut the doggie door out.

Masking Tape – tape off the area that is going to get cut out. Draw you cutting lines on the tape, when you cut it will help reduce splintering.

Measuring Tape – this is needed to measure the placement of the doggie door.

Pencil – use this to mark off the area that is going to be cut out.

Screw Driver – Most frames on the doggie door are held in by Philips head screws.

Note: measure twice cut once, always adhere to this rule, trust me.

Grooming Your Dog the Right Way

Sebastien — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 02:34:53 +0000

Every dog should be washed on a regular basis to prevent skin and odor problems. When washing your dog make sure and use a formulated dog shampoo. Dog shampoos are formulated for a dog’s skin as where human shampoos are formulated for people and can cause serious irritation and dryness to a dog’s skin. When you are in the process of shampooing your dog, try to avoid washing the head, unless it is necessary. Soap can easily seep into the eyes and ears, which leads to infections and irritation. For dogs with longer hair, you can prevent knots from occurring by brushing your dog’s hair as it is drying. Brushing before bathing is also beneficial to preventing knots and matting.

By brushing a dog’s hair you are removing dust and other debris from the fur, as well as dead skin. There are various brushes to use on your dog, all depending on whether you are trying to neaten the hair or remove matted areas. A shedding brush contains many pointed teeth that set close together, to easily remove excess fur. When brushing your dog with a shedding brush be careful not do brush to hard, as the teeth are sharp and can scratch your dogs skin. To simply brush your dog’s hair to neaten the appearance, an old brush of your own will work perfectly for the task. A regular brush work excellently on dogs with longer hair, giving the fur a neat and elegant look.

An important grooming aspect for your dog’s health is clipping their toe nails. If a dogs toe nails grow to long, the nail can easily and quickly damage your dog’s feet as well as their padding’s. When trimming a dog’s nails pay close attention to where your dog’s quick starts. The quick is where the blood supply of a dogs nails are. If you trim into this area your dog will be presented with pain, and the nail will bleed. As most dogs fear the process of trimming their toe nails, it’s important to reward them with a treat or a walk to insure them that the process wasn’t as bad as they thought.