Tips for the First 30 Days of Dog Adoption

The first few days in your home are special and critical for a pet. Your new dog will be confused about where he is and what to expect from you. Setting up some clear structure with your family for your dog will be paramount in making as smooth a transition as possible.

Before You Bring Your Dog Home:

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Determine where your dog will be spending most of his time. Because he will be under a lot of stress with the change of environment (from shelter or foster home to your house), he may forget any housebreaking (if any) he’s learned. Often a kitchen will work best for easy clean-up.
If you plan on crate training your dog, be sure to have a crate set-up and ready to go for when you bring your new dog home. Find out more about crate training your dog.

Dog-proof the area where your pooch will spend most of his time during the first few months. This may mean taping loose electrical cords to baseboards; storing household chemicals on high shelves; removing plants, rugs, and breakables; setting up the crate, and installing baby gates.

About Puppy Training

Before you buy a puppy you must understand some basic training steps in order for your puppy to be well behaved from the day you bring him into your home. Follow the above links to find out about some of these basic puppy training steps. Most importantly never punish by hitting or harming your puppy in anyway. Bad behaviours should be ignored. This lack of attention is itself enough punishment for your puppy. Always praise your puppy for good behaviour with a treat, toy, or even just lots of attention. Puppy will soon realise why he is being praised and will continue with these good behaviours.

Puppy Maturity

Most dog breeds, puppies mature around the age of 12 months. There are breeds which take alot longer to fully mature, and who remain puppy like until the age of around 24 months. Owning a puppy takes alot of patience, you should be aware that you will have alot of puppy behaviours to deal with until they fully mature.
Maturity by Adult Weight – Although puppies grow and mature very quickly when compared to humans, it’s also important to know that not all sizes and breeds develop at the same rate. The smaller the breed, the quicker he/she will mature:

A small-breed puppy reaches adult weight by 9-12 months
A medium-breed puppy reaches adult weight by 12 months.
A large-breed puppy reaches adult weight by 18-24 months.

Bringing him home: 8- 12 weeks

Common Poisons to Dogs

Thousands of dogs (and cats) needlessly suffer and many die each year by accidental ingestion of household poisons. Dogs may have access to poisons both inside and outside of the home. Some of these include plants, foods, herbicides, pesticides, mouse poisons, medications, metals, and cleaning supplies.

HouseHold Plants: Both Indoor and Outdoor It is really important to be aware of what plants you have inside and ouside of your house. There are alot of plants that are poisonous to dogs, the severity of the poisoning varies on the plant and can cause sickness and diarrhoea with severe cases of poisoning leading to coma and death.
Dogs can be poisoned by plants if they eat or even just chew part of the plant, the flower, the bulb or the plant leaves. Flowers heavy in pollen can also drop pollen onto the pet’s coat, which could then be licked off and ingested by your pet.

Plants that are most popular in gardens/home but are poisonous to dogs :

• Daffodil (especially the bulbs)
• Castor oil bush (dogs love the seeds)
• Cherry laurel (common hedging plant)
• Laburnum (and related species)
• Lilies / Lily of the Valley (especially toxic to cats)
• Philodendron (popular ornamental house plant)
• Azalea
• Foxgloves
• Ivy (some species)
• Rhubarb
• Yew

Bloat in Dogs

Bloat

Bloat is a very serious health risk for many dogs, yet many dog owners know very little about it. Please read the following information.

Bloat is seen most commonly in large deep chested breeds, as well as some of the medium size breeds. There does not appear to be any association with the sex or the age of the animal. It has been reported in young adults as well as fully mature dogs. There is no doubt it can occur suddenly after eating in a previously healthy dog.

What Is it?

The term Bloat is used interchangeably with the more scientific terms“Gastric Dilation Volvulus” (GDV) and “Gastric Torsion”
“Dilation” refers to the abnormal accumulation of air/fluid/foam in the stomach.
“Volvulus” and “Torsion” both mean the twisting of the stomach
Bloat can occur with or without “volvulus” (twisting). As the stomach swells/distends, it may rotate 90° to 360°, twisting between its fixed attachments at the oesophagus (food tube) and at the duodenum (the upper intestine). The twisting stomach traps air, food, and water in the stomach. The bloated stomach obstructs veins in the abdomen, leading to low blood pressure, shock, and damage to internal organs. The combined effect can quickly kill a dog.

Dogs in Hot Weather

During hot weather care should be taken with ALL dogs. Always have fresh water available. Always make sure they have shelter and shade to stay in. Never leave your dog in a car. Many people still think it is ok to leave their dog in a car if they leave the window down, DO NOT do this. Your dog could still quickly over heat and this could be fatal. There are still so many cases of dogs being found dead in over heated cars, here at dogs.info we want to stress dont leave your dog in a car! Even if you have a window down it is not enough to keep a car cool. Even if you leave water in the car it is not enough to cool your dog! If you park in the shade the car will still over heat, and as the sun moves the car may no longer be in the shade on your return. Even if your only going to be a few minutes out of your car, dont leave them, temperatures can soar very quickly.Be safe and dont take the risk!

Brachycephalic dogs

All dogs with “flat faced” nose and head structure are technically called “brachycephalic”. Dogs with this structure feel the effects of warm surroundings and exertion sooner than dogs with more typical nose and head structure. Brachycephalic dogs include: British bulldogs, French bulldogs, pugs, pekingnese, and boston terriers amongst others.

Can a dog be in front when doing something...

Can a dog be in front when doing something such as rollerblading, pulling a sled or cart and still consider the handler the pack leader?
Answer:
Yes, if you present it as a job, a dog can learn that tasks such as cart- and sled-pulling and even rollerblading means it is time to work. There are no happier dogs than those that are given jobs. Most breeds were originally bred as working dogs and they still love having a task to this day. When rollerblading, it is best if the handler can get the dog to run beside them. 

During specific times the handler can allow the dog to pull them, for example, up a hill. However the handler must be able to get the dog to fall back beside them on command. It is important that the handler is in complete control. The human needs to show the dog leadership before, during, and after the signal is given to pull, showing an air of authority. The dog will see it as a job. When they are finished the task the dog needs to go right back into the heeling mode and the handler should enter any yards and or gates before them.

the best way to help my dog overcome his fears

Question: My dog is skittish and afraid of a lot of things. What is the best way for me to help him overcome his fears?

Answer:
The best thing you can do to help a dog overcome its fears is to teach it to pack-walk. Walk him every day and ask him to heel and respect those around him. Showing a dog leadership will help him feel secure. Dogs really want to know what to expect, who is in charge and what the rules are. 

Giving a dog that type of structure is the best way to help him overcome a lot of unnatural issues. Do not feel sorry for the dog or he will sense your feelings and it will make him unsure. The humans around the dog need to be strong-minded so the dog can relax and not worry about who is going to lead. Learn how to speak dog so your dog understands you and you understand your dog.

how do I single out a specific dog?

I have more than one dog. Since it is not good to use a dog's name when correcting it how do I single out a specific dog?

Answer:
The reason you do not want to use the dog’s name when correcting him is because it is not good to associate a dog’s name with anything negative. A name should only be associated with positive things. When communicating with a specific dog you want to use body language towards the dog you are correcting. Think of yourself standing around a bunch of humans.

 There are ways to let a person know that you are referring to them without saying their name; the same holds true for dogs. Some of these ways include making eye contact, walking towards them, leaning towards them or pointing at them. Another method that some like to use is to give each dog a second name or pick a sound that you only use when that particular dog is being corrected. The name or sound should not sound like their real names yet they should associate it with themselves. Other humans and yourself should not use their “correction names” when you are calling them to come to you, asking them to perform a behavior, etc.

the difference between "training" and being a pack leader to achieve a healthy stability in a dog

Question: What is the difference between "training" and being a pack leader to achieve a healthy stability in a dog?

Answer:A dog can be trained to perfectly sit, stay, come, give its paw, dance, roll over and even more complicated tricks such as close the refrigerator and fetch the newspaper, yet still be unbalanced and dominant. When a dog learns a "trick" she often remembers it for life. 

Whereas, maintaining a healthy relationship with your dog where she is stable-minded, knows her place in the pack and is relaxed, happy and comfortable with life takes a certain type of lifestyle and commitment 24 hours a day / 7 days a week. Often, people will be having behavioral issues with their dog and hire a "trainer" when what they really need to be doing is hiring a "behaviorist." Training is teaching behaviors, the other is asking for a level of respect and satisfying the natural instincts of the animal within the dog. For more info, read infor behind:

Establish as pack leader with dog

Question: Once I establish myself as pack leader with my dog does this position stick for life, or is it something I have to maintain?

Answer:
Showing a dog leadership is a lifetime commitment, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is not training, it's a lifestyle when living with a dog. You can lose your position at any time, at any age. A dog is constantly looking for the strongest being in the home to be leader. 

Instinct tells him that the packs life depends on it. In the wild when a pack leader gets old or sick another dog will take over as leader. This can happen at any time, at any age. The strongest beings are the leaders. That being said, if you have lost your leadership position or never had it in the first position, you can gain it back if you change your ways.