housetraining tips for puppy owners

housetraining tips for puppy owners
How to Housebreak a Puppy By Dr. Maya Bringing home a new puppy, is a very exciting and very challenging time for most folks and families. The average breeder has weaned and begun to let puppies leave for their new homes at about 8 weeks of age. This is very much like tending a baby, as dogs this young not only have very small bladders, they are for the most part unable to have much control over bladder and bowel functions. They require much care, and almost constant supervision at this age. Many folks do not understand how immature a puppy is at this age, and assume when house breaking problems arise, the puppy is stupid, or difficult to train. During the first weeks with the mother, she teaches her pups that the bedroom is off limits, and shows them the appropriate place for elimination. One of the quickest and easiest ways to begin housetraining is to take advantage of these early lessons, and the pups instinct for cleanliness, and keep him in a crate when you are not able to supervise. These come in all different shapes and sizes, and should be big enough for him when he is grown. The full grown dog should be able to stand, and turn around. Although many come with a divider panel, to use for the young pup, if yours doesn t you can use plastic to divide his crate. The theory on this is if he has too much room, he will assume on his own, that half is for sleeping, and the other half is for elimination. So make sure the crate is small enough inside, that he can t make that assumption. How much and how often? A puppy between the ages of 8 weeks until about 4 months, has very little self control. They will be having about 4 bowel movements a day, and will need to urinate approximately every 45 minutes, also after napping, playing, and eating. During this period, housetraining is more of avoiding accidents, by constant supervision, and no puppy under the age of 4 months should be scolded for accidents. It would be like expecting an 8 month old baby to use the toilet, it is completely unrealistic. So, take your puppy to the designated area outside, every 45 minutes, and each time they are successful praise and you can also reward with a dog treat. If you decide to use a reward system, break dog or puppy biscuits into very small pieces, so that you are not over feeding, or jeopardizing her weight. This is the hardest, and the most time consuming part of owning an inside pet. I have on an average, 4 -7 dogs living in my home at any given moment, and most of them came here as young puppies around 8 weeks of age. I rarely have any accidents, not because my dogs are smarter, or I have some magic trick I use, it s because this is the ONLY way to train, you MUST take her out about 15 times during the day, and then say about 10 pm, then around 2am, and then again when she wakes somewhere between 5-7am. At around 4 months of age, your dog should begin to understand what you are asking. I begin to taper off about this age. Most puppies if they are taken outside late enough, can go through the night, meaning last out at 10pm, sleep till around 5 or 6 am. I am now taking them out about every hour and a half, after they wake from a nap, after eating, and after any play or training session. If my dog has an accident, before the age of 4 months, I do not react, I ignore the fact and clean it up. Once the puppy is 4 months, if I catch them in the act I clap my hands loudly run and grab them and head outside immediately. If they are able to finish outside they are praised Rubbing his face in it, smacking with newspaper or hand, any type of physical punishment does not work, in fact, I have worked with many clients who use this approach and it only backfires, the puppy associates the punishment with the act of elimination, not the WHERE of it. At around 6 -8 months of age, your dog should begin to understand, that there are specific places for elimination. You should begin to observe your dog attempting to notify you when they need to go outside. Sniffing around, circling, looking behind, crying, barking, whining, scratching at the door, these are all clues that he needs to relieve himself. All animals are going to make mistakes, if you have been consistent, and your dog has reached a point where HE is consistent, ignore the occasional accident, most times this is caused by our busy schedule, and not taking note of his need. Never, ever punish an animal that is sick. Just like us, they have digestive upsets that cause sometimes a temporary loss of control. So good luck and congratulations on your new friend. Remember to keep your expectations realistic. If you have problems, and you have followed this guide, make sure to consult a vet first to rule out any physical problems or disease. I am available for consultations, and would be happy to work with you and your pet until we achieve the desired goal. And although it can be done, it is much more difficult to re-train an who is consistently having accidents, than to take the time and patience to do it correctly from the beginning. So . Confine the puppy when he can t be supervised Take him out at least every 45 minutes, after naps, after play, and after meals Don t scold or punish for accidents Watch for his signals and respond quickly if he needs to go Take advantage of his mothers first teachings, and his den instinct, and crate him Be willing to get up every night those first several months Reward him with praise or bits of puppy biscuits when he is successful This excerpt is based in part on Dr. Maya s book, The Secret Life Of Dogs all materials copyright protected. Using her system, reward, remove, redirect, restrict. Maya has been communicating with animals through images and touch for more than twenty years. She has used her gifts to help owners solve countless behaviour issues, and has currently released her latest book, The Secret Life Of Dogs
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Do I need aquarium lighting for my pet fish?
To some people aquarium lighting for a pet fish seems a bit like adding a neon sign to a lemonade stand. It seems like overkill and wasted money. Yet is there a real reason to use aquarium lighting? Is it important to keep my fish healthy and under ethically fair conditions?The fact is that there are a lot of reasons that almost every serious fish-owner thinks about tank lighting. Of course there is the aesthetic element. It makes the fish look good.You simply cannot see the beauty of many fish in the dark. Their color is only revealed when light bounces off their reflective scales. If you’re going to pay good money for a nice fish and a healthy large aquarium then you want to make sure that you can see it!Aquarium lighting is what takes “just a fish” and turns it into a conversation starter or a tasteful decoration.Yet, there is a more important aspect to aquarium lighting. Most fish require it for health reasons. The lighting that a fish is under can affect many of the bodily systems including the reproductive organs. Also, the regularity and strength of light can affect a fish’s stress levels.Fish need around 12 hours of lighting per day to ensure that the tank conditions are as similar to natural conditions as possible. The lighting needs to be consistent as inconsistent lighting can cause stress in fish and lead to health problems. Timers can be bought to ensure that this is easily maintained.Remember that fish cannot close their eyes and so the twelve hours a day of lighting should be during day time when they are awake. At night the lighting should go off in order for them to sleep.Also, you need to make sure that lighting is as similar to natural light as possible; fluorescent lighting needs to be used. Flames and household light bulbs are no good; you need fluorescent lights which are to be replaced every eight months.A general rule is that your aquarium needs 2.5 watts per each gallon of volume. However, if you are planning on keeping live coral or rocks in your aquarium then the lighting requirements are far higher and you may need up to 8 watts per gallon.Also, many corals and marine plants require “full spectrum” fluorescent light. This is fairly hard to explain but research the plant that you are planning on buying and ensure that you have the right lighting. You don’t have to know how it works to work it.However, if you don’t have coral or plant life then you might want to consider a “color-enhancing light”. These can be used in freshwater or saltwater tanks and have a yellow or pink hue so as to make a real feature of your fish’s colors.The pitfalls of a badly lit aquarium are too much unwanted algae growth and indirectly will affect the CO2 and nutrient levels in your tank and so it is definitely an aspect of your aquarium to take seriously.I hope that this article has helped you to consider this issue fully. If you are looking for a place to purchase aquarium lighting then I highly recommend:http://www.desertcoralaquatics.com Feel free to distribute and host this article wherever you please and free of charge as long as none of its content is changed. For more infromation about search engine optimization please visit: <a href=http://www.desertcoralaquatics.com>http://www.desertcoralaquatics.com</a>
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