March 2021

Every dog owner has this idea of the perfect pet: friendly, cute, and well-behaved. That’s why many of us are so enthralled by dog trainers who can turn disobedient and untrained dogs into the perfect pets. Some of the most popular videos on the Internet are of dogs and their trainers. However, our expectations rarely match our realities. The vast majority of dogs today lack the training to do anything beyond a few basic tricks.

It’s perfectly normal to wonder why our own dogs can’t be like the dogs we see on YouTube or television. Just like any other intelligent being, dogs need to be trained and educated if you want them to become better versions of themselves. Even dog obedience training can go a long way in improving your dog’s behavior.

Of course, you can’t expect your dog to become better overnight. The training results also depend on a long list of factors like their welfare, pedigree, and genetics. It’s also better to get started while they’re young. With patience and training, you can turn your puppy into an obedient and well-trained dog. Let’s get started.

1. Pick a name early on

Puppies get confused easily, and if you can’t decide on one name, the training process will become more challenging. You have to be consistent in all facets of the training process. Start calling the puppy by one name and make sure everyone in the household follows suit. Even nicknames can be confusing, so everyone must be on the same page. If the puppy was given to you with a name, you need to use that.

You’re teaching your puppy to respond to their name. Eventually, they will approach anyone who calls them with their proper name. It’s important to avoid any other word or sound when calling the dog to prevent confusion.

2. Establish basic rules

Consistency is just as important as frequency and duration when it comes to dog training. If you want to establish positive behavior or suppress bad ones, you need to establish basic rules and be consistent when it comes to application. That way, your dog will understand which behaviors he should learn and unlearn. Make sure everyone in the household knows all the rules to minimize confusion.

Let’s say you want your puppy to stay off beds. You can be steadfast when it comes to applying that rule, but if anyone in your household allows dogs on any of the beds, it erases the progress you’ve made. Instead, your puppy will start following the person that allows them to do the things they want. Not only have you failed to establish positive behavior, but the puppy might also learn to stop following your commands.

Make sure everyone, including the children, knows what they can and cannot do. In particular, children have difficulty understanding the house rules, but if you explain them carefully, they might be able to help in the training.

3. Focus on small things first

Your puppy is not going to do any impressive tricks in the first few months. Before you can teach them anything complex, you need to gauge what they’re capable of by teaching them the basics. For instance, you can take this opportunity to house-train your puppy to minimize accidents. It’s important to be incredibly patient, as puppies don’t typically respond to verbal abuse. Just keep using positive and negative reinforcement.

Your puppy needs to learn early on where they need to sleep, eat, and go potty. You can’t just put their food and water bowl anywhere. Just choose one spot, and eventually, they’ll get the message. You also need to show them where they can poop or pee.

4. Dogs learn by association

Puppies and toddlers are alike in that they learn by positive and negative association. Use positive reinforcement to encourage good behavior and negative reinforcement to suppress bad ones.

You need to reward your puppy every time they do something you want to encourage. Your patience and kindness will be rewarded with good behavior. However, if you scold your dog often, they might regress and even grow fearful of you.

A final word

These four tips will help you turn your puppy into an obedient and well-trained partner. Dog training isn’t something that happens overnight, and you’ll need to be consistent and resolute if you want to see good results. But with planning and a bit of patience, you’ll start seeing good behavior.

Meta title: 4 Ways to Train a New Puppy
meta desc: Dog training doesn’t happen overnight, but with planning and patience, you can start seeing results soon enough.

If you are a first-time dog owner, you might not be fully aware of just how important it is to have your dog microchipped. If your dog (or cat) is properly microchipped, it can mean the difference between finding your pet after a few days apart and never seeing it again. Keep reading to learn more about why you should get your dog microchipped as soon as possible.

What is a microchip?

A microchip is a form of permanent, electronic identification. Microchips are tiny– they are about the size of a grain of rice – and they are implanted between the shoulder blades, underneath the skin. Each microchip has a unique number that is listed on a database.

When you microchip your dog, your name and contact information is then listed under your dog’s number in the database. If your dog becomes lost or runs away and is found away from your area, a veterinarian or vet tech can quickly scan the microchip, check the number, and then find your contact information and give you a call. If you happen to find a lost dog or cat, you can take them to a vet clinic or animal shelter, and they will be able to check to see if the animal is microchipped.

Getting your dog microchipped

To have your dog microchipped, you can visit any of the registered vets across Australia, such as Greencross Vets. A trained veterinarian will insert a microchip, and then you can log into a database for your pet and input your name and contact information. The process will only take a few minutes, and you can rest assured that it is a relatively painless procedure for your dog.

If your dog was previously owned or you have adopted your dog from a shelter, there is a chance that your pet has already been microchipped. That just means you will need to update your pet’s information in the database. If you move or change your email or phone number, you also need to update the database with your new contact information to ensure accuracy.

Why is microchipping important?

If your dog is microchipped, it is much easier for the two of you to be reunited following a separation. Checking a microchip and referencing the microchip database only takes a handful of minutes. On the other hand, if your dog is not microchipped, you will likely spend a lot of time leafletting your neighbourhood, calling around to every local clinic, and walking through your area calling out your dog’s name.

In Australia, microchipping for dogs is compulsory in Tasmania and is mandatory for both cats and dogs in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, and South Australia. However, regardless of whichstate you live in, microchipping your dog as soon as possible is the best way to ensure that you and your dog will be quickly and safely reunited should you ever be separated.

Horses, like dogs, are a great companion and loyal pet animal for humans. They are much more powerful compared to a lot other four-legged pets. Horses were mainly used for transportation and for wars decades ago. Being powerful and having great stamina help them travel long distances without issues also even after a long commute they can sleep while standing as they always keep standing.

Among the several treatments for your horse available with the veterinary, consider investing your time and money in CBD for horses. It would be a suitable medicine to reduce the anxiety effects in your horse without causing any side effects. However, you should be prudent in your choice of the best store to buy CBD for horses.

Horses with some amazing qualities have a great physical appearance which is why a lot of humans are attracted towards these beautiful and adorable creatures. A lot of people like to have them as a pet and are attached to them. There are a lot of reasons to have a pet horse, but here are some of the most common reasons:

1. Smart and emotional: Some of us might have heard about the stories where horses have saved someone’s life. It’s not only their adorable physique but also their smartness, loyalty and love towards their owner which makes them a great pet. People love spending a lot of time with their horse and horses do love spending time with their human friends too.

2. Nature and Fitness: If you are in love with nature then Horses will be the best option for you as a pet. You can be fit, enjoy nature and explore new places all at the same time while enjoying a horse ride. Horse riding is supposed to be the best way to keep healthy and fit and a great outdoor activity.

3. Easy maintenance: A lot of people think horses are hard to look after but instead they are easy with maintenance compared to a few other pets. It does need a big commitment having a pet horse but feeding them or making a comfortable shelter available for them is not that tough.

4. Social and fun loving : Keeping a horse keeps you social as there’s a large and broad community of horse owners, you can enjoy horse riding, looking after or even competitions and being social. Horses also are fun loving, very active and playful.

5. Longer life: Horses have a longer life than some of the other pets, while an average life of a horse is 25-30 years, it may vary for some of the other breeds. Their longer life gives owners a better chance to develop the bond with their pet horse.

Just like humans, horses have different personalities. Every single horse has a discrete personality and the other one. They do have some characteristics or values like fearlessness, aggressiveness, challenging etc. Each of these characteristics differs with the quality in them which makes every individual horse unlike any other. It’s important to think about all these values before you make a decision on what breed/horse you choose to be your family.