Tip #4

     When deciding what dog to get for your household, always take into account your lifestyle and the general traits of the breed or breeds under consideration.  You need to factor in your living space, how much free time  and effort you are willing to devote to raising the dog.  If you have a small living space, then having a big dog may be a poor choice.  If you have a sedentary life style, then having a high energy pet may be too much work. Large dogs tend to have shorter life spans.  St. Bernard’s tend to have large nutritional requirements.    Lhasa Apso’s have a propensity towards guarding behavior.

     Dalmatian’s have a genetic propensity towards deafness.  Dalmatian’s are well behaved; but any owner must be prepared to deal with this possibility.

   It’s much better for the pet and the owner if the dog is picked so that it is a good match to the owner’s lifestyle choice.  The impact of not picking a dog that is compatable with a person's lifestyle, has caused great heartbreak for families, dogs and the people who work in animal shelters. After the movie 101 Dalmatians many people bought Damatian's only to abandon them when they went deaf.  A little research would have prevented this problem.

                                              Tip #3

   Whenever it is feasible, walk a customer’s dog away from unfamiliar animals and stranger’s.   This is basically a preventive measure.   You want to keep the dog you are walking out of bite range of other animals and people.   This limits legal liability and the worry of strangers who may be inclined to sue.   Dog Walkers and owners are usually held responsible in court should the dog bite a stranger.

Nori Tales

A small king Charles type dog name Nori sat on the deck and barked at all the passing deer.   She barked up quite a storm.  The bigger the Deer, the louder the bark.   One advantage of the deck was that the deer could not get within range to hurt her.

     Once   on her nightly walk she puts her nose up smells the air and gives a large deer bark.   A few seconds later a large deer steps out of the bushes with a very cross look.     There is a long period of no barking as Nori decides that discretion is the better part of valor. The deer bounded away.

   Now she can go back too barking on the porch.

At the Beach

   

      Many moons ago my sister took Beulah out to Drakes Bay Beach.  It was Beulah’s first experience on a beach and she loved it.  She swam in the Ocean and ran up and down the shoreline.  It made everyone roar with Laughter when she  bounced from rock to rock near the base of the cliffs like a kangaroo.  It turned out to be a good way for her to get rid of excess energy.  Some dogs have quick feet and were made for the beach.

Dog Tip #2

       Dogs are highly motivated by the prospect of getting a treat for good behavior.   You should consider rewarding your dog for good behavior every fifth or sixth time it behaves as required.   This will re-enforce good behavior without spoiling the dog

Tip of the day

     When walking a dog always keep both hands on the leash to be able to control the dog.  Many dogs can go from zero to sixty in a few seconds, before you can detect the cat that they have scented.  Put your less dominant hand through the leash loop.  Keep your less dominant hand near your hip.   Wrap the other hand around the leash.  This hand can slide up and down the leash as required.  This will better help you control a dog that decides to bolt after a cat.  This saves you from the headache of chasing after a dog that has gotten away from you.

      Stay tune for future tips on dog walking.  Later in the week I will write about the use of dog treats in training your dog.

     Around the corner lives A Black Labrador Retriever that has a nick name of Wonder Dog.   The dog gets into fixes that keep the owner very busy.   The Owner built a fence to keep the dog in and the dog quickly learned to squeeze under the gate.   The gate size was increased and the dog borrowed its way out via the garden.   The fence was then extended a few feet under the soil.   Wonder dog the tried to climb a hedge to get out and got tangled up in vines.   The Garbage cans had to be moved.  One fine day, Wonder Dog jumped up on them and cleared the fence. Wonder dog now has a shock collar.  She is not impressed and is still looking for a way out

   Many years ago when the family was planning to go on vacation our parents decided to leave the family dog in a kennel down the street.  The car was packed and the dog was with my sister in the back seat.  We drove off for Lassen County.   My father drove passed the kennel and we of course said absolutely nothing. About half way up to Lassen Matilda got restless and crawled between the seats.  My father having forgotten about the dog got the surprise of his life when the dog crawled onto his lap while he was driving.  Matilda being a lapdog apparently wanted a little attention.  Needless to say Matilda wound up going on vacation with us.

     We went to a ranch near MT. Lassen, where there was a lot of open land and ranch dogs for Matilda to play with.

Chopper

Chopper

      In my years at San Jose state I roomed in a house with several roommates.  One of my roommates had a Labrador Retriever named Chopper.  The dog was named after a type of motorcycle named a Chopped Harley.

    To say that chopper was a waterdog was a profound understatement.  If it had to do with water this dog was interested.  I would get home from school and there would be paw prints in the bottom of the bathtub.  The dog would stand in the tub in the hope that someone would turn on the water.

     One day one of my roommates was taking a bath with the door slightly ajar.   I heard a splash and a loud voice saying, “Chopper get out of the tub.”  The dog had jumped in the tub and water was now everywhere.

     A few weeks later when chopper was being walked he got loose.  He saw a public swimming pool and went bounding over the fence. The dog was swimming in the pool with a lot people who were not amused at sharing the pool.

     When I was a teenager I had a poodle named Beulah May.  The dog’s name came from a Dick Gregory   album entitled, “Dick Gregory talks Turkey.”   On a Saturday morning I answered the door bell.  There was a man in a uniform on the porch.   I called out, “mom the postman is here.  He replied I am not a postman.  I am an officer of the law!  My mother came to the door and he said, “Is that your dog?”  He was pointing to my dog.   My mother replied, “Yes, it is.”   I called the dog to me and he came shooting up the stairs through the postman’s legs.  He was left staring at his empty hands as the puppy has just been too fast for him to catch.  At this time I noticed that the neighbors across the street were sitting in the lawn chairs, drinks in hand, laughing loudly.

    The dogcatcher announced that he would be citing my mother for having a dog without a license.   My mother pointed out that the dog being only three weeks old was at the time to young to get her shots and hence could not get a license.  That could not happen for another three weeks.  The dogcatcher then turned several shades of blue and announced that he would cite my mother for dangerous dog at large.  My sister was home with some of her friends from college listening to this.  They were roaring in laughter.  Here is a three week old puppy that didn’t bite and would easily get lost in your lap and she was being declared a public menace.   He wound up writing a citation before he left.  He said next time someone would go to jail. My mother replied, “With or without the dog?”  The citation was later dismissed.

   The neighbors across the street later told us that the dogcatcher had spent a couple of hours trying to catch the dog and they had broken out the lawn chairs to watch the show.

Past dog day afternoons

  

Many years ago my family had a dachshund named Matilda.  She was a small dog who had no idea that she was small and vulnerable to bigger dogs.  She had a fierce bark and was willing to engage bigger dogs.  One of the funnier sights was two large greyhounds running down the street in panic and Matilda with her short little legs chasing them down the street.  The neighbors were roaring in laughter.