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Hello, and welcome to my site. My name is Garland and I made this site to present information on and about Kids, pets and maybe some of hobbys. 

First let me say that 99% of what you find on this will be what I found on other sites. Some of the items will be known to almost anyone as just plain old common sense. While I will make every effort to keep the information factual always use caution in what is found here as some of the information that is on the internet isn't correct.  I hope that you will give me feed back on what is needed to make this a positive experience.

Do your part in maintaining the health of your pet!

You are an important part of the health care of your pet. Your dog or cat can not speak for itself and is dependent on you to make sure the vet knows the symptoms and history of an illness. Your pet is also dependent on you to ensure that medications are given correctly and that follow-up care or testing is done. Your pet may be in pain which you can determine but your vet can not. Make sure you tell your vet if you believe that your pet is in pain.

1) Make a list of the problems. Try to note when they started and anything unusual that might have occurred around the time the problems started. The more complete this list is, the less likely you are to miss an important clue your vet needs.

2) Make a list of all medications your dog is currently taking. This

includes aspirin if you are using it for arthritis, heartworm preventatives,

flea control products, prescription medications, food supplements and herbal or homeopathic medications. Drug interactions and drug side effects occur in pets, too!

3) Make a list of other things you have questions about or that your pet

needs. It is frustrating to get home and realize you forgot to buy the

heartworm preventative or special diet your pet needs.

4) If you have to drop your pet off at the vet's or if it is necessary to

allow someone else to bring your pet to your vet, make sure you send contact information so that your vet can reach you by phone.

5) If your pet has a chronic intermittent problem with seizures, respiratory

difficulty, behavioral quirks or other problems that may not be seen during a routine exam it is a good idea to bring a videotape of these episodes if possible. It really is true that a picture is worth a thousand words,

sometimes.

6) If you can not give a pill, do not take pills home from your vet. Most

medications come in liquid form and if a medication is important enough to

prescribe it may be necessary to hospitalize a patient to ensure that it is

given if you can not give it at home.

7) Do not leave your vet's without a clear understanding of your

responsibilities in continuing the care. If your pet has a bandage or

stitches you must know what care is necessary at home. If you will be

administering medication you must understand the directions. Do not be

embarrassed to ask directions again. If your vet's explanation is difficult

to understand ask if the veterinary technician can explain them to you. Many

times the support staff is better at explaining directions for after-care

than the vet.

8) If you get home and find that you are still confused or forgot to ask a

question, call your vet's office and ask for help.

Your vet wants your pet to get better. Veterinarians understand that they

are part of a health care team that includes you. In order to "win the

game", teamwork is necessary. Do your part.

Dog Training Basics By: Robert Kempe

All positive commands should be spoken sharply and distinctly during training. Make sure you also use a positive tone. Your dog will recognize your moods and associate them to their behavior by your tone of voice.

 The first word the puppy should learn is their name. They actually learn the sound of their name and associate that as a directive towards them for their attention. This will come naturally over time since the family will be calling the pup by its name the day it arrives in your home. I suggest that before you start training verbal commands that you understand your puppy’s personality. Ask yourself if they are timid, aggressive, quiet, sensitive, playful, etc? These traits will affect the type and speed of the training with your dog. Understanding the dog that is being trained is a vitally important talent of a good trainer. As soon as you are able to touch and feel the puppy, call them by their name. Constantly give them affection and praise with the tone of your voice.

Keep repeating their name over and over and over until the pup understands that when they hear their name, it is addressing them. When you prepare meals for them, call them by name and then distinctly say the word “come.” This is probably the simplest and easiest commands to teach because it is associated with something the puppy wants or gets excited when they hear that command. This theory and type of training is used in all the generic commands. Remember to always keep praising them when they obey a command and make sure they feel rewarded.

 House breaking a puppy is probably the most stressful for a new trainer. However, the good news is that most dogs are generally clean in nature and sense that the house is not the place to do their thing. Knowing that canines tend to have their bowel movements in the same place that they or some other dogs have previously defecated, you need to understand that the scent left behind from previous mistakes will signal to the pup that this is where they are supposed to be defecating. So when you do catch them doing something in the house that you do not want, scold them in a simple command such as “shame.” The puppy will hear your tone of voice and feel bad. Usher them outside as fast as you can. Praise them when they defecate outside. Do not use the command “no” since that is a command to have the puppy stop the current act. “Shame” is used after you have found the evidence of the unwanted act. This is a common mistake a lot of amature dog trainers have.

If you have a pup that will not heed to the command “come,” do not chase them. This will only make your puppy runaway farther. Instead, when they look at you, call their name and immediately you run away from them. Soon they will be chasing you and will associate the command “come” as intended. They will come to you. Remember this always, a puppy should only be scolded when they are caught in the act of doing something they should not be doing. Never scold a puppy when you have not caught them in the act. Use the command “shame” when looking at the evidence but do not look at the dog when vocalizing this. Over time, they will associate the command “shame” with your disapproval mood. They may never associate it to their act unless you catch them in it. Leave it at that. No other scolding will help, in fact it will do just the opposite. It will make the puppy loose trust in you rather than want to correct their error because they do not associate the act with your mood and commands.

If you find this article useful, please visit the site http://www.the-german-shepard-dog.com">http://www.the-german-shepard-dog.com where you can find other useful information on the German Shepherd and all other canines.

About the Author Please visit http://www.the-german-shepard-dog.com">http://www.the-german-shepard-dog.com for more information and other articles written by Robert Kempe.