Nutrition, Handling, & Toys

Hello PACmembers....

Today we are going to cover the last three sections of the orientation. I know a lot of you are anxious to get started on the actual obedience training.

Nutrition -

There is a load of information written on the topic in regards to people and dogs. I am going to save us all a big headache and just share the info necessary to make sure you have your dog on a reasonable diet.

There are three main things to consider when selecting a dog food.

1) Protein content- as a general rule, the higher the protein content the better quality the food. The only time this rule does not come in to play is with puppy food. Too much protein can cause developmental problems. With an adult food I like to see a protein content greater than 28%. Just check the back of your bag for all the info.

2) Number of ingredients - The fewer the ingredients the better the food. The longer the list of ingredients the more "junk" they have added to the food. When comparing two brands of food the one with less ingredients is more!

3) First two ingredients - should be proteins. You should be looking for something like chicken, chicken meal, beef, lamb, etc. as the first TWO ingredients. If a grain is listed first or second, keep on shopping.

There are 3 tiers of dog food. Grocery brand (aka...crap), premium (specialty store), and super premium. I advise you to always feed premium at a minimum and super premium if your budget allows for it. Grocery brand food is going to lead to health problems later in life.

Some examples of each category - grocery brand (Purina, Pedigree, Ol' Roy, Kibbles n' Bits, basically anything you can buy at the supermarket) - Premium (Science Diet, Nutro, Eukanuba, Blue Buffalo, anything you can get at Petsmart, but not at the supermarket) - Super Premium (Innova, Eagle Pack, Flint River, BARF, California Gold, etc, these can be a little harder to track down, but Complete PetMart has a great selection of super premium).

Handling -

It is important that you can handle/physically manipulate your dog in any situation. It is important to handle your dog from top to bottom EVERYDAY. Start with the back of the neck and slowly work your way down your dogs spine to the base of the tail making small light circles. Work your way back up to the top of his head. Now work your hand down each leg to the base of the foot. Grip each foot firmly, spreading each toe individually. After carefully massaging each foot, move on to the face. Rub down each ear, inside and out, then lift each lip and run your finger a long the gum line. Finally gently roll your dog over onto his side or back and rub down his stomach and neck.

Doing this exercise daily will help build trust between you and your dog, and will teach your dog to be comfortable with being or groomed or examined by a veterinarian.

Toys -

There are a wide variety of toys available for your dogs. Everything from rawhide to soft squeakers to natural bones. As a rule of thumb, rawhide is BAD. It is dangerous and not easily digestible. If you have some available for your dog, get up, and THROW IT AWAY. There are to many better alternatives.

Plush toys are only right for some dogs. If your dog can destroy them or pull the squeakers out they are a bad idea.

I recommend hard rubber toys like Kong's, natural bones (either sterilized or not), tug toys, and other interactive toys like buster cubes.

The number one toy I recommend is the BUSY DOG BALL at www.busydogball.com

My dogs love this toy and will play with it for hours.

If you have any questions about specific toys please feel free to ask. Better safe than sorry.

Tomorrow we are going to begin my basic obedience program. We will learn the name game, and the first basic command. I am trying to figure out how to post pictures so I can show you the hand signals and proper luring techniques. I may even try and post some video from time to time.

Until tomorrow...

Have a great day...your dog is!

www.petathleticclub.com