If your dog is not eating and is vomiting or having diarrhea, or both, contact your veterinarian within 8-12 hours.

When your dog doesn’t eat or cannot eat, the condition is termed anorexia. Anorexia in dogs is different from anorexia in humans. Anorexia in dogs occurs in two forms. When your dog completely stops eating, it is termed complete anorexia. But when your dog does not eat specific food and eats the rest of the food, it is termed partial anorexia.

There is also another condition in dogs: they want to eat but can’t because of other reasons. This condition is called pseudo anorexia.

Now that we have learned different forms of anorexia, let’s discuss its various causes and possible treatments and solutions.

How do you treat a dog that doesn’t want to eat?

Most of the time, dogs don’t develop complete anorexia; instead, they establish partial anorexia and stop eating a specific type of food. In this situation, it is observed that your dog is suffering from a serious issue. However, you should not force or pressure your dog to eat the food he is unwilling to eat. Instead, you should check for the symptoms of anorexia, and if they exist, you should immediately consult with your vet.

Five steps will tell you the reason why your dog is not eating.

1. You should observe your dog’s behaviour and stool
2. Check the mouth, teeth and body of your furry friend
3. Check if the food is good and try hand-feeding if you dog needs some extra attention
4. Check if you can make the environment more comfortable or is it more about the time of the day that is causing the change
5. If you don’t find anything, repeat your actions and call your vet

These five steps will take you to a tentative diagnosis of your dog’s anorexia. However, you are not a professional, so it can be difficult to reach a solid reason. In that situation, these five steps at least take you to a point if there is something wrong with your pet or the food. This diagnosis is enough for you to decide if you should consult your veterinarian or not. You should observe your dog closely. If your dog continuously doesn’t eat you should call your vet.

What causes a dog not wanting to eat?

There are many causes of anorexia in dogs. Generally, they are classified as pathological, mechanical, and physiological causes. However, each of the causes is important; that is why your dog is not eating.

1. Illness

A decrease in the appetite of your dog is often because of an illness. Most of the time, fever causes the enzymatic action to stop, and thus, digestion stops leading to anorexia. Other than fever, systemic infections, liver impairments, kidney failure, and any other pathological condition that can lead to anorexia.

2. Oral problem

Dental disease and oral cavity infections can easily lead your dog towards anorexia. Sometimes your dog tries to ingest an undigestible thing, and it sticks in its throat. In that case, your dog’s appetite is normal, but he cannot eat anything. Moreover, mouth lesions, gingivitis, and severe pharyngitis can also cause anorexia in dogs.

3. Travel and new environment

You might have also experienced a loss of appetite during traveling and after moving to an entirely new place. The same happens with dogs. Dogs can also get anorexic due to travel and experiencing a completely new place.

4. Emotional setback

Dogs are very attached to their loved ones. If they are alone or you are gone for a long time, they can experience a severe emotional setback. An emotional setback can lead to severe anorexia.

When you have a long trip coming and you are leaving your dog to someone else, keep in mind that this can happen. Give your vet’s information in any case to the person that’s taking care of your doggo.

How can you get your dog’s appetite back?

First, you need to treat or solve the primary problem that is causing anorexia in your dog. For example, if it happened because of any infection or disease, you should treat the disease first. Or, if it is because of emotional travel or emotional setback, you need to give your furry friend more than usual time to make your dog feel relaxed, comfortable, and accustomed. Sometimes your dog’s new medication can be a factor as well and upset the stomach.

Then you should go over the following steps to get your dog back to normal self

1. You should cut back the treats because your dog needs more quantity of primary nutrients.
2. You should maintain a scheduled diet plan full of nutrition for your dog at least twice a day.
3. Your dog may not be enthusiastic about the meal; you should make the mealtime more fun so that your dog may eat in excitement.
4. Change the feeding environment. This means if you usually feed your dog with other pets, you should now feed him alone. You can try to change the bowels and the feeding area or mix and match some different foods.

Why is your dog being stubborn and not eating?

Dogs eat normally when they are not suffering from any abnormality, and their outside environment is entirely comfortable.

If your dog isn’t a picky eater or doesn’t feel comfortable among other dogs having aggressive behavior, your dog will most likely eat when you make the environment comfortable. Just remember not to put further stress on your dog.

Final thoughts

We are greatly attached to our furry friends, and it hurts to see when our dog is suffering. Anorexia is not a disease itself; instead, it’s the symptom of other diseases and conditions. Therefore you can’t treat anorexia before treating the main cause of the problem. If you observe any change in your dog’s eating behavior you should contact your veterinarian for a proper diagnosis and treatment of your doggo friend.

The post What to do when your dog doesn’t want to eat appeared first on TAIDETERAPIA.

Sorry.

You might have come across a discussion of hypoallergenic dogs but there’s no such thing as a truly hypoallergenic dog.

Healthline actually asked several allergy experts about hypoallergenic dogs and they all gave a very emphatic NO.

No dog breed is hypoallergenic.

According to Dr. James Li, Mayo Clinic, “There’s no such thing as a hypoallergenic dog breed, although some individual dogs may cause fewer allergy symptoms than others.”

If you’re not allergic to dogs, remember that the dog breed is much more important than a few hairs on your floors. There’s a lot to consider when choosing a new furry family member and deciding which dog breed is best for you. 

What causes pet allergies

Many think that allergies are caused by a dog’s fur, but the real source is often a protein that’s in the dog’s saliva and urine. This protein sticks to the dander which then sticks to the fur.

Some dog breeds are marketed as hypoallergenic because they don’t shed that much. In those situations, the dander doesn’t get released into the air as much.

Your first step in getting tested for a dog allergy would be to talk with your doctor about your symptoms and medical history. Your doctor can order a test for you if those indicate a possible dog allergy.

If you still want to have a dog, consider the following tips to reduce your allergy symptoms:

• Choose a smaller dog, which will shed less dander than a larger dog.
• Keep your pet out of your bedroom and other rooms in which you spend a lot of time.
• Keep your pet outside, if weather permits.
• Bathe your pet weekly to remove dander from its coat.
• Choose carpet-free flooring, or shampoo your carpet regularly.
• Use a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) purifier and vent filters to help reduce airborne pet allergens.

Which smaller dog breeds shed the least – my top 5 cutest puppers!

Maltese

Affenpinscher

Border Terrier

Bichon Frise

Miniature Poodle

You should also check out these adorable breeds:

• Coton de Tulear
• Manchester Terrier
• Miniature Schnauzer
• Silky Terrier
• Brussels Griffon
• Welsh Terrier
• Chinese Crested
• Bedlington Terrier
• Shih Tzu

Which bigger dog breeds shed the least – my top 5 cutest woofers!

Afghan Hound

Giant Schnauzer

Komondor

Irish Water Spaniel

Standard Poodle

You should also check out these adorable bigger breeds:

• Airedale Terrier
• Belgian Malinois
• Portuguese Water Dog
• Bouvier des Flandres
• Old English Sheepdog

The post Are low-shedding dog breeds the right fit for you? appeared first on TAIDETERAPIA.

Dogs sometimes, more than sometimes, do things that seem weird. Usually, there is a perfectly reasonable explanation behind the weird behavior. But because they can’t tell us, we need to figure it out.

If your dog or your friend’s dog is following you everywhere, it doesn’t mean you’re pregnant without knowing it or dying like many think. Yes, we might have read an article or two about a smart doggo who detected cancer. Most likely that’s not the case with you and your dog.

So let’s breathe and look at what might cause your doggo to follow you constantly.

Most often one or a few of these will explain your dog’s behavior when your dog is following you everywhere:

1. Wants something from you 
2. Separation anxiety
3. Fear 
4. Learned behavior
5. Insecurity
6. Emotional distress
7. Needs care
8. Needs support
9. Needs reassurance
10. Underlying condition

Your dog might simply want something from you. I don’t need to ask, does your dog follow you to the kitchen every time… right? If so, your dog is used to the fact that there’s often something thrown on the floor. It’s a great place to be when special treats are flying!

Your dog can have separation anxiety. Separation anxiety happens when your dog is super-attached to you and your dog’s world seems to collapse when you leave. Separation anxiety is not healthy for your dog and needs to be fixed before the condition gets any worse.

Your dog might be fearful of something you can’t see or hear yet. Did you know dogs can hear and feel thunderstorms coming before we do? I have 5 tips when leaving your dog alone during thunderstorms to make your dog feel more comfortable.

Learned behavior usually explains this. Do you pet your dog every time your dog comes to you without asking? That’s normal, but that way your dog gets rewarded by your affection every time your dog wants to. So why not come to you more often to get those lovely cuddles..? Yeah. If your dog is really clingy, pay attention to your own behavior and try to pet your dog on your terms, not when your dog is asking for it.

When your dog is insecure, that might come across as clingy. Relationship-based training can be the answer to this one because the root cause is between your bond with your dog. Maybe there’s a leadership issue that is causing your doggo to be insecure and nervous because your doggo doesn’t have a confident pack leader.

Different environments, loud noises, or separation anxiety can cause emotional distress to your dog. There might be something your dog is hearing that you can’t yet. Keep a close eye on your environment and subtle changes in it if there are some triggers why your dog. Especially if your dog is following you all of a sudden.

Your dog might need care, support, or reassurance because of some of the reasons above. Connecting with your dog and training your dog consistently is always a good idea.

If you think those issues are not causing your dog to be so clingy, I would make an appointment with your local vet to be sure there isn’t any underlying condition that causes the symptoms.

How to get your dog to leave you alone

I would recommend that you start by training the stay – command. I have listed my step-by-step guide of the 7 basic dog commands that will help you move fast with your training.

Stay -command is a lifesaver in many different situations!

You can start using this command in your home when you need your dog to stay in one place for a while. Good training situations are when you leave one room for a few minutes and come back. 

How to do this:

1. Start by standing in front of your dog, give the Stay -command, hold on for a few seconds and then give a lot of praise/favorite toy/ treat.
2. When your dog can stay for a few seconds, train your dog to wait a few seconds more before giving the reward. 
3. Keep going until your dog is comfortable waiting several minutes. If your dog can’t wait as long as you wanted, you went too fast so take a few steps back.

Also, remember that your dog can’t decide when you should cuddle them. It’s your decision as harsh as that might sound. You are thinking of the best of your dog when you make all the decisions in your home. As small as they might seem. 

This is particularly important if you have a clingy doggo at the moment.

Final thoughts

If your dog or another familiar dog is really clingy, there’s most often a learned behavior that will explain it. When you pay attention to your own behavior around that clingy dog, you will notice that you will give that dog some kind of award.

Over and over again in the same kind of situation.

It might just be a few strokes that you do without thinking about it but it means a lot to that clingy dog. Separation anxiety is more severe and needs to be trained as soon as possible to help your dog and you as well.

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Our love for our dogs is as clear as a bright day. But the limitation is that we can’t just control all the things and keep our dog safe on its own. For example, we can’t just lift our focus from its diet and health; and believe that he will only eat good and healthy things and will take proper diet care.

We will have to take proper care considering all the health and safety protocols.

Starting from the morning till the end of the day, you have to make arrangements and protocols that keep your dog away from any kind of health hazard. Besides keeping your dog away from the hazards, you also need to improve your dog’s health and learning.

Here! This article will help you to make your dog more safe and sound. You just need to sit back and try to learn every aspect that we will go over together.

Let’s have a warm cup of your favourite drink and dive right in!

How to make sure your dog stays safe

To make yourself sure that your dog stays safer, you have to follow some safety steps. These steps will make sure that your dog stays safer at every moment.

1. Following the leash in public places: dogs are very impulsive, and they respond unconsciously in stress and noisy places. So even if your dog is well trained and civilized, you need to take precautions for the sake of your dog’s safety.
2. Don’t let your dog wander alone: there can be any kind of danger in which you are putting your dog alone. Your dog may find some dangerous fighting dog on the way and get hurt. So you don’t allow your dog to wander alone.
3. Obedience training: your dog must learn obedience so that you can protect him from the brink of danger. If your dog is not obedient and, in some situations, you can’t control him physically on time, your dog can be in great trouble.
4. Mental and physical health: every day, your dog needs mental and physical stimuli to release extra body energy and be comfortable. For the sake of mental and physical health, you need to take your buddy out for physical and mental exercises. Running and playing with other dogs and doing some intelligence exercises will make your dog mentally and physically fit.
5. Clean the house: there can be many things in your furry buddy’s access that can be really dangerous. You need to do a proper cleaning and setting of the living area and rooms to keep every dangerous thing away from the access of your doggo.

What your dog should not eat

Well, there’s a long list of foods that your dog shouldn’t eat. Let’s go over the causes as well.

1. Gum, candy, baked food, and other sweetened diets with Xylitol are not good for your dog’s health. Xylitol can cause blood sugar drop, vomiting, lethargy, seizures, and liver failure. So you should not allow your pet to eat anything sweetened with Xylitol.
2. Alcohol is bad for dogs as for humans, but dogs can get its harm even with smaller quantities. It can cause diarrhea, vomiting, coordination loss, coma, or even death. It is best to avoid alcohol for the sake of good. This advice is for you and me, too.
3. Eliminate onions and garlic from the diet of your buddy. Powdered, dried, raw, or cooked, your dog must not take them. They can cause the killing of red blood cells of your doggo, and your dog may suffer from anemia. Therefore, avoid using onions and garlic in their diet.
4. Caffeine can be fatal. No doubt you want to make your dog a little perky but don’t use caffeine. Use dog toys instead and let your dog play with other favorite dogs and people. Avoid any drink, i.e., coffee, tea, or cold drinks and chocolates, cocoa, and beans for the sake of good.
5. Raisins, grapes, milk, and milk products must not be used as treats. Even on a hot summer day, you should give water instead of sharing your yummy ice cream with your dog. Because it gives more harm than good. I use ice traits in the summer times: I fill them with water and then I put a treat in them. When my dog gets the ice cube, the smell of the treat will get my dog to want to eat the whole thing.

Summer safety

I love summer times because of the extra sunshine but heat is not good for dogs. Pets and heat, don’t mix these two. These precautions will protect you and your doggo more, here are the short tips to follow:

1. Leave your doggo at home during midday. 
2. Hydrate your dog. Make changes in the diet to provide enough water.
3. Don’t shave your dog. A little trimming is good but keep long hairs to avoid direct sunlight.
4. Avoid pavements and prefer grass and cool dust. If the pavement is too hot for your hand, it’s too hot for paws.
5. Don’t let your doggo anywhere near fireworks. 
6. Ask your vet to devise a control strategy to avoid fleas and other parasites.
7. Keep your pet cool. If you find any sign of heatstroke, call your vet immediately.

Winter safety

Winter wind, snow, sleet, ice…. There is much to prevent your dog from getting in trouble. Winter affects dogs the same as it affects us. Therefore, they also need preparation and safety measures that we will go over:

1. Don’t let your dog anywhere near thin ice. Every season we hear stories of rescuing dogs from the icy water.
2. Cover their paws to avoid injuries and abrasions while running on the ice.
3. Trim the hairs between paws to avoid any injury. Paw hairs can form ice balls between pads.
4. Clean the feet of your dog to remove rock salt (halite) and any other dangerous things to avoid injuries and abrasion.
5. Limit the long outside walks with your dog when it’s really cold. Let your doggo be home and burn the energy indoors by playing an intellectual dog game.
6. Every dog needs some time to acclimate to the outside. Little energetic activities will help your dog get used to.
7. Dress up your dog accordingly to fight the winter. You may find joy in selecting and changing your dog’s outdoor wear.

Water safety

Water can be a great source of pleasure for you and your furry doggo. But you need to follow the precautions to save yourself and your buddy from any unfortunate event.

1# Swimming

Find a shallow spot to enter the pool, river, lake or ocean. Don’t think of your dog as a born-swimmer. You should also go into the water with your dog. In the beginning, keep your dog on a leash but don’t force your dog to the water. If your dog doesn’t want to go into the water that day, that week or that summer, it’s okay. That doesn’t mean that your dog will never swim. 

My older rescue dog, a retriever mix, didn’t want to swim for the first few years. One time when me and my husband went for a swim in a lake, our dog suddenly joined us! After that, he wanted to retrieve all his sticks from the water if we were near that lake. Show examples and be really patient and understanding of your dog’s needs.

If you are going for a boat ride, always put a dog-life-jacket on your dog even if your dog loves to swim. 

2# At the beach

Always stay on the shallow end, close to the beach line. Watch out for the high tides that may take your dog with it. Don’t let your dog drink the salty water or eat the fish washed out on the shore. Both can be dangerous for the health.

• Never leave your doggo alone in the water.
• Give your dog another bath in fresh and clean water after being in any kind of water. It washes off the minerals, chlorine, algae, and pollution.

Prevent a lost dog

• GPS tracker

To prevent your lovely doggo from getting lost, you should use a GPS tracker. It will help to prevent any unfortunate event. You will be able to know the current position of your dog anytime, anywhere.

Emergency preparedness

You must have a first aid kit available at your home in an emergency situation, and anywhere you are traveling with your dog. Your kit must include all the essential equipment and material as mentioned below:

1. Gauze
2. Scissors with blunt ends
3. Medial tape
4. Thermometer
5. Hydrogen peroxide
6. Cotton or swabs
7. Ice packs
8. Tweezers
9. Disposable gloves

Other than these items, it must include the dog’s medical record, the contact information of the vet, and nearby vet clinic for any emergency purpose.

Safety around other dogs

Every dog breed has a set of characteristics; you should know yours and behave accordingly. Watch and observe other dogs but avoid eye contact with them. You should make space for other dogs.

If you see another dog walking towards you, give space and keep your dog away from strangers and unfamiliar dogs. Some dog owners will act like it’s always ok to let dogs sniff each other so you need to be prepared to say you are just passing by.

It’s always your choice, not the dog’s or another dog owner’s choice. 

All dog’s don’t like all dogs, just like we don’t like everyone. We might tolerate others and so do dogs. Pay attention to your dog’s body language to understand better which dogs your doggo likes and doesn’t like.

Teach your dog some simple obedience commands to help you and your dog be safer. My favorite 7 basic dog commands with specific teaching order will get you started!

How to prevent a dog fight

You can prevent dog fights by following these general protocols:

1. Prefer spaying/neutering your dog
2. Feed each dog separately in the home
3. Always use the leash
4. Avoid going to parks if your dog does not feel comfortable
5. Put your dog’s favourite toys out of sight to avoid possession fights

If you find yourself in the middle of a dog fight, always grab your dog’s back legs and pull! The other dog owner should do the same to their dog at the same time to separate them. Don’t try to pull anywhere near their heads, back legs are the safest way to go. If you go near the heads you might get bitten just by reflex.

Perfect recall

You can develop perfect recall memory by using the same command words or a sound again and again. Have some treats in your pocket to reward your doggo and give the best ones when your dog comes when called. Keep your voice tone happy and body language comfortable.

Coming to you must be the best thing your dog knows, no matter what your dog did five seconds before!

Leash walking

Leash walking is a part of obedience training. It’s good to make a habit of the leash from an early age. Train your dog on the leash to have a pace like yours. It will prevent your dog from attacking strangers and respect the neighbor’s privacy and rights.

I don’t recommend using a retractable leash if your dog doesn’t walk nicely on a regular leash. 

Retractable leash doesn’t teach your dog the right distance because it varies a lot. It’s also more dangerous because when your dog sees something and wants to run after it, you might not have the chance to stop the leash on time. Worse case scenario is that your dog runs from the sidewalk to in front of a car in two seconds.

Usually, I like to buy leather leashes or ones that have prints on them. If you’re like me I would definitely recommend checking out these print leashes from Squish.

When your doggo has mastered the regular leash, you can level up to a retractable one if you like. This is my favorite retractable leash.

Final thoughts

There’s a lot to consider when it comes to the safety measures but you can do this! One safety tip at a time and some of them are seasonal. These tips will keep you, your dog and everyone around you more safe.

My retriever mix rescue dog was a handful before he was about two years old. He could focus like three seconds before he saw something more interesting, hahh! So we used these tips constantly and now they are a part of our everyday doggo life. He still (born 2017) gets excited and wants to play every day but it’s different because he is a little bit wiser now. Still goofy, but wiser.

When you have used these tips several times they come as a second nature and you just do them without thinking. It’s going to get easier as your dog grows and learns more every day. Your dog will also calm down more as time goes by even if it doesn’t seem like that now.

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Maybe you also worry about the damage your dog might make or having neighbors complain about howling or barking.

These are all normal things to think about and heard from others when being a dog owner. 

How your dog acts when left alone depends on your dog’s breed, personality, and training. Other dogs do very well when left alone and they will mostly sleep until their owner comes home. Other dogs need more training, more exercise, and things to keep them busy. To avoid separation anxiety, leaving the house should be a normal thing for a dog.

Because dogs are so dependent on their owner, they might get restless when the pack leader leaves.

Training your dog 

Most of us work around eight hours a day so we need to teach our dogs to get familiar with our routines. The sooner the better. Dogs sleep a lot in a 24-hour period so there’s no need to feel bad when you need to go to work.

Dogs will most often be active or semi-active for the first 45-60 minutes when left alone so if your dog is destroying something, it’s done 90% of the time during this time. If this is happening you can use my puppy bucket method below.

My puppy bucket method

Before I had my bucket of special toys my dog would be restless and destructive for the first 30-60 minutes. Then he would settle and sleep until I got home from work. At that time I didn’t fully know why some dogs destroy toys.

I made a bucket of special toys that my dog would get only when I left for work. This was when my dog was under one year old and he still had energy left after his morning runs. My dog knew he would get his bucket when I was putting on my shoes and jacket and fiddling with my keys. 

I would put his bucket on the floor, make him sit and wait on command, and then said “Okay, go ahead”. He would lunch to the bucket and I would just calmly and quietly leave the front door. No howling, no crying, no destructive behavior. He would tire himself with the bucket of toys and then fall asleep.

That was fun and heartwarming to watch through the dog camera. 

My special bucket worked perfectly. I used it with our other dogs as well and can’t stop talking about it when someone says their dog is being destructive when left alone!

Training your puppy being left alone

If you have a puppy, it’s good to start training being alone as soon as possible: have your puppy in one room and calmly leave and come back just seconds later. Don’t say goodbye to your dog and don’t give affection when you come back to the room.

Just leave and come back. Continue this by staying a little longer each time. If your puppy starts crying, you were gone too long. 

It’s easier for your dog when you don’t make a scene when you leave and come back.

If your dog gets anxious easily, ignore your dog when you come home. Let your dog settle down first and then give all the love you want. This part can be tricky though because most of us want to cuddle our dogs when we come back home. Try to control yourself and you are doing a service to your dog in the long run!

You don’t have to say goodbye to your dog when you leave but you can try something small, like saying calmly “Be a good boy, I’ll be back”. Focus on your tone of voice, be extra calm and move slowly. Notice if it calms your dog or makes your dog more anxious when you close the door behind you.

Your dog will sense your feelings of restlessness so don’t leave in a hurry.

Because dogs are different, you might need to figure out through test and error which things will settle your dog more quickly. That’s why I frequently suggest a dog camera to capture what’s really going on when you leave the house. 

Things you can try with your dog

Try one of these or a few of them at once to see how your dog reacts:

1. Leave the radio on so your dog has some background noise as there would be when you are at home. There’s music for dogs on Spotify too.
2. Leave curtains open if your dog likes to look outside. If you notice that your dog barks easily, then leave the curtains closed so there aren’t any extra distractions. 
3. Make a bucket of special toys like the puppy bucket above.
4. Make the space where your dog stays bigger or smaller depending on your dog’s needs.
5. Try to say goodbye to your dog when you leave as a cue that you will come back. If your dog acts anxious, try to distract your dog with a toy before you leave.
6. Notice what sounds trigger the anxiety and try to change it. If the trigger is your keys, put them in your pocket early on before leaving.
7. Contact a dog walker to ease and shorten your dog’s alone time.

A tired dog is also a happy dog. When you tire out your dog before you leave they have less energy to be destructive and will settle down more quickly.

Training yourself when you leave your dog alone

When you are trying to understand what’s going on in your dog’s mind, be aware of how you are feeling and acting around your dog.

Dogs are little experts on reading our body language and our other non-verbal signals.

In severe cases, your dog might develop separation anxiety. This happens when your dog is super-attached to you and your dog’s world seems to collapse when you leave. It’s a serious condition that goes beyond a little whining when you go.

Be ready to train yourself and your dog to do things differently. It’s possible to get over separation anxiety with consistency and have a confident dog!

How long can your dog be alone

If you have a puppy, the puppy’s bladder is still very small, the puppy has a lot of energy and needs a lot more attention than an older dog. Older dogs who are less active may feel comfortable alone for longer periods of time.

How much time alone is too much for a dog is a scientific question, but also an ethical one.

Jessica Pierce Ph.D. in Psychology Today

Pierce also states that despite the lack of focused research into the question, there seems to be a loose consensus among trainers and veterinarians that about four hours is a comfortable range for an adult dog. This is a target range, which then needs to be individualized. One dog trainer also told Pierce that “My unsatisfactory answer is that a dog should be left alone for the least length of time possible.”

Final thoughts

Start to teach your puppy or a rescue dog early on that they will be left alone. Your dog should get used to the fact that when you leave the house, nothing bad isn’t going to happen and you will come back.

Start the training by going to a separate room for just a few seconds and come back. Don’t make it a big deal. Just leave and come back without paying any attention to your dog.

If your dog has already developed separation anxiety, you can help your dog with training to get past it. It takes time and consistency but you can do it!

The post Leave your dog alone at home without anxiety appeared first on TAIDETERAPIA.

These will be the foundation that you can build on other commands to:

1. Name recognition
2. Look at me
3. Come
4. Wait/ Stay
5. Leave it
6. Sit
7. Down/ Off

These might save your dog’s life later on!

Your dog doesn’t understand our world as we do. The basic dog commands will keep you and your dog safer and everyone else around you. Our commands and body language are really important. We need to study the language of our dogs as well because dogs communicate with us using their body language.

Your dog will learn a new language with you and you will learn the language of your dog.

But let’s start with these basic commands.

With repetition, you and your dog will master all of them!

Always practice in an area that has no attractions. If there are attractions around you, you will set up your dog to fail and I know you don’t want that.

The first command you should teach your dog

Having a connection with your dog is the first one to focus on. Bonding with your dog can be done by playing with your dog and getting to really know your dog. Every dog has their own likes and dislikes. 

Usually, Sit -command is one of the first ones that a new dog owner is advised to teach to their dog. I would advise you to focus on the commands that could actually save your dog’s life. When you have those under your belt, you can start to teach everything else. 

I advise you to start with a Look at me and Stay/Wait -commands.

In my opinion the Wait -command is more important to learn than the Sit -command. When your dog waits, it’s not important if your dog does it standing or sitting down. As long as they don’t move when in command.

Let’s go over those most important ones together and how to teach them to your dog.

The order you should teach your dog basic commands

Your dog might have learned the name you call your dog already. If this is not the case or you are getting a rescue dog and want to change the name, that’s perfectly fine. The age of your dog doesn’t matter if you are thinking about changing the name. 

Look at me -command is really important in the beginning after the name recognition.

It has to do with connecting with your dog and that’s the base of dog training. When your dog has learned those two, you can move to the next, which is Come -command. 

Stay/Wait -command is the next that I would recommend. It’s fairly easy and will help you and your dog to master the next commands. It doesn’t matter at this point if your dog stands or sits when in Stay/Wait – command. We can work on that later.

One really important thing that new dog owners forget is to release their dog from the command. This is as important as the command itself. Dog can’t decide when the command ends. Every command where your dog needs to stay in place (sit, stay, wait etc.), you need to release your dog from that command.

If you think of a situation where you are waiting to cross the road. You will put your dog into Wait – command. Your dog can’t decide when it’s a good time to move again. You need to release your dog from the command. You can use what is natural to you, like “Okay, let’s go!” 

You need to remember to release your dog from the command every single time. 

Leave it -command is important and can save your dog’s life. Dogs might eat everything that comes in their way. Let’s look at how you can teach this to your dog a little later.

Down/ Off -command is used when your dog jumps on you and/or other people. Dogs do this because they have gotten affection when they have jumped on people. It’s important to teach your dog early on that nothing happens when they jump. 

Sit -command is one of the first things that new dog owners teach to their dogs. This command can actually wait a little longer. It’s a good command to learn but not the most important one. 

You can start using double commands as soon as you can.

You can use a double command like “Name, come..!” or “Name, leave it..!” It’s confusing for your dog if you just use your dog’s name. That’s like someone is calling you by name, you don’t have any idea why and no one tells you why.

1#  Name recognition

This is something that new dog owners usually already do with their new doggo. They give their dog a name and it’s cute when they start to recognize it. 

When your dog starts to recognize the name and comes when called, remember a few things: only call your dog when good things are happening, don’t ever punish your dog when it comes to you.

Coming to you has to be the best thing your dog knows, always.

You can teach a new name to a dog if you have a rescue dog with this method. You can also use this if you think your dog doesn’t really have the hang of this yet.

How to do this:

1. When your dog is not looking at you, say your dog’s name in a very happy tone.
2. When your dog turns to look at you, say “yes” or “good,” and then immediately give your dog a treat.
3. If your dog isn’t listening, move to a more quiet place with fewer attractions and try again with a smaller distance.

2# Look at me 

It’s important to connect with your dog before going forward with teaching any commands. This is done by teaching your dog to look at you when you need to. Dog training is based on the connection between you and your dog.

Your dog needs to know that all the commands come from you.

How to do this: 

1. Hold a treat in your hand and let your dog sniff it. If your dog is distracted, move the treat a little closer to your dog’s nose so the smell is stronger. 
2. Move your treat-hand in front of your face, close to your eyes and nose. This is to teach your dog to look at your eyes.
3. Say “Name, look at me” and give your dog the treat when your dog looks at you.

3# Come

This is one of those commands that can actually save your dog’s life. This usually comes almost naturally when you call your dog. Just add the command to this action and practice with a leash. Make this a game for your dog.

How to do this:

1. Try this first in your home with fewer distractions.
2. Show your dog a toy or a treat, praise them as they are coming to you.
3. Reward them when they come to you and use the Come -command. Make sure to reward your dog with a high-value treat like a little piece of chicken or cheese.
4. If your dog is not engaging with you, you can use a leash and gently guide your dog to come.

4# Stay / Wait

You will use this often with your dog and this is a lifesaver! You can start using this in your home when you need your dog to stay in one place for a while.

Good training situations are when the doorbell rings and you invite people in, when you eat dinner or you are cleaning your home.

How to do this:

1. Start by standing in front of your dog, give the command, hold on for a few seconds and then give a lot of praise/favorite toy/ treat.
2. When your dog can stay for a few seconds, train your dog to wait a few seconds more before giving the reward. 
3. Keep going until your dog is comfortable waiting several minutes. If your dog can’t wait as long as you wanted, you went too fast so take a few steps back.

5# Leave it 

This is one of the lifesavers as well! Your dog might want to eat everything that will drop in front of them like medication or something from the dinner table.

With this command, you can protect your dog from getting seriously ill.

Ideally, your dog should always look at you for permission to take something from the floor. This is why that “Look at me” -command and connection with your dog comes really handy. You don’t have eyes on your back so you can’t possibly notice everything. Your dog needs to learn not to take anything from the floor without your permission.

How to do this:

1. Place a treat in your fist and let your dog smell it in there.
2. As soon your dog stops trying to get the treat, give praise, open your fist and say “Go ahead”. Your dog will learn that not doing anything is the road to get the treat.
3. Now place the treat on the floor with your hand over it. Have another (better) treat ready for your dog as the final treat. 
4. When your dog is ignoring the treat under your hand, try to remove your hand. Be ready to put your hand over it quickly again if necessary.
5. When your dog leaves the treat on the floor alone, pick it up, give a lot of praise and give the ultimate better treat to your dog. 

6# Down / Off

Your dog should only get affection when all four paws are on the floor.

Usually, this is a hard one because you need to educate everyone around you and new people that are in contact with your dog. They might not mind your dog jumping on them but you can’t slack with this one. Stay strong!

When your dog grows bigger and has used to jumping, it can take longer to teach your dog out of learned behavior.

This command is a little different because you need to wait for unwanted behavior. It’s good to have treats around your home close to the places where you don’t want your dog to be like the couch or putting the paws up on the kitchen table.

How to do this:

1. When you see your dog doing something you don’t approve of, use “Off” with a stern voice so the dog knows you mean business, but don’t yell.
2. React quickly so your dog can connect your command with its action.
3. As soon as your dog’s four paws are on the floor, give a treat or a lot of praise.

7# Sit

Finally one of the easiest ones again. This is a really basic command and can be taught to a puppy that’s only a few months old. If your dog has already learned the “Leave it” -command, this one is going to be a  breeze.

How to do this:

1. Put a treat into your hand and let your dog smell it.
2. Your dog will most likely try to do anything to get it. 
3. When your dog’s butt touches the floor, give your dog the treat. This might take a while but just sit and wait. I don’t recommend helping your dog in any way at this early stage.

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One of the easiest toys to destroy is a stuffed one, right? Your dog will chew it and find a weak spot in the toy and there we go again. The filling is everywhere and you feel disappointed. Why even bother to buy stuffed toys?

We want our dog to have different kinds of great toys to play with. And that’s great! Dogs need different kinds of stimulation.

We can also learn to buy different kinds of toys that fit better to our dog’s needs.

There’s several theories why your dog might destroy toys:

• Boredom
• Pray drive
• Learned behaviour
• Separation anxiety
• Habit
• Wrong toy for the purpose
• It’s just fun 
• Not enough challenge
• Puppy phase

When you get to know your dog, you will notice what kind of toys you should buy. Some dogs will love stuffed toys and they take care of them. They are like comfort toys for them. Dogs might bond with the stuffed toy, clean it and sleep with it or maybe it’s not just meant to be.

That’s okay, every dog toy is not suitable for every dog.

Let’s dive deeper!

Boredom

Your dog might just need something to do and stuffed toys are really easy to destroy. Consider to take your dog for a longer walk or if you can let your dog run a while before leaving your dog alone.

Pray drive

Before dogs had to hunt for their food and small animals were the target. Some breeds still show signs of wanting to hunt prey more than others, such as targeting squirrels in the park. If your dog has a strong prey drive, it’s more common that your dog will destroy a squeaky toy because it represents prey.

Learned behaviour

Your dog might have used to this kind of behavior because you have given your dog praises. Every time you give some kind of positive reinforcement for your dog when your dog is shaking toys vigorously – your dog thinks it’s a good thing and continues. 

Separation anxiety

If your dog is suffering from separation anxiety, it can show different symptoms. One of them is destroying things around the house when you’re gone. That can become a learned behavior as well: when dogs are used to rip something, they can do it again with different items as the target.

Habit

If the things above aren’t solved, it can become a habit. When you tackle the separation issue first, the rest will follow and your dog will be more comfortable when you are gone.

Wrong toy for the purpose

There’s different dog toys for different purposes. The most quarante-strong-ones are used when you leave your dog alone for a period of time. All the others basically are used together with your dog. So it might be that the toys you give your dog are the wrong kind of ‘dog sitters’.

It’s just fun 

Let’s face it – sometimes it’s fun to just rip something. If your dog is destroying every toy, it’s time to invest in extra-durable ones.

Not enough challenge

The toys you give your dog might not be the most exhilarating. Try to give your dog different kind of toys to see which your dog likes the most.

Puppy phase – use my puppy bucket method

The destroying phase is between 9-11 months in dogs so you should expect to have something being ripped to pieces. Our massage roll took a hit one day when one of our dogs was little. When your dog is getting close to that age it might be good to go over the place where you keep your dog when you leave. 

When my dogs were younger I used a puppy bucket method. I got the idea years ago when I searched for different methods on how to leave your dog alone without separation anxiety.

I used this method with both of my rescue dogs I have at the moment. My youngest dog was more of a hyper-puppy than the others so I wanted to continue this method. This has saved me a lot of headaches and a ton of money because I didn’t have to replace any of my furniture or worry about separation anxiety developing.

My puppy bucket -method

1. Use a bucket that you already own. It can be in any size. If you don’t have a plastic bucket, you can use anything else with strong material.
2. Take out old towels, old t-shirts, old sheats – any fabric you don’t mind getting rid of.
3. Take out treats: dry kibble, soft treats – anything you have for your dog that would be safe to leave alone with your dog
4. Tie knots in most of your fabrics.
5. Push treats inside those knots on your fabrics. That way there’s more of a challenge to find those precious treats.
6. Put all the fabrics, treats, and hard toys (like tennis balls) into the bucket and place one fabric as a cover on top of the bucket.

Word of warning: our other towels took a hit for a few weeks after the puppy bucket -method when our towels were left unattended in the living room. The edges of the towels were chewed (learned behaviour). This stopped when our dog was less than a year old. 

You can use this method for several months.

You will see the change in time and know when you don’t need it anymore: your dog will first take everything out and play with them. Then some of the toys will stay in the bucket and your dog will choose the favorite ones to play with.

In the last phase, your dog will still eat any treat there is but maybe just one favorite toy is out of the bucket. At this time your puppy is also older than when you started.

They grow up so fast!

Now your dog should be used to the fact that when you leave they get something special. When you come back home, take everything that was in the bucket away from your dog. Those ‘special toys’ are given only when you leave your home. Let me know how it went!

How to get your dog to stop destroying toys

If you notice that you can’t leave your dog with a stuffed toy, then basically don’t.

The only toys that I can leave with my dogs are really hard ones and tennis balls. The hard ones were iffy as well when one of my dogs was under one year old. But when I had a pug, she loved her stuffed toys and slept with them. So cute.

If you have a super-intelligent doggo that needs something extra, there are these great hard ball-shaped dog toys that you can put kibble in. A little bigger than a tennis ball. I love those! Your dog will learn to roll the ball to get the treats out one by one.

Sometimes when I forgot the treat the ball on the floor when I came back home, one of my dogs used to roll the ball when it was empty. At the same time, he would look at me like: “Hey, you see this..?! There’s nothing left, come on… few more.”

If your dog is destroying every toy, it’s time to invest in dog toys that promise to be extra-durable.

I bought this slow feed extra-durable dog toy last fall and we use it inside and outside at the moment. With supervision at the moment, hahh! What makes it great, is the little flexibility. Like with our tennis balls that lay around in our home: they give in a little and they roll around effortlessly. They are not like soft toys without movement.

A ball doesn’t need a lot to become more interesting! So our dogs gan chew them without breaking them and that little movement makes them go after it. 

Conclusion

We can learn to know our dogs better and buy different kinds of toys that fit our dog’s needs. Depending on the age and breed of your dog, you will learn and find out what is the most ideal toy for your dog.

The destroying phase in dogs is between 9-11 months so you can expect to have something being ripped to pieces. Invest in some more durable toys and don’t leave your dog alone with toys that your dog can easily destroy.

The post Why your dog destroys toys appeared first on TAIDETERAPIA.

I have put this kind of hat on more than once so let’s do this together!

If your dog stopped sleeping in the dog bed, consider these options first:

• Have you moved the dog bed to a new place?
• Did you wash the dog bed?
• Are you in a new environment? 
• Is your dog too small for the bed? 
• Can your dog stretch out nicely in the dog bed?
• Could the change in season play a part? Is it colder or warmer than usual?
• Have there been any changes in your dog’s routines or yours?
• Have there been any changes in your own mood? 
• What do you think is better about the new location your dog prefers to sleep?

Why do dogs sleep in the dog bed

Why do we have the urge to get our dogs to sleep in the dog bed? Think about it. Why do we buy dog beds?

We will find a warm and fluffy dog bed and we think our dog will love it. Because we love it! We would happily sleep in that new dog bed if we would be dogs, right?! And it matches the decor as well, perfect!

We are so excited and bring the new dog bed home just to see that our dog prefers the old disgusting bed instead. Okay, something went wrong.

More often we need to train our dogs to sleep in the dog beds. It’s not something a dog will do intuitively. A dog is a pack animal and wants to be close to its favorite humans. 

So is it even necessary for our dogs to sleep on the dog bed, specifically? No.

One of my old dogs loved to sleep in the shoe basket where I hid our shoes so that she wouldn’t eat them. Well, she didn’t. She loved to sleep in them instead of the dog bed I have made for her. 

No, not disappointed at all. Just hand made with love..! No big deal.

One of my dogs loved the crate when he was a puppy but then just grew over it. He found something more suitable for his needs: our tiny carpet and a chair.

Yeah. Evidence below.

And one of my dogs just sleeps on the cold floor because he has so much fur that he gets hot really quickly.

Sometimes there’s something new and soft thrown on to our floor, like a swing cover when it’s raining, and our dogs will take turns on it. It’s crazy.

Sure there’s our scent in it and everything else from outside. The swing cover is super comfy and that’s why we love it but I didn’t think our dogs would love it even more. Then a few days pass and they’re over it.

How to get your dog to sleep in his dog bed again

If you want to train your dog to sleep in the dog bed again, don’t force it. There’s a reason why your dog isn’t sleeping in there and it’s valid. Your dog might just be too hot to sleep in the dog bed at that time of the year.

Usually because of temperature changes your dog might choose to lie on the cold floor of the bathroom or by the entrance.

The training part is the same as crate training: the bed should never be a place of punishment and always give praise when your dog goes to the bed. You can have ‘treat-times’ for your dog when you only give treats when your dog is on the dog bed.

Your dog will associate the dog bed to something great happening. 

Changing an old dog bed to a new one

Years ago I made a decision not to stress over where my dogs sleep. As long as it’s not our bed, they can choose where to sleep. I also stopped making and buying new dog beds, specifically.

When I see a headline saying something like: “This is why your dog needs a dog bed” I think immediately that they just want to sell dog beds. That’s it.

And that’s okay, some dogs prefer dog beds but not all by far.

Yes, dogs need their own place to call their own and they think of that place as their territory. But it doesn’t need to be a dog bed. You are not a bad dog parent if you don’t have the most expensive and fluffiest dog bed in your home, where your dog likes to sleep every now and then.

When it’s really necessary to change something about their favourite sleeping area, I make changes slowly.

If you need to change your dog bed to a new one, try this! In my example I use a carpet because that’s usually what our dogs prefer at the moment.

My to-do list that you can copy:

1. Buy a new little carpet for my dogs if they have preferred that arrangement
2. Put the new carpet under the old one to gather all the familiar scents my dog loves
3. Start to make the old carpet smaller buy folding it but keep it still on top of the new one
4. When the old carpet is as small as possible our dog is basically sleeping on top of the new one. Throw the old one away. Finally!

You can put the new dog bed under the old one. One of the scents your dog loves more than anything is your own. So you can try and put something of yours on top of the dog bed as well. And always give praise when your dog goes to that place. 

Dogs think their bed is their territory. So you need to make sure the new bed smells even a little bit the same as the old one.

If a dog thinks the smell isn’t the same they may move into areas that smell strongly of their ‘pack’, such as the room you sleep in.

This is why dogs don’t like when we wash their favourite beds and toys. We think they smell wonderful and more importantly they are clean. But our dogs think they are basically ruined.

How could we ruin something so special..?!

Conclusion

There’s many options why your dog doesn’t sleep in the familiar dog bed anymore. I would love to give you just one! More often we need to train our dogs to sleep in the dog beds. It’s not something they will do intuitively.

A dog is a pack animal to it’s bones and wants to be close to us. Sleeping alone in a distant dog bed isn’t really what they want.

To get to the bottom of things, go over the question list from the top and think if any of those would be a reason in your case.

If those are not the case, you can try to wash your dog bed. This would be my final option! But if there’s some kind of smell your dog doesn’t like, a good wash followed by the crate training method above might do the trick. Let me know how it’s going!

The post Why your dog stopped sleeping in the dog bed appeared first on TAIDETERAPIA.

Adult dogs will usually sleep around 9-14 hours a day. This amount contains the naps during the day and nighttime. How many hours your dog can sleep might be different as it depends on your dog’s age, breed, activity level, and health.

Even sleeping location might affect your doggos amount of sleep. A new place with different sounds and smells might cause your dog to be sleeping less.

If you let your dog sleep in the same bed with you, it’s more often difficult for your dog to sleep as well when you’re tossing and turning. Studies show that 63% of pet owners who share their bed with their doggo experience poor sleep.

Puppies can sleep between 18 and 20 hours a day. Puppies will sleep more because their brains are developing and they’re growing. To a puppy everything is new and exciting so just the environment will tire the puppy out.

I love to see pictures of puppies when they have fallen asleep right in the middle of playtime! They have just crashed right there and then. 

Dog’s sleeping pattern

Dogs have a polyphasic sleep pattern. That means dogs sleep multiple times throughout a 24-hour period. When we sleep around 6-8 hours long periods, our dogs sleep around 45 minute periods.

Dogs are flexible with their sleep behavior. Most dogs are very alert and can pop up and be very active when someone enters the house. Except for my pug who wasn’t really a watchdog. She would just snore more loudly, hahha.

If they have an active day with fewer naps, they can sleep more the following day. When you go to a new location or visit a friend together, your dog might be really exhausted that evening and the next day as well.

This is good to know when you have a situation when you can’t walk your dog so much one day, so you can tire your dog the day before.

Routines will help your dog to sleep more peacefully

Dogs love routines for the same reasons we do. Routines make us feel more relaxed when everything is not changing all the time. That’s the same with dogs. Routines will make your dog feel more secure about the environment. 

If you would like to help your dog feel more relaxed at home or in a new environment, pay attention to your dog’s sleeping routine and environment.

Is it about the amount of sleep or bathroom brakes?

When we are thinking about how many hours our dog can sleep, 95% of the time it’s about bathroom breaks.

Most often bathroom brakes are counted as such:

• 5 month old: 6 hours before a bathroom break
• 6 month old: 7 hours before a bathroom break
• 7 month old: 8 hours before a bathroom break
• — 10-month-old and up: 10-12 hours before a bathroom break

I don’t consider this to be the most accurate. It’s because a puppy will run around more than an adult dog and will have to relieve themselves more often. Not to mention how tiny a puppy is so there isn’t a lot of room and training to be made yet to hold the pee.

When my dogs were puppies, the situation didn’t go as the bathroom brake list suggests.

I got my last two rescue dogs when they were six months old. They used the puppy pads every now and then until they were about 9 months old. So about the first 3 months when they became a part of our family. With rescue dogs, you need to remember that they are coming from a rescue center where they could pee wherever and whenever. 

I went outside every 3-4 hours at first. But when they were playing and running around at home they just started peeing in mid-walk.

That’s just puppy-life.

Why does your dog sleep all day

When we look at our furry doggos it’s obvious that they do sleep alot. A lot. We are used to sleeping at night and maybe crash to the sofa for a little nap after work. But dogs are really the masters of sleeping and napping.

That’s normal for carnivals though.

It’s normal for your dog to spend about 50% of the day asleep. Another 30% will be spent in resting-mode and just about 20% of the day they are active. 

National Sleep Foundation

Our doggo family routine for comparison

In our little family the dogs will sleep throughout the night. That’s about 8-9 hours when they will be left alone in the living room in their own places. Yep, no dogs in our bed. We love to sleep without being woken up by – no reason, hahh. And less dog hair in the sheats.

Well, moving on.

We will go out with the dogs right when we roll out of bed and then breakfast for all. If it’s a normal workday they will notice the rhythm and go back to snuggle in their own places. It’s usually still dark and they fall asleep again. 

I have a dog camera and I look at that every once in a while when at work.

I use the camera especially if there’s a change in my routine. Because of Covid, my routine changed a few times. When I went back to the office for a little while I made sure with the camera that everything was okay at home.

My drive to work is less than half an hour and there’s never traffic. Yeah, I know. So the dogs will be left alone for around 8,5 hours if my husband has a long day. If not, it’s around 6 hours. To some people 8,5 hours might seem a lot but that’s the routine for 9-5 folk. 

Our dogs have some safe toys to play with if they feel like it. I haven’t seen them playing in a long time when we are at work though. I have a sensor in the camera so I’m notified when there’s movement in our home. 

When I worked from home I kept the routine the same. So nothing happened during the day time and our dogs slept the whole day. Even when we were home.

After work, it’s time to go for a long walk or run to burn that energy.

Then they stay semi-active before dinner time. After dinner, they will totally crash with us and we have a family evening on the couch. Yes, the couch is okay but only when they are not begging and we give them permission to jump on the couch.

And that’s how our workdays go at the moment. Not gonna lie, it has been so nice to work from home! During the weekends there’s more activity for all of us and it’s so nice to really spend more time with them.

17 dogs that sleeps the most

During my research I found these 17 lovely dog breeds that absolutely love to sleep and nap!

If you are not the most active person and you’re thinking which dog breed is best for you, you should definitely check more about these breeds:

1. Bull dogs
2. Shih Tzu
3. Mastiff
4. Basset Hound
5. French bulldog
6. Pekingese
7. Basset Hound
8. Greyhound
9. Great Dane
10. Lhasa Apso
11. Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
12. Saint Bernard
13. Chow Chow
14. Great Dane
15. Cocker Spaniel
16. Pug
17. Great Pyrenees

Conclusion

There’s nothing to be worried about if your dog sleeps a lot during a 24 hour period. It’s good to always still consult your vet if you notice any changes in your dog’s behavior. If you notice that your dog doesn’t seem to be so active as before, there might be some pain that causes that.

When your dog is healthy and you want to tire your dog more, it doesn’t always have to be physical activity. You can play new games with your dog or learn new tricks together. There’s also a lot of puzzle toys for dogs so they really need to use their brain. That will tire them out as well.

Our older rescue dog loves to find treats that we hide for him. He became so good at it that we had moved the game outside with more distractions and smells.

It’s great to notice what games your dog really loves to play!

The post How many hours dogs sleep in a 24 hour period appeared first on TAIDETERAPIA.

And still, you feel deflated, tired, confused and wonder was just a big mistake. Your dog isn’t anything you expected. You are maybe thinking can you take your dog back and if so, what would everyone think?

There’s nothing wrong with you if you have these thoughts!

Don’t think for a second that you are a bad dog parent or that you don’t have what it takes. You are smart and you did your best before your dog arrived in your family. Trust me, I’ve been there. I thought about all of these things. More than with one dog.

I really thought I picked “the wrong dog” or there’s something wrong with me or my dog.

First-time dog owner anxiety is a normal part of the process of growing to be a dog parent. The new dog owner doesn’t have the experience of everyday routines and the knowledge of the ups and downs yet.

First-time dog owners will learn these things and can cope with dog owner anxiety by studying what is expected when owning a dog for the first time.

Every dog is different like we are. Every home is different. There are some dog breed traits that can help when choosing the right dog. But your dog can be a complete copy of that breed or something else.

Dogs have their own personality as well but training plays a HUGE part. You haven’t seen the results of what training can do yet. That’s one of the reasons why you feel so anxious and tired.

First-time dog owners usually study everything they can to be ready. And that’s great! We know though that you can’t be truly ready for something you need to experience. 

Owning a dog is not like going to do a written exam about dog owning. Oh, if only it could be that simple! 

What should a first-time dog owner expect

You might be frustrated because your dog is a little monster now: barking at everything, nipping, jumping, keeping you awake at night, leash pulling, and peeing all over the place even if you just went out. 

Yeah. That’s normal.

Here’s the deal.

Think of your dog as a little piece of clay. Just humor me, I have a point coming. You know, one of those colorful clays we used to play with when we were kids. Yeah? Now, you have a lump of clay in front of you and don’t know what to do with it.

It should look like a dog but it doesn’t. Not at all.

You’ve read everything about clay molding but now when it’s in front of you, you’re confused.

Time only moves forward and you will learn how to mold that cute peace of clay. One day at a time. That clay doesn’t know what to do to become a dog.

You need to make everything happen.

You need to get busy and learn how to mold that clay to become a dog. In time that clay will start to look like a dog and you will be so proud of yourself!

You will find the power and the support to stick with it even when you don’t feel like it. You will learn, you will fail and then you will try again and succeed. Some days will be just about surviving and others will be so much better. You WILL see results when you keep going. I know you will.

Like building a muscle. One day at a time.

8 pointers to every first-time dog owner with anxiety

For easing your anxiety, it’s good to know what you can do and what things are good to know and process. It’s all going to work out when you make sure your dog has everything to be healthy and content with you.

With time you will have a confident and well-behaved doggo!

#1

From now on you will always be a little worried about how your doggo is doing. Just about every day. Welcome to the club of “ I’m worried, is this normal for my dog to…” 

#2

Your dog can be a complete copy of that breed you studied or something else. Dogs have their own little personalities and quirks as well. It takes time to get to know your dog. At the same time your dog is getting to know you.

#3

Training plays a huge role. With time you will see how much positive training and consistency can mold your dog.

#4

Get to know your dog like you would a new friend. There are things your dog will love, dislike or be okay with. You can start by learning together what kind of toys your dog likes to play with. Playing with your dog deepens the bond between you both.

#5

Your dog will not like every dog that they meet. Just like you don’t really like everyone. They should tolerate different dogs but it’s okay if the meet-up doesn’t excite your dog. When you get to know your dog you will see what kind of play-dates would be nice to have in the future.

#6

Things will not always go as you planned. It’s important to sometimes try and go with the flow. You and your dog will learn as you go. 

#7

Keep your veterinarian’s phone number on speed dial. Always ask your vet’s opinion on your dog’s health issues. Depending on where you live and the vet’s office, there might be package deals for dogs: you pay for a specific amount that covers the whole year of vaccinations and consultations. Ask your vet if they have something to recommend.

#8

If your dog is an older rescue dog, it can take around 3 months for your dog to adjust to the new environment. You should be ready to double that time depending on your dog’s history and age. Take things slow no matter what the age. It’s a new situation for you and your dog.

Can dogs get anxiety from their owners?

Your dog will read your emotions very well. If you are stressed, nervous, anxious or unsure it can make some situations worse around your dog.

They’re definitely better at understanding us than we are at understanding them.

Lina Roth, a zoologist at Sweden’s Linkoping University

Lets say your dog is looking at you for guidance for specific situations and you don’t know how to guide your dog. When you feel nervous about it, your dog might think “My pack leader is nervous so I should be too. I’m gonna bark and lash out at this thing/ person/ situation just in case.”

According to National Geography, a new study shows that our relationship with our dogs runs both ways: if we experience long-term stress and anxiety we can pass it on to our doggos.

If you’re chronically stressed, your dog could be too.

National geography

The new finding doesn’t suggest anxious people shouldn’t adopt dogs – far from it! Dogs are great stress relievers. Just being around dogs can make people relax and that’s why therapy dogs are used around the world.

When you are trying to understand what’s going on in your dog’s mind, be aware how you are feeling and acting around your dog.

In severe cases, your dog might develop separation anxiety. This happens when your dog is super-attached to you and your dog’s world seems to collapse when you leave. It’s a serious condition that goes beyond a little whining when you go.

You need to be ready to train yourself and your dog to do things differently. It’s possible to get over this serious condition with consistency and have a confident dog!

Dogs are wonderfully adaptable with positive training and time.

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