May 2010
Q & A
Q: We have a 3 month old Labrador and he loves playing with our children. However, lately one of our kids has gotten nip due to some rough play. We have begun some basic dog training but what can we do further to ensure our children's safety and prevent such future mishap?
A: While it is great to train your dog to behave, it would also be a good idea to teach your children early how to handle the dog properly too. Young dogs especially puppies naturally nip and chew when they are excited. Instruct your children not to play any mouth games with the dog and closely supervise the play. Stop any games immediately if you feel they are doing it too roughly or getting out of control. If possible, start any dog training exercises together with your children and teach by example on the correct training methods and commands. However your children should never be given the total care and responsibility for training the dog unless you feel they are old and sensible enough. Like all dog training, this will require some time and effort but with proper encouragement and a responsible attitude to the puppy, you will see rapid improvements to your dog behavior without discouraging your dog love for the children.
Q: My Labrador is so friendly that he will always jump up to greet family members whenever one of us comes home. While this has never been a big issue in the past for us, we are concern that my mum who will be moving in with us might be knocked down. How can we teach him not to jump?
A: Start to discourage your dog by not acknowledging or patting him during any of the family members’ homecoming. Your dog has been jumping previously mainly because it had resulted in increased attention from all of you. Do learn to teach your dog the basic ‘Sit’, ‘Stay’ and ‘Down’ command to address the problem. If persistent jumping occurs, you might want to raise one of your knees to block your dog and give a stern ‘Down’ command. This will usually cause a reflex action from your dog to stop and back away. It is very important to get every family member to do the same and be consistent, repeating the process and praising your dog when he no longer jumps.
Q: We have a 3 month old Border Collie that barks at everything that passes by our house. How can I curb this excessive barking behavior?
A: Dog barks as its way of communication to the world. Your dog may bark to seek attention from you or as a warning however excessive barking can irritate and cause both children and adults to shy away from your beloved canine. You can try ignoring your dog when he goes into a barking fit for no apparent reason as any attention will reinforce the behavior. Praise and reward your dog when he becomes quiet. Another successful method is to place your hand on his muzzle and give a ‘Quiet’ command. This is a method employed by mother dog which places her muzzle over her puppies’ muzzle to quiet them down.
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Cocoa Mulch
Mulch is commonly used in landscaping. Most types of mulch are safe, however, cocoa bean mulch is toxic.
The cocoa bean produces beautiful dark mulch that has the aroma of chocolate.
Unfortunately, this type of mulch is dangerous because of the by-products of the cocoa shells.
When ingested, dogs can show severe signs of chocolate toxicity which can result in death.
If your dogs, especially like to "eat things", consider other type of safer mulch in your landscaping plans.