How to choose a dog.

When choosing a dog, you need to carefully consider if a dog is right for you. Think about how a new dog is going to change your life. They will take up your time and energy with feeding, grooming, exercise, and play. Dogs are loving animals and they want and need to spend quality time with you. So it's important that you and the dog are a good match

A few things to think about would be, where the dog will be living and the type of family it will be living with. The joyous time has arrived when it's time to pick out a dog. To find just the right new member of the family, many issues need to be thought about such as the size of the home, the amount of activity the dog needs, grooming requirements, members of the family, and the size and breed of the dog.

Just about any size of home is good for a dog, as long as the right size and breed is matched to the home. Larger dogs usually do better living in a home that has some type of backyard where they can get their daily exercise. They don’t like to be stuck in small spaces. There are several breeds of dogs that do great living in an apartment. Even the temperature and climate must be considered because certain breeds will do fine in a colder climate, but can’t handle the heat, while other breeds are much better suited for that environment.

One question you should ask yourself is, why do you want a dog? If looking for a dog to go out with and that can be friendly around other people, a Golden Retriever or a Beagle can be a great choice. If you want a dog that is good with children there are so many great choices. Also, for a guard dog, the easiest option would be a German shepherd or a Rottweiler.

You will need to keep in mind that different breeds will have to exercise more or less depending on which you choose. Smaller dogs usually can get by with running around and playing in the house. Bigger dog breeds need spend a long time to exercise each day. Also grooming can become an issue for some breeds who require more time and effort with brushing especially if that dogs sheds a lot.

Picking a dog that is still a puppy can be a challenge . They are puppies are adorable,  but it can be difficult to tell a dog's personality when he's a few weeks old and if they will grow into a healthy adult. Although an adult dogs, unlike puppies, come with their own set of ingrained habits and behaviors. As challenging as it can be to train a puppy, a stubborn adult dog can be a huge headache to manage.

When you adopt a dog from a shelter you will getting a great companion, but you might be be saving that dog's life as well. There are some important things you need to consider when taking home a dog from the shelter. Like taking in a stray dog and giving him love and care will feel great, but this can be a tough choice if you haven't thought of the risks of having a dog with an unknown background.

So when you choose your dog, be sure you know what you want and what you can manage. A dog is a great companion and you must be sure you can take care of them.

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How to Use a Dog Whistle to Stop Barking

There are many reasons why you would want or need to train your dog to stop barking. One way of doing this is to use a dog whistle.

Before you start, try to take away what is causing the dog's barking. It’s not always possible to remove all the causes of barking, but removing those causes can make training much easier. Start by waiting for your dog to start barking or ring the doorbell to get him to bark.

Give a command word when the dog starts barking, repeating it several times until your dog barks again. When the dog barks, praise them and give them a treat. This may seem to be a bit useless at first, but if you want to train your dog to stop barking on command, it is much easier to start out by training your dog to bark when on command.

Continue training you dog with your command word. Over time, try to give you dog less of a reward when they respond to you correctly. After a certain point your dog should begin barking when you give the command. Your dog may have even started barking less frequently as a result as well.

Give the command word to cause your dog to bark and then blow your dog whistle to interrupt your dog's barking. The loud noise will startle your dog and stop them. People can't hear the high frequency sound of a dog whistle so you don’t have to worry about disturbing anyone with it’s sound.

Praise your dog and give him a treat when he's quiet. If your dog continues barking, blow the whistle again to startle him to stop his barking. When they listen, give them a treat and use a dog toy to make your dog focus on something else. When they are silent, give your dog a treat and praise them.

Blow the whistle each time your dog starts barking and be consistent. Make sure to always use the whistle to correct your dog's barking. Over time, your dog will associate his barking with the unpleasant sound of the whistle and will choose to be quiet and be praised instead.

Continue training the dog with the whistle. As the dog becomes more used to the whistle and begins to be quiet, start to give you dog less of a reward like before with the command word to bark. Keep repeating both the command word and whistle training to keep your dog trained and don't forget to reward your dog once in a while when they respond correctly to either the command word or the whistle.

Once you done all of these steps, you should have a well trained dog. Every dog is different and some may take more time to train, but the results you get are worth the time you spend.

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Why do dogs live shorter lives than people?

Have you ever wonder why we live so much longer than dogs? I don't mean in terms of science or evolution, but try to think of how we live differently. Just think back to your own experience with a dog and how they treat you. What you could learn from them? In some ways people are born without knowing how to care for one another, but dogs already know how. They live their lives by caring for you and being loyal. So when they do pass they have already lived a full life while we are still learning to do what they already know.

Some examples of dog behavior that we could learn a lot from is, to live simply, love everyone generously, to care deeply about someone else, and to speak kindly with the people you know. Some things that you could also learn from dogs would be, to run a greet a loved one when they arrive home, to never pretend someone that you're not, and to know when someone is having a bad day you should comfort them by just being there. These are all things you can learn from your dog. We all should try to live like they do, maybe we could become better if we did.

Here are a few other thing dogs do everyday that we could try to do more of. Go out for a joyride. Enjoy fresh air and the wind in your face. Take more naps. Stretch after waking up, just before getting up. On a nice day, lay on the grass and enjoy the day. On a hot day, drink lots of water and sit under some shade. Take some to go out for a long walk. There are so many things you can learn from your dog. Try some of things and see how it improves your mood throughout the day.

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How to find and remove ticks from your dog.

One way to prevent ticks is to use anti-tick medicine. This show how to do it on your own if you haven't or the medicine has not worked for your dog.

Ticks tend to stay on dogs for days. To prevent an infection its best to remove the tick as soon as possible. You may get suggestions like using petroleum jelly or burning the tick with a hot match, but its actually a lot simpler.

To find a tick on your dog you should run your hands all over the body. Try looking near the ears neck, skin folds and other ares on the dog. Look carefully at an area that is raised and separate the hair. Make sure you're a well lit room or you could take a flashlight to do this. Depending on kind of tick your dog has, it could be as small as a dot or as big as a bean if it filled with blood. If you live in an area with a lot of ticks than you should check for ticks once or twice a day. If you find one that's embedded, remove right away and properly.

First thing to do would be, wear latex gloves. Use a pair of tweezers or some tick removal tool to grab the tick. This should be done as close to the skin as possible. Be careful that you don't squeeze the tick's body. This may cause bacteria and disease to go into the dog.
Pull the tick straight out from the skin slowly and steadily (without twisting or turning). Some of your dog’s skin may come off with the tick, but this is normal. If the dog starts to bleed, just put some pressure to the wound.

Once its removed, the tick should be handled carefully. You could flush it or burn it. If some part of the tick’s head is still on the dog, use the tweezers to gently pull it out. If some of the head cannot be removed, don't worry. It should fall off over time.

After you have removed the tick, gently clean your dog’s skin at the bite area with mild soap and water or a solution of iodine and water (dilute iodine to the color of weak iced tea). Take the next few days to look at the area in case of any irritation or infection. If the area doesn't clear up in a few days, contact your veterinarian.

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How to clean your dog’s anal glands.

The anal glands don’t really have a purpose in dogs. They’re under the skin just inside the anal opening of your dog. The fluid that builds up can be very unpleasant and can cause problems and infection in the dog. You should ask your vet before attempting to express your dog’s anal sacs for the first time. The process can cause impacted anal glands and sometimes can rupture the sacs. Also, expressing the anal sacs too often can lead to impacted anal glands, and not caring for them enough may lead to infection.

If you're not entirely sure you want to express your dog's anal glands yourself, go ahead and hire trained staff at your veterinary office or a professional to do it. If you’re ready than here is how to clean a dog's anal glands yourself.

You should express the anal glands regularly during bath time. The anal glands or sacs are located just inside the anal sphincter muscle at the bottom left and right, just inside the anal opening. These glands are about the size of a kidney bean normally. When they become full they can enlarge to the size of grapes.

Wear latex gloves. Wet the glove or work in the water and insert the index finger gently just inside the dog's anal opening. This is uncomfortable for the dog, so do this slowly and gently. Use the thumb of the same hand and place it on the outside of the anal opening at bottom left. You should feel the anal gland between your fingers. Gently pinch the anal gland between your fingers and the accumulated secretion should squirt out. You should be able to feel the anal sack shrink in size as you're gently squeezing. Move your fingers to the bottom right position and gently squeeze in the same way.

Repeat this regularly during bath time to keep your dog's anal glands in optimal health. If you can feel the swollen or hardened sacs and the fluid cannot be expressed, then you will need to have your veterinarian do it. The secretion may have thickened and hardened too much to remove yourself.

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