Training

Bring out the best in your pup and make her comfortable. Let’s learn how to do it. 1. Visit the breeder: A good breeder not only takes care of the hygiene part of raising but also makes sure that there are enough toys in the puppy pen for all the young fellows to play with. A happy and friendly mother often has puppies who are friendly and social. Spot the one who looks friendly. Remember…

Before you adopt a pet, a good first step is really thinking about your daily routine! How much free time do you have each day that you are willing to devote to the care, training, and attention of your dog. All your family members agreed with the idea of bringing home a pup? Will you give up your holidays or functions if your dog is ill at home? Do you have place where you can leave your dog…

There are a few mistakes pet parents make while training their pooch, which result in misbehaviour and bad relations. Training is a continuous process: Pet parents often teach basic commands to pets and then don’t practice them enough. Make it a routine for them - Sit for Dinner, Wait for Door to Open, Down at Dog Park, etc. Make it continuous process so that they do not forget. Use…

Separation Anxiety in simple term is the excessive discomfort or stressful behaviour any pet displays while left on his own for short or long duration of time, in absence of pet parents. Here’s how to make time alone stress-free for your pooch. Like any other behaviour issues, separation anxiety issue starts developing in pets due to ignorance or negligence by pet parents in puppy’s earlier days.…

Often we hear, “My dog is great with humans, but he doesn’t take to other dogs that well.” This is most often because there is a culture of acquiring dogs but not consistently nurturing them and not knowing the proper ways to do the same. To remain healthy, happy and peaceful dogs need to be socialised sufficiently from an early age. What is socialisation? Socialisation, as a term, is not…

A bored pooch can never be a happy pooch. Research has proven that dogs who spend majority of their waking hours alone doing nothing but wait for their pet parents to return home and spend some time with them are highly susceptible to behavioural problems like aggression, separation anxiety, irritability and destructive tendencies. Here’s how to keep your pooch occupied and happy. Dogs are…

Get set and ride! Start early: As soon as you get your puppy or dog, ensure that they get a good idea about the sight, smell and sound of the car before you even put them in. Introduce slowly: Just open the rear door and reward (treat) your dog for any interaction with the car. If he tries to get in on his own, give him lots of praise and reward. Let them get the feel: Gradually increase the time…

A behavioural problem is actually any behaviour displayed by a dog whom co-inhabitants think of a problem! Let’s see how to identify behavioural problems in dogs and why they occur. Pet parents obviously differ in how much they endure diverse behaviours in their pets. So what several people consider a ‘problem’, others are pretty pleased to live with. Hence, behaviour problems can vary…

Dog parenting should be fun, not just for the pet parent but definitely for the dog as well. You may be surprised to learn that this is also true for service dogs. Dogs are little different to us and we all learn best when the learning is conducted in a fun and interesting way. I like to use formulas for everything. This is because I forget easily, so with simple formulas I find it very easy to…

Here  are ‘10 Essential Life-Saving Commands’ which every pooch must learn to get Alert and Avoid Accidents. Imagine a situation where you have taken your dog out in your compound, left him off leash because it is an enclosed area and besides you have your eyes on him at all times. But what happens when you see him going to pick up a piece of food strewn around the corners? You run towards…

Our furry, four-legged friends understand us and even know how to express themselves; we just need to look for the right signals... Canine communication... a key! The other day, I visited a friend with a gorgeous yellow Labrador named Mischief. As I entered the house and met Mischief for the first time, she greeted me with the customary wag, sniffed me to see if I was trouble and licked my…

Dog psychologists say that an average dog recognizes about 165 words and the number can go higher with appropriate training. The best part of it is that any pet parent can become a language trainer – find out how to make your dog learn in these ‘5 Ways’ that guarantee fun all the way! 1. Teach while they play Learning toy names is a great way to start your pooch’s vocabulary training…

You can easily understand a dog’s non-verbal communication, if you make an extra effort to learn and infer his body language. Once you are able to identify his signals of communication, you will be able to foresee his future actions and build a better relationship with him. You can also protect him and yourself from dangerous situations, once you are able to recognise his overall expressions. Dogs…

How beautiful life would be if we can teach our dogs to bark or not to bark on a command! Well, it is possible…here’s how to teach your dog to bark and be quiet on command. Teaching to bark on command Find a trigger: Find a trigger that will cause your dog to bark such as the door bell ring, etc. An unknown source for the noise is best, so an assistant during this part of training will be…

Charlie does not have a pedigree or a breed attached to his name. He is just an ordinary differently-abled Indian dog doing extraordinary things. Charlie’s courage in the face of a crippling disability and his zest for life is a message that where there is a will, the way is not too far away. Charlie was brought to CUPA Animal Shelter, Bengaluru, one rainy evening when he was only five weeks…

How pooches learn? It is very important to understand how animals learn. The acronym used by behaviourists is A, B, C, which refers to Antecedent, Behaviour and Consequence. Antecedent is a command or cue. For example, you saying the word SIT is an ‘antecedent’ which is followed by the physical act of the dog sitting down, called the ‘behaviour’ and you giving a treat to your dog is a…

All pet parents face the issue of leaving their pet alone at home – sometimes for a shorter duration and sometimes for a longer one. Here’s how to make home alone a pleasurable time for your pooch. Leaving your pet home alone leaves the pet parent with a series of ‘Oh-I-Am-Not-Comfortable-About’ pet peeves. One, being the emotional guilt of keeping the doggie alone with no one to give him company…

Chewing is both natural and necessary. It is a very common occurrence during puppyhood and growing life stage of dogs. Puppies do not have hands to touch and feel to gain experience. Their main testing tool is their mouth. Puppies chew, bite and gnaw at any new thing to experience it. Chewing is quite normal for puppies. However, it turns out to be annoying when it comes to chewing on irrelevant…

Wish it was that easy to tell our pooches that all is well and we’ll be right back! Their depressed face and destructive ways make going away all the more difficult. Here’s how to deal with separation anxiety in dogs. One of the most common problems that pet parents complain of is that their dog is destructive when left alone. Their dog generally howls, digs, chews, barks, urinates, defecates or…