New Year? New Puppy? By now, you are either really excited about your new puppy and having a great time, or you are wondering: "What have I done to my life!?"  I've heard mostly these two extremes when people call for puppy classes or behavior work.

A crate is your absolute best management tool. I cannot imagine bringing up a well-behaved puppy without a crate.

Here are 10 steps to a sucessful dog adoption!

Following these 10 steps will help prevent problems and help you have the dog of your dreams.

This is a continuation of my series on how dogs communicate.  This newsletter is about your dog's mouth.  Dog's communication can be very clear, but most often the communication between two canines or between canines and humans can be very subtle.  Dog's communicate constantly, even when you don't realize they are.

In the last two dog body language articles, I talked about how your dog’s eyes and how your dog’s mouth communicates his feelings towards other dogs and people.  But, when you are trying to read a dog’s communication, you have to look at his whole body to really get the full picture of what is in his mind in the moment.

Nothing in Life is Free!  (NLIF)
Also referred to as "Say Please!"

One of the questions that people ask in classes at It's PAWSible! is: "How much time should I spend doing my homework?"

Top 6 Training Tips for Successful Dog Training

So you just acquired a new dog or puppy and you know that you must provide him with food and water, but did you know a dog's greatest need is for companionship?  That's right, companionship is more important to your dog than food.  That is a fact!

It's so sad for me to realize that my clients and other dog owners can easily be subjected to their puppies or dogs suffering rough treatment from other professionals.  There are still some old, and just plain bad dog training methods still being used by people in the fields of pet care.

It's so important for people to understand that dogs are not born with any impulse control.  If you have a puppy or dog that lacks some training, more then likely teaching him or her some "impulse control" will help solve most of your problems.

Whenever I’m working with students one on one and sometimes during group classes, I ask them:  “What kind of dog food do you feed?” 

Sometimes I’m asking the question because of a certain behavior problem, like over-reactivity to people or dogs, obesity, frequent very loose stools or aggressive behavior.

Dog food is a very misunderstood, but a very important part of your dog’s life.  Your choice in foods can make a difference in all of the above examples and more.

Helpful hints as to where and when you should practice the down-stay skill.  To find out Beth's hints, read more here

I have a couple of acquaintances and colleagues that are Veterinarians.  Recently I interviewed one to give my clients a look into that profession.

But, I wanted to share with you something that was a little upsetting to hear from two Veterinarians in the last week.

Is it sometimes a struggle for you to get in and out of doors with your dog?  Does your dog try to leap out of your vehicle before you can get a leash on him?

Play should always be considered training and training should be considered play. Interactive games that make you look like a trusted, respected friend are best.

Do you ever have to use a muzzle for your dog? There IS a time for a muzzle for most dogs, even if it's just a preventative measure at the veterinary clinic.  

Multi-Dog Households

I’ve not written in a while and, believe me, it’s not because I don’t want to! I love to write newsletters and give you little tips to help you with your dog training.

Since I’ve had dogs, I’ve almost always had a pack of 3. For a short time, I had 4 dogs which was tough as I felt like I couldn’t stretch myself that thin for the amount of attention I like to give my dogs. But I loved the dogsin that pack too! It was Phlip my Aussie, Shumai, My male Doberman, and Grin, my blue merle Aussie and Kala, my female Doberman were about 2 years old before I lost my girl Phlip. 

Since then I’ve had either 3 dogs or 2 dogs. Currently, I’m back to three. I like three, For me that is a perfect number of dogs. As you know my pack has recently expanded to 3 and certainly, that has had an effect on my newsletter writing cadence.  Captain, born 1/1/2023, my now 5-month-old Doberman has joined Batman (who is 2) and Sushi (who is 11 months) under our roof.

Was this a good time to get a puppy? Definitely NOT.   But I will make it very successful and I love to share my experiences with you.

He Does it Perfectly at Home

I’m sure that Sheila, Pam, and I have heard this statement thousands of times from our students. There is often frustration when your dog can do a sit-stay from rooms away in the house, but while in class your dog cannot seem to even do a 3-foot distance sit-stay. 
 

Should I worry about my “Covid puppy”
Let me help you relax a little… 

Yes, 2020 was a unique year on so many levels.  Our country and the world will be feeling the backlash of COVID for a very long time for sure.
Where people typically worry about COVID affecting the dogs bought or rescued during the pandemic is:

Four weeks ago, Wayne and I got a new puppy!
Enter Batman.

Batman is a blue and white Border Collie.  He is my first Border Collie.  For the last 2 years, "Team Beth" has just been me and my two girls Kala and Grin.  I lost my young boy Ninja in January 2019.  I needed time before I restarted the journey.

This interview is with a Professional Groomer.

At It’s PAWSible!, I performed quite a bit of grooming for about 2 years here along with a Professional Groomer at my side to learn from.  I loved it.  We had our own Grooming Van for a while.  But I quickly realized that groomers are way under paid for the job they perform.  The profession, in my opinion, is way under valued and under respected.  You may have even heard that joke:  “ I pay more for my dog’s grooming then I do to get my own hair cut!”