Dog parks can be a great way to socialize your dog, but can also be unsafe if proper measures aren’t taken. The following tips will help you keep your dog safe and happy at the park.

1) Know your dog. Not all dogs enjoy meeting new dogs. Don’t let your dog get overwhelmed by meeting too many dogs at once. If your dog has not interacted regularly with other dogs, find out how he will react. You can perform a test by introducing your dog to a friend’s dog that you know interacts well with other dogs. Testing your dog in a controlled environment is ideal before you go into the dog park.

2) Keep your dog healthy. Be sure your dog isn’t vulnerable to picking up infections from other dogs by keeping him up to date on his vaccinations and worming medications.

3) Observe. Consider visiting the park without your dog for the first time to familiarize yourself with the park itself and the dogs that play there. Before bringing your dog inside the park, spend a few minutes watching the other dogs and how they interact. If the dogs seem too rough for your dog, come back at another time or try a different dog park. On your next visit you may want to bring your dog and sit quietly with him outside the park. Having your dog with you to observe from outside the park enables you to watch how he reacts to seeing the other dogs.

4) Start out slow. The first few visits to the dog park should be short, no longer than 15 minutes. Slowly increase the length of your stays as your dog becomes more comfortable with the dog park atmosphere.

5) Choose a time that is less busy for your first few visits to the park. Weekday evenings are peak, high-traffic times at dog parks, and weekends and holidays tend to be busy all day long. Acquaint your dog with the dog park when the park isn’t as crowded.

6) Closely supervise your dog. Don’t get distracted while talking to other owners. Keep an eye on your dog at all times to make sure his interactions with other dogs are safe. Watch his body language to help you avoid any trouble before it begins. Watching his actions also enables you to quickly clean up after your pet.

7) Let your dog off leash as soon as you enter unleashed areas. Mixing leashed and unleashed dogs can create a hostile situation. Leashed dogs, and their owners, often display body language and behavior that is threatening to the unleashed dogs and may encourage them to be aggressive and defensive in return. A leashed dog cannot make the choice his natural instinct tells him of “fight or flight”-if he cannot take flight, he may have to fight.

8) Watch for potential hazards. Be aware of potential hazards that may be in the park, such as toxic chemicals, garbage or noxious plants. Be sure to wash any chemicals, such as fertilizer or pesticides, off of your dog’s feet and legs to ensure they aren’t licked and ingested.

9) Leave children at home. Don’t bring children with you to the dog park. You will not safely be able to watch your kids and your dog at the same time. Many dogs have not been socialized to children. Both frighten and excite easily-and react differently-creating a dangerous atmosphere. It’s simply too easy for a child to get hurt at a dog park.

10) Leave small puppies at home. Puppies less than four months old aren’t fully immunized yet and are at higher risk for contracting diseases. They are also very vulnerable to being traumatized by another dog’s aggressive behavior.

11) Do not bring toys or food. Most parks are already littered with balls and toys that other people have brought. Rewarding your dog with treats or giving him toys in front of other dogs can create jealousy and aggression.

12) Interpret canine body language. Educate yourself about dog body language and communication signals so you can tell the difference between fear, play and anger. Your local Bark Busters trainer can help you learn to “read” your dog’s body language.

13) Know when to leave. You should remove your dog from the park if he is being threatened or bullied and seems fearful; begins to display aggressive behavior by becoming overexcited or threatening toward other dogs; is panting heavily; or seems overly tired. Keep your dog’s welfare a top priority.

14) DO NOT physically intervene in a dogfight. Never reach in to break up fighting dogs. Squirt the dogs in the face with a water bottle or try to distract them by throwing something near them, but never physically intervene.

15) Prevent injuries. Be aware of the signs of a possible dogfight before it might happen. Don’t allow a dog’s overexcitement turn into a fight. If your dog injures a person or dog, give your name and phone number to the injured party. Report to law enforcement authorities any handlers who refuse to take liability for damages or injuries and who are endangering the safety of others.

The post Dog Park Safety Tips first appeared on Puppy Blog.

Dog training is the process of teaching a dog to perform behaviors in response to certain commands. There are many type of dog training and many objectives, from basic obedience training to specialized areas including police dog, search and rescue, assistance to people with disabilities and entertainment.

The fact that people often forget that dogs do not understand every word they are saying, make dog training an essential thing to get! Just keep in your mind that they do not have a memory that functions like ours. I give you an example: he will not understand, if you have been out and left your dog alone, then arrive home to find he has messed on the floor. It is no good at all by shouting at your dog or punishing him, since they cannot connect between what you are shouting about now and their messy actions of few minutes ago.

In order that your dog understands a reprimand it has to be done at the time that the undesirable action is occurring in order for the dog to understand. It may be frustrating that your dog may do the undesirable actions a few times before you catch him in the act to deal with it, you must have patience and persevere, do not give in and punish after the event because it is pointless and will be ineffective, and in actual fact may make matters much worse.

You should obviously ask yourself why your dog is doing the undesirable behavior too, for example he may need a good walk before you leave him so he has been to the toilet and is a bit sleepy and may then sleep whilst you are out.

I thought you may be interested in reading some of the bullet points contained in this post about Service Dogs Training, How to Train Your Dog and Dogs Shock Collars.

The post Dog Training Tips You Should Know first appeared on Puppy Blog.

This article gives you effective puppy training tips on how to best crate train your dog.

Crate training a puppy can be helpful in animal training; specifically potty training. This means that a crate trained puppy will wait until he is released from the pen before he eliminates, therefore giving you something to work with in terms of scheduling his feeding and potty time. Make sure to use a crate that is comfortable but small enough for him not to use a part of it as a toilet.

Place the crate in a room with a lot of people. Allow the puppy to enter the crate himself. Put in some interesting things and toys. Let him feel comfortable inside the box and feed him there. This should be your dog’s personal haven from the stress so make crate training an enjoyable and pleasant experience for him. Never use it to punish him. As he is getting more comfortable inside the crate, shut the door for a few minutes. Make sure he sees and hears you in the room even if he is

enclosed. If he whimpers or gets upset for reasons other than pain or potty urges, wait for him to settle down before opening the crate. If you give in

and let him out because he is crying, he will use this to get his way in the future. If all goes well, the puppy will now be accustomed to a closed crate and is probably not noticing you as much anymore. Begin to go out of the room for longer periods of time. With the puppy toys distracting him, he is now at ease and even enjoying this time of play and quiet time. Do not leave your puppy alone for more than four hours at a time without going to the potty.

These are few puppy training tips that when followed, will do so much to increase your leisure time significantly. Crate training aids potty and sleeping habits without much hard work. The dog will be happy in his own world and you in yours. When you are successful in crate training a puppy– your former lifestyle will be as forgotten as a buried bone.

The post How TO Crate Train Your Dog first appeared on Puppy Blog.