Welcome to my advice page. Below I will post your questions and my answers. Once a month or as often as I can I will post a discussion about my poll, and other matters I feel of importance. Feel free to send me suggestions about what you would like to see posted here.
You can view the guest book to ask a question on my homepage along with the poll.
Julie's
Advice Page
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How often do you truthfully walk your dog for exercise?
Once a day, everyday(16)
30%
30% More than once a day(21)40%
40% Once a week(7)13%
13% Never(6)11%
11% I do but I don't remember the last time I did.(3)6%
6% I am pretty pleased with what I see here on this poll. Hopefully all of you were truthful :o). Even so, the 16 people on here that did not say at least once a day is 16 too many. I cannot stress enough how important it is to walk your dog. I don’t want to hear that you have a big yard and the dogs run around there. Yes it is great to have a yard for your dog but that isn’t enough. What I am about to say is not humanizing I just want you to see it in a similar point of view. Every day you wake up, do things around the house, eat, sleep, go outside for a few minutes and that’s it. This is your routine every single day. You never see anything new except the occasional visitor or two. Eventually this would get to you. Every dog reacts differently to this type of situation. Some will just become very hyper from lack of exercise and mental stimulation. Others will start destructing your house out of boredom and built up energy. Then you have the dogs that will develop some type of obsessive behavior such as chasing their tail or following shadows or light. In worse cases your dog starts to become aggressive, especially to strangers and other animals. Not saying that lack of walks is going to be the only reason for these behavior problems but it is a big factor. Lack of leadership is of course the reason for almost all behavior problems but guess what gives you most of your leadership? Walking your dog in heel. If your dog pulls on the leash and/or doesn’t walk next to you on the walk you are not seen as the leader in that situation. One term I hate is loose leash walking. That is not a proper training technique. You will hear this at some obedience schools or trainers. It teaches your dog to walk without pulling but doesn’t focus on getting the dog to walk next to you. Even if your dog is not pulling on the leash but is still in front of you, you are still not the leader. Walking your dog on a daily basis also introduces him to different situations. Socialization is a huge factor in having a well mannered dog. If your dog doesn’t experience things he will either become scared of them or aggressive toward them. Your dog needs to meet plenty of people, dogs, sights and sounds. If your dog does react afraid you must not comfort him. When a dog is in a fearful state of mind and you start petting him and tell him it’s okay don’t worry or pick him up, you are actually telling him it is okay to be scared. Therefore you just made it so the next time he is in that situation he will be even more afraid. You are your dogs’ protector so it is okay to let him hide behind you and you must step in to protect if the situation calls for it but don’t coddle him or say anything. Just let him feel secure by knowing you are there. Don’t go too much the other way either, you shouldn’t push him out to let him handle it himself. This mainly applies to something like playing with another dog. If he is scared and feels threatened it is your job to step in a push the other dog away. I will discuss more about dogs in dog parks and interacting with each other at another time. As for those dogs that react with aggression to situations you need to correct them. If you are unsure of how to properly correct this please seek professional help. It is unacceptable to hit your dog for bad behavior and start screaming at it. You are not teaching them anything except to be afraid of you if this even fazes them to begin with. There is a fine line between fear and respect but there is a difference. We must correct dogs the way their instincts understand not ours. This does not involving hitting, nor does it involve time outs. Dogs do not understand timeouts either. You are only teaching your dog to hate isolation which dogs are not fond of to begin with. You may think it works for the moment if your dog gets distracted by the timeout and stops the behavior but that behavior is still going to reappear in the future. We must eliminate problems not mask them. If you have any questions about this article or have suggestions for a future article feel free to post it on my guestbook page.
Sincerely. Julie Cattabiani.
Certified Master Dog Trainer
Do you think there is a difference in temperament between dogs coming from a Petstore/Breeder/
or rescue group? Choose the options below for where you got your dog and do you think there is a difference.
Purchased from a Petstore(21)21%
21% Purchased from a Breeder(14)14%
14% Adopted from shelter or rescue(21)21%
21% I think there is a difference(21)21%
21% I don't see a difference(12)12%
12% Undecided(11)11%
11% Although I am glad to see at least there was a tie between dogs adopted from a shelter/rescue and the dogs adopted from a pet store I want to be part of the effort in bringing that number way down. Adopting from a shelter or rescue is great but even going to a responsible breeder has its benefits also. I am all for rescuing dogs but I am not one of those people that are going to tell you that’s the only thing you should do and you’re terrible if you don’t. My job is to tell you the truth about each one and do my best to help you choose the best option for you based on your needs, wants and family life. So let’s look at the pros and cons of each one and I will then explain from experience the differences you very well may see.
Shelter/Rescue: Pros: You are saving a life. You can choose a puppy or an adult dog to meet your needs. You can choose from any purebred or mixed breed dog. The dog may have already received some training. The dog may already be socialized. The dog may already be housebroken. The dog will most likely be up to date on its shots and spayed/neutered. You are saving a life. I know I said that twice but that really is the best part about it.
Cons: The dog may not be socialized and may need lots of training. The dog may or may not be purebred and there probably won’t be any papers on the dog. You may not know where the dog originally came from.
Overall unless you are set on getting a specific breed line of dog for a specific purpose – adopting a dog is your best option. The worst part about it – is finding a rescue organization that isn’t crazy. Sorry to say it that way but I have seen my share of crazy dog people. I thought I would have been considered one of them until I realized there are much worse and it can be so bad they are too stuck on thinking they are doing what is best for the dog to realize they are doing the complete opposite of that. Yes people should be screened, and references should be checked, maybe even contracts to sign. However, I have seen people turned down because they were so bombarded with questions and just got confused and nervous that they wouldn’t get the dog. You don’t want to deal with people like that, unless of course you have the patience for it then be my guest. The rescues I have worked with are reasonable people. They know they can’t hold onto these dogs forever and they also know that as long as you are a decent person willing to do what is right for the dog you can have it. I do most of my screening based on the information you give me and I can tell if you are going to properly care for the dog or not. You should be willing to pay a fee for the dog, you should be willing to seek training or grooming if necessary, I don’t give dogs to people who say they can’t afford to pay for the dog but they can afford to care for it. I am sorry but if you can’t afford $200 for a dog, I doubt if anything major went wrong with it that you could afford the vet. Saying that you will love and spoil the dog is not my idea of a good owner. A good owner will provide leadership and exercise for the dog first, taking it places with you and playing with it is great too, and then you can “spoil it” with some toys and affection but I personally don’t like to use the word spoil because it opens people up to the idea of not provided discipline.
Getting back on track – from experience people tend to value what they pay for. If you get a dog for free and something goes wrong people say o well I didn’t pay for it anyway or they buy it the cheapest dog food etc. It is in the best interest of the rescue organizations to charge a fee for the dogs. Not to mention all the vet care that is usually provided for these dogs anyway – it isn’t such a bad deal. Some vets charge $250 just to spay or neuter the dog. Below I will list the rescue organizations I have dealt with or feel are worth looking into. I personally provide a service of finding people dogs as well. Adopting from a private person who had to give up their dog is of course an okay option but ask lots of questions because people can try to deceive you just to get rid of the dog. A private person shouldn’t be asking for much more than $150 as an adoption fee unless they have done something very good for the dog that they deserve compensation for. If they bought the dog and then decided to give it up they don’t necessarily deserve to get all their money back – they were the irresponsible ones that purchased a dog they were ready for. Of course there are details to every story but if any of the excuses include allergies, or having a baby I don’t want to hear it – most people give up dogs for behavior issues and if you weren’t willing to seek training for the dog in the first place you don’t deserve to own one.
Purchasing from a breeder: Can be a nice option for a few reasons.
Pros: You should be provided with a history on the dogs including a pedigree. You will know exactly what breed you are getting. You can choose a breed based on your specific desire – ex: hunting or retrieving. Even family pet would be one example. See when breeding is regulated properly a good breeder will not breed a dog with any temperament or health issues. Therefore the lines passed on should be to the best of the breeders’ ability for sound temperaments and overall quality. Cons: One of the only cons about buying from a breeder is if you don’t do enough research on the breeder and end up with a bad quality of dog. Yes there are plenty of backyard breeders to watch out for.
Some tips to help you: go to the specific breed club of the dog you are looking for such as Yorkshire Terrier club of America or Golden Retriever club of America, etc. Every breed usually has their own club and on those pages should be links to possible good breeders. Of course there is still no guarantee with that but another thing to look for is that the breeder had a lot of questions for you. A good breeder must know who their puppies are going to and will also provide a guarantee that if the dog is given up it should be brought back to the breeder. You should also be able to meet at least one of the parents. Many breeders do not have both – they usually borrow a male for stud. The breeder also should stick to one breed of dog and should never mix them purposely. 2 breeds can be acceptable under certain circumstances but usually one breed is best. By mixed breed I am referring to so called “designer dogs” unless it is a golden doodle or similar breed made specifically for a purpose aside from style.
Buying from a pet store: There are no pros for this category unless you want to call convenience one but it is not convenient later on when you see the quality you get from a pet store. A pet store is the worst place to get a dog no matter what anyone tells you. They will tell you anything they think you want to hear to get you to purchase a dog from them. All stores get their dogs from either puppy mills, or backyard breeders. No reputable breeder would sell their dogs to a store. When the store denies getting from a puppy mill they usually come up with some other story or how they have a broker etc. A broker is a company that goes to all the mills in all the different states and buys mass quantities of dogs for cheap, cleans them up and then sells them to the pet stores. The stores still pay only about $200 and under for a dog and then sell it to you for $1000 and up. $1000 is not a bad price for a good quality dog but you are talking about dogs that are born in cages, to parents that are so sick and weak they can barely stand and have minimal if any human contact. Feel bad for the parents of the dogs in the stores – not for the puppies in the stores. The only way to stop them from producing dogs is to stop buying them. You are not saving a dog from a pet store when you purchase one from there. You are only making room for another one to be created. If the demand keeps up for puppies – the parents continue to suffer in the mills. If people stopped buying from the stores, the mills wouldn’t produce as many. It’s pretty simple but people just can’t seem to resist the dogs in the windows.
The dogs in the stores are the least regulated breeding. Mass produced – causes major health and temperament issues. Many of the parents of these dogs are cage crazy from no exercise or human contact so they are extremely hyper – then you end up with very hyper neurotic puppies. Or the parents are huddled in the corners of the cages scared and nervous – so you end up with scared nervous puppies. The parents are also so weak or unstable that they don’t properly mother the puppies and therefore they don’t discipline the puppies properly causing behavior problems later in life. Many of these dogs go to their new owners as very dominant dogs due to these factors and on top of being very hyper you have dogs that don’t understand discipline. Of course there are still many things that dogs instinctually understand but from experience I have seen a difference between dogs that were dominant that came from a breeder, or dogs that were dominant that came from a pet store. Another theory of mine is that they take the dogs away from the mothers too young causing a messed up pecking order between litter mates. Think about it, in order to get those little puppies into the pet store by 8 weeks old – the brokers probably take them at about 5 weeks. That way they have a little time to perk them up before they go to the windows. Just a theory of course but it makes sense. Genetic defects and other health related issues are endless with pet store dogs. There are almost always issues with health either when the dog is purchased or later on. Giardia is an extremely common pet store issue since it comes from dirty water and similar filthy conditions. In-breeding that goes on with the pet stores dogs is another high possibility. They don’t regulate much of the breeding so many of the purebreds aren’t even pure but you won’t notice that until they are much older so why would they care if they mated with a brother or sister. Bottom line is you really have no idea what you are getting yourself into when you get a pet store dog. Of course there are many dogs that turn out fine but why take the risk and think about all the pain you are causing the parents of these dogs when you purchase a pet store dog.
Do your research!
Feel free to contact on my guest book page if you have any questions.
Rescues:
In Our Hands Rescue - http://www.inourhandsrescue.org/
Through their eyes rescue - http://www.throughtheireyesrescue.org/
NYCACC - http://www.nycacc.org/
