Widely recognized as the most popular and effective way to housetrain puppies the crate method utilizes your dog’s natural instincts. Dogs are naturally clean animals and will not by nature relieve themselves in the area where they sleep.

Knowing how to communicate properly with your dog lies at the heart of the housetraining process. Lecturing, yelling or other forms of punishment will not achieve the desired result. The key is to reward good behavior. Puppies are like babies, much too young to be held responsible for their bowel movements. Punishments are not the way to get through to your puppy. If you are going to use the crate method it’s vital that you learn about the proper, humane method to housetrain your dog.

Choosing the right crate

This is very important when it comes to the humane treatment of your puppy. A crate that is too small is very cruel. The puppy should have enough room to maneuver around and be comfortable inside. If the crate is much too large - the puppy might even relieve himself inside the crate.

The plastic varieties of crates are much easier to clean, durable and easier to carry around than the metal varieties.
It is also cruel to leave your puppy inside the crate for too long. Night time is crate time and often even very young puppies can go the entire night without soiling their crates.

You will want to slowly get the puppy used to the crate. The idea here is to create a positive feeling about the crate. Put a nice soft blanket inside and your puppy’s favorite toys too. You can also put some yummy treats inside to entice your dog.
Never, ever force your dog inside the crate. It is his sanctuary within your home.

Tips for housetraining

- Prepare the area that your puppy will spend most of its time in with a layer of newspaper.

- Designate an official toilet area for your puppy.

- Supervise (or have the children do it) until the puppy has relieved himself.

- If your puppy starts sniffing or circling pick him up and get him outside fast!

Golden rules for housetraining your dog using the crate method:

- Take your puppy out first thing in the morning.

- Take your puppy out directly after meals.

- If your puppy has had an accident be sure to clean the area thoroughly. Use a product that will remove the odor.

- Never punish your puppy for accidents. You would never yell at your baby and put her nose in her mess. Rather use positive reinforcement when your puppy does her business outside.

- Take your puppy out just before bedtime and make sure he does his business.

- Give praise freely where it is due. Treats, walks and positive reinforcement will go a long way toward getting your puppy to understand that eliminating outside is the goal.

Housetraining your puppy will take time and patience. The kind of dog and your methods will greatly influence how long it takes for your puppy to be fully housetrained.

There is a reason that the crate method is the most widely used housetraining method. It works well. Of course housetraining your puppy isn’t your only concern when it comes to raising a well behaved dog. You will also want to set some distinct boundaries. Puppies should not be allowed free reign of the house; at least not until they are fully housetrained. Your puppy is a sponge and above all - keen to please you. You are the pack leader and the puppy will look to you to figure out what is and isn’t acceptable in your home.

By deciding early what your puppy may chew on and what furniture he is allowed on you can eliminate confusion and behavioral problems later in life.

Steve Allison is a third generation of professional dog breeders along with his brother Gary. It all started with his grandparents in 1970 with the Boston Terriers and has expanded to Maltese, Yorkshire Terriers, Pugs, Shih Tzu’s and Pomeranians. He is also actively involved with dog rescue and has a website that showcases the puppies they occasionally has for sale at allmypuppiesonline.com All My Puppies Online Steve is also the co-author of two consumer guides, carpetsecrets.com Carpet Secrets and movingsecretsguide.com Moving Secrets Guide

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Tags: dog breed, shih tzu, yorkshire terrier

Terriers are one of the most popular types of dogs around the world. There are seven different breeds of terriers in the top 50 most popular dogs in the world, and this isn’t by chance. Terriers as a group are lively, intelligent, playful and generally very hardy and stout little companion dogs. They do have their own specific quirks and personalities, just as all other breeds do. Most terriers are relatively easy to care for as far as grooming is concerned but the Yorkshire terrier is a bit of an exception to the rule. Its fine coat requires regular grooming to keep it tangle and mat free.

The Benefits to Owning A Terrier

As mentioned above most of the various terrier breeds are very social and friendly dogs that enjoy spending time with both familiar friends and even new people. Terriers are naturally fun and love to play, even well into their senior years. Some terriers almost seem to have a streak of mischief in them and delight in doing something that causes laughter and fun within the house.

Terriers generally enjoy sharing the couch or a chair with the owners. While not completely lap dogs they are always up for a bit of a cuddle, however will remain alert and ready to run and romp at a minutes notice. Most terriers require moderate levels of exercise and are known to thoroughly enjoy a game of fetch or a game of chase with the kids. Generally terriers love to be outdoors even in wet or snowy conditions. Their coarse outer coats are largely water resistant so they are able to tolerate rain or snow, but should not be expected to stay outdoors in extreme weather conditions.

As a smaller dog terriers are not as costly to feed as the larger or giant breeds. They are generally very hardy and have few genetic conditions that are problematic, provided they are purchased from a reputable breeder. Some lines of terriers have problems with allergies, Von Willebrand’s disease (a hemophilia type blood disorder), and some difficulties with giving birth, but careful screening by breeders can eliminate almost all of the conditions.

Generally terriers are a long-lived group of dogs often living for twelve to fifteen years. They are curious and interested in what is going on around them even as the move into their senior years.

The Challenges to Owning A Terrier

There are challenges to owning any breed of dog and terriers are no different. As a whole the group is more prone to problematic behaviors such as excessive barking, digging and chewing when left alone. They tend to prefer being with the family rather than by themselves and will quickly find ways to let you know they are unhappy with the current situation.

All terriers were originally from dogs that were bred to hunt and dig, and modern terriers still carry those traits. A terrier is a natural chaser and may have difficulty learning to live with other pets in the house, especially if the terrier is not socialized as a puppy. They may also be so absorbed in the chase they don’t listen to commands or may even run into traffic areas without paying attention, often with tragic results.

Terriers tend to aggressive towards other dogs and often will take on even very large dogs to protect their territory. They may also be aggressive even in parks and other public areas so should be kept on a leash for their own safety.

Some terrier breeds are somewhat snappish and difficult to train. It is generally not advisable to leave small children with terriers that are very possessive of toys or food as often this results in the child being bitten or nipped. Terriers, while very intelligent, often become bored of the same routines and may begin to simply ignore repetitive commands if obedience training is not consistent and firm.

As a breed terriers respond very well to positive rewards but not at all well towards punishment based training methods. Terriers may become overly aggressive or even hostile towards people through punishment-based training.

Terriers are great dogs for most people, but do require some special attention and care. They thrive best when provided with consistent training, lots of love and attention and high levels of socialization throughout their lives.

Since terriers have such spunky attitudes, you don’t want to get them fired up by buying junky dog gear at the local megastore. 4 out of 5 terriers prefer buying

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Tags: groom, yorkshire terrier

When summer comes around, so do fleas — those little creatures that can make your dog’s life (and yours) miserable. There are things you can do to minimize the chances of flea infestation and other measures you can take if they have already invaded your home.

First let’s look at the steps necessary to keep the fleas away; without using chemicals. This natural flea prevention will work best to prevent fleas from taking hold and can also be used if you have a very light flea infestation.

Keep your carpets vacuumed! Vacuum daily and get some wide tape to seal up the vacuum bags as soon as you remove them from the vacuum cleaner. If you DON’T have small children around, use pennyroyal leaves either fresh (if available) or dried and spread them around your carpet to repel fleas.

Keep your dog’s bedding clean by washing it in warm water and soap. When it is dry apply some cedar oil to the bedding to help repel the fleas. Keep the area around your dog’s bed free of dust and dirt.

Give your dog a bath once a week with cedar shampoo (bathing more frequently may dry out its skin). If your dog does get dry skin it will attract fleas — just what you don’t want. Give a dog with dry skin some Linatone oil mixed with its food. Something else you can mix, in very small doses, with your dogs food to repel fleas is a mixture of garlic and brewer’s yeast. With this mixture in the dog’s system, it will give off a scent that you won’t be able to notice but fleas will notice it and they hate it.

If you mix lavender oil (60 ml) with rock salt (2.8 liters) you will have a great flea repellent that can be spread around the places where your dog goes and can also be used as a dog shampoo.

Fill your outside flower beds with marigolds — they have natural flea repellent properties and also repel other bugs.

Try boiling either lemon peels or orange peels in water to create a solution that can be used as a dog dip and can be used on the dogs bedding before washing it.

Another effective dog dip, if you are experiencing a light infestation, is warm water, shampoo and laundry detergent; immerse the dog’s body in this for ten or fifteen minutes and then rinse thoroughly.

If you have a heavy flea infestation you may have to resort to chemicals — all these products can be used safely if you follow the directions that come with the products.

Advantage. Advantage is a flea poison made by Bayer. Apply the Advantage (liquid) to the dog’s coat as directed. Advantage should work for about one month, Advantage’s active ingredient, imidacloprid, upsets the nervous system of any flea that comes in contact with it. Advantage kills flea’s fast and should kill all the fleas on the dog in about two days; but it is not absorbed into the dog’s bloodstream or internal organs. The active ingredient, imidacloprid is a chloronicotinyl nitroguanidine, integrated from the nitromethylene class of a compound. The imidacloprid affects the nicotinyl receptor sites of insects and upsets the flea’s normal nerve transmission, resulting in death. Advantage costs $15 to $20 for a set of two vials.

Frontline. Frontline is very similar to Advantage but it is not water soluble; this means alcohol is required to wash it off the dog. Frontline is safe for use on puppies as well as adult dogs, kittens and adult cats and it will work for approximately four months.
The active ingredients in Frontline include: Fipronil 5-amino -1- (2, 6-dichloro-4 [trifluoromethyl]phenyl) -4- (1,R,S)- (trifluoromethyl0sulfinyl) -1H-pryazole-3-carbonitrile 0.29% inert ingredients 99.71%. Fipronil, from the new phenylpyrazole class, is very effective at killing fleas by attacking their nervous systems. Fipronil is safe for use on dogs and cats that are not allergic to it. Tests have shown that Fipronil will kill up to 95% of a pet’s fleas within two hours and all the fleas within the first 24 hours — ticks are killed instantly on contact.

Knockout. Knockout is as effective as Frontline and works in the same way but Knockout can not be used on cats.
Knockout’s active ingredients are: Pyriproxyfen: 21[1-methyl-2-(phenoxyphenoxy)ethyoxy] pyridine….0.05% cyclopropanecarboxylate 2.00% inert ingredients 97.95% Knockout also contains NYLAR, a flea-growth regulator.

Biospot. Biospot is used topically, like the other products and, in tests, killed up to three quarters of the fleas, ticks and their eggs; like Knockout, Biospot can NOT be safely used on cats. Biospot works for about one month and can also be used as a mosquito repellant. Biospot has been known to temporarily turn the white hair on a dogs coat to yellow.
Biospot contains permethrins and IGR.

Proban and Prospot. The Proban (cythioate) and Prospot (Fenthion) products are also for use on dogs only and they are very popular. Proban and Prospot are actually absorbed in the dog’s bloodstream, poisoning any fleas that bite the dog. The fact that these products are poisonous to fleas combined with the fact that you are actually allowing this poison to be absorbed in the dog’s blood stream, may be cause for concern. There are no published (or known?) side effects. Another factor to consider about these last two products is that they do not repel fleas, they will only work if a flea bites the dog — if the dog has a flea allergy this would not be the product of choice.

Steve Allison is a third generation of professional dog breeders along with his brother Gary. It all started with his grandparents in 1970 with the Boston Terriers and has expanded to Maltese, Yorkshire Terriers, Pugs, Shih Tzu’s and Pomeranians. He is also actively involved with dog rescue and has a website that showcases the puppies they occasionally has for sale at allmypuppiesonline.com All My Puppies Online Steve is also the co-author of two consumer guides, carpetsecrets.com Carpet Secrets and movingsecretsguide.com Moving Secrets Guide

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Tags: dog breed, fido, kitten, shih tzu, yorkshire terrier

Although the concept is by no means new; many people are discovering that some of the latest breeds of super dogs are not as great as their breeders would have you believe.

Of the “designer dog club” the ‘Labradoodle’ is probably the most well known. The ‘Labradoodle’ was originally bred for sight impaired individuals who had severe reactions to dog’s fur. This new hybrid aimed to combine the intelligence of the Labrador with a non-shedding poodle. However you may or may not have a puppy that will be non-shedding. Labradoodles have been around for over 20 years and are gaining recognition.

But the term ‘designer mutts’ can be used to describe any number of endless combinations of dogs who have been bred for particular valued qualities. Ever thought about owning a Dorgi? That’s a cross between a Corgi and a Dachshund. How about a Puggle? That’s a cross between a Beagle and a Puggle. There are many variations on breeds with poodles now too. This often results in comical names - the Corgi Poo; or the Shih Poo, the variations are endless.

Hypoallergenic, intelligent and some say healthier than average - these dogs are becoming popular throughout the world.
Yet the American Kennel Club refuses to accept these new breeds. The American Kennel Club (AKC) recognizes 153 breeds at present; and says that these dogs don’t meet their criteria.

The American Hybrid Club seems to be the answer for the breeders who are rallying to have their new combinations recognized. They argue that in fact all dog breeds exist as a result of some kind of experimentation with mixing breeds.

There are many inherent dangers associated with mixing breeds that would never have bred naturally. The main problem is that you never really know exactly what you will be getting. Most often you can learn a great deal about a dog by the look and temperament of their parents - but with these dogs there is no way to tell if you will end up with a mouse sized dog - or a dog the size of a small donkey.

And it’s not just looks. You might be unpleasantly surprised to find that your new puppy has the temperament of a hostile dictator; or worse is very aggressive. These are serious faults; especially if you intend to introduce your cute new ‘Schnoodle’ (a mixture of a Schnauzer and a poodle) to your kids you never know what might happen.

Is that really a chance you want to take?

Also, these new breeds are by no means considered cheap. You could get an equivalent mix at a shelter for free. But some breeders are charging thousands of dollars for dogs they cannot personally guarantee.
They claim these dogs take the best of both breeds. But there is an equal risk that the dog can end up with the worst from breeds. This seems like a staggering chance to take.

In an attempt to create super dog these breeders are using breeding techniques that seem strangely unnatural. Certain Bulldog combinations always require artificial insemination for successful mating to occur. And you can’t count on Caesar section.
Many of the crossbreeds are bred for profit. Unscrupulous practices which lead to fashion item dogs will create a host of problems for future generations.

If you have your heart set on a designer dog bear in mind you might end up paying more in vet bills. Your puppy will need a vast array of tests.

There are many well-established variations. Purebred dogs have a proven track record. You can say with greater certainty what your Labrador will look like. You will also have a greater idea of what kinds of health problems to expect in your Dachshund.

You can also find adult crossbreeds in a number of places. Adult dogs are often a good choice for families who have children or who need to be sure of the dog’s temperament. And of course giving a loving home to a homeless dog is always a good thing.
If you have your heart set on one of the new crossbreeds; try to learn what you can before deciding on the particular dog or cross.

Steve Allison is a third generation of professional dog breeders along with his brother Gary. It all started with his grandparents in 1970 with the Boston Terriers and has expanded to Maltese, Yorkshire Terriers, Pugs, Shih Tzu’s and Pomeranians. He is also actively involved with dog rescue and has a website that showcases the puppies they occasionally has for sale at allmypuppiesonline.com All My Puppies Online Steve is also the co-author of two consumer guides, carpetsecrets.com Carpet Secrets and movingsecretsguide.com Moving Secrets Guide

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Tags: dog breed, dog breeds, shih tzu, yorkshire terrier

The Yorkshire terrier is a breed of dogs that originally hailed from Yorkshire. These toy dogs are popularly known as Yorkies, and are very small. There are different types of Yorkshire terrier, and miniature Yorkshire terriers are among the most popular. They generally live up to 15 years if given proper care. Be sure to consult with an established veterinarian to make sure you are giving all the proper care to your miniature Yorkshire terrier.

Generally speaking, there are two types of Yorkshire terriers: standard and miniature. But many experts feel that they are not separate breeds, but the same breed coming in different sizes. This means that an underdeveloped Yorkie will be classified as miniature, but will be re-classified as standard if he grows. So the only way to know that you are getting a miniature Yorkshire terrier is by asking whether he or she is fully grown before acquiring the dog.

Usually, miniature Yorkshire terriers are known to be mischievous. Being a small breed, they usually love to play around and jump all over. They are said to be fast learners, and very popular with children. The dogs are energetic and assertive, and make excellent companions for children and adults alike. They have a very calm temperament for a small dog.

The miniature Yorkshire terrier is very intelligent and is always ready to learn new things. They are excellent for city dwellers, who don’t have a lot of space. They also make excellent gifts for people looking to acquire a pet.

e-yorkshireterriers.com Yorkshire Terriers provides detailed information on Miniature Yorkshire Terriers, Yorkshire Terrier Adoption, Yorkshire Terrier Breeders, Yorkshire Terrier Breeding and more. Yorkshire Terriers is affiliated with i-Dachshund.com Miniature Dachshunds.

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Tags: yorkshire terrier