Start A Walking Routine With Your Dog For Better Health, And A Free Magnet

The American Kennel Club (AKC), the world’s largest purebred dog registry and leading advocate for dogs, is proud to announce the AKC FIT DOG program.

AKC FIT DOG is an introductory level incentive program that will offer dog owners who reach a specified fitness goal a free car magnet featuring the AKC FIT DOG logo. Participation in AKC FIT DOG will bring health benefits to both dogs and their owners.

“There are many reasons to walk for exercise,” says Ann Green in this NBC interview, M.S., past heptathlon world athlete, yoga teacher and fitness studio owner. “Walking improves fitness, cardiac health, alleviates depression and fatigue, improves mood, creates less stress on joints and reduces pain, can prevent weight gain, reduce risk for cancer and chronic disease, improve endurance, circulation, and posture, and the list goes on…”

“The most commonly recommended exercise to improve fitness by both physicians and veterinarians is walking,” said Mary Burch, Director of the AKC Family Dog program. “AKC FIT DOG has adopted the American Heart Association’s recommendation of 30 to 40 minutes of walking for a total of 150 minutes per week. If we can get people walking with their dogs, we can contribute to the overall health, fitness and well-being of dogs and their owners.”

To participate in AKC FIT DOG and earn your free car magnet while supplies last, please go to: https://www.akc.org/sports/akc-family-dog-program/akc-fit-dog/

Easy Homemade Dog Treats With Simple Ingredients

While browsing through a number of blogs, I found a post on Two Little Cavaliers on a simple recipe for dog treats.

I like recipes with simple ingredients. I try to eat simple food and ensuring I do my best to keep my dogs food as uncomplicated as possible is important as well. 

This recipe has only six ingredients and is very simple to prepare and bake.

The original recipe instructed to use a cookie cutter, however, both of my dogs are small and I wanted to keep the portions small as well. Combined that I only have a Halloween bat-shaped cookie cutter on hand led me to find alternatives.

I used the metal cap for a liquor bottle I had which measured 1 3/4″ in diameter. The dough, when baked, does not rise or spread so the end result is very close in size to the original shape.

Using every piece of dough, I was able to make approximately 83 pieces when using my small circular “cookie cutter”. The treats fit nicely into a Mason jar that I can keep in my treat basket.

Here is a link to the original recipe. 

You will need:

• Whole wheat flour
• Coconut oil
• Water
• Honey
• Cinnamon
• Ground Ginger
• (Optional) Carob chips

The author gives more instruction on how to use carob to make the fancy decorations, but I chose to omit that.

Because of the spices, the house smelled wonderful as the treats we’re baking. When I fed a fer cooled ones to my pups, they continues to ask for more! This recipe is a real winner!

Preparing the ingredients

Mixing in the wet ingredients

Refrigerated dough ready for rolling and cutting

All cut into circles and ready for baking

Lined up in rows on parchment paper, ready for the oven!

Fully baked and now cooling

Cooled and ready for eating! The bottle cap made them the perfect size for snacks

Packed in a Mason jar in the treat basket, ready for good dogs!

Dexter ate the treat so fast the camera missed it!

Looking for another treat!

Two Little Cavaliers has a lot of great recipes for simple homemade dog treats for you to make for your furry friend!

Time For Dog Socialization

Recently we added a new puppy to the pack, Mickey. Its interesting watching how Dexter reacts to Mickey and how the bond is established between the two of them through play. At first, Dexter was timid and not sure of why this new dog was in the house. After two weeks, when it was clear he wasn’t leaving, Dexter began to initiate play, and interact through smelling and staying closer in proximity.

But when is the best time to introduce a new puppy to other dogs?

During a recent visit to the vet, he recommended that we “Socialize, socialize, socialize” right now; at about 12 weeks. At this point he has his basic shots, and during this time his brain is still growing and learning and being impressed by all of life’s experiences.

The vet gave me some basic tips:

1. Bring him around as many situations as possible. Help him to form positive associations with all kinds of groups.
2. Evaluate the dogs you are bringing him into. The dogs he interacts with should be well cared for, and fully vaccinated. He shouldn’t be exposed to sick dogs or ones who could potentially be carrying disease. Family dogs are fine, dog parks are not. Dogs who spend most of their day inside are fine, farm dogs should be approached with caution. Right now his immune system is still building and he needs to get the basics before he can build tolerance to a wide variety of things. Keep him away from the pet store.

I found this great post on the Nylabone page; Training & Behavior: How To Socialize Your Puppy. They recommend similar precautions and go further by recommending ways to socialize your puppy with people. They have instructions for a game called “Pass The Puppy” to get him used to people touching him and learning new voices and commands.

The Pet Professional Guild has a comprehensive checklist you can work through with your pup to expose them to a wide variety of people and situations. The downloadable PDF is a great tool to help build confidence.

Mickey spent the first few weeks of his life out in the country, and when he moved to the suburbs, there was a whole new world of sights and sounds to learn. The checklist above includes such items of exposure as bicycles, airplanes, walking on asphalt, and marble.

Socialization doesn’t end after the puppy stage; it continues through life. Check out these resources for continuing socialization during adulthood:

Animal Humane Society: Socializing Your Dog

Caesar Milan: Socializing Your Adult Dog

How To Manage All Those Puppy Pads

Part of raising a puppy is house training. Whether you rescued your new pup, or found him at a breeder, you are in for an experience training your new little buddy where to relieve their bowels.

Often, though, as dogs age they lose their ability to hold their need to urinate and quite often need a place to go indoors.

Enter the Puppy Pads. These woven, absorbent pads create a waterproof, and odor-reducing place for house training or a dog suffering from incontinence.  They are easily placed, and removed; protecting the surface underneath, but then where do you put them until trash day?

Enter the Puppy Pad Wizard!

This genius invention allows you to odorlessly store 20 or more used puppy pads. Simply open the spring-loaded door, deposit the pad, close the door, and press the button on top and, poof! your pad problem is gone.

With the pads locked inside the Puppy Pad Wizard, odors are contained and mediated. The bags designed for the unit have an odor absorbing film which prevents escapes (though you can use any type of bag that fits – you aren’t locked into specific bags for the system). Additionally, the button on top releases an odor-neutralizing spray which even further helps to eliminate odor. The bag is easily removed, allowing you to quickly bring the used pads to the household trash.

The Puppy Pad Wizard is also useful for storing those filled dog waste bags after trips outside or after walks. Gone are the days of having the smelly landmines lingering around your kitchen trash until trash day.

They take any kind of pad, and can use any kind of bag (though the company’s refills are recommended). There are also replacement bottles of the spray. Order individually or as a bundle!

Check out the company site now, or purchase on Amazon.

What is a Dog’s Wagging Tail Saying?

By Linda Cole

Tail wagging is part of the body language of dogs. Children, as well as adults, have been bitten by dogs who were wagging their tails. The position of a dog’s tail not only shows how he is feeling, mentally and physically, but also signals impending danger to the pack from outside forces or from the dog himself.

A dog uses the tail as a social statement to greet their owners, other dogs, cats and situations they may encounter. Just as we greet a friend or acquaintance with a smile or handshake, so it is with dogs. We may smile as we shake hands with someone we consider to be an adversary and a dog’s wagging tail that we take as a friendly greeting can be the same. It’s important to pay attention to the dog’s entire body language to understand the full meaning of the tail.

Continue reading to find out what specific tail positions mean

Dogs – Able to do Anything!

It constantly amazes me how agile dogs are. They run faster than you can imagine, higher than you think (even the tiny ones!) and have an incredible sense of smell. From Dogster.com read the article “7 Amazing Facts about your Dogs Sense of Smell“; while light on the science behind it, it is a look at why dogs smell everything and anything, and why they do it.

The inspiration for the post is the National Bird Dog Circuit that is on Pursuit Channel, on DirecTV, Dish Network, and streaming on Roku. Starting December 29, 2014 they are showing the National Bird Dog Circuit where canine companions have the opportunity to compete for the top prize in three categories: Flush, Point, and Retrieve. They are timed events where trained dogs flush birds out of undergrowth, direct their people to where birds are hiding (they must maintain a three-second pointed pose – I can’t even get my dog to stay still for 1 second, let alone three!), and they must bring back the targets in the fastest time.

While I am subscribed to neither of the services listed above, you can follow the outcomes with winners and stats on the National Bird Dog Circuit website and Facebook page, visit the Pursuit Channel’s NBDC website, or add the Pursuit App to your Roku to start watching on your mobile devices.

See the promo video below: