HOW TO: Handle a dog, plus Puppy Tips! by puppy owner EE

When it comes to pets- dogs, in particular- you might be doing some things wrong, and some things gorgeously correct, so I’m here to straighten things out. Alright, first thing’s first, you need to know some basic facts. I’ve known from personal experience that dogs take praise and tummy rubs as, yes, praise, and shame as shame. If you’re going to cuddle your pet instantly after your pet been jumping on you or biting you, that’s leading to your pet thinking they should do those things to get affection, hence doing them more often. This is the same as scolding them instantly after they do an action you desire, which means they’ll stop. That was rule one. Rule two is the biting, jumping, and scratching rule. If your dog is doing any harmful actions, don’t back away, jump up or scream! This is extra important because if you’re doing this, you are giving away space, and the dog will assume you are giving up, letting them continue what they are doing. Screaming also lets your pooch know that they are causing a reaction and will continue.

When you’re walking with your dog, you will want to follow these steps. First, you should be the boss, or the leader, to your pet. If you aren’t, they’ll think they’re in charge, when, in fact, you are walking them, they are not walking you. You also don’t want to drag your dog, just have them sit and continue going. Our command for walking is ‘heel’. If you haven’t taught your dog ‘sit’ or other commands, I’ll cover that later! Now, if you really want your pooch to do good, which I’m sure you do, then give the dog a treat when they’re doing well. Just make sure not to give it too fast after your pet stops behaving!

Commands sometimes may not be too easy to pull off with your dog, but these are some easy and fun ways to do them! Also includes how to potty train! So, first off, if you want to teach your pet to ‘come’, then hold a treat in your hand, move a fair distance away, and then say the command with the treat in your outstretched hand. If your dog runs to it, say, ”Good come!” Maybe add your pet’s name, too. Now, notes for you about commands; don’t say it so many times it sounds like background noise to your dog, just once, boldly and firmly. Also, make sure you don’t let your dog know you have a treat before opening up your hand and saying ‘come’. You can basically do the same method, command, treat, for every other command. For ‘down’, we would say the command and gently push our puppy down. For ‘sit’, it’s the same, but you can say the command and gently push them down into a sitting position. Then reward them with a treat. If you want to potty train your dog, then every time they may be sniffing in circles, sniffing furiously, take them outside onto the grass. If you live in an apartment, to the potty pad, but grass is best, maybe even potty pads that look like grass. But real grass outside is best! If they do their business, then after they finish up, do your praise and treat, saying, ”Good Go Potty!” Or whatever your potty command is. It can take a while, and while your dog does their business, you can also praise, just not pet or disturb them. If you want your pooch to shake your hand, then use the command ‘shake’, or whatever you prefer, really, but I’m using ‘shake’. Now, grab a treat in your hand, don’t let your pet have it yet, and gently grab and shake their paw. If they don’t pull away or so, and shake nicely, give them the treat and say, “Good shake!” Firmly and boldly.

When getting our puppy Ziggy, there were a few things we didn’t expect. Number one is the constant watch. We’re watching Ziggy 24/7 unless he’s in his crate, and if you got a young puppy, you’ll have to take them to the bathroom lots, we take Ziggy out every 1-2 hours. There’s also a lot of maintenance. There’s ear care, brushing teeth, hair trimming, nail clipping, baths, and some dogs shed their fur, but Ziggy doesn’t. (He’s a cavapoo breed, if you’re wondering!) Also, you’ll have to clean up if they go to the bathroom in your house. Dogs are certainly fun, but also tricky to handle!