The Costs and Responsibility of a Dog.

Our Newest Foster Boy Tiny

It seems that lately I find myself quite frequently in conversations with people about the cost and responsibility of having a dog as a member of your family. I therefore consider it prudent to discuss it a little here on this blog.

Critten at Work

In the paragraph above I describe the dog as a "member of your family". I think this is important because this is truly the manner in which you need to consider your little canine buddies. When we take on the responsibility of adoption, we assume the responsibility for this beautiful creature for its entire lifetime. This is something that should never be taken lightly! These little guys are God's creatures and it is our responsibility as their guardians to care for them to the best of our ability. This is what we agree to when we adopt one of these guys.

Food is expensive, but this is not the only monetary cost that needs careful consideration. It has been said that time is money. Well regardless of the breed or age, your dog requires a considerable amount of your time. You can not just leave the little guy at home by himself for 12 hours a day. It is not fair to him and will absolutely ultimately lead to behavioral issues!

Here are a few monetary costs ( remember this is not an all inclusive list feel free to comment with additions):

• Food
• Grooming
• Heartworm tests and preventive medication
• Pet Sitter for vacation
• Crate
• Bedding
• Toys
• Treats
• Training
• Medication
• Vaccinations
• Flea/Tick control
• Collar, Leash,Harness, Pet Tag, Microchip
• Fence for yard
• Pet Gates for home
• Dog proofing (Beagle Proofing) the home.
• Misc.Supplies

I mentioned time. It is important that you walk your dog frequently. Take them with you whenever possible on errands, etc. This is important for their continued social development. Also do not underestimate the amount of time required to feed, water, and let out for exercise. You also need to take sufficient time for ongoing training.

I am not telling you any of this to discourage you from having dogs. It is just really important to realize and understand the costs and responsibility before your welcome a new dog into your pack!

The Lovely Shane and Cuddles

That being expressed, there are some really great advantages to living with dogs! A dog never judges you and us generally always happy to see you! They really do become emotionally attached to their people! For instance, the Lovely Shane got a really bad stomach virus from our grandson who was also sick. She spent the night away from the dog training shack to be with our grandson and to attempt not to spread the virus to me (I am eternally grateful for this particular gesture! It was a really nasty bug). Our newest adopted dog, Trigger the Dachshund, was not happy about this at all. He looked for his mommy all night. He was visibly anxious. When she returned the next day, she got a very enthusiastic greeting from the entire pack! By far, the most enthusiastic was little Trigger! She also got an enthusiastic greeting from the Dog Trainer .... I miss that awesome lady when she is away!

A few of our happy pack

Sleepy Copper

The point I am attempting to convey here is that dogs are a responsibility. We must care for them. This is not just a responsibility when they are convenient or fun. It is a responsibility that lasts for their entire life! It is a wonderfully rewarding responsibility! I must admit that I get much more out of my relationship with the dogs in my pack than I put into it. But, I do put a great deal of effort into my dogs. If you are considering bringing a dog into your home, you will have to put in effort as well.

If you are looking for a new dog for your pack, please let me know. Our Foster Boy Biscuit the Basset Mix is available for immediate adoption. We also have a new foster Beagle named Tiny. He is a very small Beagle. We just got him from the Fayette County Shelter. We are treating him for what we think is a respiratory infection. So he will likely not be available for adoption for a couple of weeks. He is a cute little guy. He seems to be an adult but a young one. Probably around a year old.

If you have questions regarding the responsibility and cost of dogs, or If you have any training questions, please contact me at any time!

Also, If you need a fence for your back yard, I own a handyman business and would be happy to provide you with an estimate!

Till Next Time

-William-

William Moore

William Moore Canine Training

678-702-4791

fayettedogtrainer@gmail.com

Copper at Work

William Moore Lawn and Handyman Services

678-702-4791

fayettelawnmoore@gmail.com
http://fayettelawnmoore.blogspot.com

Trigger

Biscuit

Foster Files: Foster Boy Trigger Adopted.... Welcome Back Foster Boy Biscuit!

Trigger the Dapple Dachshund

The Lovely and  Totally Awesome Shane!

The Lovely Shane and I are happy to announce that Trigger has found a forever home! The forever home he found is right here in our pack! His temperament fits our pack very well and The Lovely Shane and I fell in love with him. He is however, definitely a Mommy's dog.

Aside from a few little chewing issues, his training is coming along quite well.

Trigger really likes to follow Mommy around everywhere and really misses her when she goes to work! He also really loves his chew toys and has a real passion for chasing critters in the back yard and digging around. I think we are going to make him a little area in the backyard (maybe a sandbox) where he can dig all he wants without hurting anything.

Foster Boy Biscuit

So, we now have a four dog permanent pack consisting of Cuddles the Corgi Mix (senior), Copper the Whopper Beagle (adult), Codi the Little Beagle (senior) and Trigger the Dapple Dachshund (approx. 1 year old).

Our buddy Biscuit is also back in our pack as a Foster again. Biscuit is a Basset/Lab Mix about 8 or 9 months old. We got him back last night. The person who adopted him could no longer care for him due to unforeseen medical issues.

Biscuit has grown a little over the last few weeks that he has been away. His training is also progressing nicely! The housebreaking seems to be done. He is really good about going into his crate when you tell him to.  He is getting much better on leash! Another week or so and he should be almost perfect on the leash!

If you are interested in adding a good little Basset mix to your pack, please let me know! Biscuit is available for adoption and would love to find a forever home with you!

Till Next Time

-William -

William Moore Canine Training

678-702-4791

fayettedogtrainer@gmail.com

The Foster File - Foster Boy Biscuit Adopted! Welcome Foster Boy Trigger to the Pack!

Foster Boy Biscuit (He was so excited I had to hold his head still for the picture!)

The Awesome Shane!

The Lovely Shane and I are happy to report that our foster boy Biscuit now has a forever home with a nice lady in Tyrone, GA! He is really a good and smart little guy I am sure that he will be happy in his forever home! We are saddened to see him go but very happy that he now has a forever home! As you may remember, from an earlier blog post, He was going through puppy adolescence. He seemed to be recovering from this stage a little.

It is unclear how this happened, but, I somehow managed to  injure my lower back and was unable to attend the adoption event last Saturday at Petco in Peachtree City, GA. The Lovely and Awesome Shane took my place. Shane reports that Biscuit behaved like a perfect little gentleman. He was reportedly very polite and lovable (makes an old dog trainer proud :)).

Look at that cute Trigger face!!

Resting Trigger

The Lovely Shane also brought home our next foster boy. His name is Trigger. Trigger is an approximately two year old dachshund mix.  He is very smart and is pretty well behaved. He is a stray that someone abandoned. We can not figure out why anyone would abandon such a sweet little guy! Trigger is housebroken pretty well. We also understand that he in crate trained. We have not confined him to a crate yet because we have not needed to yet. He gets along great with the rest of the pack here!

Trigger pulls on the leash a little and we are working on Loose Leash Walking training. He already knew sit. He is a quick learner! He learned the down command mostly from observing Copper the Whopper Beagle!

Trigger, like Biscuit, really loves people! He has been our little shadow since he got here Saturday afternoon!

Trigger is available for adoption. However, the Lovely Shane is becoming pretty attached to him so he may have already found his forever home :) . I will keep you posted!

If you have recently added an adopted or rescue dog to your pack and desire help in training him/her to become a well behaved dog, please contact me!

Also, if you are looking for a new pack member, please, please, please consider adoption! There are many of these guys who desperately need a forever home! If you need help locating a dog, contact me for the names of some great local rescue groups!

Till Next Time-

William

William Moore

William Moore Canine Training
678-702-4791
fayettedogtrainer@gmail.com

Puppy Adolescence

The Smart and Beautiful Foster Puppy Girl Lovey

Puppies like people go through an adolescence phase in their natural development. From a training perspective this presents potential problems. If you have a puppy in your pack, you need to at least be aware of this phenomena.

Generally dogs are considered adults at around 12 months of age.  The adolescence phase can begin at any point between about 6 months and about 18 months. The repetitively good news is that it does not last as long as it does in people. Usually in dogs it last from a few weeks to a couple of months or so.

The adolescence is brought about by physiological, mainly hormonal changes in the dog as part of his/her growth to adulthood. The thing that seems a bit counter intuitive, to me at least, is that altering the dog (spay/neuter) does not seem to have a great effect on the behavior during adolescence.

Well, here is the bad news: During adolescence it is not uncommon for you sweet little well behaved and polite dog to seemingly forget everything that you worked so hard teach him/her.

Housebreaking accidents are common. General misbehavior is common. An article on Petfinder.com really describes it well; "At times he may look at you as though you had just addressed him in Mandarin, trying to convince you that you never taught him the sit command"

This is really serious stuff. Many dogs end up in shelters because their people do not understand what is going on here. This condition is temporary and there are things that you can do about it. It is far from a hopeless situation. It can however, be extremely frustrating.

Foster Boy Biscuit taking a nap

This kinda hits close to home for the Lovely Shane and myself. Our current foster boy, Biscuit is going through this now. We welcomed him to our home a couple of weeks ago and he was making great progress. Housebreaking was going great! He was learning basic commands and doing them very well. He was becoming a very polite little guy.

Foster Boy Biscuit... ain't that a pretty face!

Biscuit is about 9 or 10 months old. It is apparent, to me at least , that he is now beginning that wonderful adolescence phase. He has suddenly forgotten that he should only relief himself outside. He is becoming generally more stubborn. He is sort of testing the limits that we put upon him. All of this is natural and extremely frustrating!

 What you have to do is remain calm, be patient, and take several steps back in your training (this will be temporary). Treat him/her like they are learning this stuff for the first time.

As I have written before, dogs sense our emotions. They know when you are frustrated. Be careful to remain calm when working with them. I realize this is difficult when a housebroken pup pees on your furniture. Or it is difficult to remain calm when that well behaved little guy forgets how to sit properly or jumps all over you. But try to remember that this too will pass and you will have your old dog back soon. Perhaps it will not seem as bad if you remember some of the odd stuff you may have done as an adolescent.

If you are getting really frustrated and need help with your adolescent pup, I will be more than happy to talk to you about it and possibly show you some techniques to deal with it better. Please contact me at anytime!

Till next time

-William-

William Moore
William Moore Canine Training
fayettedogtrainer@gmail.com
678-702-4791