Goldens, they just melt my heart. Any Golden Retriever just needs look at me with those expressive eyes and I go all soft inside. It’s true, I do.

The Golden Retriever stands tall and proud in its golden hue. When you see a Golden outside, in the fall, among the trees and the leaves it is a scene of beauty and elegance.

The male usually weighs between 65 – 75 pounds and the female 55 – 65 pounds. Although I have seen some much bigger than this.

The Golden does not make a good guard dog. It is not a protector. Its best points:

Playfulness

Affection

Friendliness to people and other dogs

Easy to train

A joy to have around

Loved by everyone

Lord Tweedmouth, who lived just north of the Scottish border along the Tweed River is responsible for these nuggets of gold. The AKG did not register them as a separate breed until 1927. The breed was valued for their hunting abilities. I tend to think they should be valued for their “talking” abilities also. I am just being funny here.

Temperament

The Golden Retriever is just everybody’s friend. They have a heart of gold and are totally devoted to their families, and the rest of humankind. I have two Black Labs, but, I could never be without a Golden. Golden Retrievers are extremely communicating dogs. My Golden is forever coming up to me and “talking” to me while my Black Labs are sound asleep.

The Goldens good nature is appreciated by all, however; ignoring its powerful physique and it’ and its active nature can lead to behavior problems. The Golden Retriever needs lots of exercise and mental stimulation. If they receive both of those consistently they are the perfect dog. All good bred Goldens love to learn. It is a big part of a Goldens nature to constantly learn, be trained and do mentally active activities.

The Golden Retriever is wonderful with children. You must watch the small children when they play with a Golden. Because the Golden loves to play, they can get boisterous and may bump the little child in the nose or head.

The Goldens achievement in competitive obedience games is remarkable.

Upkeep

The Golden needs lots of exercise; including mental activity. The Golden is an amazingly social dog and functions well when it lives inside with its family. The coat is not difficult to keep nice if you brush it once a week. Also, Goldens can get ear problems, so be sure to learn how to clean its ears consistently.

Also, the Goldens can have issues with skin problems. They usually live 10 to 13 years, longer if you take care to feed it good quality dog food.

Dog Therapy Visiting has been a passion of Ruth?s for 5 years. She has three dogs, two black labs and one golden retriever.

Ruth first became involved in this work while visiting a friend in the hospital. A beautiful big golden retriever, Tasha, silently walked into the room and she instantly fell in love with the dog and what the dog represented. Both Tasha and the owner became Ruth?s mentor.

Ruth visits two senior homes on a regular basis with two of her three dogs. Her third dog, Dukie, is blind.

Ruth has been married for 27 years with her husband Chris. Chris is currently fighting the monster, MS. You can reach Ruth at her website. Her Pet Blog http://www.happypetstop.com/blog Her home page: http://www.ruthsinformationabout.com and her people’s health page: http://www.mimfreedom.com

One night I slept off without locking up, Maisky kept watch at the door. Then about 3 AM I was roused from sleep by his loud barking under my bed. I opened my eyes to behold a man right inside my room, and I acted instinctively throwing my reading chair, which was by the bedside, at the intruder. He jumped out the room, and I quickly rushed and pushed the jam-lock-door to.

Then my heart started to dance to Maisky?s frenzy barking. I was almost going into cardiac arrest trying to quieten my dog who by now was bent on not leaving the security of the room. He was very afraid of the intruder whom he believed was out there waiting to get him.

Maisky?s barking was so intense, my heart beat synchronized it, sweat poured from my pores like leaking plumbing pipes. Under very severe cardiac pressure, I opened the door and quickly took Maisky?s chain, jammed the door back to and then began the labour of getting Maisky out from under the bed. I did eventually, chained him, and the fight to take him outside was not an easy one. My heart beat speed was killing me as it danced to the machine gun rhythm of Maisky?s barking.

Then I got the idea of a saving grace. Maisky loves me so much, so I feigned and slumped to the floor, and immediately Maisky?s barking turned to whining, its tail wagging as he came licking me all over compassionately, my heart beat slowed down, and soon normalised.

Maisky saved my property from the thief, and I saved myself from heart attack by dropping the panic induced aggression against a dear friend. Come to think of it, why should Maisky have agreed to be taken outside when the intruder was also out there in the dreadful night? Consider the fact that he was the one who had a good look at the intruder and knew how mean the intruder was or had actually acted during their confrontation.

For the first time we lay together in the same room that night wondering about the intruder and what his intentions had been, with Maisky intermittently growling ?honnnng!? And I was very proud of him.

ADVANTAGE OF DOG TRAINING

It should be noted that had Maisky not been trained he would definitely have wondered away since he was unchained before I slept off. But the sense of responsibility inculcated into him through training kept him securing my place for more than 4 hours till 3 AM when the intruder happened. For this honourable act I rewarded Maisky with a sumptuous meal of stewed bones, rice and yoghurt the following day.

Neshah is the CEO of Dog Obedience Road Map

Dear friends of mine have an adorable 10-month Old English Sheepdog who loves to jump up on houseguests. My friends tolerated this habit until the dog jumped on a 78-year-old woman and slammed her against the wall.

Fortunately, she was only shaken up, but it convinced my friends to ask for help. Here are the tips I gave them.

1. Try to stay calm yourself

When the doorbell rings, don’t leap up or let your children start running to the door. Keep the family calm and walk to the door in a relaxed manner.

2. Prepare visitors

Most people finding a puppy jumping up on them are going to say good boy and start petting him. Ask them instead to turn their back to the dog and ignore him. Only acknowledge him when he responds to his owner’s command to sit. Then praise him or give him a treat.

3. Use a short lead

I don’t like a leash on a collar for small dogs but put him in a body harness attached to a leash when you’re expecting company. Make him sit behind you while you answer the door. Step on the leash if he tries to move ahead of you or jump on your guest.

4. Control yourself and your family

The most effective tool I’ve found to stop jumpers is to turn your back on them. Teach your children this as well.

If you or your child are in a position you can’t do this, make fists with both hands, cross your arms over your chest and look up. Do not make eye contact with the dog or talk to him.

Dogs, the social pack animal they are, crave our attention and withholding it is the best correction we can give them.

Note ? some goofy advice is still out there to try to knee a dog when he jumps up. This can be harmful and furthermore, for a small dog that is only 4 to 6 inches off the floor, it isn’t even feasible.

Remember ? withholding attention is the best correction. Be consistent in your training and soon Fido will keep all paws on the floor.

Louise Louis is a certified canine specialist and creator of the popular website on small dogs, http://www.ToyBreeds.com

Obedience training is an important aspect of raising your dog. A well trained dog is a happier dog, because a well trained dog has fewer restrictions imposed on it. The more reliable the dog is, the more freedom it can be given. For example, a well trained dog need not be banished to the other room when company comes over to your house. A well trained dog also attracts more attention and praise from others.

Training your dog helps to strengthen the bond between owner and dog. Communications, understanding, trust and respect are all established throughout the training process. Throughout the process of training, your dog will come to learn that you are the leader.

Training your dog properly could also come in handy if certain situations arise, such as your dog getting itself into a dangerous situation. Your voice commands may, at some point, be the only thing standing between your dog and imminent danger. A well trained dog will heed its owners calls and potential tragedies can be averted. Obedience training will help your dog become more responsive to your voice.

Without proper obedience training, many dogs are likely to misbehave. When dogs misbehave, their owners, families, or even strangers could suffer. You don’t want your children, or random strangers near your dog if it misbehaves and you don’t really have much control over it.

A well behaved dog is a pleasure to own, because you don’t have to worry as much about it misbehaving, or getting itself into trouble. A well trained dog is less likely to be a nuisance to others, which is good for everyone.

A well trained dog can go virtually anywhere without being a risk to others, exhibits proper behavior in all situations, is reliable around children, and doesn’t threaten other dogs or people.

The question really shouldn’t be. ?Why train you dog??, but rather, ?Why wouldn’t you want to train your dog?? Everyone benefits from a properly trained, properly behaved dog.

Chris Geldof is a dog lover and owns a dog-related website. Visit Easy Dog Training Tips for more information on dog obedience and dog training.

It is no secret that dogs like to bark, but sometimes it becomes so much that it can hurt relationships with neighbors. This can lead to serious issues such as fines or even lawsuits. Knowing the cause of the excessive barking can go along way to helping solve the problem. Some common causes include:

1)Separation Anxiety

2)Territorial Issues

3)Lack of Activity

Separation anxiety is a major cause of distress for dogs and can lead to such unwanted behaviors such as excessive barking or possibly even aggression. What happens is that the dog comes to depend on it?s master?s presence to be comforted. In the ?wolf pack? mentality, the dog is part of a pack consisting of the owner and family. When the dog is left alone, this is like being abandoned by the pack. The dog must learn that his owners will return.

Territorial issues often cause excessive barking. Dogs think that the back alley or side road are all part of their territory and that anyone passing by is intruding and trying to hurt their pack. So, they bark like crazy. This type of barking can cause the most strain between neighbors and so should be corrected as soon as possible.

Lack of activity will frustrate any dog. Dogs are meant to run and play in the open, and often people forget this. Let your dog run and play.

Grant Carroll proud father of three dogs and co-owner of http://www.littlepamperedpets.com with Dog Clothes and Small Dog Sweaters

Visit Elizabeth Austin for Wholesale Dog Clothes and Wholesale Pet Supplies

One of the key principles of dog training is the principle of conditioned response. The idea is that you can set up your dog’s environment in such a way that it learns to abandon its destructive behavior through its own mistakes rather than by your instruction. Below are two common examples of problem dog behaviors and how the principle of conditioned response can be used to resolve them.

1. My dog is digging up my yard. How can I stop this destructive behavior? First, you must purchase some chicken wire from your local hardware store and some styptic powder from you local pet store. Before you begin, you must observe your dog’s favorite digging spots and pinpoint them in your mind. Then, you must remove your dog from the yard, and you must not allow it to watch you as you set up its environment. Cut about a 4 by 4 foot section of chicken wire and plant it under the dirt in all the locations where you dog likes to dig. Once you’re finished, release your dog and wait for the conditioned response. More than likely, your dog will go back to the locations where it dug before and proceed to dig as usual. Except now, it’s going to learn a novel lesson. Namely, that digging is going to cause it serious discomfort and pain.

Once your dog associates the condition (digging) with the negative response (pain) it will automatically stop its destructive digging habit. There is, however, one drawback to this technique. If you have an aggressive digger, then you should monitor your dog for any cuts or bruises. That’s where the styptic powder comes in. If you notice a cut in your dog’s paws, gently pour the styptic powder on the cut and allow it to cauterize the bleeding. Within a matter of days, you can condition your dog to abandon its destructive digging habit by using the principle of conditioned response.

2. My dog chews my furniture, my shoes, and my valuable belongings. What can I do to end this destructive behavior? Go to your local pet store, and purchase a spray bottle of bitter apple. Remove your dog from your house and do not allow it to see you set up its environment. Spray your valuables (i.e. furniture, shoes, and socks) with bitter apple and place them in locations that your dog can easily access. Then allow it to come in and let the trap do the rest. As usual, your dog will go back to its old habit and start to chew its favorite shoe or furniture. But now, it’s going to get a bitter surprise. Your dog will associate the condition (chewing) with the negative response (bad taste) and it will stop its destructive chewing habit. It’s important to remember, however, that all dogs need to chew, so you must repeat this process a second time.

Now, you must place your dog’s favorite chew toys next to the items that were sprayed with bitter apple. This time, your dog will be reconditioned to chew its own toys rather than your valuable possessions. Thus, by conditioning your dog, you can positively reinforce a good habit (chewing designated toys) over an undesirable one (chewing your valuable possessions).

As you can see, by applying the principle of conditioned response you can teach your dog exactly what you want without ever getting frustrated with the training process.

Armen T. Ghazarians offers advice, information, and articles regarding many aspects of professional dog training for all those who are not professional dog trainers themselves. For more articles like this one, visit his website at http://www.newdogtrainingsecrets.com

Training your dog can be a long and difficult task. If you already have or are planning on getting a dog, you need to be sure that you are completely up to the challenge. Training your dog is not a simple, one-week or one-month task ? it is something that you will continually have to do, ?til death do you part.

Here are some tips to help you train your dog:

?First of all, you must realize that your dog is not human. Therefore, you should not attribute so many human characteristics to him. For instance, your dog did not pee on the rug because he is ?angry? at you ? more likely, he was marking his territory or he simply needed to be let out sooner! Because our dogs are not human, we should not try to remedy their problems as though they are. We should not punish an ?angry? dog by sending him to his dog carrier or try to win his affection back by filling him up with treats. Rather, we should be sure to let him outside when he needs to go outside.

?Again, dogs are not human. It is in their nature to work for their food. In other words, you should not simply give it to them without having them earn it. For instance, rather than simply giving your dog his food in the morning, take him for a long walk and then feed him. Or go out and run him around your back yard. You can even have him carry around a weighted doggie pack before you give him his food. Do not give him his food before he earns it. This may seem harsh, but it is the way that it works in the animal kingdom. Out in the wild, a dog would have to work hard, chasing down his food, before he could get it, and sometimes he would not get it and would have to wait until the next day for a meal.

?It is important to be consistent! You cannot simply make your dog work for his food three days out of a week and then simply give it to him the other four. Owning and caring for a dog is a full-time job.

?Make sure that your dog understands who is the pack leader. (In case you are wondering, the pack leader should be you!). You will both get along much more easily if you make it clear from the onset that he is the subservient one in the relationship and that you are the one who gives him his food, etc.

?A system of rewards and punishments can be used to train dogs. The key is, you need to reward or punish them immediately, otherwise they may not understand what the reward/punishment is for. For instance, when you take your dog outside and he pees outside, immediately give him a treat. If, on the other hand, you let him outside, then he pees, then he frolics and chases a bird, and then you give him a treat when he comes back in, he may connect the treat to going outside, rather than for peeing outside.

?Also, a reward system works best if it is not always expected. In other words, if you give your dog a treat every single time he pees outside, it will not be as effective as if you only give it to him some of the time (and it makes it a lot easier for you, too). Otherwise, in the former reward system, if you miss a few days, your dog may start peeing inside again. In the latter situation, your dog will be used to not getting a treat for a few days, but will still be expecting one in the future if he continually goes pee outside.

?Learn about your dog breed. Different dog breeds react differently to different situations ? they are bred for different purposes, and they have different capabilities. Make sure that you know as much about your own dog breed as possible so that you know how best to train your dog.

As you can hopefully realize, training a dog can be a lot of work, and only those who are up to the work should consider owning a dog. Remember, the more time that you spend working with your dog, the better your dog is going to work with you. Also, realize that your dog is not human ? this can be a hard concept to grasp, but the sooner you do, the better your relationship with your dog will be.

Anne Clarke writes numerous articles for websites on gardening, parenting, fashion, and home decor. Her background includes teaching and gardening. For more of her articles on dogs and dog training, please visit Dog T-Shirts.

When scolding your dog for doing the toilet on the carpet remember that we were once young and did not use the proper toilet either. Your dog needs to be house trained, and this can be done in a few easy steps, but over a long period.

Dog house training may be one of the hardest training techniques as it is the one that requires the most attentiveness and work. You have to be able to read your dog’s body signals, as he cannot tell you when he needs the toilet. Many people make the mistake of assuming that their dog will bark when he needs the go, sometimes they are lucky to find a dog that will but believe me there are many out there who don’t and accidents are found all over the house!

Dog house training requires a few simple steps, but as I said but they are time consuming ones. Firstly I would recommend putting newspaper in front of the door, that way if you see him doing an accident in the house you can quickly life him there and he will realize that if he needs to go and your not there to let him he has to do it on paper.

The next thing you need to know when dog house training is most dogs when they need the toilet will start to get restless and stat sniffing around, this is when you pick them up and take them outside, when they are really young you should take him outside at least once every hour. When you take them outside you can say things like ?do the toilet? or ?do your business? or whatever command you want to use for this training session. Once they have done the toilet you must give them lots of affection outside straight away (of course it’s best to wait until they are done) They will soon come to realize that outside is the place to do the toilet and will after some time start asking to go out.

There are hundreds of books available on dog house training all of which use different techniques and routines. No dog is going to know straight away that outside is the place to do the toilet, they have to learn and you have to teach them (unless you don’t mind accidents all over the place) Oh and don’t forget to scoop!

For more information about training your dog, visit Dog Training

We’ve always had dogs around ever since I was a kid, and even when our family was between dogs I adopted next door’s Boxer dog as my own. Despite this, as a family we didn?t have a clue how to correctly train a dog ? as long as it didn’t mess on the floor, chew up our slippers and finally came on the fifth yell of its name we thought things were just fine.

Like many dog owners I didn’t know the first thing about training a dog. Well, we think we do because the dog sits or offers us a paw when we have a treat in our hands but those are just party tricks.

Then I bought my very own dog when I got a place of my own. As she grew she changed from loveable pup into a liability. She wandered off, never came when called and turned into the Tasmanian Devil whenever anybody called around. The final straw came when she tore into the room and scrambled up to sit on the shoulders of a visitor who had come to assess me for a voluntary position. He was not a dog lover and I can still remember the look on his face now…

Trouble was, I had always treated dogs as furry friends, always giving in to those sad-looking eyes and never realizing that the dogs saw me in a totally different way. Dogs are pack animals and as such they are acutely aware of their position in the pack ? and you and your family are its pack, even if there’s just the two of you.

Grasp that little fact of dog psychology and you are well on your way to a happier dog. From now on you are going to make it plain to your dog that you are the Alpha male or leader of the pack and what you say goes. See that furniture? That’s mine. You lie on the floor or in your dog basket. Don’t feed the dog tidbits from the dinner table ? in fact the dog should be in his basket while you eat, and he only gets fed after everybody else has finished.

But isn?t that just being mean and taking all the fun out of owning a dog?

The leader of the dog pack eats first. He sleeps in the best spot. The Alpha male takes no notice of subordinate dogs fussing around him when he returns from the hunt. When you consistently act as leader you are communicating to your dog in a language he understands.

When you come home, ignore your dog’s frantic attempts at attention seeking until he calms down ? then you praise him. It won’t be long before your dog realizes he’s gone down a few notches in the pack hierarchy and acts accordingly. You’ll soon find that your dog greets you quietly and quickly settles down as he’s worked out that is when he receives praise from you.

Still not convinced that training your dog makes him a happier dog? Look at it from the dog’s point of view. He’s living in a human world full of confusing things and behavior he can’t understand. By not teaching your dog his place in your pack he will feel it’s his place to take charge. But this leaves him feeling stressed, resulting in an unruly and confused dog constantly trying to make sense of an overwhelming world he cannot understand.

But when you assume command as leader of the pack, you take that responsibility off his shoulders. Just like a well-trained soldier, he will be happy knowing his place, his role in the pack and what’s expected of him ? and happy to defer to your leadership knowing you’ll take care of the big stuff.

About the author

Mark Davies is a life-long owner of dogs and is currently Alpha male to his three children and Merlin, his seven year old Staffordshire Bull Terrier. Actually, his wife is the real leader of the pack.

Mark invites you to visit his site: http://www.top-dog-trainer.com

One night I slept off without locking up, Maisky kept watch at the door. Then about 3 AM I was roused from sleep by his loud barking under my bed. I opened my eyes to behold a man right inside my room, and I acted instinctively throwing my reading chair, which was by the bedside, at the intruder. He jumped out the room, and I quickly rushed and pushed the jam-lock-door to.

Then my heart started to dance to Maiskys frenzy barking. I was almost going into cardiac arrest trying to quieten my dog who by now was bent on not leaving the security of the room. He was very afraid of the intruder whom he believed was out there waiting to get him.

Maiskys barking was so intense, my heart beat synchronized it, sweat poured from my pores like leaking plumbing pipes. Under very severe cardiac pressure, I opened the door and quickly took Maiskys chain, jammed the door back to and then began the labour of getting Maisky out from under the bed. I did eventually, chained him, and the fight to take him outside was not an easy one. My heart beat speed was killing me as it danced to the machine gun rhythm of Maiskys barking.

Then I got the idea of a saving grace. Maisky loves me so much, so I feigned and slumped to the floor, and immediately Maiskys barking turned to whining, its tail wagging as he came licking me all over compassionately, my heart beat slowed down, and soon normalised.

Maisky saved my property from the thief, and I saved myself from heart attack by dropping the panic induced aggression against a dear friend. Come to think of it, why should Maisky have agreed to be taken outside when the intruder was also out there in the dreadful night? Consider the fact that he was the one who had a good look at the intruder and knew how mean the intruder was or had actually acted during their confrontation.

For the first time we lay together in the same room that night wondering about the intruder and what his intentions had been, with Maisky intermittently growling honnnng! And I was very proud of him.

ADVANTAGE OF DOG TRAINING

It should be noted that had Maisky not been trained he would definitely have wondered away since he was unchained before I slept off. But the sense of responsibility inculcated into him through training kept him securing my place for more than 4 hours till 3 AM when the intruder happened. For this honourable act I rewarded Maisky with a sumptuous meal of stewed bones, rice and yoghurt the following day.

Neshah is the CEO of Dog Obedience Road Map

More articles at database for articles