The American Water Spaniel

The American Water Spaniel – Facts You Must Know Before Adopting The American Water Spaniel

The American Water Spaniel has a hardy, muscular build. They have long, broad skull features with a square-cut muzzle. They weigh 25-45 pounds, and 15-18 inches tall.

The American Water Spaniel

Coat

The coat of an American Water spaniel is double with an oily, harsh feeling outer coat that is curled to a tight curl, and a thick, soft, oily inner coat that is more than 3-4 inches long. The hair on the chest, legs, ears, and tail are a little lengthy and more fringed, yet still wavy and curly. May not be uniformly curly, the coat across the back is straighter than the hair on the rump or chest area.

The coat of the American Water Spaniel is chocolate or liver in color may or may not have white patches on the chest area, extending all the way down to the elbows, on the back, and on the legs.

Activity

Requiring a lot of exercise, the American Water Spaniel is not choosy on what type of activity they are doing, as long as they spend their pent up energy. They love playing with their families, and are happiest when they are allowed to run freely in a securely fenced area.

Temperament

The American Water Spaniel is very loyal, vigilant, committed, and intelligent. Although usually reserved for strangers, they are not known to display any signs of aggression, spite, timid, frightened, or nervous. They are very eager to please, and although they are cautious of strangers, they are still kind to children and other animals.

Overview

The American Water Spaniel is a highly devoted family pet; energetic, alert, and balanced. Although they are obedient and easy to train, this breed is a little different from other retrievers, and they love playing with toys.

Care

Recognized to have an oily coat, the American Water Spaniel requires a thorough brushing twice a week. They are a medium shedder, and consider brushing a part of their lifestyle. Brushing should be done excessively, and regularly, or else new hairs may appear in untangling.

During summer, American Water Spaniels need to be given plenty of water, and more often than not, a lot of exercise. They will do best with either an active family, or if very active, a securely fenced area, or else a lot of dog toys.

Training

The American Water Spaniel is a highly intelligent breed, and will be willing to respond to training. They are excellent with positive reinforcement, gentle, without discouraging or harsh methods.

Early socialization for American Water Spaniels is advised, as this will help them to be more tolerant of other animals and children they may encounter.

Character

The American Water Spaniel is a very loyal, obedient, easy-going, and placid dog. They are reputed to be constantly full of energy, and are always ready to play. Although they are usually used as working and hunting dogs, they will also happily become the companion. This breed is exceptional in its ability to learn, and exceptional in its willingness to please, making themaming, and very responsive to training. They are very placid, and will happily play with children and pets, oftenratting them over the fence. Aside from swimming, they love nothing more than to swim. This versatile breed has exceptional stamina, and has the ability to hunt or swim in cold waters or ice.

Do You Need Alpha Dogs In Your Home?

Do You Need Alpha Dogs In Your Home?

Do You Need Alpha Dogs In Your Home? The best way to establish alpha status in a pack situation is to be the leader. Now before you go getting upset, understand that this won’t come naturally to all dogs. If you are accustomed to sitting on the couch with your pack mates, getting upset at Fido not being on the couch with you is completely logical. This is how the dog feels. To them, Fido is just another dog. If you establish yourself as the leader, then the dog will want to be submissive to you and react to you and your commands. This makes for a happier pet and a better pet owner.

So do you establish alpha status with your dog? Probably the best way to do this is to start when your dog is a puppy. Socialize your puppy and get him used to interacting with other dogs. When your puppy is used to his interactions with other dogs, he will be used to listening and watching his interactions with other dogs. You establish alpha status by being firm and consistent with your puppy. This doesn’t mean being mean but being forceful.

Do You Need Alpha Dogs In Your Home?

When you come home from work have your puppy greeting you by running to the door and jumping up to say hello. Your puppy has just told you, the owner, that he is the alpha. You don’t have to be scared to return home. If your puppy is wild with joy at seeing you or going out with you, it shows that he is submissive. If you return home and your puppy is laying on the floor or doing the equivalent of laying on the floor, it shows that he is not submissive and is happy to see you.

Some cardinal rules to follow:

-A dog that is rushing to greet you has an opportunity to establish his submissiveness. Instead, try to use a greeting that is more acceptable to your dog.

-Don’t touch your dog without inviting him to play or treat.

-Don’t pull at your puppy’s ears.

-Don’t pull at your puppy’s tail.

-Don’t play tug-of-war. Instead, give your puppy a good scratching behind his ear.

-Always point your finger at your puppy to make him turn and look at you.

-If your puppy gives you a solid correction (growling) DO NOT reacts by hitting him! Instead, give your puppy a gentle shake (fold and shake) and a harsh ‘no’ then immediately step into his space.

-Your puppy should have nothing more than three exercises daily.

Here are a few more tips:

-Sit and Wait: This is excellent for puppies and other times when you’re available.

-Drop Off: Put your puppy’s favorite toys and food in a box. Then take your puppy outside or in the car.

– rehearsing the walk: Before you start the walk, throw a ball or toy a couple of times to get your puppy used to the object you will be picking up.

-Heal: After the walk, explore or for short time periods (15-30 minutes) run with your puppy to help him release any anxieties he may be carrying.

-No More Walks until I’m better: When I have become better on the walk I will no longer need to be afraid of the walk. I will be able to build greater confidence in myself and in the ability my puppy has to learn and understand the process of learning to cope with new and scary situations.

Anything you do that makes your puppy fearful will be worth it in the long run. If you can go a whole week without frightening your puppy then you should do so. From there, you can start to build up your puppy’s tolerance.

How to Be a Strong Pack Leader

How to Be a Strong Pack Leader

How to Be a Strong Pack Leader? So what does it mean to be a strong pack leader anyway? Before I owned a dog I would hear that term but had no idea what it meant. Now several dogs later I get it.

To be a strong “pack leader” DOES NOT mean that you are forceful or angry with your animal. It means that you show that you are smarter and dominate over then dog, how do you do this you may ask?Well all you have to do is be fair, firm and consistent with your puppy or dog. Let them know when they are bad and when they are good. Let them know who is in charge and make sure that you are the one in charge. If you let your dog bite you or any other member of the family you are bullying them, it may even become an aggression problem. Yes it can become a problem. It may even become a problem as the dog grows older. To break this trend you have to be firm and show that you are thebeanest of dogs!

Make sure that you do not resort to violence to train your dog. It does not work, it will only make your dog fearful and could cause some lasting harm. Always stick to verbal commands and rewards. Dogs love to work, that is what they are happiest doing.

How to Be a Strong Pack Leader

So what are the best pack training tips?

So if you want to be successful with your puppy or dog, read more about how to become a pack leader and avoid these common mistakes.

ripped your dog apart? Don’t worry it can happen but there IS something you can do.

Does your dog know that you are the pack leader? Sometimes they won’t. Dogs aren’t smart, they do what they do and believe me they know who has the authority. So we need to assert that authority and show them that we are the true pack leader.

Another thing you can do is reinforce that you are the boss in your home every day. If you let your dog bite or chew on anything they want even something as simple as a toy, they actually believe that they are the boss and not you.

Some people let their dogs run the household. The dog feels like it has control and won’t take direction from anybody. Again this makes them confused as they can’t tell the difference between direction and directionlessness.

Some people let their dogs do unsupervised activities such as eating in the middle of the night. Again they have control and the dog believes that it is the pack leader so it doesn’t have to respect you.

There are a lot of other things you can do to assert yourself as pack leader. Some examples are:

Knowing you are the boss in your home will mean that you are the first one in the door when you get home from work and you aren’t going to let your dog sleep with you on the bed and instead put the dog in a different room.

Putting your dog on a schedule is very important if you want them to follow directions. Remember that they are pack animals and want a leader so that they know what is expected.

The first thing that you need to do is decide who is in charge. That is the person that is going to be in charge. The real key to this is going to be consistency and gaining your dog’s respect.

If you do not want your dog to jump on people when they visit then you need to set rules. Make it known to your dog that it is not acceptable to jump on people.

Make it clear to your dog that you are the leader and that you set the rules.

UTI in Dogs

UTI in Dogs – Tips For a Healthy Urinary tract in Dogs

UTI in dogs, or urinary tract infection, can be painful, yet easily treated. In order to prevent UTI in dogs, it is important to understand how dogs develop this problem. You also need to understand how to spot the symptoms of UTI in dogs. Most dog owners, when they first notice that their dog might have a UTI, tend to assume that the problem is human rather than canine. If you want to prevent UTI in dogs, then you obviously have to understand how dogs develop this problem.

Dogs develop urinary tract infections (UTI) when bacteria enter the urinary system. These bacteria not only cause irritation, but if not treated can spread to other areas, such as the kidneys, where they will produce serious consequences for your pet.

UTI in Dogs

Some of the common causes of UTI in dogs are;

-Water-Bacteria-Young children-Hypothyroidism-Breed of dogs with long and narrow noses- extrinsic uremic poisoning-ECT congratulated dog kisses

First let’s look at some of these causes of UTI in dogs.

Water-Bacteria

You need to ensure that your dog drinks plenty of clean water each day. If you notice that your dog seems to urinate more or less than usual, this might mean that it needs a drink.

Young children

A very common cause of UTI in dogs can come from a lack of cleanliness in the area. Because your dog is going to urinate more often than usual if it has a urinary tract infection, it needs to be kept clean and bathed regularly. You need to look out for any signs of a neglected urinary tract in dogs.

Hypothyroidism

If your dog seems to be losing its fur, urinatingusky, and drinking a lot of water in spite of its obviously ill health, then it is a likely symptom of hypothyroidism. This relatively common condition is due to an inadequate thyroid hormone deficiency in the body. The resulting skin problems are the main symptom.

Breeds Susceptible to UTI in Dogs

Some dog breeds are bacterial- infected, for example, Collies, Old English Sheepdogs, Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers and others.

If your dog is a predator, it is likely to contract UTI in dogs from the other dogs in the neighborhood. This is because a cured carnivore normally sheds the bacteria in its mouth and then inserts it into other body parts when it eats.

You can bathe it in tepid water to keep the bacteria out and brush its coat regularly, but do not feed it any cooked bones, as it is likely to contain impurities that the bacteria love to eat and they can easily introduce into your dog’s body.

UTI in Dogs is Preventable

Once you recognize the symptoms of UTI in dogs, you can take the necessary steps to prevent the disease. Of course, this means that you need to understand how dogs develop UTIs in the first place.

Depending on the age and health of your dog, the disease might have developed before you even noticed it. UTI in dogs can be very slow to treat and to treat, the bacteria might not have become immune to the antibiotics used, and it might become necessary to use a course of ultrasonic therapy.

Another way to prevent UTI in dogs is to feed your it small portions frequently and to give it water, make sure that it always has fresh water available. Also, avoid giving your dog any food that has added chemicals, especially antibiotics.

Training A Golden Retriever

Training A Golden Retriever – Do You Want To Hanger Your Puppy Or Dog?

 

Training A Golden Retriever : Are you wondering whether you should start training a golden retriever? You should start training a golden retriever as soon as you bring your puppy home. Why? You may ask this yourself. Well, the earlier you start, the better it will be for you. A puppy is like a little child, it cannot distinguish what is right or wrong, it does not know the difference between a bad chew toy and a good one. If you let it chew and destroy your belongings, you will end up with a mess to clean and a smell to get rid of. You certainly do not want this to happen to you, right? You need to make sure to train and discipline your puppy quickly and early.

If you do not, you might have a difficulty in training your puppy. This is because your puppy does not know the dos and don’ts of good behavior and bad behavior. As a result, it may not know what is a wrong order or behavior. If this happens, you and your puppy will bear the risk of an ongoing battle that might put an end to your hopes of having a well trained and mannered dog.

golden retriever on gray rock during daytime

You want to train your golden retriever puppy or dog to be well behaved? Well, you should start training the puppy that you are his or her owner. You are the master or master, or the “alpha leader” of your dog. How? By being firm and taking charge. How do you go about this? You should make it known to your puppy that you are always the boss. By putting him into submission, you will be his master.

From the moment you bring your puppy home, you should start training him or her, or her. There are several things you should do and keep doing. One of these is to always let your puppy know that you are the master. He or she will get the idea that you are always the one in command.

If you are going to train your golden retriever yourself, you should know about golden rules. These are a set of commands that your puppy must know in order to become well-mannered. In order to train him or her, you have to know what these are.

The first one is the sit command. This is very basic and important in training your puppy. He or she may look at you with confusion the first time you say the word, but they will get the idea soon enough.

The second one is the stay command. You will find that this is a good command to teach your puppy at a very young age. Why? It will keep him or her from running all over the place and getting into things that he or she is not supposed to get into.

The third one is the come command. You will find that this is a very handy command to use. One example that I will give you of why it is so useful is when you are camping or on the beach. You will usually want your puppy with you because you do not want him or her to run off and get into trouble. This command will remind you to keep him or her close and that you are going to need his or her presence to get him or her through this confusing situation.

Golden Rule #4 is to always treat your puppy with kindness. This rule goes along with treat training. You also need to make sure that you treat your puppy in a way that he or she expects. That way, you will get the desired results that you are looking for from your puppy.

Use these golden rules to help you in your puppy potty training. These are the four rules you will need to start out with puppy potty training.