Doggie Stress 101

     Doggie stress is a huge part of any canine's life. It can cause various adverse effects on your pup's health, such as immune system issues, decreased appetite, vomiting, and other potentially self-destructive habits. Some stress is useful as a good motivator, but in large amounts, stress will cause the aforementioned array of health issues and sometimes more.

     Decreasing stress can be accomplished in a variety of ways including medications, the widely popular "ThunderShirts", and even some good old-fashioned training. We prefer not to try medications unless absolutely necessary, as Marou is sensitive to many substances already. Training has done very little to help, so, with recommendations from a number of friends and acquaintances, we are going to try a thundersthirt to hopefully ease Marou's stress, and I will be posting a review when we finally do get one.

     Stress in many canines is situational, with kennel anxiety and separation anxiety being the main complaints from owners who I've met. Both of which are very difficult to overcome without professional help. "Crate games" have been known to help with kennel anxiety to an extent, but they aren't a definite solution, nor are they always a practical solution. One very important thing to remember when it comes to kennel anxiety is to never use the kennel as punishment to avoid the negative idea that it could give to your pooch. The only cure i have found for separation anxiety is company.

     As with anything concerning your pooch, you are the final authority on any decision, and you are always free to get creative with your remedies for common issues.

Omega 3 Fish Oil Supplement

     We've had Marou on an Omega-3 Fish Oil supplement for approximately a month now, and it has improved his skin and coat health dramatically. It has alleviated his sensitive skin greatly. He also likes to play will the caplets like little toys.

     We find it easier to get him to eat them if we poke a hole in them with a needle or snip a small piece off with a pair of scissors to allow the oil to seep out. He will squeeze the oil out by himself if we open up a hole for it.

     Now that he has learned that the delicious oil comes from inside the caplet, he is a lot more willing to eat it and thoroughly enjoys it.

     Since starting him on the supplement, we have noticed that his coat is shinier and softer, and his overall health has improved every so slightly. The only downside to the fish oil is that it does expire, and it can expire before you realize it. No one wants to taste expired fish oil, after all.

Trimming Claws

     Whether you're a do-it-yourself-er or just wanted to see if you could trim your dog's nails, we've all been met with some resistance in this area.

     Josie and i prefer to trim Marou's nails, as nobody else can seem to get him to calm down whatsoever once we leave to room, and we don't want him to hurt anyone. We have a few tips that should help any dog owner with their anxious/rebellious pooch not to mention a few recommendations for products to help a little bit with some common problems in puppy and dog nail clipping.

     We actually use an infant nail clipper to trim his nails and an emery board to file his nails to a gentle, rounded tip. Because Marou's nails are clear, we can see exactly how far we can clip his nails without causing him any pain or bleeding. It's always a good idea to keep some styptic powder on hand just in case if you plan on clipping your pup's nails.

     Our trick to getting Marou to cooperate with us when we trim his nails is to have a small bag of kibble handy. We feed him a piece or two at a time just to keep him distracted, and he doesn't struggle or resist  us at all.

You're not getting that thing near me!

     You can also try to pet or maybe even play with your pet (don't move around too much) to keep him/her distracted as well.

Training Tips - Bad Behavior

While many of us dog owners have been lucky enough to not have to deal with a lot of bad behavior, there are some who, for whatever reason, are not quite so lucky. The following are a few tips for owners with less-than-model pooches:

1. Never Hit Your Dog
     This seems simple enough, but it's surprising how many people i've seen that will physically hit their dog as a punishment for negative behavior. Not only does this actually do the opposite of what it's meant to, it can make the dog aggressive toward people in general. An aggressive dog is a danger to all around him/her, and if it gets too bad, animal control may be forced to get involved. There is always a better way to reprimand a dog than physical violence.

2. Speak With Authority
     Dogs can sense when their owners are weak willed. When giving your pooch commands, speak with a firm, dominant voice and look your pet in the eye to help establish your dominance in the pecking order. It's surprising how much of a difference a dominant, confident voice will make in training or reprimanding a dog. Some dogs misbehave simply because they feel that they are the authority in the house, so they do what they please which we see as mischief.

You called?

3. Turn Away
     Attention is an excellent motivator for most, if not all, dogs. Dogs look to their owner for approval with everything they do. Your attention can heavily influence whether or not your dog repeats a behavior whether they receive treats and other rewards or not. When your pooch does a positive or desired behavior, always be sure to give him/her plenty of attention and praise, but on the contrary, if he/she is misbehaving you need to look away and avoid giving them any attention long enough for them to calm down and if necessary use a dominant "No" to stop them in their tracks.

Hopefully these tips will provide some insight to the owners with mischievous or disobedient pooches

Training Tips - General Training

Training every dog is a different challenge, but some general guidelines apply to just about any pup.

1. Always keep treats on hand
      This is probably one of the most, if not the most, important rule of training. Just about every training i've spoken to has recommended this to ease and accelerate training, especially with stubborn or independent breeds such as the Shiba Inu. You should keep a high value treat (something that your pup really enjoys) on hand when doing any kind of training. This works extremely well with potty training, as your pup will be a lot more inclined to do the action correctly when treats are involved.
     There are literally over one hundred different brands, flavors, and types of training treats. I won't recommend any specific brand here, as we've had success with multiple brands and flavors, but be sure to check the ingredients of any treat before you buy to verify that all of the ingredients are pet safe and your pet's stomach can handle them all.

2. Be Consistent
     Another important rule that, if followed correctly, can greatly ease the process of training. This point was proven by Ivan Pavlov's classical conditioning experiments in the early 1900's. Consistency is key in any form of training, as consistency implants the behavior/reward cycle into your dog's memory, which is exactly what you are working toward with any type of training. Consistency will prevent your pooch from getting confused about the importance and your opinion of the action.

Learning to Sit

3. Catch 'Em Early
     Starting with training early on can mean the difference between training your pooch and struggling for what seems like an eternity to hopefully teach your dog a lesson. As puppies, canines are far more impressionable, so they are much easier to train and condition. Catching them early means that you have many more options for training your pup and much more time to reinforce these lessons.
     The other side to this is that if taught improperly or if taught the wrong lessons at this stage, your pooch can become a danger to themselves or other pets or people. At this stage, a training mistake can be corrected if caught early enough with little to no impact on your pup's life.

These short but important guidelines can make training your dog at least a little easier on you and on your pooch as well.

The Little Explorer

The Shiba Inu is known as a curious breed, so it should come as no surprise to any owner that they would absolutely love to explore. They love to get into anything and everything they possibly can. They will end up in places that you never thought possible, like small crevices, inside of boxes, in your trash can (and i mean inside of it), or even trapped under a pile of stuff in the back of the closet. If there is a possible way to get there, they'll figure it out.

Marou is quite the mischevious one, as he will get into just about anything and try to play it off as if he didn't know we were watching him the whole time. In addition to the typical "Mine!" attitude of the Shiba, he seems to think that he can just get into whatever he wants then look cute when he gets caught and everything will be fine. He's quite the spoiled little Shiba, but his exploration does provide Josie and I with some high quality entertainment.

Exploration of new things or changes is perfectly fine and honestly quite entertaining as long as you make sure to pay close attention to your pup while he/she does it. Satisfying these natural curiosities is part of what helps make our dogs better adults and better behaved canine citizens overall. Keeping you pup out of mischief while he/she is exploring is priority number one, as this is the best and simplest way to keep your pup safe and sound.

Luckily, the closest thing to mischief that Marou gets into is try to run toward the neighbors who are terribly afraid of dogs and trying to play with every animal he sees (including strays). He loves to try to explore at night, but all that happens is that he gets startled by every little leaf that he steps on and every little thing that moves. He's a little scaredy-dog, or as a friend of mine would say, "His bark is worse than his bite."

Beggars Can't Be Choosers

We've all had to deal with our pooch begging or trying to steal our snacks and meals. This behavior is usually  started by offering your pooch food from your plate or table food in general. Once they are given table food, they generally develop a preference for it over kibble and sometimes even over dog treats.

Table food can be given as an occasional reward for good behavior, but should not be given by itself, as it can lack many essential nutrients needed by dogs to grow and maintain a healthy immune system. Some owners prefer to give their pups a full diet of raw or cooked meat without any kibble, which by itself can be lacking in many areas, so dietary supplements are necessary to give all of the necessary nutrients. We prefer to feed Marou a kibble diet with supplements to help with a few of the deficiencies of kibble, like omega fatty acids and probiotics.

Stopping the begging behavior can be incredibly difficult if it is allowed to continue for too long. One of the simplest and probably most effective ways of doing this is to give your dog a toy like a Kong or another puzzle toy with a delicious treat in it to keep him/her occupied and not whining or sulking by the table. Another possibility is to keep him/her secluded behind a baby gate or other structure to keep him/her out of the room while you eat. If you must have them in the room and don't want to give them food or a treat, you may tether them to a large piece of furniture or other heavy object.

We try to feed Marou when we eat, as it usually keeps him occupied enough that he doesn't beg or try to steal our food. We do occasionally offer him a bite of our food if we have done our homework and know that it is one hundred percent safe for him and he's been very good lately. Sometimes this doesn't even work because Marou catches on to the fact that we are just trying to distract him, and he totally ignores all other food and treats.

Although begging is a nuisance, it can possibly be destructive with bigger dogs, as they can accidentally break things or hurt people to get to the food they're after. Early training resulting in prevention or minimizing of the behavior is important in making your canine a good citizen and keeping your meal times pleasant.