Today I visited a website with my owner that had a picture of a dog sitting at a laptop…I guess the dog hasn’t trained it’s owner to do that work for him yet, and now my owner is getting ideas…anyway, we both thought it was a cute picture.
But while we were there, we DID see a lot of things that will help you with dog training. I’ve told you before that because I’m a small dog, I tend to get away with things that bigger dogs don’t, so training for me is different than it would be for, lets say, a big German Shephard or Labrador Retriever. For example, if I jump up on my owners lap, or jump on someone who is visiting, sometimes they like it because I’m small and cute, so they don’t need to train me to stay down. If a German Shepard or other big dog did that, it would be very different.
Even though I think I’m perfect and don’t need any training, my owner liked visiting dogtrainersearch.com and she thinks you will too, especially if you want to learn how to train your dog, whether it be big or small. There were quite a few good articles and links there, so stop by and let us know what you think.
After being with my owners for over 10 years, they have learned to understand my language, and I understand theirs. You have to really love your dog to bother to understand them, I know many who have dogs that are just left outside all day, or left alone all day while owners are at work, that’s not really having a relationship with your dog…maybe you don’t agree, but I’m a dog, and I know I don’t like being left alone all the time.
Kelly Marshall shares some nice tips on “What Dog Sounds Mean” that will help you understand your dog better:
When your dog softly whimpers that means: I’m hurt! I’m frightened. The average human is most likely to hear this at the vet, when a dog is suffering, or when an obedient dog is in a strange location that appears intimidating. This is really a mewing sound that young dogs make when they feel cold, hungry, or troubled.
Loud, long drawn out whining sounds mean: Please give me something . . . or I want something … A puppy usually uses this sound when he’s waiting for his meal, or for the leash to be put on, or when they are trying to get his master s attention, etc.
When a dog sighs accompanied by a dog’s lying down with his head on his forepaws, can have two meanings, depending on the context and his facial expressions. With his eyelids half open, this is a sign of enjoyment, which means I am happy and am going to relax. With eyes wide open, this is a sign of dissatisfaction when something expected has not transpired, this means: I quit!
When a dog is baying: This is the sound of hounds during a hunt. It is translated as Follow me this way! Let us attack him! or All together now!
When a dog yip howls this is really more of a yip yip yip howl, with the final howl quite drawn out. It basically means I am very lonely I feel deserted! or Where is everybody?
When a dog howls: I’m over here! This is my space! or I hear you out there! A confident dog will howl just to announce where he is. Howling also often happens in response to a yip howl from another canine. It has a more echoing sound to the human ear than does the yip howl, which is often called mournful.
When a dog moans: ar owl wowl wowl . . . over a short period of time. It is a sound of impulsive pleasure and excitement that means I am flabbergasted! or Let’s play! A dog usually moans when something he anticipates something exciting to happen.
When a dog is panting: Let us go now! This means he is very excited. [or if I can butt in here, I pant when I'm hot, or when I'm afraid and worn out from worrying.]
Pets can also learn vocalizations. For example, the bark that dogs often give to the command speak sounds are very different from an impulsive bark. The same can be said for the bark that police dogs are taught. Many dogs can be taught certain sounds for certain settings, from simple barks, moans, or play growls to more complicated sounds that may sound like yodels.
Other Dog Bytes:
To learn more about your hound and what it may be trying to tell you like what digging is all about right in the middle of the back yard, head to helpful resources on the web and locally. You can find plenty of free pet tips, for example, on pet websites – like those at Squidoo, MySpace and Hubpages under “dogs” searches in each place.
Or check with your local librarian to order a bookstack on the topic, available for pickup later on in the week for studying back at your home.
My owner has some art prints listed on ebay that she wants me to tell you about. They are all prints of dogs by an artist named Gladys Emerson Cook who lived from 1899-1976. She did many wonderful animal pictures, and other beautiful art.
They are original prints, and when you click on the picture that interests you as they scroll by in the widget below, you can see more information about the picture.
The price she is asking for the prints is much lower than others that she has seen, so she thinks it’s a fair price. Have fun looking, oh, and we hope you had a nice Memorial Day weekend.
Today I want to share with you a story about two little dogs that belong(ed) to a friend of mine. She shared it in an email a long while ago, and I just stumbled on it, and thought you’d like it, as it shows how two dogs can learn to get along. After I post it, we’ll track our friend down and have her come read it and update on the latest news about these two little furbabies in a comment…it picks up a bit into the story about her adopted Chihuahua mix, Zeena. Enjoy!
We only know for sure that Zeena’s mom is a Chihuahua. (Dad is from a nice neighborhood.) The vet is convinced that her dad is a dachshund, because of her growing features, but we are not really sure. The vet said we could do DNA testing to find out, but I really don’t care. She’s my fur baby and she’s a doll! When I got her at 3 weeks old, she was less than a pound and looked just like a Chihuahua puppy. As she grew she changed a lot. Now, she is 5.5 lbs., completely healthy and loves everyone she comes into contact with. Very smart and very active!
Bernie, (Bernadette) my toy poodle has been with me for 3 years. She was rescued from an abusive home where apparently the young man or teen living in the home kicked her down a long flight of stairs. That was when they took her away—who knows what kind of stuff happened behind closed doors. Bernie has always shied away from men, but she knew she had me tied around her front paws the minute I held her. She needed a lot of medical care for ear infections, bad teeth and is almost toothless now. I wanted to breed her at first, but the vet said she was too old and had her spayed instead. She is not a very bright dog, but she and I are bonded and I take very good care of her, so no one can ever hurt her again. We think she is around 8 years old, but are not sure. She is very loyal to me.
When I brought Zeena into our family, Bernie wasn’t sure what to do about her. I knew she was jealous of Zeena, because I kept her near me, or carried her around most of the day when she was a baby. She had to be bottle fed every 2-3 hrs. the first week. I think Bernie thought she was a squeaky toy—I didn’t notice any mothering instinct at all! I kept them separated for the first two months, except when I was right there to help Zeena.
Now that Zeena is older, the two of them play all day long and only get mad at each other when I pay more attention to one and not the other. Bernie is not lonely when I have to leave for the day and Zeena is just non-stop fun! Geeze, I could write all day about their antics, but I have to stop for now. I like the idea of Aspen’s blog and was thinking about maybe doing one for my babies—they give me so much enjoyment! (Teri, if you still have your fur-babies, doing a blog about them is a bright spot in the middle of whatever life brings your way…luv, Aspen)
Today when my owner was on her twitter account, we noticed that #pawpawty was in the list of trending topics (visit the twitter link to learn more about twitter if you’re clueless) and so she decided to let me twitter. We do that a lot lately. She changes her picture to mine, and I tell her what to type for me. Today I’ll be taking over for the day since it’s a monthly “PawPawty” day.
This is a special day that takes place once a month, here is the information that someone shared on www.examiner.com explaining the event:
So far, these fund raising virtual parties have raised more than $5,000 for organizations such as The Humane Society, Kitten Rescue of Los Angeles and Orphans of the Storm in Illinois. The next pawpawty is scheduled for May 2-3 to benefit the Margaret Green Animal Rescue.
For each pawparty, a theme is chosen and “party-goers” are encouraged to change their Twitter default pictures to something theme-related (see the slideshow below for some cute examples). Prizes are given away for various contests such as trivia and scavenger hunts – all the while people are encouraged to donate even just $1 to the featured charity.
Who can attend the #pawpawty?
The pawpawties are open to anyone with an interest in raising money and getting the word out to friends about the fund raising efforts. Many of the party-goers are animals, or people who tweet as their pets. There are thousands of Twitter Critters online, ranging from dogs and cats to hamsters, gerbils and even a moose!
It is not necessary to be an “animal” to attend these virtual fundraisers, however. Everyone is welcome – the more attendees, the more opportunity to raise as much money as possible for animal charities.
If you decide to join in, be sure to follow us and say hi, I share my owner’s account and we trade off regularly – http://twitter.com/happynutrition. And if you click on this #pawpawty link, you’ll be taken just to the search results for pawpawty, and see only the “tweets” related to the event. See you there, I hope!
