All Things Dog Blog

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Helping Toy-Challenged Dogs Enjoy Playtime

by Carrie Boyko

(c) Carrie Boyko

Finally--Blue Puppy Gets Playtime

Oliver, my 9 lb. Papillon, is not really very big on toys. Well, maybe I shouldn’t say that. The reality is that Tanner, my Golden Retriever, is Oliver's toy. Oliver grew up playing on top of Tanner, as if Tanner were his personal playground or jungle gym. I’m not sure who enjoys it more—Tanner or Oliver!

To this day, Oliver continues to enjoy playing with Tanner’s ears and tail, snuggling with Tanner for an afternoon nap and following him around during his daily rounds of the house--sort of like a pesky little brother, except that Tanner loves it.

Once in a great while, Oliver will get interested in one of his many toys. Oliver’s not exactly starving for playthings. I have tried very hard to get him interested in a plethora of different types of toys, generally to no avail.

There are a few that he favors. One is a blue puppy, small enough for him to pick up and carry around. This is to say that it is VERY small, as Oliver has an extremely tiny mouth. This picture was taken on one of the rare days when Oliver was enthralled with the blue puppy. Yeah! If only I could get him to enjoy all of his toys this way.

Often, when Oliver seems to be in a toy mood, I will try to introduce him to another toy, along with the one he has chosen. After all, every little boy needs a variety of playthings to stimulate his brain. What usually happens is he loses interest in both and begins to follow me around. He is so cute, sort of like a deaf child who is imploring me to explain, in his own language, what I am doing and how he can be a part of it.

One of my agility friends who is a very patient trainer, gave me some tips on getting him interested in toys. I’ve tried a few. Treating him when he plays with a toy seemed like a great idea, but failed miserably when he decided it was better to follow me to get more treats. The toy was abandoned and I became the object of interest.

Playing games with his toys, like hide and seek, chase, fetch or catch, are all things that Tanner absolutely loves to do. Yet Oliver looks at flying toys as potential danger. He sees something flying through the air and runs for cover, as if to exclaim, “Incoming!”

I tried gently tossing a soft toy to Oliver as a reward for good agility work, and he ran away from the toy. Ugg!

Today I read about a toy game that might work, so we’ll give it a trial run and see how we do. I found this game on Raise a Green Dog, one of our favorite websites. You can come along for a ride. Perhaps if you, too, have a toy-challenged dog, you might find this tactic works.

Tuck a couple of small, great smelling treats into the sections of a muffin tin. Then set 12 small toys on top of each treat, also inside the cups of the muffin tin. The idea is that the smell will encourage the dog to pick up the toy, in order to find the yummy treat. When the dog picks up the toy, be sure to praise him or pet him immediately. The final reward will be finding the treat.

We’ll practice this a few times and see how we do. If you try it, will you report back. Hit the comment link at the bottom of the post and let me know how it worked for you. Good luck!

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Thursday, May 27, 2010

Preparing Your Puppy for a Life of Happy Vet Visits

by Carrie Boyko

While at the vet with my pack recently, one of the pet nurses commented on how amiable all three of my dogs are when they come in for their regular exams and vaccinations. She went on to explain that many of the dogs who visit them are fearful, aggressive or anxious during their visits, which seems to result in a higher-maintenance visit for the vet and nurses.

Thinking back on my puppy raising days, I remembered that these problems are the reason for many of the daily handling activities that owners are encouraged to do with their pups.

Below are a few of the tips that will help you prepare your pup for a less-anxious, more enjoyable experience at the veterinarian. The logic behind most of these tasks is to acclimate your puppy to the types of handling and activities that will occur at the vet. If your puppy is used to being handled in the same ways that the nurses and doctors do, they will be much less likely to be frightened. Daily practice, starting today, will help your furry friend be a much happier patient, and that is good for both of you.

Begin human socialization immediately upon taking your puppy home; take him out to meet others and encourage everyone who visits to play with and handle him.

Emphasize a variety of different looking people in your socialization exercises: wheelchairs, canes, blacks, whites, beards, curly hair, you get the picture. Your pup needs to see it all during these formative first few months. Be sure to include folks in various types of uniforms as well. Fearful dogs have often been known to target uniformed people like mail carriers, police and even veterinarians.

Demonstrate leadership when socializing your pup by always showing your complete and total confidence in the presence of different looking people and places. You will be setting the example for your pup's lack of nervous energy at the vet, if you greet the vet warmly and show Rover how enjoyable it is to be there.

Expose your puppy to noises of all kinds as well--printers, phones, meowing cats, barking dogs, and yes, even bigger groups of them, when she is ready.

Handle your puppy daily in many of the ways your vet will do this, checking ears, eyes, teeth, abdomen, tail, backside and pads of the feet.

For many pups the toes may be a sensitive area. If so, choose a soothing foot-pad massage instead, gradually getting deeper between the toes as your puppy begins to grow larger and accept this manipulation.

Praise the puppy lavishly each time she allows you to examine an area that you need to get good visibility in. Trust me, one day when you need to pull a tick from between her toes, you'll need her to cooperate. Now is the time to prepare her for this eventuality.

You can even mimic an eye check. First allow your pup to sniff and examine the flashlight. Then use it to dart the light quickly past her eyes, praising her when she handles this with moderate ease.

Include gentle snout massages in your routine to prepare the puppy for a nose exam. Treat her when she willingly allows you to massage or stroke her snout, as this is another extremely sensitive area on most dogs.

If you get your puppy used to being held, handled, checked and socialized with people, she will show you quite quickly that she can be a terrific patient. It just takes some diligence to practice these moves daily.

One final tip…most vets use a large scale to weigh your pup on. You can use a dark floor mat or other low, stable item to practice weighing. Teaching your puppy to sit on the scale will assist with getting an accurate weight. Most puppies can learn the sit command within a couple of days of starting to practice. Check back for my post of teaching sit, coming soon here at All Things Dog Blog.

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