Our household has recently gained a really handy new piece of furniture. It’s a great all-in-one storage solution for dog owners. One drawer for collars and leashes, one drawer for doggie sweaters and jackets and raincoats, one drawer for dog toys, and one drawer for your dog!

This post is part of the BlogPaws Wordless Wednesday blog hop.

One tool frequently recommended by dog training professionals is the treadmill. Especially useful during the Winter months, you can use a treadmill to make sure your dog gets enough exercise and burns off excess energy, all from the comfort of your own home. The treadmill is also extremely helpful for dog owners with mobility issues, who can’t physically handle the kind of walks and exercise some dog breeds require. But not everyone has the space or money for a treadmill. Sadie has not had a chance to try a treadmill yet, but she’s created her own daily exercise that makes me think of a treadmill every time she does it.

In these photos and videos, Sadie is playing with one of her little squeaky balls. She likes me to hide the balls so she can try and find them. One place I typically hide her ball is under a pillow. Sadie knows the ball is under the pillow and all she has to do is move the pillow to get it, but Sadie likes to do her treadmill exercise first. Every single time I hide a ball under a pillow, Sadie tries to frantically dig through the pillow to get to the ball. She gets some great exercise, working her little front paws for a few minutes, and when she feels like she’s done that enough, she just pushes the pillow aside and takes her ball. After a few good minutes of squeaking, Sadie will put the ball next to the pillow and stare at me expectantly, ready to start her “treadmill” exercise again.

This post is part of the Thoughtless Thursday blog hop hosted by Ruckus the Eskie, Love Is Being Owned By a Husky, and M.K. Clinton.

This post is also part of the Thursday Barks and Bytes blog hop hosted by 2 Brown Dawgs and Heart Like A Dog.

As many of you know, Sadie is a very picky eater. She eats a prescription kibble for weight control and joint support as suggested by our vet, but she won’t eat just plain kibble. Typically I mix her kibble with some canned food, but I know that canned food can cause problems with her teeth. So I’m always searching for new, healthy options to mix with her dry kibble to make it more palatable. That’s where Stella and Chewy’s Meal Mixers come in to solve all of these issues. According to a study at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, 9 out of 10 dogs prefer kibble with Stella & Chewy’s Meal Mixers to just plain kibble. That seemed to me like a pretty good reason to give Meal Mixers a try.

 

This weekend Sadie, her Grandfather, and I took a day trip to the beach. I packed the car with all kinds of chairs and toys and towels and snacks and we headed out for the hour and a half drive to the beach. The whole way there Sadie was pretty nervous, since she had no idea where we were going. I kept telling her to calm down because we were going somewhere fun, but she didn’t believe me.

We encountered our first bit of mischief just as I was going to get off the highway. There was a big sign by the exit proclaiming that the beach we were headed to was closed for the day – it was at full capacity. I was really worried that we had made the drive for no reason, as the only other dog friendly beach was a half hour closer to home. But Sadie’s Grandfather wanted to check out some open houses before getting all sandy, so we decided to figure out the beach problem once he was done.

Since I was fairly certain that open houses wouldn’t welcome a canine visitor, I decided to take Sadie for a walk around the beach town. I thought it would be nice to be out stretching our legs after the long car ride. After walking a block, I noticed that there was a street fair on the road bordering the boardwalk. I knew Sadie wasn’t allowed up on the boardwalk, but I thought it would be nice to walk along the street and check out what the fair had to offer. Just as I crossed the street and put one foot into the street fair, I’m immediately stopped by a police officer. Apparently dogs were not allowed into the street fair, even though it was on a public street. He apologized, saying that dogs were allowed through in previous years, but last year there was some trouble, so they changed the rules. I hate it when mischief caused by irresponsible dog owners ruins things for everyone else. So Sadie and I just headed back to the car and her Grandfather joined us soon after.

I took the chance and drove to the supposedly closed beach next, just in case it had reopened. And luck was on our side this time. A children’s fishing tournament had just ended, so there was now plenty of room for more beach-goers. I drove down to the furthest end of the beach, hoping it would be least crowded, and I was right. There were only three or four other families as far as the eye could see, with only two other dogs. It looked perfect! But as we gathered our gear to head toward the ocean, a couple with a dog stopped by our car to warn us that it was really windy by the water. I thanked them, but decided I wanted to check it out for myself.

So Sadie, her Grandfather, and I started lugging all of our stuff towards the water. At first I wondered what in the world those people were talking about. The air was extremely hot, still, and dry, making us feel like we were trudging through the desert. But then we passed through a break in the sand dunes and it all made sense. As I started setting up our chairs, the wind was strong enough to keep knocking them over, while constantly pelting us with sand. I immediately began to worry about Sadie and the sand flying into her eyes. I kept trying to get her to stand with her back to the wind, but Sadie was not interested in cooperating. She was mostly interested in convincing her Grandfather and I to leave. She seemed very confused as to why we would want to be at a place so windy and full of sand.

I tried playing in the sand with Sadie, but she wasn’t interested. I tried playing catch, fetch, and just giving her a new squeaky toy, but Sadie didn’t want any of it. She wouldn’t take any snacks either. Sadie was willing to get her feet wet with me, but we didn’t go any further into the ocean since the water was freezing. I have a feeling she only followed me to the water because she wanted to stay as close to me as possible. I did manage to get some pictures taken, as you can see, so I felt like I accomplished something at least.

But I think Sadie’s favorite part of the day was when she stood up by one of the chairs and I realized she wanted to sit in it. The minute I put her in that chair, Sadie relaxed by like 75%. Then I turned the chair away from the wind and she relaxed completely. I guess my dog just doesn’t like to play in the sand. Sadie was perfectly happy from then on to sleep up on the chair while the humans got all dirty in the sand.

This post is part of the Monday Mischief Pet Blog hop.

Does your dog pay attention to you and follow your commands? Most dog owners have trouble keeping their dogs focused and cooperative both in and out of training sessions. One way to deal with this problem is to analyze your tone. If you constantly get frustrated and yell at your dog, he or she will probably learn to ignore the yelling as normal behavior and continue doing whatever he or she feels like doing. But if you act happy and excited about a command, your dog may enjoy that and try to perform the command to keep you happy and excited. It all depends on your particular dog and his or her relationship with you as the owner.

For example, many people try to assume the stern, alpha personality to show the dog that you are the boss and your commands must be followed. But if you are not that type of person at all, your dog may see right through that act. I personally have trouble acting that way, and therefore that is not the right tone for Sadie and I. Sadie actually prefers the babying approach, and is more likely to listen to me if I pitch my voice higher and ask if my “good girl” will do whatever I want her to do at that moment.

You need to experiment with your dog and see what kind of tone works best for your relationship. Other members of your household may need a different tone with the dog, simply because each and every bond between a dog and a human is unique. Try to be yourself and use your natural personality as much as possible. Most dogs can tell if you feel unsure or insecure about how to behave with them, which greatly impacts your ability to gain their trust and respect, and therefore their obedience.

This post is part of the Training Tips Tuesday blog hop hosted by DOGthusiast and Tiffany’s Diamond Dogs.