If you are thinking of adding a dog to your family, consider adopting your new best friend from an animal shelter or humane society. You’ll not only get a good feeling from helping a homeless pet, you’ll get an outstanding companion. The staff at these organizations carefully check the animals for sound health and good temperament. In addition, some shelter animals have had the benefit of training to develop good manners while they waited for a new home.

Through no fault of their own, a lot of great dogs wind up in animal shelters hoping for a second chance at happiness. People relinquish their pets to shelters when they are no longer able to care for them. Sometimes this is because the owner was unprepared for the responsibility that comes with caring for a dog. Often, however, caring owners struggling with life-changes or trying to cope with family tragedy realize their pet would be better off with someone else. They bring them to the shelter because they know the animal will be well cared for and placed in an excellent home.

You can find just about any age, size and breed of dog at an animal shelter. Often, people underestimate how difficult it is to care for a litter of puppies, and turn them over to the shelter to raise and adopt out. In other cases, young dogs are relinquished because their previous owners didn’t have the time to provide regular exercise for the pup. So, if you have your mind set on a puppy, a shelter is a good place to look. However, if you would like a more mature dog that is likely already housebroken, you’ll find these kinds of canines at a humane society or animal center.

Upon arrival, shelter staff carefully evaluates each animal for physical and behavioral soundness. They make note of quirks, and work with specialists to eliminate negative behaviors. Most shelters have adoption counselors who interview potential adopters to understand their needs and lifestyle so they can make the perfect match.

Bringing your newly adopted dog home is exciting for you, but may be a little overwhelming for her. Keep her on a leash as you take her from room to room, giving her plenty of opportunity to sniff. You may want the first stop on your tour to be the backyard or wherever you want her to relieve herself. The excitement of a car ride and coming to a new place can give her the need to empty her bowels or bladder.

Dogs are creatures of habit, so the sooner you establish a firm routine, the more comfortable your new dog will become. Always feed her in the same spot and at about the same time each morning. You’ll find she grows to anticipate “what comes next.” For example, if you always feed her after you bring in the newspaper, you’ll notice she becomes very excited when you open the door to step outside. Dogs catch on quickly.

The easiest and best way to prevent inappropriate dog behavior such as destructive chewing or house breaking or training accidents is with the use of a dog crate. Crate training a dog allows you to leave your home, sleep through the night or work uninterrupted knowing your dog’s behavior is under control. These “playpens” prevent your dog from potentially hurting themselves or getting “into trouble” within your home. A dog crate is also a safe way of transporting your dog in the car.

It is very instinctual for dogs to want to retreat to a “den-like” area. If you properly teach your dog to use the crate, they will think of it as their safe place and will be happy to spend time there when needed.

Dog crates should be introduced to dogs in a very positive manner. To help dogs feel at home in their crate, it is important not to use the dog crate as punishment or discipline. Make sure that your dog’s crate is located in a central area within your home, where they spend most of their time. It can be comforting for your dog to have a soft towel or blanket in their crate, as long as they are not destructive with it. Each time your dog walks into their dog crate, they can get a special, tasty “crate treat.” If your dog only gets that special treat when they are in their crate, they will look forward to going into their crate!

The crate is a secure retreat for your dog and also the key to successful and fast house-training. Dogs naturally do not like to soil in the area where they must sleep and eat. In order to keep their sleeping area clean, dogs teach their own bodies how to physically “hold it” when they need to eliminate. Once this important concept is learned, it is our job to follow the necessary steps of successful house-training when our dogs are out of their crate.

There’s a popular saying among dog trainers: “There’s no such thing as a bad dog.” While that may be true, any trainer will admit that there are dogs with very bad habits.

Simply put, behavior is a way of acting and reacting. When a dog acts or reacts to a situation in a way that has a negative impact on her owner or others, the behavior is considered to be “bad.” Yet, to the dog, it’s just what she does.

Eliminating a bad behavior requires training to give the dog a new behavior, or habit.

Dogs Jumping

One of the most common bad behaviors is jumping up on people. This habit is established when a dog is a puppy. Puppies jump at their mother to get her attention so she will feed them. Dog owners find it adorable that their puppy works so hard to get their attention as she jumps. The naive owners come down to the dog’s level or pick the puppy up, not realizing they have just rewarded the dog for jumping and barking. Unfortunately, behavior that is cute in a puppy often becomes annoying in an adult dog.

Large dogs that jump on people for attention easily knock down and accidentally injure children and older people. Small dogs have less ability to injure someone, but usually dirty clothes and snag stockings. In both cases, while you might not mind your dog jumping up on you, other people probably don’t feel the same way.

Training your dog to sit to be petted is the easiest way to break the jumping habit. To help her develop the “sit for attention” habit, you must ignore her when she jumps on you. You might turn your back or simply walk away. If she follows you, turn quickly and tell her to sit. If she does, pet and praise her. You can reinforce this behavior by having her sit before you put her food bowl down. Every time she sits, she gets a reward of either attention or food. Every time she jumps she gets nothing.

Never pet or coddle a dog to stop the bad behavior. You are only reinforcing the bad behavior.

There’s a popular saying among dog trainers: “There’s no such thing as a bad dog.” While that may be true, any trainer will admit that there are dogs with very bad habits.

It is never a good idea to give your dog an old shoe or sock to chew on; she can’t tell the difference between your favorites and your discards because they all smell like you.

Traveling with your dog can be fun and exciting, or it can be disastrous. Planning ahead is the key to a successful trip and these guidelines can help.

“Buckling Up” is not only for people but for dogs, too. Unrestrained dogs can cause an accident by distracting the driver, and in an accident, will become a projectile. Pets also can bolt from a car and get lost in an unfamiliar area or run out into traffic.

Purchase a dog crate or dog seat belt and include their use in your practice runs.

Planning Ahead

Call the Agriculture Department of the state or embassy of the country to which you are traveling for information on the vaccinations, documentation, fees, or quarantine that may be required to bring your dog into the country. Make sure your dog is up to date on all vaccinations. Check with your veterinarian about additional vaccinations which can protect your dog from disease local to where you are traveling,

Consider applying a flea, tick preventative and repellent to protect your dog from diseases such as heartworm, West Nile Virus and Lyme Disease. I am not in the habit of recommending a single product, but in this case, I make an exception.

There are many such products found in stores but in my many years experience as a dog groomer, most of these are not effective. The only products that work ALL THE TIME are the veterinary applications such as Frontline and Advantage. For many years these were only available through your Veterinarian. You can now purchase these products without a prescription online saving you valuable time and money. The newest of these products is called Advantix. This is the one we use and highly recommend. It not only kills fleas and ticks but also repels mosquitoes that can carry West Nile Virus.

Make sure your dog’s ID tag is on his collar. Consider adding temporary tags with hotel information and travel phone numbers, a cell phone number or the phone number of a friend who will be home during your trip.

Book dog friendly hotels, motels, and campsites early and make sure to tell them you are traveling with a dog. Find out what restrictions they have (such as crating all dogs, size limits, etc.) before you book your stay.

Packing

Here are the basics to pack for your dog: A few of your dog’s favorite toys, food and water bowls, a leash, food, a first aid kit, medication, water, veterinarian’s phone number, dog’s medical records, blanket or king sized flat sheet, towels, poop scoop or plastic bags to clean up mess, garbage bags and paper towels (to clean up bigger messes), brush and comb (to remove stickers and burrs), and shampoo (for those emergency clean ups).

Bring health and rabies vaccine certificates, particularly if you will be crossing the border into Canada, the US, or Mexico. All three countries allow dogs and cats to enter if they meet strict entry requirements.

While Traveling

Keep to your dog’s regular feeding schedule. You can feed small amounts every few hours during the trip and plan his main meal in the evening or when you arrive at your dog friendly hotel or camp ground.

Once at your dog friendly hotel, spend extra time in the room with your dog until he gets used to his new environment. When you leave the motel room, first try to leave for a short time to see how your dog acts in the room. You don’t want your dog barking and disturbing other guests. Leave the room vent/air conditioner and the television on while you are away to create some white noise and keep your dog company.

Use a blanket or sheet from home (it was in your list of things to pack) on the bed to keep hair off the hotel’s blankets.

Enjoy the time you spend traveling with your dog. We know he will.

For Information on Pet Friendly Vacations