Emmie Lou and Scoop! Cool pitties in KC!

How to maintain a nice yard, despite your dog's best attempt to destroy it.

I have had up to four at time dogs at a time and almost an acre of backyard. My wife and I like a nice yard, but not necessarily a manicured lawn. The biggest plus of a nice thick lush lawn is a lot less mud and dirt comes in on the 16 paws. Our dogs have open access to the yard through a dog door all year around. People stop over and are amazed that the backyard is a thick lush green carpet of grass. No dirt spots from the dogs digging and there are no discernible paths in the yard from 16 doggie paws walking their daily routes. Know thy dog Dogs are territorial by nature and creatures of habit. Each and everyday my four dogs walk the exact same route around the yard, stopping to pee on everything from a fence post to an old basketball . If an animal has gone through the yard during the night before, the dogs feel the need track the varmints steps through the yard, often several times. Combine this with the occasional st...

Puppy and Small Dog Crate Training Set up

Puppy and Small Dog Crate Training Set up Small dogs and puppies can be difficult to housetrain, especially when many of us work all day. In some instances tea-cup dogs may never be able to go more than 6-8 hours without needing a potty break. This set up allows you to teach your puppy or small breed to go on grass and enable you to go to work or be away for more than 8 hours is necessary. Fig 1 Fig 1 shows the set up, a crate, exercise pen (Foster and Smith) and a doggie litter box with a piece of sod in it. The set up should be initially set up where the puppies will spend most of their time with humans. Over the next 6 weeks this set up will be moved into the laundry room and the litter box will be treated much like a cat litter box. In this example it’s being used for 2 tea-cup Pomeranians. At 12 weeks of age one of the Poms was already using the litter box consistently enough to be left out several hours if needed. The puppies were also taught to go outside and since ...

Akitas can be off leash, but before you do.....

f you read Akita rescue sites (and other breed sites), they are so black and white. I don't think any dog that does not have the temperament, training or social skills should be off leash , but to lump Pits, Akitas and other breeds all together is silly. It would be as foolish for me to say that since you have a Lab or Golden Retriever you can let them off leash, around kids and pretty much take them anywhere since they're "non-aggressive" breeds. I've ran across Labs that are horribly dog aggressive and Akitas/bully breeds that are just wonderful around other dogs. My prior Akita mix and Jade have great dog skills. As with any prey driven breed (insert all Terriers, Shepherds and just about all dogs) you need to realize they will chase animals smaller than them. Sure, I consider my self a pretty good trainer, but to tell every Akita owner not to have the dog off leash , around kids, other dogs, in public blah, blah, blah. If I had no...

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