Training a dog is an endeavor which requires a plethora of patience, but if done correctly is also immensely rewarding. In all my life I have known no feeling like companionship greater than that feeling I have with my two dogs. If you're interested in learning more, read this article.

Not showering your dog with enough positive reinforcement when he does good, will reduce the power you have over him in training. Since dogs love attention, giving them plenty of it, provides him with incentive to listen to you. If all he ever hears from you is what not to do, he is not getting any encouragement, only discouragement, so be sure to reward him with praise often.

When giving commands to your dog, never come down to their level. Maintaining eye contact and a fully erect, dominant stance imparts control to the dog. Your dog will be receptive to commands given from this posture much easier than a crouching owner who is seen as an equal or playmate.

Worth a read: Why does my dog ignore me?

Watch your demeanour when you are training your dog. You need to remain calm, but assertive at all times. Do not show anger or raise your voice. If you do this, your dog will require you to shout commands in order to follow them, if this is how he is trained.

Paper train your dog. If your dog is left home for long periods of time, he will need a place to go to the bathroom. With this housebreaking method, accidents do not occur in other areas of the house, and the dog learns the proper place to do his business.

Sometimes a dog trainer must punish their dog. Punishment does not eliminate the behaviour the trainer wants to discourage, though; it merely suppresses it. Canny trainers know that punishing a dog only encourages them to hide the behaviour for which they are being punished. It is better to entirely replace an undesirable behavior than to punish a pet for engaging in it.

If your dog is a fearful dog, you should address her confidence issues sooner rather than later. The fact is that fearful dogs can be very reactive, which spells trouble when you and your dog are out and about. Make positive associations with stimuli that make her nervous, and desensitize her to the spontaneous nature of the world around her. She will be thankful you did!

Affection makes a great reward, however, be careful not to turn it into play. During training sessions, physical rewards such as belly rubs or scratching the ears can easily be overdone and lead the dog to think you are entering a play cycle. Keep the rewards quick and allow your dog to maintain focus for more training.

If you're tired of the commands your dog already knows, try spicing up an old behaviour. A fun trick is teaching your dog to give either paw when asked. You can teach this a few ways, but try picking up the corresponding paw to your hand and treating and praising. When your dog gets the idea, treat and praise for successful raising of the right paw!

Some dogs are so scared of thunderstorms that they are literally a danger to themselves. If your dog has an extreme fear of thunder, speak to your veterinarian. Your veterinarian may recommend and prescribe a mild sedative to give your dog before a storm rolls in. This is often a last-ditch effort when behavior modification cannot handle the problem alone, but it is often beneficial to a dog's quality of life if the problem is severe enough.

Don't let your dog 'own' the furniture. To a bossy dog, the furniture is his fortress, giving him much more status than sitting on the floor. If your dog becomes possessive about the furniture, deny him access until he is ready to move for any human being, including a child or stranger. Stand with an erect posture and use a firm voice. Don't use food to entice your dog off the furniture if he has already growled, as he will think he has been rewarded. Wait until he gets off the furniture on his own, and don't allow him back up.

This article hopefully gave you some tips and ideas on how to train your dog. As they are still animals at heart it does take a little work, and a little technique. However, there is a lot of useful information from this article that can get you started on training your dog.

Consider protecting your pet for life, investigate lifetime pet insurance cover.

Health related article worth a look: cataracts in dogs – what you need to know.

Article syndicated by petbuzz

Elanco Companion Animal Health and Bayer Animal Health have reached a successful resolution regarding a lawsuit filed by Bayer earlier this year. "Elanco has always believed the lawsuit was without merit and continues to deny the allegations set forth in the complaint," stated Eric Graves, senior director of Elanco Companion Animal Health.

In a suit filed in May, Bayer objected to a letter Elanco sent to veterinarians regarding the flea and tick marketplace. This is a non-monetary resolution, and Elanco maintains its ability to communicate and advertise concerning the availability of flea and tick products outside the veterinary channel. In addition, Elanco can continue to communicate and advertise regarding the availability of Bayer's Advantage II and Advantix II products through retail channels and over-the-counter merchants.

Today's resolution also allows Elanco to continue promoting its Track and Trace product tracking system and its strict sales policy. Using unique identification numbers and bar coding on boxes and cartons, Elanco helps ensure product integrity and guard against theft, while helping to keep its products sold within the veterinary channel. If Elanco products are discovered outside that relationship, Elanco endeavors to identify the point of sale and cut off the offending diverter. Elanco's strict sales policy and Track and Trace technology is designed to help keep the sale of its parasiticide products within the scope of the veterinary-client-patient relationship. Since the implementation of the sales policy and the product tracking system, Elanco has revoked the ability of more than 300 veterinarians to purchase products because they failed to abide by Elanco's corporate sales policy.

"We believe our innovative product introductions and efforts to keep our products within the veterinary channel illustrate our support and commitment to veterinarians and their practices," Graves said. "This resolution allows us to continue to discuss issues that our valued veterinary partners find important. Our success is completely tied to their success," Graves said. "We have absolutely no second thoughts about that."

K9 Magazine, the award winning digital magazine for dog lovers, has announced plans to launch a tablet edition of the popular title.

K9 Magazine is currently available to read on the iPad, the new tablet edition will also be compatible with Android and other digital reading devices.

Following the recent announcement that Adobe is phasing out its Flash support, K9 Magazine is investing in a HTML5 version of the magazine which will be available to all subscribers in 2012 and is currently in Beta testing mode.

K9 Magazine editor and publisher, Ryan O'Meara:

"Since we made our award-winning move to digital we've seen tremendous, unprecedented growth in terms of subscribers and commercial revenues. By going digital we have been able to take the magazine from a quarterly title to a monthly schedule and by combining the magazine product with an online membership model we've been able to serve our readers much better by way of personalising content and ensuring that readers get exactly what they want from their subscription to K9 Magazine."

O'Meara adds:

"We believe in the future of digital media. It's more agile and it's more personal. We have been delighted with the growth and scale we've been able to achieve since we made, what was at the time, a brave move to invest in a totally digital approach to publishing. Our view was and is informed by the simple fact that dog lovers are easier to reach via digital platforms than they are on the high street. We are excited by our new tablet edition, which looks amazing in the Beta tests."

About K9 Magazine

K9 Magazine was launched in 2001 and has featured an impressive list of celebrity dog owners who've been interviewed by the magazine over the past decade.

News item distributed by petbuzz :: social media for pet brands

The American Eskimo Dog has been a member of the AKC since 1994. With its spitz-like features, this white bundle of love makes an outstanding family companion. They have the physical makeup of your classic spitz, but come in all-white and maintains a double coat. The ears are adorably short and thick, which makes them cold resistant. This breed can be seen in the toy version, miniature, and standard.

When it comes to puppy house training old fashioned, outdated methods are not the way to go. They can in fact make the house training process harder and, worse, can have a negative impact on your dog's trust in you.

Puppies are no more prepared to be instantly house trained than human babies are. A period of development needs to be reached before the puppy is ready to follow your requests and commands.

The puppy desperately wants to please you and doesn't understand why they're being punished. The old views of punishment as a means of potty training are as outdated for dogs as they are for children. It simply doesn't work.

Tip: If you're having puppy house training problems, consider crate training your dog.

Rubbing a puppy's nose in the faeces isn't a good approach. The dog only sees you as a tormentor and doesn't understand what you do want instead. There is a very real risk of serious illness to the puppy after getting a nose full of E-coli bacteria. If you're unhappy with the cost of having your rug cleaned, wait until you see the vet bill from an illness you caused!

Another type of fear-based potty training is to swat the dog with a rolled up newspaper after rubbing his nose in the faeces. If the puppy could speak, he would say, What makes you think Im going to potty on newspaper in the kitchen after you hit me with it? I don't want anything to do with newspaper! Hitting a puppy with rolled up newspaper merely teaches him to fear newspaper.

You simply have to accept that a puppy will make mistakes. Sometimes, you're responsible for those mistakes. When you arrive home late or sleep in rather than taking the puppy outside, what you do expect him to do?

Read more and learn the correct way to potty train your puppy….

Sponsored: When grooming your own dog, make sure your equipment is up to the job (clipper blade sharpening)

Brushes & Combs: What Is The Best Dog Grooming Brush?

There are specific brushes and combs to use on dogs, all based according to what you need to accomplish. It's not too different than when people need a round brush for curling with a blow dryer versus a natural bristle brush for normal dry brushing, etc.

Top tip: If you clip your own dog's coat – ensure your equipment is full up to scratch. Find out more about clipper blade sharpening…

If you do not plan on showing your dog then there is no need to get lost in too many details on the perfect brush. For example you might use: a pin brush or slicker brush for the same purpose – or – a curry comb instead of a hound glove.

To better help you make the best choice as to what brush or comb you need to get your dog properly groomed and looking nice, below is a quick-starter guide on all types of brushes and what hair type is best to use them with. All you have to do is choose the right tools that match the individual breed type and hair texture of your dog.

Bristle Brush

This brush has soft and gentle bristles, and are usually made of all-natural material. It is a lot like natural bristled brushes that are sold for people. They result in less electricity in your dog's hair, whereas nylon will let the static electricity build up within the coat. These brushes distribute natural oil though the hair and smooth out the hair. They are an all purpose type of brush, perfect for any dog, especially the long-haired types.

Slicker Brush

This brush is made up of “teeth” type bristles that can be very harsh, but they are very close together and are essential for some dog's coats. The brush readily removes all dead hair from the fur and can remove mats when used properly. These brushes are best for curly haired dogs and long-haired dogs.

Conversely, this is great for a dog that sheds a lot in the house as you can remove lots of hair with the very little effort.

Curry Brush Rubber Types

This is usually an oval-type of brush. It simply puts a polish on the dog's coat and gets rid of dead hair which will result in far less shedding. At the same time, it does not harm the skin since it has rounded rubber type bristles. This brush is perfect for sensitive skin and smooth-coated dog breeds.

Pin Brush

These brushes are best used on really long and fine-haired breeds, or heavy-coated dogs that have double coats. The purpose of the brush is to remove tangles in the long-haired dog and with wiry coats that are tough, as it helps to give them a good brush out before stripping the hair by hand.

Combs: Fine, Medium & Wide-Toothed

Dogs with silky, soft hair or with fine-to-medium texture needs a fine-to-medium comb. The comb will remove the final remains of tangles and can often help remove flea dirt as well as the fleas themselves. You should use a wide-toothed comb on a coat that is dense and very thick. The purpose is the same – to finally remove all the tangles.

Coat Rake, Mat Comb, or Mat splitter

When you are dealing with mats and tangles use a spray detangler along with one of these tools. This is best used on curly and long-coated dogs.

Hound Glove

As the name suggests, this is a glove that you slip on and use the side covered with natural bristles to brush your dog. Smooth-coated dogs benefit from this as it helps to remove dead hair in an efficient manner, while adding a shine to the coat.

Remember, all dog breeds require grooming. However, each breed has particular coat care needs. Some individual dogs may have skin allergies or coat problems periodocially through their life, whilst others will always seem to maintain a healthy coat regardless. (Tip: dog shampoo for itchy skin)

Get more top dog grooming tips

You have to see this, from Ryan O'Meara's blog

So dogs really can walk on water!

I knew it.

We all knew it.

Now there's proof!!

Pets come in all shapes and sizes, but the one constant is the bond between pets and their owners. In fact, 76% of dog or cat owners consider their 4-legged companions to be part of the family. This closeness creates marketing and sales opportunities that go far beyond basics such as food to include apparel, toys, treats, vet care and grooming, just to name a few. According to Mintel, the pet industry is expected to maintain a steady pace of growth, increasing by 33% over the next five years.

"To maintain and continue such strong sales is an impressive feat in our tough economy and truly speaks to owners' commitment to their pets and manufacturers' ability to develop products that resonate with pet owners," notes Fiona O'Donnell, senior analyst at Mintel. "We are noticing that innovations in the pet industry are mirroring innovations in human markets and since many owners consider pets as family members, this is not surprising."

Functional foods that have a great taste and also provide health benefits have hit a chord with Americans in the past several years, so it only makes sense that owners would want the same fare for their pets. According to the Mintel Global New Product Database (GNPD), pet food that offers a "functional" claim has increased by 130% from 2006 to 2010.

Innovations in the pet industry go beyond the food aisle into lifestyle products that reflect the owner's personality and interests. Martha Stewart has developed an exclusive line of pet accessories for PetSmart that are said to be developed with "both the pets and owners in mind."  In addition to supplies and toys, the product line includes apparel, which may appeal to the 9% of Mintel respondents who say they occasionally dress up their dog or cat. Pet-friendly vehicle features also appeal to the 28% of dog owners who claim to take their pets on vacations with them, if they are driving.

"I don't expect pet innovation to slow down any time soon," adds Fiona O'Donnell. "Despite the difficult economy, 50% of pet owners make unplanned toy and treat purchases for their pets and another 16% say they have cut back on extra household expenses in order to afford pet-related care…showing the true commitment of pet-parents."

So, who's got a better life, canines or kitties? According to Mintel, 55% of dog owners buy unplanned treats compared to only 37% of cat owners. Meanwhile, 42% of dog owners take lots of pictures of their pet versus 33% of cat-parents. And, nearly one-quarter of dog families have stayed home from work or school with a sick pet as opposed to 14% for their feline counterpart.