Blog – Page 29 – Positive Puppy Dog Training

Severe Dog Behavior Problems – Medical Integrative Therapy

Fran Jewell

More and more, people come to me with incredibly difficult canine behavior problems. One of the first things I express to my clients is to get a thorough physical exam for their dog with their veterinarian. With many cases, the behavior problem cannot be addressed until the physical problem is addressed. This is one reason why I include looking at health in general with every dog I work with. I examine food. Things like junky dog food contribute to behavior issues just like junk food contributes to behavior issues with kids.

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Separation Anxiety: Encouraging Independence, Not Dependence

Fran Jewell

Weekly Sun Mentor-Z

Most people think Separation Anxiety occurs when their dog becomes destructive when they leave the dog home alone. The reality is that Separation Anxiety begins long before that. Sometimes, it starts when a dog starts following an owner around the house, never letting the owner be out of sight. Other clues about the beginnings of separation anxiety can be a dog that constantly asks for petting or leans continually on the owner. The dog may even sleep on the owner’s feet or constantly “needs” to be in bed with their owner. Feeling like this is affection or “bonding”, many owners freely return the demand of affection, unknowingly engaging the dog in further “needy” behavior and DEPENDENCE upon the owner to soothe their discomfort.

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Senior Dogs

Fran Jewell

Weekly Sun Mentor-Z

I’ve written about senior dogs before, but I haven’t always written about the quality of life for your senior dog. The veterinary community usually considers a dog that is about 8 years old to be senior. I have an eleven and a half year old that is going amazingly strong – Brinx who is Baewulf’s brother. Many of you know I lost Baewulf very recently to a “cancer storm” that took him very quickly. I was very worried about Brinx because dogs that are close in age, especially siblings tend to leave this world very close together.

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Puppies: The Importance of Teaching Self-Soothing

Fran Jewell

Weekly Sun Mentor-Z

I have an 8 week old pup visiting me for a couple of weeks. He is as cute as can be, but what is very apparent, is that he has learned to demand bark for attention. I am teaching him about exercise pens and crate training which I think is imperative for little puppies, but, he has been used to getting attention whenever he wants it, probably from his mother! Not all mother dogs are like that. My mother dog will ignore the demanding behavior from her puppies once they reach about 5 weeks old. It’s just different mothering styles of different dogs. Some mothering styles such as very permissive mothers can highly influence a puppy’s beginning, sometimes for the good and sometimes for the not so good.

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Seeking Solace

Fran Jewell

Weekly Sun Mentor-Z

This is my 14th experience, and it never gets easier. I have had to euthanize 13 of my previous pets and while each one of my animals have taught me invaluable lessons in life, loving, compassion, respect and fairness, losing one is still a heart wrenching part of life. While animals don’t fear death or even contemplate death, we humans sure do. We anticipate life without them and feel such grief. The more we love them, the harder it is.

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Saturday Night Doggie Cotillion Part Two

Fran Jewell

Weekly Sun Mentor-Z

Last week we established two things; first, that a pack remains somewhat consistent throughout the wolf lifespan; and second, that dogs relate to humans like pack members, we can now understand some basic canine behavior. What that means for our modern domesticated dog is that frequent changes in the social pack are not normal for any canine.

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Safe Summer Hiking

Fran Jewell

Weekly Sun Mentor-Z

It’s here! It’s full bloom summer and EVERYONE is hitting the trails with their dogs! And bikes. And Horses! All of these wonderful animals of our love the time spent with us and vice versa! That means we must pay more attention to our animals to keep them safe. First and foremost, if you are on Federal property, YOU MUST HAVE YOUR DOG ON A LEASH until Labor Day. It’s the LAW. No one is above the law NO MATTER WHAT. There are leash laws in all the towns in our valley, some with VERY stiff fines!

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SAFE Puppy Socialization

Fran Jewell

Weekly Sun Mentor-Z

I hear over and over from my clients that they are waiting until their puppy has all their shots before doing any socialization. This is NOT in the best interest of your puppy. HOWEVER, it is imperative that socialization be SAFE both emotionally and physically for your puppy. Puppies are learning machines, just like children are.

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Safe isn’t safe draft

Fran Jewell

Weekly Sun Mentor-Z

WHEN SAFE ISN’T “SAFE” By now the entire valley has heard about the horrible incident that happened on Sunday between one of my dogs and a neighbor’s dog. I am not here to defend myself, but hopefully share and educate so someone else will not suffer the same thing as I have, the dogs have and my neighbor suffered.

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Is Your Dog Respectful?

Fran Jewell

Weekly Sun Mentor-Z

True story: I was having a wonderful Sunday morning brunch with some friends at a local restaurant. About half way through, a young boy about 6 or 7 ran down the aisle between the booths. Not once, but several times. While absorbed in conversation, I watched the boy. All of a sudden, he stopped and spit on my breakfast! The owner saw what happened, came running over, grabbed the boy by the arm and took him back to his parents. Quickly, they stood up from their booth about 5 booths away and said, “He was just being friendly!”

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