A dog training routine makes dogs happy

It’s time for Vance’s dinner and I was thinking about how important routines are in dog training, but how it’s just as important to keep things from being too predictable. Seemed like a great topic for today’s post!

See, your dog needs a routine–without structure, he may be harder to train, disobedient, or just plain confused and unruly. Just like kids.

But, if you keep to too stringent of a routine, he may have trouble dealing with change, and change is always inevitable in life.

So, where do you find the balance? To a great extent, this depends on your dog’s personality and your lifestyle, so to get individual recommendations, find a good dog trainer.

For now, though, just know that you need to find that balance between structured routine and variety to keep your dog both obedient and relaxed. The variety reminds him that you’re in charge (because you get to come and go as you please) and the routine reminds him that his world is safe (because he never goes without dinner). With Vance, we keep mealtimes very structured when it comes to time, but not as structured when it comes to place (since we like to travel with a dog) and we’ve found that strikes the perfect balance for him.

So, talk to a dog trainer about the right balance of routine and variety for your dog. And, I’m curious–do you think your life currently has too much of one or the other?

Rainy weather makes dogs sad

Does your dog get the blues when it rains? I know it sounds silly, but ours sure does! He mopes, sighs big sighs, and tends to put his head in our laps more often.

What’s funny is we take him for walks, even in the rain, so about the only thing that’s different is he doesn’t lay outside in the sun (or in the den, in front of the French doors, in the sun that streams in). So, I’m not really sure why he seems to think the rain is such a crushing blow.

We have to give him cookies and dry him off when he comes in and make a generally big deal about what a Big, Brave Boy he is to go out in the wet, wet rain. (Well, okay, so we don’t *have* to), and even then he seems to think that getting his feet wet is just about the worst thing ever.

What about your dog? Does he like it when it rains? Do you play any special games or give special treats?

Free Money for Savings Account

I’m almost out of coupons if you want a $25 reward from Capital One for opening a savings account, so make sure to email me but-quick :-).

It’s basically a free $25–all you do is open the account, put in a deposit, and they’ll reward you. If I didn’t already have a Capital One Savings Account, and were eligible for the reward, I’d use mine on a bag full of sterilized beef bones as Vance has chomped his way through his last one and is in need of a new set (we like to keep several on hand so that we can smear a little peanut butter into all of them and keep him occupied for hours).

So, to get your free money, post a comment on this post, the previous one, or send me an email.