Green Dog Blog

Love our blog? Now, you can meet Sterling in person and ask her all the puppy questions you can squeeze into an hour an a half. She will be at various coffee shops around Seattle in the afternoon and the evening. Stop by and ask about house training, biting, chewing, digging and all your puppy concerns.

Check out the schedule for the next Canines Over Coffee event near you and feel free to email us with suggestions for other locations and times of day at stay@greenpups.com.

Alyssa Rose Photography is hosting a Puppy Photo Session where a suggested donation of $10 to the Humane Society will get you a 20 minute photo session with this very talented photographer. She takes all the pictures of our Green Puppy Academy students! Don’t wait to sign up, the slots are going quickly and puppies grow up overnight.

Email her at info@alyssarosephotography.com to sign up today!

Another fun and easy recipe from our favorite treat master, Liz Palika:

Ingredients:

1 pound cooked chicken livers, chopped finely

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 large eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup warm water

1 cup cornmeal, for coating treats

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2) Mix together all the ingredients, making sure that the liver is well coated. The dough will be stiff.

3) Form the dough into teaspoon-size balls, then roll each ball in cormeal.

4) Place on greased cookie sheets.

5) Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. (Be careful not to let the bottoms scorch.)

6) Remove from the oven let cool thoroughly, and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator .

Visit Lizpalika.com for more information and a chance to purchase her whole book of treats!

House training is all about being able to predict when your puppy needs to go to the bathroom. A huge part of this is giving your puppy limited access to water throughout the day. We give our puppies water every 2.5 hours before their nap time. Then they nap for 2 hours and when we let them out of their crates we KNOW they have to pee. They’re not allowed to participate in play time until we see them pee. It’s a great system. If you’re having trouble with your house training, take a look at your schedule and see if it’s allowing you to easily predict when your puppy has to potty.

Sad as it is, children comprise the majority of Dog Bite Victims. There are quite a few reasons for this but one of the major ones is a child’s lack of knowledge about how to appropriately interact with dogs. Babies and children often pull on and prod dogs in ways that the dog considers rude, unfriendly or even painful because they just don’t understand what they’re doing or the danger they’re placing themselves in.

The best way to combat this unfortunate statistic is a two pronged attack: 1) Teach the kids and 2) teach the dogs. Both of these things are fairly simple to do and mostly just involve a lot of repetition, supervision and clear guidelines.

Obviously any interaction between dogs and kids should ALWAYS be supervised by an adult. To start off with, introduce them to a dog that you know very well (your own family dog or one owned by a relative or close friend who has already had a lot of experience interacting with children) and trust. Show them places that the dog does not want to be touched (i.e. Ears, Tail, Paws, Eyes, Muzzle and Inside the Mouth) and show them the appropriate places to pet them (Top of the Head, Side, Back). Repeat this every time they meet a new dog, even after you are confident they know it. At the end of this teaching session feel free to demonstrate a nice friendly Belly Rub!

When out in public always make sure to ask the owner of a new dog before allowing your child to pet the dog. Of course you should use your own judgment as to whether or not the situation is safe. Finally, and we can’t stress this enough, Never approach a Tied Up Dog! No matter how friendly it looks the risk is not worth it.

Check back soon for the second part of this topic that discusses the other half of this equation: the puppy.

So it’s 3 AM and your 12 week old puppy has decided she just can’t hold it any longer. She whines, scratches and generally makes it clear that she needs to go out NOW. The only problem is you live in an apartment on the 24th floor of your building and, to be honest, you don’t feel like riding the elevator down that far holding an about-to-burst pup. Thankfully we at Green Paws have worked with many families who choose to use an indoor potty box.  These can be great if you have a small dog.  We really like the Pet-A-Potty box but you can also build your own and buy some sod at Home Depot for a cheaper alternative.  House training is exactly the same but instead of leashing your puppy and saying “Go Potty” once you’re outside, you just leash them up and lead them to their potty box.  It’s a great solution for people who live in condos.

Getting your puppy to walk politely on leash is hard. I know it’s hard and it’s also one of the most asked for behavior problem solutions I hear. Linda at Seattle DogWorks (a place I love) just gave me a great tip. She said that you should take your dog for a 20 minute walk using your EasyWalk harness. Then, after your dog has got a lot of their energy and excitement out, do a 5-10 minute training walk when you both have more patience. You can read about how to train your dog to have good leash manners in our Dog Library. Such a great tip!

No one wants to deal with these pests (or their bloodsucking cousins, Ticks) and that’s why prevention is ALWAYS the best idea.  Here at Green Paw Studios we really like Sentinel for Flea prevention for three reasons.

First, it’s great that it comes in pill form so that you don’t have to worry about young children petting the dog.  Second we love that it also works for various types of worms, including Heartworm.  Lastly Sentinel is only for dogs so you know that you’re getting the most specific formulas.
Of course you should never make any type of medication decision about your dog without speaking to the vet so feel free to call and ask them what they recommend.

Well, it’s Tuesday again and time for another example of the tasty treats you can make for your sweet pups from food you’ve already got around the house!   As always these recipes are provided courtesy of Liz Palika’s GREAT book The Ultimate Dog Treat Cookbook which you can purchase on her site lizpalika.com  - now on to the food!

Ingredients:

1) 1 and 1/4 cup of 1/2-inch pieces of cooked chicken

2) 1/2 cup of 1/2-inch pieces of cooked sweet potato

3) 2 cups of all-purpose whole wheat flour

4) 1 cup of evaporated low-fat milk

5) 1/2 teaspoon of salt

6) 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

7) 2 large eggs

Instructions:

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

2) Mix all the ingredients together well, making sure the pieces of chicken and sweet potato are thoroughly cooked

3) Drop by rounded teaspoon onto greased cookie sheets

4) Bake 14 to 18 minutes or until golden brown

5) Remove from oven, let cool thoroughly, and store in an airtight container in the fridge

Makes 40 to 50 bite-size pieces

One of the best way to get your puppy to meet is to take them to a sporting event.  Now the little guy may not quite be ready to see Ichiro in action at SafeCo but with fall rearing its head there are likely to be hundreds of clumps of children chasing soccer balls around.  And where there are children there are parents and pets.

So feel free to take your puppy out to a local field, walk around and say “hi!” to the spectators.  Because if we at Green Paws no nothing else, we know that everyone loves puppies and that puppies need to love everyone.

Sometimes your pup does something so fantastic that she deserves the best, most tastiest treat you can give her.  Well, here is another great option from our favorite chien-centered chef Liz Palika!

Ingredients:

- 1 Cup of natural peanut butter

- 4 Cups of Cheerios

- 2 Cups all-purpose flour

- 3 large eggs

- 1/2 cup nonfat dry milk

- 1 tablespoon molasses

- 1/4 cup warm water

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

2. warm the peanut butter in the microwave for a minute or so, until it’s soft enough to mix easily with the other ingredients

3. Add all the other ingredients to the warm peanut butter, mixing thoroughly.  The dough will be stiff and crumbly

4. Uses your hands to spread the dough onto a large greased cookie sheet.  if the dough is sticky, grease or flour your fingers.  cover the cookie sheet with a layer no more than two cheerios thick

5. Bake for 10 minutes.  Take the cookie sheet out of the oven and, with a spatula, turn over the dough, pieces at a time.  Put back in the oven for another 5 minutes

6. Remove from the oven and break the large pieces into bite-size pieces

7. Turn off the oven.  Put all the cookies back on the cookie sheet and return them to the oven.  Leave them in teh cooling oven for 15- 30 minutes or until golden brown

8. Remove from the oven, let cool thoroughly, and store in an airtight container

Your pup will LOVE these easy to make treats!  As always we are greatly indebted to Liz Palika for these fabulous recipes.  If you’d like to find more of them go to www.lizpalika.com and order one of her treat cook books.

Installing a Conditioned Emotional Response (CER) on a dog means that we’re going to get your dog to love something she doesn’t already love. This is particularly useful for dogs who go through a lot of grooming because you want to desensitize them to hair dryers, nail clippers, combs etc. To get a dog to like the hair dryer, you start by sitting next to your dog and turning on the hair dryer for 2 seconds, then giving her a treat.  If you do this over and over again using the following principles, you’ll have your dog begging for hair treatment in no time.

Here are some principles behind installing a CER:

1. The order is very important (present the new/scary thing first and then follow it up with something fabulous)
2. 1:1 Ratio - every time the new/scary thing appears, it must always be followed up by the reward
3. Identify and eliminate competing stimuli - that means do this exercise in lots of different rooms, positions, times of day etc. so your dog really begins to understand that it’s the hair dryer and nothing else that’s making the good treats flow.

There are two reasons to get a harness for your dog.  The first reason is that you don’t want to put any pressure on your dog’s neck and the second reason is that you want to stop them from pulling against the leash.  If it’s the first reason, it really doesn’t matter what type of harness you get.  If you want it to be an anti-pull harness, then make sure you pick up an EasyWalk harness.  Most harnesses click on the back of your dog and basically make a sled dog out of them by giving them the full weight of their body to pull against you.  An EasyWalk harness is specially designed to stop pulling as soon as you put it on.  The only catch is you have to fit it correctly. If it’s not fitted correctly, and the most common error is that they’re too loose, it won’t work.  This is often why people move on to something more harsh like a choke chain or a prong collar.

Since fitting them correctly is very difficult, for all of you who live in the Seattle area, I’d be happy to fit it for you for free.  Just send me an email to sterling@greenpups.com and we’ll set up a time where you can meet me at my home in Green Lake and we’ll get you all set.

It’s wet and rainy and your little guy has decided he no longer wants to potty outside.  It’s often that there’s a slide in house training for new puppies who quickly discover that standing out in the wet, cold, weather of October is no fun.  Be persistent though and up your bait.  If your dog doesn’t potty within five minutes, put him back in his crate for 15 minutes before you try again.  Then, when he does go, give your dog an extra big puppy party for going potty outside and follow it up with a very special treat.  The cold weather is pretty punishing, I don’t blame them for not wanting to go outside but it’s really not a choice.  Make it worth his while to freeze his little toes off and hopefully he learns to go quickly so you can both come back inside.

Let me make this very clear, despite movie scenes that might show rowdy frat boys letting their mascot dog drink beer to celebrate winning the state championship, this is absolutely not okay for your pup.  Dogs can get very sick and die from consuming alcohol.  It’s no joke and what’s worse is that most dogs like the taste of beer and will go for it if offered.  Please advice your friends and family members, especially if you’re having a party, not to let your dog have beer.  Keep them safe please.

One of my new clients has instantly become one of my favorites not only because her Maltipoo is adorable but because her family came up with one of the best recall cues.  They use “Chop chop.”  They are careful to follow the rules of recall but when it comes time to ask their puppy to come, they say Prideaux Chop Chop and their little darling comes running from all over the house.  This is an excellent example of a recall word that is unique and strong.  It’s unique because no one else will guess it and use it without your permission like people often do with the words “Come” and “Here.”  It’s strong because they practice it often with the whole family and with fabulous bait so the dog thinks “Chop chop” is the best phrase she’s ever heard!  Keep up the good work!

With September nearly over all sorts of schools are well under way and many kids and puppies alike are having to get acquainted with new surroundings: new classrooms, new playgrounds and new bus stops. Many are also dealing with new houses or apartments or condos. It’s no secret that there are a lot of people looking for new living space in these recent months and there are a couple of things that every pet owner should take care of before, during and after a move.

First and foremost of these is changing the tags on your dogs’ collar to reflect your new location. Or, better yet, take your favorite puppy friend down to your local animal hospital and ask the vet to give them a microchip implant. The process is not only 100% humane it is also a 100% assurance that if your pup should ever slip her collar or dig her way out of the back yard and get picked up by an animal rescue agency or shelter she will be scanned and returned to you safe and sound. Why take the chance?

These treats are super easy to make: the ingredients are very simple and it only takes a few minutes to prepare.

4 Cups of quick oats

1 Cup of minced or shredded cooked chicken livers

1/4 Cup vegetable oil

4 Large eggs

Preparation:

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

2) Mix together all ingredients well, making sure that all the oats are well coated with oil and egg.

3) Drop by teaspoon onto greased cookie sheets.

4) Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

5) Remove from the oven, let cool thoroughly, and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

This will make 50 to 60 little bite-sized treats
that your pups will love. Enjoy!

As always these recipes are sampled from Liz Palika’s fantastic book The Ultimate Dog Treat Cookbook. Pick it up at a local book store or at Lizpalika.com

It’s often that people thinking puppies who vocalize during playtime are being aggressive or not having a good time.  This is not necessarily true.  Although vocalizations always make me watch play closer, I watch play with my eyes and not my ears.  After all, just about every dog whose breed ends in TERRIER is going to be a bit chatty when they’re playing and it has nothing to do with aggression.  Even if your puppies sound like they’re having a wicked fight, if they’re being bouncy, doing play bows and having great role reversals, it’s just play.   If you’re ever worried if your puppy is playing or not, pull off the puppy that you’re NOT worried about.  If they other puppy retreats, then it’s good you interrupted them.  If the free puppy comes straight back to play with each other, then they were having a good time.  The only behavior that really worries me is a freeze.  When a dog freezes it means she is saving all her energy because she’s nervous.  I separate dogs immediately if I see this behavior.

NOTE:  This should be applied to puppies who are 18 weeks and younger because they physically cannot do a lot of damage to each other.  Dogs who are older have much more developed jaws and teeth and I am much more cautious about play then.

How do I get everyone on the same page so we don’t confuse our puppy?  This is a very common issue and one that is compounded when several children are involved.  If consistency is the most important backbone of dog training, then this is likely to be your biggest barrier.   Here are a few tips for making sure everyone is helping the puppy experience progress:

1. Make a list of verbal cues and post them on the fridge so everyone knows what words to use during training
2. Also make a list of house rules (i.e. dog gets automatic timeout for putting paws on the coffee table, dog gets warning timeout for barking at the door etc.)
3. Create a time once per week when the whole family can participate in training the dog
4. Keep a dog training notebook where people can record what training progress they had in a session so the next person can pick up there

If you have young children who are having trouble training the dog, give them some games they can play with the dog so it doesn’t interfere with the puppy’s obedience training.  Create a reward system for your family members so they have an incentive for training the puppy.  For example, for every half an hour,  family members can get something like movie tickets, massages, get out of a chore, play golf etc.

Wow, in one week I discovered two fantastic dog training books which is rare since most of them are pure rubbish.  The Everything Dog Training and Tricks Book by Gerilyn J. Bielakiewicz is a wonderful book about the ways dogs learn, clicker training and some fun tricks.  101 Dog Tricks by Kyra Sundance is also another winner.  This books has some beautiful pictures to teach you the step-by-step methods of getting your dog to do 101 tricks.  I was very impressed with the thoroughness and ease of this book.  Do go pick these up and start showing your dog off to your friends!

Many of us have busy lives and cannot be with our new puppies every hour of the day.  So how long can you leave her?  Your puppy can hold her bladder one hour for every month old she is (i.e 3 hours at 3 months, 5 hours at 5 months etc.)  That means if you have to leave your puppy for longer than that time, she’s going to pee and she needs a place to do it.  When I have to leave puppies for long periods of time, I leave them in a long-term confinement area which includes:

1. Fresh water
2. Chew toys (lots of chew toys!) Make sure they’re large enough that she can’t finish them while you’re gone so you’re not worried about her choking.
3. Work-to-Eat toy with some food in it
4. Her crate with a nice bed inside
5. Potty area with whatever substrate she’s being trained on (i.e. sod if she goes on grass, concrete if she goes in the city or wood chips if that’s what she uses.)

Then you can leave for the whole day even and know that she has everything she needs.  Now I know this is hard, but to practice Errorless House Training, I crate them for an hour when I get home.  Then, she has to pee in front of me for her to come out of the crate and have Puppy Time with me.

I know three families in the same neighborhood who all bought puppies at the same time.   Though this was a complete accident, it’s actually really great.  Now they can effortlessly socialize their puppies by simply getting together and letti