All you need is a few toilet or kitchen roll inserts, dog treats, and wrapping paper.

Fill some dog treats in the toilet roll insert.

Then roll wrapping paper around the tube and twist both ends carefully.

Merry Christmas! 🙂

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A reminder to treasure every moment with your best friends 

Dexter left us unexpectedly two weeks ago. Of course, I knew it was going to happen some day but I wish we had a bit more time together.  I still can barely believe that he is gone for good and often expect him to come walking up the hill in our garden any second. 

I remember the day that our paths crossed as if it was yesterday. It was not love at first sight, though. Instead we had to put in quite a bit of work to get to know each other and to establish this wonderful, trustful relationship that we enjoyed over the last few years. 

It is probably safe to say that he had a bad start in life. Somehow he had ended up in the dog pound – emaciated, full of worms, a partly split ear, an eye infection, various broken teeth, a bullet stuck in his hip, a crippled paw and an endless number of smaller wounds and scars. Who could blame him that he was not really interested in humans at this stage?! 

As soon as he got in the car at my friend’s house who had managed to get him out of the dog pound it became clear that this was not going to be easy. First thing, he started to rip up the cushions that I had placed on the back seat for him and I very much feared that he would not stop there but go for the seats itself. Luckily, he did not, but instead he barked and whined almost the whole way home – one and a half hours! He must have been terrified and we almost went deaf during this journey. I still wonder how we made it home that day. 

Apart from the fact that he did not like car rides, he had obviously never lived in a house before and was not toilet-trained, barked at the TV and showed slightly fearful responses to other normal household noises and devices. I also remember the first few days when he repeatedly scratched his injured ear and then shook his head leaving our kitchen covered all over in blood splatters – the perfect Halloween decoration, only that it was not that time of year. 

Over the next few weeks we managed to heal his wounds and more or less nursed him back to health. With his health improving he became cuddlier, more attentive and started to learn really quickly.

However, as he became more confident other problems emerged:  

• He did not seem to get on with most other dogs and over the next years we consulted various dog trainers and canine behaviourists to work on this. 
• He also was an extremely dedicated and skilled hunter and could not be trusted with any other pets, livestock or wildlife. He killed rats and several birds in our garden. At one time, he almost caught a cat that had ventured into our garden – not a nice experience for us!

These kind of traits and skills made life a bit more complicated for us and we struggled more than once in the first few years to get back to a reasonably “normal” way of living. We had to put a lot of effort into keeping him and everybody else safe – we knew we had a huge responsibility resting on our shoulders. Over time we had become really good at it, though.  

I certainly know that Dexter was not a dog for everyone, nevertheless, despite all the struggle he was the perfect dog for me! He made me learn more about canine behaviour and training than most other dogs would have ever done. He was a fantastic partner during my studies to become a qualified Canine Behaviour and Training Technician who helped me not to give up and believe in myself.  

Although, many people judged him/us due to his breed and his dislike of other dogs – he was a great dog and the best match for me at the time! Everyone who took the effort to get to know him soon discovered what a funny, clever and loyal friend he was and that he more than deserved to be loved the way he was! 

At this point, I want to thank Ilse Sas, Anne Rogers, Tara Choules and Sabrina Phelan Bakar for their support throughout the years and for helping me to achieve the knowledge and necessary skills to build such a strong bond with Dexter.  

I was truly honoured to have you in my life and I will never forget you, my special boy! R.I.P. Dexter 

The post A tribute to Dexter, the Dobermann appeared first on Pawsome Manners.

How to make your dog understand your verbal cues 

People often ask me what word they should use to make their dog behave in a certain way. Well, here is the thing: There are no magic words in dog training – unless you train them!  

Dogs do not understand English (or whatever language we speak). Consequently, you could teach your dog to come to you on a verbal “banana” cue, if you like.  

People tend to talk a lot and dogs try to filter which words are relevant to them. Thus, you first need to teach your dog the meaning of the words you want him to pay attention to, otherwise those words most likely become “white noise” to your dog and he will ignore them. In order to make a certain word meaningful for your dog it needs to be consistently followed by a consequence.  

For example, say “sit”, wait a beat and then lure your dog into the sit position. Make sure you say the cue (“sit”) only once, otherwise your cue may unintentionally become “sit, sit, sit“. 

Be consistent and do not use the same cues for different actions. E.g., if you use the word “down” when you want your dog to lie down then your dog will probably be very confused if you use the same cue when you want him to get off furniture. 

Avoid similar sounding words as it makes it difficult for your dog to be successful. For example, if you use “back” when you want your dog to back up (walk backwards) it may be a bad idea to use “beg” when you want your dog to sit pretty. 

Download your dog’s dictionary below and put it somewhere where everyone in your household can see it so that everyone uses the same words/signals to communicate with your dog.  

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As a modern dog trainer I am a huge fan of food dispensing dog toys.

They can help to

• prevent your dog from eating too fast,
• burn excess energy,
• prevent many behavioural issues,
• keep your dog mentally stimulated and sound.

For that reason, I was delighted to test K9 Connectables Interactive Dog Toys.

K9 Connectables come in three different designs that (the clue is in the name) are all connectable.

If your dog is not very experienced in working for his food then you can simply start him off by only filling one part and then slowly increase the difficulty by gradually connecting more parts.

I stuffed the toys with dry dog food and a bit of peanut butter before I connected them and handed them over to my dogs. See the results in the video.

K9 Connectables kept my German Shepherd X busy for about 45 minutes and she happily snoozed in her bed for a couple of hours after all the hard work.
SUCCESS!

My Dobermann Pinscher only took about 10 minutes to dismantle the parts and empty them, but I am pretty sure he still had lots of fun. Next time I will try to freeze the connected parts for him to extend the duration of the game.

Conclusion

I think, K9 Connectables are a fabulous innovation for the dog toy market.

They are easy to load and provide lots of variety for the average chewer – plus they help to clean your dogs teeth while eating. They are also convenient to clean as they are dishwasher safe.

In addition, K9 Connectables can be used for games of fetch as they bounce and float. The Tech Bone is a safe alternative to sticks and the Original even fits into a ball launcher.

In my opinion, K9 Connectables are a very well-conceived product that I can truly recommend to owners of small to medium-sized dogs.

K9 Connectables can be ordered at
www.k9connectables.com

NOTE: I have NOT been paid for this review but only got a free sample of the toys for testing.

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It is this time of the year again! What would be Christmas without a few extra special treats? 

As most of the human treats (e.g. chocolate, mince pies, Christmas pudding, etc.) are not suitable for dogs, I thought, I would surprise my dogs with some delicious homemade Christmas dog cookies this year. Want to know what their response was? Just look at the picture to the right – it says it all! 🙂 

Just follow the recipe below.

I’m sure your dog will be happy you put in the effort!  

You will need 

• 40g oats 
• 250g plain flour 
• 70g peanut butter (unsalted) 
• 1 medium-sized apple 
• 110 ml water 
• poss. 1 tbsp. sunflower oil 
•  rolling pin 
• cookie cutters 
• a little extra flour to roll out the dough 

Preheat the oven to 200°C. 

Put the oats and the flour in a bowl. 

Wash the apple and remove the core. Then cut it up into small pieces. 

Add the peanut butter, chopped up apple and water into the bowl. 

 Mix the ingredients with the water until a dough forms. 

If the dough is too crumbly either add a little more water or a tablespoon of sunflower oil. 

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to approx. 0.5 cm thickness. 

Use cookie cutters to cut into shapes. 

Place the cookies on a baking tray lined with baking paper.  

They can be put rather close together as they do not spread while cooking. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. 

Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack. 

Bon appétit! 

Note:  

• Store at room temperature in a covered container. 
• Only feed in moderation to avoid an upset tummy. 
• Adjust your dog’s daily food ration accordingly to avoid overfeeding. 
• Don’t feed to any dog that suffers from intolerance or allergy to any of the ingredients. 

The post Mouth-watering Homemade Peanut Butter & Apple Christmas Dog Cookies appeared first on Pawsome Manners.

My dog LOVES to dig! When I’m out and about on the beach with my dog, people often approach me when they see her happily digging huge holes in the sand. Some just laugh and obviously enjoy watching her busily landscaping the strand. Others seem to be rather concerned about her behaviour and the fact that I don’t prevent her from doing so. Their main concern is whether I’m not worried that she may indulge in the same activity in my garden. And here is the thing: NO, I’m absolutely not!

Most dogs love to bury and recover things such as bones or dig out prey such as mice and rats. Digging is normal dog behaviour and thoroughly enjoyable for them. So why wouldn’t I provide my dog with an appropriate outlet for it? Of course, I like the look of my garden as is and I certainly wouldn’t approve of her rearranging it on her own terms! And she has not interest in doing so. Here is why:

As you may have already noticed dogs don’t generalise things well. For example, if your dog has learned how to sit nicely in the kitchen – because you did a lot of training with her in the kitchen – it doesn’t automatically imply that she knows the meaning of “Sit” in the garden, on walks or at your friend’s house, unless she had time to practice this behaviour in many other places other than your kitchen. I hope you can now see why your dog won’t learn to dig up your garden just because you allow her to enjoy doing so in appropriate places. On the other hand, however, if you leave your dog in the backyard unattended for extended periods of time, she may get bored and have sufficient time to practice digging up your garden. 

If your dog has already gotten into the habit of inappropriate digging you can do the following to bring her back on track:

Break the habit by preventing access to her favourite digging spots. She won’t learn new ways while she has free access to them. Supervise to prevent mistakes and provide her with plenty of mental stimulation (chew toys, food dispensing toys, training games, etc.).

If possible, create a designated digging area in your garden where she can go about her hobby. To make it more appealing to her hide a Kong, bone or another doggie treasure in it and let her find it. Praise her profusely when she does. – And if that’s not an option for you, you can still go for a fun walk at the beach and let her go hog wild! 🙂

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Every dog owner has a food bowl although their dogs would be much happier without one. Here is why you are better off if you ditch the food bowl. Your dog will thank you for it!

The post Some important reasons why dogs don’t need a food bowl appeared first on Pawsome Manners.

It’s finally summer and we all love to be out and about at this time of year. However, if you are taking your four-legged friends on an outing then please make sure you have plenty of poop bags in your pocket.

Not picking up after your dog brings all dog owners in discredit.

The ubiquitous dog waste on beaches and paths is not only a nuisance but also a threat to public health and the environment. If dog owners don’t pick up after their dogs this may eventually lead to dogs being banned from an increasing number of public places.

Please act respectfully and responsibly! Always clean up after your dog AND BIN IT! Thank you!

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Do you feed your dog out of a bowl? Then you are missing out on a vast number of training opportunities per day!

Use your dog’s food

• training
• puzzle toys
• hand-feeding
• scavenger hunts

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How to clean up after your dog without soiling your hands!

Picking up after your dog is part of being a responsible dog owner.

Always clean up after your dog.

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