Purina Care’s “chief vet,” Dr. Bill Craig, DVM, Chief Medical and Underwriting Director of PurinaCare Pet Health Insurance, shared some new year’s resolutions with us, for both you and your dog.

Tick-tock. Before time runs out on 2010 you and your pet can make New Year’s resolutions for a pawsome 2011. You both can unleash your dreams and plan to make the New Year pawderful for you both.

We want to know if you are making any new year’s resolutions with your dog in mind.  Dr. Craig has a few to get you started and get those creative juices flowing:

As a proud pet owner, I promise to:
1. Walk you a little longer (actually, this is a promise to us both).
2. Brush your teeth more often to keep them pearly white.
3. Give you a few more baths and grooms to make sure you always look, and feel, your best.
4. Let you sit in my lap or curl up next to me as often as I can.
5. Play with you. Fetch, chase the mouse or other game you love because I love you.

Couple more from us…

6. I will promise you to train with the most proven dog training methods from dog training dvds.

7.I will buy NOW dog training dvds to improve my dog training skills just for you.

As your furry best friend, I promise to:
1. Look at you with my big, sparkly eyes like you are the most important person in the world to me (because you are!).
2. Wag my tail when you get home, even if you only left for a few minutes.
3. Purr more so you know just how happy I am with you.
4. Listen to anything you want to tell me. Your secrets are safe with me.
5. Make you feel a little better whenever I’m around because you’re the best thing that has ever happened to me.

6. If you train me with proven dog training methods, I will obey your obedience commands no matter what happens.

7.If you train me with dog training dvds I will promise you to do whatever you say whenever you say it.

8.I will love you forever if you BUY NOW dog training dvds for me

Wishing you and your dog a GREAT wagging tail YEAR!

Remember that giving a family member’s name or close to family members’ name may confuse your dog while having dog training sessions. Most people do not think about it this way but dog training starts from the first day that your dog settles. Learning how to train a dog before your dog arrives at home will give you more confidence and right things to do. You will learn basic dog training commands and hand signals as well as the right way of train a dog with dog training dvds. Well-mannered trained dogs are joyful companions of our lives.

Did your pet’s name make the cut? Here are the lists for 2010:

2010 Top 10 Most Popular Dog Names

1. Buddy (1019)
2. Max (822)
3. Daisy (755)
4. Bella (716)
5. Lucy (705)
6. Jack  (673)
7. Molly (639)
8. Charlie (616)
9. Sadie (594)
10. Rocky (564)

2010 Top 10 Most Popular Cat Names

1. Lucy (495)
2. Midnight (440)
3. Bella (432)
4. Molly (419)
5. Smokey (404)
6. Tiger (392)
7. Oreo (386)
8. Max (378)
9. Princess (375)
10. Charlie (374)

And what about those pets named after celebrities? Here are the most popular:

2010 Top 10 Celebrity Pet Names

1. Elvis (256)
2. Houdini (117)
3. Cher (92)
4. Madonna (62)
5. Twiggy (61)
6. Oprah (43)
7. Lady Gaga (34)
8. Beyonce (28)
9. Coco Chanel (24)
10. Shakira (17)

In a press release, Betsy Banks Saul, the co-founder of Petfinder.com, says she looks forward to the annual ranking of names.  While names like “Buddy and Max will probably always be popular,” she says, “It’s always a blast to see just how creative people get when naming their pets.”

And those celebrity names? “We often hear that adoptable pets get more attention on both Petfinder.com and in the shelter when they have interesting names,” she adds.  “Therefore, for many reasons, we encourage as much creativity as possible!”

 If your New Year’s resolutions include improving your dog’s behavior, buy one of the most improved dog training dvds today!

 Current clients, friends and FOLLOWERS will notice a change to our dog training website.  We have offered an increased number of “all levels” dog training dvds where beginner, intermediate, and advanced students can buy and take advantage of great dog training dvd programs.  If you haven’t checked it out yet, please do.  With the bitter winter chill, you may find yourself struggling to find ways to tire your dog’s brain and body without both of you suffering from frostbite. 

 These dog training dvds will present you with a variety of fun ideas for ways to engage your dog indoors, ourdoors, and having fun together while building important foundation of good dog behaviors. You will learn how to play with your dog, teach your dog new tricks and practice games, loose leash walking, crate training, team competitions and more!  Right now we are offering limited dog training dvds but we are planning to add more.

 We got a lot of orders for Teach Me Please Basic Dog Obedience Dog Training DVD program as well as other dog training dvd programs. If you are beginner level you should try this lovely program or Our Good Dog program which will teach you to train your dog in 7 weeks.

 Dog Training dvds offer the most flexible scheduling options for you. You will learn how to train your dog at home with very easy instructions and good quality of videos. You will take the advantage of having dog training dvd when you need to see right way of training your dog. You can always start right away at your convenience.

 We love dogs of all breeds and ages, so whether your dog needs a few basic manners, to learn a new trick, or has more complex behavior issues, you will find proven and effective training solution which meets your goals for a well-behaved dog.

 You are not the only one having problems with your dog however you are the only one who can change your life and your dog’s life easily with little effort. Your dog will appreciate you rest of his life. Give your dog a chance to become your good dog.

 HURRY! These very popular dog training dvds are available for beginners and advanced levels. You will see the difference immediately and start your new year with wonderful NEW YEAR’s RESOLUTION!

Repeating dog training commands over and over again will not help you or your dog. If your dog doesn’t respond after 1-2 times, try to figure out why and remedy it, then try again, without the remedy your dog will never listen to you.

Dogs don’t generalize, so that means they have to literally relearn your signals in every new place at first. So even though he knows the signs, indoors, or in less fun places they can fall apart in new places or more fun places. Because, basically he is a new puppy, in a new place, no matter how many things he knows at home, he will easily forget about it when he gets excited.

You’re on the right track, practice makes it perfect, but if you can’t get the dogs attention, that means you’ve done too much too fast, going closer to home and getting that solid will help and practicing distractions indoors will help. Our the best Dog training DVD will help you to over view the commands and solutions of basic dog obedience training commands and essentials.

Get in the dog’s line of sight or in the way of where he is going may help. For example, if your dog is too busy sniffing, stand about 1 cm from his nose. He will look up and then you can direct him easier.

Develop a focus signal or command of some kind. You do not have to be very creative any word can work and also snapping your fingers typically will get your dog’s attention. It is hard to explain while writing however you can learn more about it with Basic Dog Training DVDs.

Even though you stand just in front of your dog and he seems like ignored you or he just physically moved himself to look around you, try to say let’s go, go, enough and then keep walking. She won’t know what let’s go, go, enough or anything else means of course, but by saying it and then continuing the walk, you could develop the motion.

Then when he looks like he is getting distracted, you could say let’s go, go, enough. If walking would be rewarding, it could help developing the motion as let’s go, go is associated with keep walking.

Trust me I feel your pain, It is frustrating, I know, and it does certainly look and feel like the dog is ignoring you, but think of it as a new puppy out in the world for the first time…they may not hear their parents calling just like kids…

When you bring your dog at your home we know that you loved that little puppy and you cannot handle the whining with small eyes you are looking at but you have to start crate raining the first day or night. You never let your dogs to sleep with you even just for couple days.

Dogs are pack animals and want to be near by you, especially while sleeping. So being able to hear even your breathing should help. You can put the crate in your bedroom so that the dog or puppy can see you and feel you while you are sleeping but taking your dog in to the bed is not a good idea. Make sure the dog’s crates are not near radiators or draughts and try to make sure your dog can see you easily from the crate.

As soon as dogs wake up at early ages, they have to go to the bathroom. Whining or not, if the dog wakes up take it outside immediately and make sure that your dog feels relaxed before get inside.

Socialization with other dogs is going to be very important if your dog is in early ages and leave the own pack. From this puppy’s perspective, you took them away from her security, from her “family” and loved up on her for a few days, then stuck her in a crate far away from you in the dark of night.  Most puppies are likely terrified, poor little things. Taking your dog to the dog park and other places that can have friends will be helpful. Never leave your dog unsupervised. If you have to leave your puppy alone make an arrangement with your family members or neighbors who can stop by and take care of the puppy for a little while.

Making the crate a nice place to be will help tremendously. A lot of time dogs are uncomfortable about being shut in the crate at first, they will get used to it slowly. Giving your dog Kongs stuffed with food/treats is great ideas to keep your dog in create comfortably.

In addition, there are other things you can do to calm your dog in crate like the old quiet ticking clock and warm water bottle trick which feels like dog’s mother’s belly and heartbeat and gives your dog the best comfortable feeling. If your dog has a piece of material from the breeder with the dam and litters’ scent on it, put that in there, too.   Some soft toys to snuggle up against and an old shirt with your scent on will help extremely. Another trick is some dap plugged in nearby or spritzed into the crate. Most rescue Kennels use classical music to lower dogs’ stress levels, it may also help your dog to calm down gradually.

Make it very comfy in the crate.  Hiding a couple of tasty tidbits for her to find, make your dog spend enjoyable time in crate.  Drape a sheet over it so it is more like a den than a prison. 

All these solutions sounds like hard work but when your dog get used to the crate you and your dog will have such wonderful comfortable times and all the hard work will pay off that time. This is a temporary situation and can happen most of the dog owners. Be patient, keep loving your dog and starting your dog’s obedience classes in early age with dog training DVD which will help your dog to build pack leader feeling for you.

The gatekeeper stopped him. “Dogs aren’t allowed,
I’m sorry but he can’t come with you.” “What
kind of Heaven won’t allow dogs? If He can’t come in,
then I will stay out with him. He’s been my faithful
companion all his life, I can’t desert him now.
” “Suit yourself, but I have to warn you,
the Devil’s on this road and he’ll try to sweet talk you
into his area, he’ll promise you anything, but, the dog can’t
go there either. If you won’t leave the dog, you’ll
spend Eternity on this road “So the old man and
dog went on.

They came to a rundown fence with a gap in it, no gate,
just a hole. Another old man was inside. “Excuse me Sir,
my dog and I are getting mighty tired, mind if we come in
and sit in the shade for a while?” “Of course, there’s
some cold water under that tree over there. Make yourselves
comfortable “You’re sure my dog can come in?”
The man down the road said dogs weren’t allowed
anywhere.” “Would you come in if you had to leave
the dog?” “No sir, that’s why I didn’t go to
Heaven, he said the dog couldn’t come in. We’ll be spending
Eternity on this road, and a glass of cold water and some
shade would be mighty fine right about now. But, I won’t
come in if my buddy here can’t come too,
and that’s final. ”

The man smiled a big smile and said “Welcome to Heaven.”
“You mean this is Heaven? Dogs ARE allowed? How come that
fellow down the road said they weren’t?” “That was the
Devil and he gets all the people who are willing to give up a lifelong companion for a comfortable place to stay.
They soon find out their mistake, but, then it’s too late.
The dogs come here, the fickle people stay there.
GOD wouldn’t allow dogs to be banned from Heaven. After all,
HE created them to be man’s companions in life, why would he
separate them in death?”

Author Earl Hamner
The Twilight Zone

Dogs are our best friends, aren’t they? Remember proper dog training makes you and your dogs have better and healthier relationship.

Most of the dogs Kongs are great choice and the black ones are pretty hard to destroy for many dogs of course not all of them.

Puzzle feeders like ‘buster cubes’ are another good choice for your dogs. Your dogs can really interact with them and you can easily put the dogs’ kibble in them and they have to ‘work’ for the meal which makes them happy.  They might be a little noisy and sometimes can be hard to clean, but they are near indestructible and can keep a food motivated dogs busy for hours easily.

There are also various bones that come with fillings that tend to be pretty durable, but be careful on these because some of the fillings may stain carpets. Most dog owners found that the light brown filled ones (might be peanut butter based filling) tend to stain less, while the dark red ones get rather messy. Another option is to get a non-filled one and fill it with your own fillings. You can pretty much use any of the Kong stuffing suggestions, its effectively the same idea but with the bone exterior its harder to destroy compared to even the black Kongs.

Rope toys are also big winners for most of the dogs. You can soak in broth or tea and freeze them to give extra joy to your dog.

Jolly Balls are great and fairly hard to destroy, they come in different sizes.

You can use dog toys for obedience dog training sessions, most of the dogs are attracted by food but the others attracted by toys and games. Instead of offering small treat to your dog while having a dog training session, you can offer these toys.

Dog toys should be durable, easy to replace, make your dog happy and keep your dog busy. If you have greater dog toys, feel free to add more of the great dog toys list…

All these behaviors are perfectly normal puppy behavior and is not about trying to dominate you. So no worries, yet! He’s just being happy to see you and wants to get close to you. Ideally dogs wants to get “muzzle to muzzle” like he would with another dog. That is the reason of jumping. When your dogs jump, try to ignore them, so they will just stop jumping. Especially while they are jumping looking at ceiling and putting your hands to your back or in your pocket will change your dogs’ behavior tremendously.

More exercise helps a lot with the young hyper puppy. Play with your dog outdoors or use a “flirt pole” (think cat toy) to get him tired. Tired puppies are good puppies! They do not put themselves in trouble at home and stay calmer most of the time.

Playing with food puzzles will be a big help to you like the Buster Cube, Nina Ottosson puzzles, busybuddy and many more. There are a lot of different sizes and styles of these kinds of dog toys; you will find the best one for your dog easily from local stores. What they do? They actually wear your dog out while playing these toys.

Approaching a puppy calmly is very important when you first bring the puppy at home. The whole “dominance” thing is really being shown a counterproductive direction at this young age of the dog.

You can start basic dog obedience training commands like sit, come and heel while walking. Remember dog training commands will help you to keep your dog busy.

Most of all enjoy these lovely days while your dog is still puppy. Puppies grow so fast that you won’t understand what happened to your small buddy so enjoy every minute.

Training your dog with different dog obedience training commands will help your dog to learn easier and faster. After learning couple obedience commands your dog understands that you will give treats and praise after the training and try to learn the commands faster.

Down is one of the basic commands that you train your dog. Your dog has to know sit command before learning down obedience command. Use your dog’s collar, if your dog is sensitive you can use flat collar. One hand on the snap, other hand right behind your dogs back, give your dog a sit command, while your dog sits right and comfortable say down and push your dogs back little bit so that your dog feels the pressure and go down easily. Praise your dog and give a little treat. After repeating the down obedience command everyday 3-4 times your dog will learn it.

Every dog has different learning spans so take your time, train your dog slowly and always be patient to yourself and your dog while having dog obedience training sessions.

Dog crates should be small enough that your dogs can lie down but cannot move in the crate, because if your dog can do his business one side of the crate, he can go to other side so crate training cannot solve the problem.

As most of the dog owners and trainers agree that  dog crates are an excellent house training system. Most of the new dog owners want to put the crate in the bedrooms, there is nothing wrong with that however putting the crate close to the door will help you tremendously. This way your dog will not have enough time to have an accident between crates and the door. You just open the crate’s door and the backyard door is just there. You and your dog will feel more relax, not running around the house to find and open the backyard door.

I know you might be excited to have your dog at home and want to sleep with your dog, play with your puppy but remember efective dog training starts from the first day you got your dog.