Love Your Pet Day is Feb. 20, and while it seems like an easy enough thing to do, there are good, healthy ways to show your love best.
I’m always being told “When I die, I want to come back as Tracy’s dog.” I know it sounds morbid, but if you knew how my fur babies are treated, you’d understand. They get to lay on the couch, sleep in our bed and have a big fenced-in yard to explore and play in, tons of toys and good, wholesome food in their bellies.
For Christmas, each of my babies has their own five-foot stockings that get filled with toys, treats and food.
I know what you are probably thinking – “Wow, those pups are spoiled!”
It’s true, they are spoiled, but they have to behave and I also make them work for treats.
There is a lot more to loving my pets than just letting them sleep on the couch or bed and buying them toys and treats.
Even though I do buy them store-bought treats they are not healthy to give to your dogs all the time. There are many other healthier alternatives available. I will give them cucumber slices, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, green beans, carrots, bell peppers, zucchini and broccoli, just to name a few. Sometimes as a treat, I will freeze cups of yogurt and give them as an ice cream treat. They say to use plain yogurt but since I do not do it all the time, I use vanilla and I try to get the low sugar/low fat variety.
I feel there is a simple formula for raising a good dog: Exercise, disciple and then affection. One of my favorite sayings is “a tired dog is a good dog.” When your dog gets enough exercise, he or she will be too tired to be getting into anything bad. But there is also mental stimulation. Challenging your dog mentally can tire your dog out just as much as physical exercise. What do I mean by mental stimulation? It can be as simple as teaching your dog a few simple tricks to start, like sit, shake, down, come, stay, roll over, spin, play dead or crawl. But before giving them one of those healthy snacks you make them do a command or trick.
Some dogs like to go through agility courses. You can easily set up a few things in your yard like getting a hula hoop and teaching your dog to jump through the hoop or place it on the ground and have your dog sit in the circle until you release him from the spot. Interactive dog puzzles are another good choice to help mentally stimulate your pup. You can place treats (this is where I would use store-bought treats) or food inside and they have to figure out how to get the food out.
As for discipline, just like a child, they need to learn that there are boundaries and limitations on what is allowed and what is not allowed. Each dog learns differently. I always like to start off with positive reinforcement with treats and affection when they do things right. Dogs love to please, so when they do something wrong or bad you correct them right away don’t baby them or give them treats or attention. But you need to be consistent. It takes time and a lot of patience, but consistency is the key.
It will be well worth it in the end having well-mannered and healthy dogs that just want to give you all their unconditional love!
by Tracy Johnson
