photo credit: jez`

Indoor Potty Training For Dogs

If you are thinking about indoor potty training for your dog or puppy, that’s great since there are some awesome benefits including not having to deal with bad weather dog walks in snow storms or heat waves.  You and your dog can stay indoors where it is more comfortable.  An indoor potty will also give your dog somewhere to go in case you are late coming home.

Different Dog Bathroom Options

It turns out that there are different dog bathroom options available in the marketplace now.  Of course, there is the standard dog litter box which utilizes commercial dog litter like Purina Second Nature.  This is what my two Lhasa Apso dogs Chester and Roxie currently use.

There are also indoor potty systems that utilize an artificial grass turf system instead of dog litter.  One such system is The Pet Loo which I have a unit at home but haven’t tried yet.  Instead of having to replace soiled dog litter all the time, one would just have to clean the grass turf.  I don’t know how often this type of surface has to be cleaned yet since I haven’t put it to the test yet.

In my mind, both indoor potty systems, a dog litter box or one that uses a grass turf, are acceptable options as dog bathrooms.  Here is a short new video where I explain this with the two options in front of me.

I will be testing The Pet Loo out in the near future and report the results in this dog blog.

Indoor Potty Training The Same For Dogs

No matter which system you use, the indoor potty training to teach your dog to use it is essentially the same.  For more information on the actual training progression, see my webpage on Potty Training Your Dog Indoors.

photo credit: smerikal

Small Dog Training Is Education

Most dog owners consider their pets as members of their families as if they were their children and I have no problems with that since I feel the same with my own two Lhasa Apso dogs Chester and Roxie, the same way I felt with my past two, Pepper and Max, also Lhasa Apsos.  However, many owners also neglect putting their pets through an even basic level of dog obedience training.

I bet that these same folks would consider it imperative to send their human children to school to get an education.  Well, if their dogs are also part of the family, they should not be denied an education either!

Large, medium and small dog training is an education not only for the pets themselves but also for the owners as well.  Getting the proper training with even achieving just the basics as a minimum standard, will further enhance the relationship between all family members, including the dogs.

Start Dog Education Young

Just like how much of the basic education with kids start at young ages, dogs should also start their education if possible as puppies.  My free dog training video was created to show new and potential dog owners what the minimum standards of obedience are as well as the training methods to achieve them.  My dogs Chester and Roxie do an awesome job in demonstrating these skills on the video that you can all access.

Dog potty training in some form of course should also be part of this basic education as soon as puppies come to their new homes.  My educational resources at my dog website have helped many owners potty train their dogs successfully.  Do visit to see everything that is there.

Again, if you consider your dog to be part of your family, don’t deny him or her an education that he/she deserves.

photo credit: smerikal

Wake Up Like A Dog

You might be wondering what I mean by the weird title of this blog post.  I haven’t been able to blog as often during this winter because of my busy ski instructor schedule and some of you must be thinking that I’ve gone completely mad writing about waking up like our dogs.

Let me explain.  Each morning here at my home without fail, one of my Lhasa Apso dogs Chester, starts to prop himself up at the side of my bed between 6:30 and 7 am to see if I’m awake yet. This might be after he has already visited the dog litterbox (a skill he learned through his dog potty training).

I’m quite use to this of course since both Chester and his sister are six years old but for some reason today, it dawned on me that Chester was actually setting a pretty darn good example.  When he gets up, he’s wide awake, full of energy and enthusiasm.  He’s ready to go for another day no matter what’s in store.

Dogs Show Super Positive Vibes

Chester must have already decided that it was going to be a great day no matter what happens.  He made that decision to be super positive and his resulting energy first thing in the morning certainly shows! Heck, he even did this during his two weeks with the cone over his head after his eye surgery.

This is definitely something us humans should learn.  You make a decision to be positive and you will more than likely approach your day, even if full of challenges, with more energy and gusto.

For me, this is yet another example of how my pets have taught me something useful.  I thought that my dogs only taught me about compassion and responsibility.  Now it seem that at least one of them is teaching me more about motivation.

Some of you may have already seen this before but below is a video that shows both Chester and his sister Roxie exactly how they greet me each morning.  You can see why waking up like them in this case, is a good thing for motivation.

Feel free to write your comments below about waking up like our dogs.

Dog Litter Box

As many of you know, I’m a huge advocate of using a dog litter box for many dogs, especially smaller breeds and those who live in harsh climates like extreme winter conditions or even very hot temperatures.  Many dog owners, including myself, have found the benefits of a dog litter box including no more dog walking in bad weather and allowing their four legged friends to have access to an acceptable indoor potty anytime they need, to far outweigh the fact that we have to clean the indoor potty on a regular basis.

We also have to keep a constant supply of dog litter whether it’s Purina Second Nature, the Petco brand or some other acceptable brand of non-clumping litter or material.  There is also tracking of pellets that we have to pick up after which is when our dogs jump out of the dog litter box and displace some of the smaller pieces of dog litter on the floor.

The Pet Loo As An Alternative Indoor Potty

It is possible to use an indoor potty which takes advantage of the same benefits as a dog litter box but instead of using dog litter like Second Nature, an artificial grass turf surface is used instead.  One such product is The Pet Loo.

The Pet Loo uses such a surface which the company claims is quite hygenic and mimics the outdoor backyard.  Pet urine flows through it and into the specially designed unit into a capture bin underneath.

The company makes their own special cleaners and even markets a substance which turns the collected urine into a solid for easy disposal.  Of course, such an indoor potty is designed to work with the use of commercial dog litter.

The Pet Loo, like other similar units in the market, does have a much higher upfront cost than a regular dog litter box.  The company does recommend replacement grass surfaces on hand which also costs much more than a standard bag of dog litter.  But the result is no more replacing of soiled dog litter on a daily basis.

I was sent a unit of The Pet Loo to try out and review.  I will certainly test it out with my own two Lhasa Apso dogs Chester and Roxie to see if they like it.  I can see that using this unit will eliminate tracking of dog litter but I would like to see just how long the articifial grass turf surface lasts with regular rinsing and cleaning before it has to be replaced.

It will be interesting to compare odor control with The Pet Loo against the regular dog litter box we’ve been using as well.  I want to compare not only dog pee but also dog poo usage since with the dog poo, I can simply remove all soiled dog litter stained with it but I’m not sure what the impact will be on a grass surface, especially with poo that is a but moist.

Dog Litter Box Training The Same

One thing that should be great for dog owners who like the idea of using an indoor potty is that the training should be the same.  That is, dog litter box training that I outline in detail in my book and video program will follow the same type of progression.  Instead of using commercial dog litter, the artificial grass surface will be used instead.

I will be reporting here on my testing of The Pet Loo soon.  For those who would like to get more information on this indoor potty unit, see The Pet Loo.  This product is also available at many pet retailers including the Global Pet chain here in the southern Ontario region.

photo credit: shoe the Linux Librarian

Exercising Your Dog Indoors

In a recent post, I wrote about the important of monitoring your dog’s weight during the winter to make sure that your friend doesn’t gain weight from any lower amount of exercise because of cold weather out there.  Looks like some dog owners out there have trained their dogs to keep active indoors no matter what the temperature is outside.

These dachshunds in the video below have really taken exercising indoors at heart by working out on their owner’s threadmill machine.  Notice that their tails are even wagging so it looks like they do enjoy the activity.

Keep Fit All Year Round With Your Dog

These dogs are a great example that there is no excuse, even cold weather, to slack off in terms of fitness.  If you and your dog can’t go outside because of bad weather, do something active indoors whether it’s running up and down the stairs or chasing a ball across a room.

If dogs can be trained to keep fit, so can we.  This is why dogs have the added benefit of keeping us fit as well as long as we feel guilty if we let our beloved pets get out of shape which is a real no-no to their health.  If you really love your pet, you will do whatever you can to keep them healthy during all four seasons.

Although dog owners today can potty train their dogs to use an indoor litter box and therefore avoid bad weather walks outside, it is not a replacement for exercise.  My two dogs Chester and Roxie still get exercise indoors if it’s extremely miserable outside.

Dogs don’t know any better in regards to their own health and fitness so as dog owners, we have the responsibility to care for them in a way that they are as healthy as possible at all times.

photo credit: opensourceway

Productive Use Of Time For Dog Grooming

I usually like to make productive use of my time and one of the ways I’ve done that is to do various household chores like cleaning during the TV commercial breaks when I’m watching a program on television. This can also include grooming my two dogs Chester and Roxie as well.

Rather than sit through the TV commercials, I use the few minutes to get something around the house done and by the time a program is over, I would have completed quite a bit of tasks just by doing them during the breaks – see my blog post on productive use of time.

Dog Grooming Sessions During Breaks

My dogs look forward to their nightly grooming sessions which take we now have as a routine down pretty good.  It doesn’t take very long if they are not too tangled.  Most of the time, I groom both of them in one shot.

Sometimes however, I might be doing the dog grooming during a time when a good TV program is on.  This is when I take the TV commercial breaks as the actual time that I would work on the dogs since I don’t want to miss any part of a program I’m watching.

Because I have two dogs to groom, I wouldn’t be able to complete all of the grooming during a single TV commercial break.  So I would usually have to split up the entire process over two TV commercial breaks and they are quite use to this.

Are Dogs That Smart?

The really interesting thing here that kind of freaks me out is that when I’m watching a program and it switches over to the first TV commercial of a break, my dogs seem to know it because they automatically head over to the powder room where I usually do their grooming.  They seem to know when a TV commercial break is coming on!

I wonder if they are watching some other signal like my subtle body movement on the couch or something else which would indicate that it’s time to do grooming.  Or are they really that smart to tell the difference between a regular TV program and a TV commercial?  Or is it something in the sounds of the TV itself that marks the end of a scene of a TV program like a break in volume?

I haven’t figured out what are the actual signals that my dogs are sensing yet but they do seem to know when it’s time to go back to resume dog grooming.  This is not exactly something that was taught to them through basic dog obedience training.  It must be something else.

If anybody has insights, guesses or comments about whether dogs are really that smart to know when the TV commercials come on, please share below.

photo credit: ollesvensson

House Training A Dog Indoors

If you are house training a dog indoors during this winter or have already successfully done so with a dog litterbox like I have with my two Lhasa Apso dogs Chester and Roxie, you will likely be spending less time outdoors during the season.  This is especially the case when the days are very cold and stormy.

Of course, one of the great benefits of house training a dog indoors is that when the weather is awful outside, you do not have to take your dog outside for long walks for him or her to do his or her business.  You can both stay inside where it is warm and dry while you wait for a nicer day to venture outdoors with your dog.

Monitor Weight Important

However, because of the fewer long walks outside during winter regardless of whether your dog has already been through indoor house training or not, it is possible for your dog to gain weight.  So it is very important to monitor its weight on a more regular basis during the winter.

If your dog has gained weight during the winter and you cannot take it for longer outdoor walks, try to exercise indoors.  We sometimes run up and down the stairs at our house.

In fact, when I use to live in a highrise condo with my first two Lhasa Apso dogs Max and Pepper, we use to do the building stairwell which proved to be a decent workout for them.  You can even make up games indoors that your dog might enjoy.  One such game here is chasing a ball which Chester and Roxie seem to enjoy.

You can also cut down a bit on the amount of food during meals as well as snacks or treats.  If the amount of exercise cannot be increased, then the amount of food should definitely be decreased a bit and you have to keep monitoring your dog’s weight in order to see any changes.

So don’t let your dog gain excess weight during the winter especially if you plan to be house training your dog indoors with a dog litter box.  For one of the first winters that Chester and Roxie experienced, they did gain excess weight which we fortunately successfully took off during the spring with increased exercise.  But it’s far better to keep them at an ideal weight level during the winter so we won’t have to work any excess weight off.

For more information on this type of house training, see dog litter box training.

photo credit: pigelmann

Washing Dirty Dog Paws Feet

I wrote about using dog boots for some of our winter walks outside when there is too much salt on the roads and sidewalks.  Lately, we haven’t had much snow out there and as a result, there has been very little salt out there to irritate my two dogs’ paws.  In the past, Chester and Roxie have had to stop walking due to salt irritation on their dog feet which is why we went for the dog boots.

The dog boots work great but they do take time to put on especially since between two dogs, I have dog boots to put on eight dog paws.  So when there hasn’t been much salt out there like in the last few days this week, we just went out with no dog boots on.

However, it seems that the ground is quite dirty out there as I noticed muddy dog paw prints on my floor tiles when we got home.  This of course required washing those dirty dog paws and I’ve done this task about three different ways.

Sink Method To Wash Dirty Dog Feet

The most common way I’ve done this in the past was to lift each one into a sink (usually the basement sink) and rinse their dog feet under some warm water.  Then after a gentle squeeze on each foot to drain out excess water, I would towel dry.  This method required going to the room where the sink was and then lifting each dog up into the sink.

Shower Stall Method To Wash Dirty Dog Paws

If I happen to catch them with dirty dog paws when we are already up in the second floor, the easiest way to wash them would be to walk them over to my shower stall.  This turned out to be an easier way to wash them as I could fit both Chester and Roxie as well as myself in the shower stall at the same time.  No lifting of dogs needed.

Using Plastic Container To Wash Dirty Dog Feet

Lately, another easy method to wash dirty dog feet is to get my dogs outside on the balcony deck as soon as they come in.  Using an empty yogurt plastic container filled with about 1/3 full with warm water, I would lift each dog’s front and dunk each full dog paw into the water.  I would then do the same for their rear paws.

After gentle squeezing again, I would towel dry.  This method is turning out to be my favourite one these days since it’s quick and convenient.  I could also toss out the dirty water right over the deck into the back yard area too.

My Lhasa Apso dogs cooperate fully no matter which of these methods I use to clean dirty dog paws.  This cooperation is of course a result of general basic dog obedience training they had since they were puppies.  If you haven’t seen it yet, see my free dog obedience training video.

How do you wash dirty dog feet?   Feel free to comment below.

photo credit: jurvetson

Christmas Puppy

Personally, I’m against giving live pets as Christmas gifts.  Quite often what happens is parents give into the wishes of their kids to get a puppy for Christmas or somebody surprises a significant other with a new kitten or Christmas puppy during the holiday season.

After the initial excitement and joy is over, it is soon realized that the cute little puppy or kitten is using the entire house as a toilet.  It is also chewing up everything in sight such as furniture, shoes and other items not intended for animal consumption.

Then after some time, the family realizes that pet ownership is much more involved than initially realized and decides to give up the pet.  The victims here are always the poor animals as they are left at the animal shelters as unwanted pets all because of the ignorance of the people who thought that giving a pet for Christmas would be a neat thing to do.

Get Ready For High Responsibility With Christmas Puppies

If your family got a Christmas puppy this holiday season and you haven’t given up yet, there is still hope.  But do get ready for high responsibility that involves getting properly educated on basic dog training.

I don’t want to make this sound like a negative experience because it isn’t.  Dog training can be a wonderful and fun activity for both the Christmas puppy and the humans as long as it is done right.  New dog owners need to be educated on exactly how to properly train their new puppies.

To help you, I have produced a basic dog training video that you can access for free – just see the introduction video at the top left of this blog or sign up for access below.  It contains what I consider to be the minimal standards that your new Christmas puppy (and the humans who will be interacting with it) should learn and master.

For many Christmas puppies, especially if they are small to medium size breeds, indoor dog potty training will be a great option as well.

Don’t give up on your Christmas puppy but in case if dog ownership is really not going to be realistic for your family, do try to find a new owner who will be a responsible pet owner rather than leave it at the animal shelter.

Dog Boots For Winter

We just had our first big snowfall up here in Ontario – actually much delayed as we did not have a white Christmas in most parts of Canada. This was the first night the salt trucks came out.  When I see them sprinkling the roads and sidewalks, I automatically think about two things – the need to rinse the salt off my car and the need to bring out the dog boots again for Chester and Roxie.

If dog owners who live in snowy winter regions where salt is used, care must be taken when walking dogs outside.  My two dogs are quite sensitive to salt on their feet so if we venture out on the roads and sidewalks, we’ll have to put on dog boots again this winter.

Just going out to the back yard areas where there is snow but no salt, doesn’t generally require dog boots for us.  Their feet do not get that cold, at least for a short time.  If they do start feeling cold, I can usually tell as they would start lifting a paw up from the ground.

Roads Require Dog Boots But Backyard Does Not

In any case, during the winter out back, they are free to go back inside the house whenever they want.  This is what Roxie usually does.  She goes back earlier than her brother Chester and just watches from the sliding window door. She might come back out after a while especially if there is some play action between Chester and one of his doggie friends.

But because my dogs are free to go back inside to warm up as needed, dog boots are generally not required during our winter play sessions out back.  The roads are a different story since I know that even with a brief exposure to any salt, they will feel irritation and I don’t want that to happen.

Now I have to get the hang of putting those dog boots on for my two Lhasa Apsos again since they were not the easiest to put on, at least in the beginning.

If you missed my previous video review of the dog boots we use, see it at Dog Boots Video.