June 1st, 2012
By Eric Letendre
“Why You Should Never Give Your Dog A Bone,” by Ben Settle
I came across this book yesterday on Amazon.com
When I saw the title I had to check it out.
Then I read the “secrets” it contained and had to order it.
Secrets like:
* Why yelling at your dog when she misbehaves actually makes her more likely to misbehave in the future. (Page 142)
* How turning off your cell phone in the summer time can help prevent your dog from getting heat exhaustion. (Page 117)
* Why one of the best times to check your dog’s hearing is when you (or someone in your house) comes down with a cold. Page 57)
And my favorite:
* How to almost completely eliminate your dog’s farting. (Page 35)
Sounds like good stuff and I’ll give you a full review after I read it.
Anyway, I agree that you should NEVER give your dog a certain type of bone.
Would you like to know what kind of bone your dog should never get?
Excellent, the type of bone your dog should never get is…
…COOKED!
I never give my dogs cooked bones because they become brittle and can easily splinter as your dog is chomping on it.
I have given my dogs raw bones for years and believe that they are very healthy for dogs.
The best advice about dog nutrition I ever got came from an Australian vet. The vet said we need to look at the diet of the dog’s wild cousins.
Look at what they eat in the wild and it will give us the best advice on how to feed our dogs and keep them healthy.
Dog nutrition became a HUGE concern of mine years ago when I could not help my little sheltie.
Everything we tried either had no effect or backfired and she became worse.
I finally looked into her diet, changed the way I fed her and watched her health dramatically improve.
Improve to the point that she lived to 18 years old and passed away peacefully in Rachael’s arms one summer morning.
A lot of dog owners have questions about canine nutrition and it’s the reason we have a whole section on the topic and a forum devoted to canine nutrition questions on The Dog Training Inner Circle.
Check it out here:
All the best,
Eric
January 30th, 2012
By Eric Letendre
My sister, Steph, is a HUGE fan of Ellen DeGeneres.
I have only seen her show a few times when I was over her house and thought she was mildly funny.
I don’t have anything personal against Ellen…
…BUT, I really disagree with the new line of dog food that she is coming out with. Keep Reading…
June 8th, 2011
By Eric Letendre
What a week for your friend, The Amazing Dog Training Man.
Last Wednesday a couple of tornados touched down in the Springfield, MA area. One of them was just four miles from my house.
Amazing what Mother Nature can do when she gets angry.
I was very lucky and none of my friends or family were harmed.
Anyway, if a tornado was not enough, I was outsidelast night cooking some chicken on the grill for me and the missus when a BEAR pops out of the woods in the back yard and stands there looking at me.
This is the first and only bear I have ever seen without a large, strong fence between us.
I grew up in a crowded suburb outside of Hartford, CT and we did not have any bears, foxes, woodchucks, or even domestic animals like cows and horses.
It was pretty cool standing there about 200 feet away looking at him or her. He stood there for about two minutes and then sniffed the air and disappeared.
All of this got me thinking about our dogs. This is the time of the year when stress can effect our dogs.
Between the heat, storms, fireworks, bears, your dog can get stressed and the stress can lead to…
So I want to share a few tips to help you eliminate all the fur you may find around the house.
Shedding Tip#1: Keep a lint roller close by. We use the lint roller to keep the hair off our clothes, you can also use it on your dog. You’ll be amazed how much hair it pulls off your dog.
Shedding Tip#2: Supplement your dog’s food. A little olive oil or cod liver oil can really help your dog’s skin and coat.
Shedding Tip#3: Diet. What you feed your dog will have a direct result on how much your dog sheds. In my guide, “How To Reduce Your Dog’s Shedding In 3 To 5 Days,” I explain which foods are best for your dog and which ones to avoid.
The guide is included with The Dog Training Inner Circle. You can get all the details here: Dog Training Inner Circle
February 28th, 2010
By Eric Letendre
“I once decided not to date a guy because he wasn’t
excited to meet my dog. I mean, this was like not
wanting to meet my mother.” – Bonnie Schacter, Founder
of the Single Pet Owner’s Society Singles Group
I saw the above quote and thought of a girl I once went on
a date with. Half way though the dinner the discussion of
dogs came up and she said, “I really don’t like dogs.”
Stunned I asked why. She said that people that have dogs
are kind of crazy. She couldn’t understand why some dog
owners buy clothes, gourmet food, doggie beds, toys, etc.
In the middle of her extended speech on why she doesn’t
like dogs I held up my hand and asked her to stop. I also
called the waiter over and paid the bill.
I politely informed her that this would never work out
between us. Stunned she asked why. I told her that I
have four dogs at home and they all have their own closets
for their clothes.
I was kidding about the closets but she felt the same about
me and we parted ways.
Anyway, I was thinking of her the other day when I saw the Magic
Poop trap. You won’t beleive this video. If you have one minute
check it out. I don’t think I’ll ever use one for my dogs but who
knows – maybe they’ll catch on.
Check out this video
All the best,
Eric
P.S. Housetraining can be a big problem for a lot of dog
owners but not when you have the Housetraining Handbook.
October 14th, 2009
By Eric Letendre
One of my first "dog" jobs was patrolling the streets of a very tough neighborhood with my dog Jocko.
Jocko was a long haired German Shepherd that was one of the best dogs that I ever worked with. Jocko literally loved working. Once you put his leash on and hit the streets his entire attitude changed.
He was upbeat and would completely focus on and do every command without hesitation. Jocko was extremely focused because every chance I got I would work on distraction training, or what dog trainers call proofing.
Distractions are one of the main reasons why dogs don’t listen to their owners. When practicing your obedience you need to start adding distractions. When you start training with distractions you need to make sure that your dog has a good understanding of the command and you need to start with small distractions.
If your dog goes bananas over tennis balls, don’t start training with them right away. Start off with a small distraction and work your way up to tennis balls.
When you are doing distraction training, you need to use all of your dogs senses. I use sight, sound, smell and touch distractions to get my dog to work through it.
So here is your homework for today. Before your get up from your computer, think about something that would work as a distraction on your dog. Nothing major, just a small distraction that your dog can work through.
When you do a training session today, put your dog into a stay command and introduce the distraction. If your dog breaks the stay because of the distraction, start over.
Be ready to give your dog a verbal correction if he breaks the command. Only reward your dog if he does the command successfully. Once he can easily work through the distraction, make it a little more difficult.
Try to spend more time rewarding than correcting. Try it out and please let me know how you do.
All the best,
Eric
P.S. If you’d like more instructions and video examples slide on over to The Dog Training Inner Circle.
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Eric Letendre is a professional dog trainer from the United States. For more than 20 years, he has been developing dog training techniques that have worked for dog owners all over the world. Eric operates from a home office or a laptop while traveling and draws on his experience and passion for dog training to show others how to develop a dog that is truly “Man’s Best Friend”.
Eric is the author of numerous reports, the E-Book “101 Ways to Hack Your Dog’s Behavior,” “The Amazing Dog Training Man Book,” and produced and stars in his DVD “Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer.”
