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What To Do If My Dog Gets Car Sick?

January 26, 2010 By 2 Comments

Does your dog get car sick?  Are you tired of cleaning up the vommit in your back seat?  These are two questions I was asking myself when I first brought my puppy Linus home from the animal shelter.  Lucky for us our first drive home from the shelter went quite well.  We had Linus sleeping in a small box in the back seat.  He slept the entire way…in fact he was so tired when we got home my girlfriend went to get him out of the box and initially thought he was dead.  We later found out that he was sick and needed veterinarian attention.

Linus and I didn’t go on another car ride for about another month when I started back up at school.  I didn’t want to leave him home alone while I was at class and instead drove him over to my parents house to play with their dog and get attention from my mother and father.  This is when the trouble began and might I remind you that at the time I had a new Mazda RX-8 sports car.

image by Pacdog

Does Your Dog Get Car Sick?

DAY 1

Our first drive over to my parents and about 5 minutes down the road I start to hear that deep, unsettling pre-cursor to vomit noise (I’m sure you know what I’m talking about).  Then the explosion of dog kibble, white foam, and miscellaneous other partially digested items all over my leather seats and even worse sliding down the space between the seat and the arm rest.  It was no fun to clean up and I’m sure Linus didn’t have much fun making the mess.

DAY 2

Not even thinking twice about Linus and car sickness from the day before we started our drive to our parents house when Linus started making the vomit sounds again.  Another combo of white foam and miscellaneous food particles all over my nice car.

DAY 3

I’m finally a bit wiser on day 3 and don’t feed Linus before our car ride and instead plan on feeding him at the parents house and  also put a towel in the front seat of the car in case of another accident.  Almost like clock work Linus throws up this time on a towel and no kibble just white foam.

DAY 4

I try feeding Linus at least an hour before take off thinking that his stomach may need at least a little bit of food with ample time to partially digest.  New feeding schedule same result.  Linus vomits in the towel.

DAY 5

I feed Linus several hours before our car ride, pack the customary emergency towel, and prep for take off.  No vomit on day 5, but Linus still looks unsettled the entire car ride to my parents.

What To Do If My Dog Gets Car Sick

That really happened during my first week of car rides with Linus.  I did get a good feel for when to feed him (a couple hours before driving), but more importantly he just started to get used to riding in the car.  Over the next couple weeks Linus would still have issues and probably vomited another two or three times.  Today he does great in the car, wears his seat belt in the back seat, and just relaxes during the entire trip.  We’ve taken him on 6+ hour car rides and he does just fine (we do make pit stops).

Another friend of mine had a similar experience with his little Dachshund mix puppy.  I remember taking her on a ride when she was a puppy.  I packed her in the back seat and could hear her panting.  By the time we got to our destination (about a 15 minute drive) she was foaming at the mouth and had soaked up an entire beach towel with drool and saliva.

After several weeks and rides in the car she now loves car rides and doesn’t get car sickness.  She automatically jumps in the front seat even when she’s not going on a ride.

So what do I recommend for working with your dog and car sickness?

  • I don’t recommend feeding him right before the car ride.  Try giving him a few hours to digest his food.
  • An empty stomach did not work for Linus and I.  He still gagged and all that came out was white foam.
  • Try to desensitize your dog to riding in the car by starting him out on short car rides to get him used to the motion.
  • This will probably also help your dog get used to the car quicker.  Be conscious of your driving and do your best to make it a smooth ride for your dog.  This is especially important if you have a manual transmission like me and my RX-8.

One final thought:  I’m sure some dogs will have motion sickness their entire lives and will never be comfortable riding in a car.  If this is the case you may try consulting your veterinarian for possible drugs that may help your dog and his motion sickness.

I also saw this article on Petfinder.com that talks about pets in particular cats and car sickness.

How about you?  Have you ever had issues with your dog getting car sick?  Do you have a solution for the question: What To Do If My Dog Gets Car Sick?  Let us know in the comments section below.

Filed Under: Dog Training Tips Tagged With: , , ,

How To Choose A Puppy From A Litter

January 22, 2010 By 8 Comments

Yesterday we talked about How To Choose A Puppy?  Today we’re going to discuss How To Choose A Puppy From A Litter.  First here is a quick summary of the steps we went through in the first article:

  1. First of all, make sure you’re ready for the responsibility of taking care of a puppy/dog for the next 10+ years.
  2. Research your puppy.  We recommend reading Puppies For Dummies
  3. Ask yourself more questions: What breed suits your lifestyle?  Should you save your dog from the shelter or rescue?  Should you go to a breeder?  Why shouldn’t you go to the Pet Store.
  4. Find your puppy on Petfinder.com.

That brings us to today’s discussion on How To Choose A Puppy From A Litter.

image by pellaea

How To Choose A Puppy From A Litter

Our story ended yesterday with me finding a group of Australian Shepherd Labrador Retriever mixed puppies through Petfinder.com.  Here’s the continuation from yesterday (to read the entire story go back to Part 1):

…After searching for Australian Shepherds, Labrador Retrievers, and Golden Retrievers in the Petfinder.com database I found a litter of three Australian Shepherd Labrador Retriever mixed breed puppies:

  • A tri-colored female
  • A black male
  • A black male with a white spot on his chest

Obviously I was very excited.  Not only did I find a litter of puppies, but the litter was mixed with two of my three target breeds – Labrador Retriever and Australian Shepherd.  The puppies were not far away about 30 minutes at the Carson Shelter in Los Angeles.  I grabbed my Puppies For Dummies book and reviewed the section on temperament testing and how to determine dominant and submissive puppies in a litter.

Our goal was to find the perfect puppy in the litter and according to the book we were looking for not an overly dominant or an overly submissive puppy.  Both those types are considered much more difficult to raise for a first time puppy owner.  Puppies for Dummies lists five personality types:

  1. Top Dog
  2. Next In Line
  3. Middleman
  4. Passive Pup
  5. Shy Pup

We wanted to avoid the “Top Dog” and the “Shy Pup” and ultimately our goal was to try and identify a “Middleman.”  How were we going to find our little “Middleman”?  Well, we were armed with seven personality tests to help determine our future puppy’s temperament.

When we arrived at the shelter we were happy to see two adorable fluff balls sleeping on the hard concrete kennel floor – a tri-colored female and a black male with a white spot on his chest.  The third one we found on Petfinder.com was already adopted.  We got permission to take the two puppies out of the kennel and perform our temperament testing.  Here’s what we did:

  1. Observe – We tried to observe the two puppies out of the kennel, but they were very lethargic and really just wanted to rest.
  2. Uplift – Cradle mid body and suspend the puppy several inches from the ground.  Both puppies allowed us to do this and were quite relaxed without struggle.  Check them both for “Middleman” or “Passive Pup”
  3. Flip-Flop – Cradle the puppy in your arms belly up like a baby. Black with white dot settled right in with no struggle – check mark for “middleman” or “passive”.  Tri-color struggled for a moment then settled in.  Check mark for “Next In Line”
  4. Gentle Caress – Just sitting next to the puppy and pet them.  Both puppies just lied there and let me pet them.  Check mark “Middleman” or “Passive”
  5. Wacky Walk – Stand up and shake leg and clap hands to try and get the puppy to follow you.  Both were somewhat lethargic and not super eager to follow or jump.  Mark both for “Passive”
  6. What’s That – Shake your keys above the puppies head and observe the reaction.  Both puppies noticed, but were not eager to jump up nor scared.  “Middleman” or “Passive”
  7. Crash Test – Step several paces from the puppy and fall to the floor like you hurt your knee…observe the reaction.  Neither puppy got real scared nor overreacted.  Once again “Middleman” or “Passive”

After running through all the tests we determined both puppies would make great pets and Black with a white dot was probably somewhere between a “Middleman” and a “Passive Pup”  while little miss tri-color was probably a “Middleman” with possibly some “Next In Line.”

Once again, how do I choose a puppy from the litter?  Here are the questions raising through my mind:

  • Do I want a male or a female? I had my choice of boy or girl.
  • Do I want a larger or a smaller puppy?  Black with white dot male was considerably smaller then his sister.
  • Do I want a tri-color or a mostly black puppy?  I had a choice of colors.
  • Do I want a more passive or more dominant dog?  Neither of the dogs were overly dominant or overly submissive however between the two one was more dominant then the other.
  • One final question.  Why not bring them both home?

I had heard that male dogs were easier to take care of them female dogs so I planned on getting a male.  Since these little puppies were mixed breeds with big feet I preferred a smaller dog (we were guessing they’d be anywhere from 50 – 80 pounds).  I liked the look of the tri-color puppy.  I was guessing the more passive dog would be easier to train.  I really had a tugging inside of me to bring both dogs home and my original intention and hope was to find a male and female puppy to raise together a-la Where the Red Fern Grows one of my favorite childhood books.

I was at edge about to take the tri-color, but decided deep down I was mainly going for looks and that I should probably take home the smaller black puppy with the white spot on his chest.  Why didn’t I take home both?  Well, I was always told that raising two puppies together would result with a strong bond between the two puppies and not as strong a bond between your puppy and you.  I also heard that you should separate the two dogs from time to time to keep them from becoming too attached to each other.  This attachment was confirmed when we went to puppy class with two Siberian Huskies who couldn’t even be separated by 20 feet in our training class before one would start whining.

After much debate we brought home the little black puppy with the white spot on his chest and it was one of the best decisions we ever made.  Here’s one of the first pictures we took of my new little puppy, Linus…

If you want to see more of Linus’s puppy pictures then check out the Cutest Puppy Ever!

That’s not all…you may know how to choose a puppy from a litter, but now what?  The adventure is only beginning.  We were not prepared to take our little Aussie Lab home yet and the shelter said they needed to microchip him before we left.  This gave us a chance to run to the local Petsmart and get our first puppy supplies.  So our next question was:  What Are The Supplies I Will Need For A Puppy?

We’d love to hear about your puppy experiences.  Did you temperament test your puppy before bringing him home?  Leave us a message in the comment section below.

Filed Under: Dog Adoptions Tagged With: , , ,

How To Choose A Puppy

January 21, 2010 By 1 Comment

“How to choose a puppy” was the first question I asked when I decided I finally had the time, maturity, and was responsible enough to raise a puppy on my own.  Throughout my life we’ve had family dogs and puppies.  My roomates and girlfriends also brought home puppies during my college years.  However, I always thought it was such a huge responsibility and commitment that I never brought home a puppy or dog of my own until five years ago.

How To Choose A Puppy?

As I mentioned earlier the first question I asked myself was “How to Choose a puppy?” or How should I choose a puppy?  Before I even considered bringing home a new member of the family I made sure I had three things:

  1. Time - for the first time eight years I was not working a full time job.  In fact I was on winter break after attending my first semester back at college.  This was very important because a puppy requires a good portion of your time during those first few months.
  2. Maturity - was I responsible enough to take care of this little guy.  I’ve given up a lot since adopting my first puppy.  Although I do still go out and have fun some night.  Many a night I stay home with my dog rather than bar hop with friends.  Also, during the puppy stage I spent practically 100% of my time taking care of the puppy.
  3. Money - initial expenses aren’t the only thing involved when bringing home a puppy (a purebred puppy can cost as much as $2,000).  There are recurring monthly expenses, vet bills (these can be extensive depending on the health of your dog), toys, treats, grooming,  and the list goes on and on.

Does A Puppy Make A Good Gift?

It all started out on my birthday a little over five years ago.  My girlfriend new I loved dogs and thought that a new puppy would make a great gift.  By the way, you might think twice about getting someone a puppy as a gift.  Check out this article on whether or not a Christmas Puppy makes a good gift.  I digress…anyhow, lucky for me she went about it the smart way and made an appointment for us to meet with several Labrador Retriever and Golden Retriever puppy litters.  I was very hesitant about getting a puppy for my birthday and thought I really needed to know more before choosing a puppy from a litter.  However, even though we did not choose a puppy on that first day of puppy shopping it was a lot of fun with much cooing and baby puppy talk.

Research Before You Choose A Puppy

After our fun day of puppy browsing I decided I should find all I needed to know before choosing the perfect puppy for me.  After all it’s a very personal decision and even though a puppy is cute and cuddly when it’s young it will most definitely grow up into a dog that may have habits or tendencies that you do not approve of.

What was my next step?  A trip to the bookstore, lots of research on the internet, and talking to friends and family about the different dogs they have had during their lives.  An absolutely invaluable tool for me at the time was picking up the Puppies For Dummies book and reading it from cover to cover.  If there’s one book you should get before choosing a puppy I highly recommend this one.

Some of the most important things I learned in this book:

  • Choosing the correct breed for your lifestyle.  I was looking at three different breeds based on my previous background, but I also made sure to research each breed to make sure that breed suited my lifestyle.  The three breeds I chose were Golden Retriever, Labrador Retriever, and Australian Shepherd.  All of these breeds are highly intelligent, athletic, and need exercise to stay out of trouble.  Don’t choose a breed strictly on their nice looks.  This is a recipe for disaster.  If you don’t like exercising your dog then an athletic, high energy dog is probably not for you.
  • Staying away from the pet stores.  Hopefully most of you already know that many pet stores get their puppies from puppy mills.  Puppy mills are horrible places where people churn out puppies like a factory.  The dogs and puppies are treated very poorly and often the breeding stock never have a chance to leave their tiny cages.  It’s a horrible scene.  If you want to learn more about puppy mills then check out the stop puppy mills website.
  • Backyard Breeders – People who breed dogs just for the sake of it or to make a little money.  It’s not a good idea to pick up your puppy from a backyard breeder mainly because the backyard breeder does not consider possible faults, genetic defects, or whether their breeding stock are a good representative of the breed.

How To Find The Perfect Puppy

After reading through Puppies For Dummies we decided even though there definitely are good breeders out there we’d rather rescue a puppy from a shelter or rescue.  At the time I didn’t really thing about it, but the first step in raising a green dog is to get a recycled dog or puppy from your local pet shelter or rescue and a good way to find your perfect match is to search for your new puppy on Petfinder.com.  By the way, if you’re interested in purebred dogs, approximately 25% of the dogs at the shelter are purebreds.

After searching for Australian Shepherds, Labrador Retrievers, and Golden Retrievers in the Petfinder.com database I found a litter of three Australian Shepherd Labrador Retriever mixed breed puppies:

  • A tri-colored female
  • A black male
  • A black male with a white spot on his chest

Now a new task was at hand…How to Choose A Puppy From A Litter?

We’d love to hear your experiences on how to choose a puppy? or how you chose your puppy?  Leave us a comment below.

We didn’t want to go to long with this article so check out part two at How to Choose A Puppy From A Litter.

Also if you want to check out one of my earlier recollections on picking up Linus from the shelter take a look at A Shelter Dog Named Linus.

Filed Under: Dog Adoptions, Featured Tagged With: , , ,

Orange County Pet Expo 2010

January 12, 2010 By 5 Comments

Every year I get excited when I think about the Orange County Pet Expo.  The OC Pet Expo is usually scheduled from Friday to Sunday in the middle of April and this year is no different.  In 2010 the Pet Expo in Orange County is going to be held from April 16th to April 18th.  Right now it’s only January and I’m already getting excited.

Here’s a look back at some of the articles I wrote on the Orange County Pet Expo over the past few years:

America’s Family Pet Expo in Orange County, CA
Orange County Pet Expo 2008
Orange County Pet Expo 2009

The OC Pet Expo is one of our favorite events and way back in 2006 it was the trigger that got me started on guide dog puppy raising and rescue dog fostering.

Orange County Pet Expo 2010

EVENT: America’s Family Pet Expo
WHEN: April 16, 17, and 18, 2009
HOURS: Friday, 10AM – 6PM; Saturday, 10AM – 7PM; Sunday, 10AM – 6PM
WHERE: OC Fair and Event Center
88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Show Prices:

General Admission – $12.00
Seniors 60 & over – $10.00
Children 6-12 – $6.00
5 yrs and Under – FREE

We’ve had a ton of fun the past few years at the OC Pet Expo.  Back in 2008 Stetson was still a Guide Dog Puppy In Training and was allowed to accompany me into the Pet Expo.  I decided last year Derby was a little too young and inexperienced to attend the event.

The exhibitions at the OC Pet Expo are great for the entire family.  Last year we watched the Police Dog demonstration, the dog agility relays, Splash Dogs, visited the GDA booth, and the many dogs and dog rescues.

If you’re looking for some of the latest and greatest dog products then look no further than the Orange County Pet Expo.  Last year we picked up the Water Rover – Portable Dog Bowl.  If you’re looking for a great water bottle slash dog water bowl then check out the Water Rover.  We love using it on all of our outings especially on hikes or on our Guide Dog field trips.

Of course, dogs aren’t the only attraction at the OC Pet Expo.  There are also cats, birds, fish, snakes, lizards, llamas, ponies, rabbits, and many more.

So, if you’re a pet lover like me than visit the Orange County Pet Expo 2010 this year…you won’t regret that you did!

Did you got to the Pet Expo in Orange County last year?  If so, we’d love to hear what you thought about it in the comments section below.

Filed Under: Dog Events Tagged With: , , , , ,

Puppy In Training Blog Carnival 2010

January 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

It’s kind of funny, but as of October, 2009 I shut down and did not schedule any new Puppy In Training Blog Carnivals.  However, I continue to receive submissions from the blogcarnival.com website.  If I continue to receive blog carnival submissions I will continue to post the Puppy In Training Blog Carnival.  So please feel free to either submit through the Blog Carnival website or leave me you submissions in the comment section below.

image by 23am.com

Online Dog Training

Blogs are great and are often times full of wonderful information.  Online Dog Training was not available to us in the early 90′s.  However, today we can go to our favorite blog and just simple read the online dog training tip of the day.  Here are a few blogs offering tips on how to train your dog.

Send Her To The Crate presented by the Best Dog Crate Review Blog.  A few short tips on how to crate train your dog.  Stetson, Linus, and Derby were all crate trained and I highly recommend you crate train your dog as well.

Dog Training – Adapt Your Methods to Fit the Breed presented by Pet Prattle and Products. This is one of those articles that I wish would have had more detail.  You could probably write an entire book on adapting your training methods to fit a dog breed.  However, I would like to see more information in this area.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t leave a comment on this blog and if the blog owner reads this comment I’d very much be interested in seeing more resources on this subject.

Crap! Curb your Dog! presented by JERKLogic. You ever step in dog poop.  It’s maddening and so too agree the folks over at JERKLogic.

Archives for Small Dog Training presented by the Small Dog Training Blog.  You’ll find many articles here regarding small dog training.  While this is not an individual article it does offer a great resource for people interested in Online Dog Training.

Key Differences Between Dog and Puppy Training presented by Dog Training Pet.  Some interesting information on the differences between training an adult dog and a puppy.  I’ve raised puppies and they have grown into fine adults, but haven’t had as much experience with rescuing adult dogs.  We rescued our family dog, Maffy, a border collie mix and a purebred German Shepherd while volunteering with a local rescue.  However, at the time I did not really consider the differences in training puppies and adults.  Check out this article for more information.

Puppy Training

A New Puppy? Now Comes House Training! presented by The Dog Lover’s Blog. This article has some great tips on how to house train your puppy.  If you’re on the verge of bringinig home a new puppy I urge you to check out this article on some of the basics of potty training.

Puppies! presented by (Mis)adventures.  Who can resist puppies?  First off their are some adorable puppy pictures on this post.  That being said the article brings to light the upcoming Puppy Bowl and Puppy Therapy at universities.  Check out the article for more information.

Dog Products

Finding Frontline For Less presented by PetPip.  I currently use Frontline, but I’m looking for a greener alternative.  I’ve come across home remedies, but would love to hear others experience with eco-friendly, green ideas for keeping fleas and ticks off your dog.  Theres’ also a cute, short puppy pee video embedded in the article.

Miscellaneous Dog

25 Common Foods That Can Be Toxic for Your Pet presented by Veterinary Technician Schools Online.  This is a good resource of things you should not feed your dog.  Some of the most common food can be poisonous like grapes and raisins.   Be sure to take a look at this list.

Top 10 Celebrity Pets: Famous Cats and Dogs presented by The Pet Gazette.  Who do you think is number 1?  I’ve never heard of many of these pets, but I do know all the celebrities.  I think most people will recognize celebrity pet #1.

An Interview with Guffly mascot, Soy presented by Guffly.  I like this website and they often times have great products advertised on their blog.  However, today they wanted to advertise one of their mascots named Soy.

That’s it for this edition of the Puppy In Training Blog Carnival.  If you’d like to submit an article to our carnival please leave us a note in the comments section below.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Dog Tagged With: , ,

Dog Training Career

January 4, 2010 By 1 Comment

Have you been typing away underneath the fluorescent lights at your corporate job dreaming that a dog training career would someday become a reality?  Do you feel like you should be out in the sunlight with the breeze blowing through your hair helping people learn the intricacies of dog training?  Maybe a dog training career is in your future or maybe you just strive to be a better dog owner by learning more about how to train a dog.  I fall in the latter half and truly enjoy reading about dog training, dog tricks, dog breeds, and pretty much anything I can get my hands on to learn more about my dogs.

Today I came across an article about three entrepreneur’s who did exactly what I mentioned in the opening of this post.  They left the corporate life to pursue dog training careers.  Well…actually two left the corporate life for dog training careers and the third left her teaching career to pursue life as a dog groomer.  The point is they all left the regular working world for their dream of working with dogs as a career.

Dog Training Career

Photo by cryrolfe

Okay…for openers lets not get crazy and walk up to our bosses and hand in our letter of resignation just yet. The article: Entrepreneur’s Best Friend: Three Local Business Owners Find Fulfillment in Dog Care sheds some light on some of the good and not-so-good things about a career in dog training.  Here are a few negatives about joining the ranks of dog training, grooming, daycare careers:

  • If it’s money you’re after then you might stick to dog training as a hobby.  Lydia Wade-Driver founded Blue Ridge Assistance Dogs (BRAD) and says “It’s a hard business to make any money in,” says Wade-Driver, who earns less than $20,000 a year.
  • If you plan on opening a doggy daycare like Dog-ma then plan on picking up a lot of poop. “We’re always picking up poop. That’s the thing we do more than anything else. You want to go home and burn your clothes after a full shift at Dog-ma, that’s for sure.”
  • If you’re not into getting a decent workout and cleaning up occasional accidents (read point 2 about poop) dog grooming like Paws of Enchantment might not be for you.  “Some of these dogs weigh 100 pounds, and if they’re trying to struggle, you have to support them,” Kraham says. There’s also plenty of bending: “There’s the occasional accident on the floor. Not everyone walks their dogs in the morning. It happens.”

The only thing that would stop me from a dog training career is point number 1.  Here in California it would be very difficult to live off of $20,000 a year.  Maybe when I hit the lottery I will join the ranks of dog trainers, but until then I’m always looking to learn more about how to train my dog.

How about you?  Would you choose a dog training career?  If so, I’d love to hear what you think about dog training as a career.

Filed Under: Dog Training Career Tagged With: , , ,