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Puppy In Training TV – Ep1 – Picking Up Your Puppy

August 5, 2010 By 10 Comments

Episode 1 – Picking Up Your Puppy

Welcome to the first episode of Puppy In Training TV – Picking Up Your Puppy.  You’ll notice at the end of the episode we thank our sponsors.  If you’d like to sponsor an episode then please visit our Puppy In Training TV Sponsorship page.

Enjoy this weeks puppy training video!

Picking Up Your Puppy Transcription

The transcription is not nearly as riveting as the video, but we thought it would be a good idea to transcribe our puppy training videos.

Hey Everyone, my name’s Colby.  Welcome the the first episode of Puppy In Training starring this little guy right here: Dublin…Good Boy Dublin.

(Titles Roll): Puppy In Training TV Starring Dublin.  With Linus Aussie Mix Rescue.  Also Colby The Human.  And Stetson Career Changed Guide Dog.  Episode 1 – Picking Up Your Puppy.

Thanks for joining us for our first episode…Picking Up Your Puppy.  Since I first started raising Guide Dog Puppies I’ve been keeping a blog at PuppyInTraining.com.

However, this time I wanted to do a little more and share with my family some of the things I do with my guide dog puppies by shooting some video and starting a Puppy YouTube Channel.  So lets get started with our first episode – Picking Up Your Puppy.

There are a few things I like to do before puppy pickup day.

  1. First just stop by the pet supply store pickup some puppy toys, some Bitter Apple spray, Nature’s Miracle just in case my puppy has an accident.
  2. The second thing I like to do is puppy proof my house by getting down on my hands and knees and getting my puppy’s point of view – looking for any dangers he might see.

Puppy Pickup Day is one of those great times and I like to keep a list of things to do just so I don’t forget during the excitement.

  1. The first thing I like to do is make sure I bring a friend along to document the moment with pictures and video and help me with any problems I have.
  2. The second thing I like to do is just bring along a stuffed toy and rub it all over my puppy’s litter mates.  I like to do this because on my puppy’s first night home alone in his kennel he’ll have his little stuffed toy with the scent of his litter mates on it which will make him feel more comfortable.
  3. The final thing I like to do is bring lots of paper towels and rags just in case my puppy has an accident on the car ride home.

Lucky for us Guide Dogs of America sends us home with a nice little puppy care package to get us started on those first few days.  Some of the things we got were our puppy’s first bag of food, a nice blanket for his kennel, some fliers with training information on it, our puppy’s first guide dog vest, a brush, his leash and collar, some toys, we were also lucky enough to get a nice blanket and picture of litter mates from Dublin’s grandma.

Dublin’s first night at home wasn’t too bad.  He did whine for a little bit as you can see here in the video, but I put his toy in there with him with the scent of his litter mates and he fell asleep after maybe five minutes and slept almost through the entire night.

Thanks for joining us for our first episode of Puppy In Training.  Puppy Pickup Day is one of those very exciting times and whether you’re a guide dog puppy raiser or picking up your first puppy we’d love to hear your story so leave us a comment in the comment sections below and don’t forget to please subscribe to our YouTube Channel.  Thanks again and we’ll see you next time.

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A Special Thanks To This Episodes Sponsor:
Colby Morita
Connect With Colby:
BLOG:             http://PuppyInTraining.com
YOUTUBE:    http://www.youtube.com/PuppyInTraining
FACEBOOK:  http://www.facebook.com/PuppyInTraining
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For more information on how you can sponsor an episode visit PuppyInTraining.com.

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Things To Remember When You Go To Pickup Your Puppy

August 2, 2010 By 1 Comment

So, the day to pickup your puppy has arrived and you’ve forgotten everything you learned.  We’re definitely guilty of forgetting a thing or two on puppy pickup days.  However, I like to keep a short list of Things To Remember When We Go To Pickup Our Puppy.

Things To Remember When You Go To Pickup Your Puppy

  1. Bring A Friend – life is much easier if you have a friend or family member to help you on puppy pickup day.  It shouldn’t be too hard to get someone to join you to pickup up an adorable fuzzy little puppy.  Plus this will help when you get to item #3.
  2. Bring A Kennel - if you brought a friend you may not need a kennel (we get a head start and let our puppy ride at our feet on the passenger side floor boards).  However, if you’re going solo like I did with Stetson then you definitely need a kennel during your drive home (you don’t want your puppy squirming and trying to jump up on your lap while you’re driving).
  3. Take Lots of Pictures/Video – it’s definitely a special day and you want to make sure you document as much as possible by having your friend take pictures and/or shoot video to capture the moment you’ll be happy you did.  Once again, if you’re going solo then bring along a camera and ask some of the other puppy raisers to take a few shots of you and your new pup.
  4. Bring Rags and Paper Towels – I’ve raised three puppies for Guide Dogs of America and two out of three have had accidents during the car ride.  Stetson had a pee accident during his kennel ride and Derby vomited on the passenger floor.  Lucky for us we lined the kennel and the passenger floor with old rags and cleaned up with paper towels.
  5. Bring Along A Stuffed Toy and/or Blanket - If you’re raising a puppy for Guide Dogs of America then you’ll most likely get a plush stuffed toy and a blanket in your bag.  However, every year we make sure to bring a stuffed toy of our own rub on our puppy’s litter mates.  This gets the scent of the litter and helps when it comes time for puppy’s first night home in his kennel.  We wrote a short article on getting the scent of the litter a couple years ago after we brought home Stetson.

One final tip for Guide Dogs of America puppy raisers:  Make sure you try and listen to every word Louise says right before you head down to the nursery.  She has some great points that will help you raise your puppy.  I know it’s difficult to listen it being so close to having your cuddly puppy in your hands, but it will definitely benefit you and your new Guide Dog Puppy In Training.

Have you guys been following us on Facebook or Twitter?  If not, check out our pages at http://www.facebook.com/PuppyInTraining and http://www.twitter.com/PuppyInTraining.  We’ve been adding short updates on our latest Guide Dog Puppy In Training, Dublin’s progress including “Status” Updates, Updated Picture Albums, and links to some of our other GDA friends.

One final thing to note: We also plan on putting together a YouTube Channel and keep a Guide Dog Puppy Training Video Journal starring Dublin.  We plan on getting our first episode posted this week so make sure to subscribe to our channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/PuppyInTraining.

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What Should We Do Before We Bring Home A Puppy?

July 27, 2010 By 1 Comment

Shortly after deciding on a name for our newest Guide Dog Puppy In Training (We chose Dublin just in case you haven’t been following us on Facebook or Twitter) we thought What Should We do Before We Bring Home A Puppy?

This thought crosses our mind each time we bring home a new puppy.  Whether it’s your first or fiftieth puppy it’s a good idea to think about a few basic things before bringing home that next puppy.  Here are a few things that crossed my mind this time around:

What Should We Do Before We Bring Home A Puppy?


  1. Read or Re-read Your Guide Dog  Puppy Manual – If this is your first Guide Dog puppy then reading your Guide Dog Puppy Manual is a must.  We like to re-read and review our puppy manual before bringing home a new puppy.  If you are not a Guide Dog Puppy Raiser then we recommend Puppies For Dummies.  We read Puppies For Dummies before picking up Linus and found it very helpful.
  2. Get Puppy Supplies (Or replenish your supplies if it’s your second…third puppy) – A while back we wrote a list of Must Have Puppy Products.  Here’s a short recap:
    • Dog Crate – We prefer the wire crates for two reasons.  It provides more ventilation then the plastic crates.  Second, it comes with a metal divider that allows your crate to grow as your puppy does.
    • Nature’s Miracle Stain & Odor Remover – Inevitably there will be some accidents around the house.  Nature’s Miracle is great at removing odors.
    • Bitter Apple Spray – We haven’t raised a puppy yet that does not chew in his leash.  We just spray a little bitter apple on the leash and our puppies stop chewing.
    • Puppy Toys – This is a link to the large plush Mallard one of  our puppy’s all time favorites.  However, we recommend getting all different texture toys to give your puppy some variety including other favorites like the Kong and Nylabone.
  3. Puppy Proof The House – We like getting down on our hands and knees to get our puppies view point.  You might notice that outlets and wires are right at puppy eye level.  Make sure to block these areas off to make your home is a safe environment for your puppy.

Puppy pickup day is an exciting one.  However, make sure you at the very least think about the three things we mention above before bringing home that shiny new puppy.

Have you guys been following us on Facebook or Twitter?  If not, check out our pages at http://www.facebook.com/PuppyInTraining and http://www.twitter.com/PuppyInTraining.  We’ve been adding short updates on our latest Guide Dog Puppy In Training, Dublin’s progress including “Status” Updates, Updated Picture Albums, and links to some of our other GDA friends.

One final thing to note: We also plan on putting together a YouTube Channel and keep a Guide Dog Puppy Training Video Journal starring Dublin.  We plan on getting our first episode posted this week so make sure to subscribe to our channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/PuppyInTraining.

Puppies For Dummies
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What Are Good Dog Names?

June 10, 2010 By 3 Comments

The question, What Are Good Dog Names? pops up quite frequently when you raise puppies.  For instance as a Guide Dog puppy raiser we choose a new puppy name every year or so.  When fostering a litter of puppies we often times have to come up with several puppy names in a short period of time.

When I first picked up Linus from the animal shelter in Carson I never really thought about the question: “What Are Good Dog Names?” or even “What should I name my dog?“…

I remember driving home with my girlfriend brainstorming good dog names including front runners like Max which by the way is the most popular dog name according to some polls.  Another name I really liked was Fiver (I just finished reading Watership Down and Fiver was the one of the rabbits in the book).  It actually took us a couple days before we settled in on Linus.

On the other hand sometimes a good name will just pop in your head the moment you see a new puppy.  For instance, when we brought home and fostered litter of 7 puppies one stood out and I immediately said he looks like a George (this name breaks one of my rules for naming puppies).  However for some reason I did not have a name pop into my head for the other six puppies, but the one was definitely a George (my brother and his wife ended up adopting George and he still goes by that name today).

What Are Good Dog Names?

A while back we wrote a short article on how to name a puppy and received some excellent feedback from our readers.  I wanted to point out one comment that stood out in particular from one of our fellow puppy raisers:

We were going over names one day while having lunch at Farmer’s Market in L.A. and after our second glass of wine, we came up with DUDE…And after “Sit Dude” and “Dude, Come”, and “BAD DUDE!!”, we were laughing hysterically.

I don’t think GDA would approve, but, ya never know….

Seriously, a strong 2 syllable name works best when you are issuing commands. That’s why we’ve had Boomer, Buster, Trooper and now Dexter.
If your dog wanders away, what will bring him/her back? “Here Decartes!!”??”Come DAEDALUS!!”??? Don’t think so. Not that those aren’t great names. I wanted to name a dog Zampano, after a famous Italian Strongman, but Janet gave me the “Are you CRAZY??” look. These are WORKING dogs that need working names.

A strong two syllable name is a good rule to try and follow when choosing a good dog name.

Another thing you might consider is to avoid common human names.  My name, Colby is not too common, but anytime I hear someone say “Colby” or even “Kobe” I immediately turn my head.    If your dog has a common human name he may start hearing it all the time when out in public.  I can think of two things a dog might do when hearing his name constantly out in public.  First, he might at the minimum turn his head, but also may want to head towards the person calling his name.  On the other extreme, if he hears his name all the time he may just start ignoring his name in all situations.

How To Name A Guide Dog Puppy?

As I said before we discussed how to name a puppy in a previous post, but I still wanted to highlight a few main points from that article.

  1. We (Puppy Raisers) are given the opportunity to name our puppies.
  2. Guide Dogs of America assigns a letter to each litter.  Each puppy’s name from that litter starts with that letter.  For instance Stetson was from the “S” litter and Derby was from the “D” litter.
  3. The name can’t be the same as a current Puppy In Training, current Guide Dog, or current Breeder.
  4. It also can’t be a funny type name. For instance, our puppy manual says please no guide dogs by the name of “Popcorn”. Guide Dogs of America are usually pretty lenient. Before getting Stetson I submitted a list to Louise our puppy program manager, and she let me know what names were available/appropriate.

If you’re still having trouble coming up with a list of  good dog names or puppy names then check out our page of puppy names sorted alphabetically.

It’s been a couple years, but once again you may already have guessed why I’m talking about puppy names again…

That’s right!  We’ve decided to raise another puppy for Guide Dogs of America!

What Should I Name My Guide Dog Puppy?

Do you want to help us name our next Guide Dog Puppy?  Here’s  what you need to do:

  1. Visit the Puppy In Training Fan Page
  2. Click the “Like” button on our fan page.
  3. We will announce the letter assigned to our litter in the next few days.
  4. In the comments section in Facebook or in the comments section below let us know what you think we should name our new puppy.

That’s it!  Be sure to visit our Fan Page and click the “Like” button so you can be the among the first to find out what letter is assigned to our litter.  Do you know of any good dog names that start with the letter “D”?

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Puppy Training

March 22, 2010 By 8 Comments

When we first started writing to the Puppy In Training website our main focus was to chronicle the journey of my guide dog puppy, Stetson and share all of our experiences in puppy training and raising a guide dog.

A couple months after Stetson started his formal guide dog training we were asked to raise a second guide dog puppy in training.  We accepted and so began the chronicles of our next guide dog, Derby and his puppy training.

If you’ve been following along then you know Derby the little yellow puppy in the picture below was career changed the middle of last year.

As time passed this blog has evolved and we enjoyed not only sharing our experiences with guide dog puppy training, but also just about everything that came across our desk regarding dogs and puppies.

It’s been over three years since we first started our guide dog puppy training journey and as many of you know today I am without a guide dog puppy.  However, after writing over 300 articles to this blog I wanted to share some of my favorite and most popular puppy training articles.

Puppy Training

While not all totally about puppy training I’m sure you’ll enjoy these articles and some of the adorable puppy pictures.

  • Top 10 Dogs Good With Children – If you’re looking to get a new puppy I’d suggest checking out your local shelter or rescue.  There are many adorable purebred and mixed breed puppies and dogs at your local rescues and shelters.  If you’re looking for a dog good with kids then check out this first part about dogs good with children.  You can also find the second article in this series here: Dogs Good With Children Part II
  • Can A Litter Of Puppies Have More Than One Father? – When I first started volunteering with the Cuddly Canines rescue I picked up 7 little German Shepherd puppies and they all looked very different.  The owner of Cuddly Canines told me that it was possible that their were multiple father’s of this litter.  I found this very interesting and threw together a short article about litters having more than one father.
  • How Much Should I Feed My Puppy – After raising several puppies over the past few years I noticed some (Stetson) got a bit chunky while eating the same amount as others (Derby) who got very skinny.  I put together a short article about what your bag of kibble recommends versus what we feed our guide dogs.
  • How To Handle Your Puppy’s First Night At Home – We always crate train our puppies.  Some like Derby are easy and sleep straight through the night from day 1.  Others like Stetson and Linus cry, bark, howl, scratch, scream…you name it from sun down to sun up.  This article lists a few hints on how you might be able to make your puppies first night at home a little easier on you and him.
  • Crate Training Puppies – This was a direct response to one of my readers having issues with her puppy and crate training.  I gave 14 tips on how to crate train your puppy.
  • What’s The Life Expectancy Of Your Dog? – I love my dogs and often wonder about their mortality.  I hope they will live between 15-20 years.  However, I wanted to see what average life expectancy was for different dog breeds.
  • The Cutest Puppy Ever – I wanted to put together a series of articles on all the puppies I had raised over the past few years and post a few pictures.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have photos of all the litters, but I did take a lot of Derby, Stetson, Linus, and the litter of seven German Shepherd mixes.  This is the first article in that series.  I already closed the voting poll, but you can still check out the adorable images of puppies.
  • Dachshund Acts As Mom To Baby Piglet – The beginning of February 2008 a story came across my desk about a piglet adopted by a Dachshund and her litter of puppies.  I wrote a short article and posted some pictures.  Little did I know that the story would become and internet phenomenon for Johanna Kerby, Pink, and Tink.
  • Black And Tan Labrador Retrievers – It’s been controversial, but when I first started training Stetson as a guide dog I heard about Black and tan Labrador Retrievers and wrote an article about what I heard at Guide Dog group and read on the internet.

How’s My Puppy Training Going?

What are the state of my dogs?  Well just in case you haven’t been following along.  Over five years ago I adopted my first dog Linus from the Carson Animal Shelter.  About two years after adopting Linus I began fostering rescue dogs and puppies with the rescue organization Cuddly Canines.  About 6 months after working with foster puppies I began volunteering as a puppy raiser with Guide Dogs of America.   Stetson was my first guide dog puppy in training and was career changed (dropped) after two months of formal guide dog training.  Derby was my second guide dog puppy in training and was dropped several months before he had a chance to start his formal training.

So what have we been doing if we haven’t been training a puppy?  As many of you know, Derby was adopted by another loving family and unfortunately we haven’t heard much back from them, but hope that he’s living a wonderful life with plenty of room to run around.  After getting career changed Stetson moved back home with me and Linus my Australian Shepherd mix rescue dog.  Right now me and my two big black dogs are focusing on four main goals:

  • Working on Linus and his behavior around other dogs and people on our neighborhood walks.
  • Working with Stetson and Therapy Dog Training.  We talked about this a while back and have recently been sidetracked.
  • Puppy sitting other guide dog puppies when needed.
  • Taking video of guide dog puppy training and our group meetings.

We’ve also been tinkering with the idea of possibly raising another guide dog puppy, but we aren’t quite sure if we’re ready to take on that responsibility yet.  A secondary option we’ve been considering is possibly fostering rescue dogs and puppies from our local shelters.

It’s been nearly three years since I started writing to this blog and hopefully we’ll continue for another three more.  We’ll continue to do our best to keep you informed about the latest puppy training tips as we continue our journey with Stetson, Linus, and any other puppies or dogs that pass through our lives.

Have you recently raised or plan on raising a puppy?  Let us know if you have any puppy training questions in the comment section below.

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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: , , ,

IAMS Home 4 The Holidays Aims To Place 1.5 Millions Pets

December 14, 2009 By 2 Comments

Last weekend we attended the Home for the Holidays Pet Adoption at the Irvine Animal Shelter.  It was great to see all the wonderful volunteers working to get animals placed before the holidays.  While dogs seem to dominate the pet adoption there were also cats, birds, bunnies, and even a pig.

We do our best here at Puppy In Training to promote our local shelters and rescues and also advertise upcoming adoption events including the aforementioned Home for the Holidays Pet Adoption, the Super Adoption, and the OC Pet Expo.

This year we were contacted to participate in a larger adoption event.  The IAMS Home 4 the Holidays and Hillary Swank aim to place 1.5 million pets in homes this holiday season.   This is a very admirable goal and we are all for people adopting homeless animals from our shelters and rescues.

IAMS Home 4 the Holidays

IAMS Home 4 the Holidays

Here are some facts from the IAMS Home 4 the Holidays website:

  • As many as 8 million animals are homeless in the U.S.
  • Nearly 4 million orphaned dogs and cats will be euthanized this year due to shelter over-crowding and lack of awareness about the importance of pet adoption.
  • More than 25 percent of all dogs in shelters are purebreds.
  • IH4TH helped 1,202,751 pets find homes last year alone.
  • In Oct. 2008 Hilary Swank adopted Rumi through IH4TH at a Los Angeles shelter.
  • Over the past decade more than 3 million pets –1,638,515 dogs, 1,505,690 cats and 134,062 “other” animals – have been adopted through IH4TH.

Those numbers are staggering and for those of you looking for a purebred dog – “25% of all dogs in shelters are purebred.”

Even though we are advocates of pet adoption we would also like to point out that you should carefully plan and evaluate your own situation before you make the decision to adopt a new pet.  A new pet in your family is a tremendous responsibility and adopting a cat or dog is usually a 10+ year commitment.

One final thought…If your thinking about getting a dog, cat, puppy, kitten as a gift then please read my article on Christmas Puppies before you make that decision.  A pet as a gift is usually not a wise decision.

We’re happy be a part of the IAMS Home 4 the Holidays blogging program and hope to see them reach their goal of 1.5 million pets adopted this holiday season.

We did receive one update notifying us that 621,034 pets had been adopted since October 1st, 2009.  That’s great!  We’re well on our way to reaching the 1.5 million goal.

Please leave us a comment if you adopt a pet in the coming weeks.  We’d love to hear about your experience and see some pictures of your new pet.

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

Christmas Puppy – Are They A Good Gift?

November 27, 2009 By 17 Comments

You’ve seen it before maybe in a commercial or in a clever magazine advertisement with the image of a Christmas puppy in the stocking. It’s irresistible! How can anyone pass up the chance to purchase a Christmas Puppy for their loved one on the twenty-fifth of December?  The holidays just wouldn’t be right without your rollie pollie little Christmas puppy playing with empty gift wrappings and ribbons…[fade from dream sequence back into reality]

Christmas Puppy?

Christmas Puppy

Photo by Fauxen

While all sounds wonderful in the thoughts and images of a new puppy for Christmas I have to put my foot down and say “DON’T DO IT!”

I’m not going to look up the statistics right now, but I’m willing to wager that a number of these so-called Christmas Puppies end up in animal shelters anywhere from a few weeks to a few months later.

Why Not?

Let me start off by saying a puppy is a lot of a work…A LOT OF WORK…

I get tons of emails at this site saying

I just got a new puppy:

  • How do I get him to stop crying/barking/howling?
  • How do I get him to stop peeing/pooping in the house?
  • How do I get him to stop biting/mouthing?
  • How do I get him crate trained?
  • How do I get him to stop chewing my valuables?
  • How do I…

The list goes on and on.  I admit that puppies are very cute.  They seem like they would make a great Christmas gift, but just say NO!

Puppy As A Gift

Here’s how I’d go about getting a puppy as a gift.

  • I like surprises so I’d just plan a day with my girlfriend and behind the scenes I’d set up an appointment(s) with a puppy rescue(s).  You can find local puppy rescues by searching through the Petfinder.com website.  We volunteer with a great puppy rescue called Cuddly Canines if you live in the Orange County, California area.
  • Purchase a great puppy training book like the Puppies For Dummies book and wrap it.  On the way to your first puppy rescue you can give your girlfriend the book and explain what your going to be doing for the day.
  • If your girlfriend is uninterested in a new puppy as a gift then you can just spend a nice day together looking at puppies (who can resist puppy watching?).  If she is interested then you can start the discussion of the responsibility of caring for a puppy as well as seeing some prospects during your day.

You may need to adapt this for Christmas as I’m sure puppy rescues would not be showing their puppies on Christmas day.

A few more pointers:

  • If indeed you decide that a puppy is in your future please avoid purchasing your puppy from the pet store.  The majority of these puppies come from puppy mills which are horrible places.  Read more about puppy mills here.
  • Again if you do decide that a puppy is in your future then please consider adopting your puppy from a local animal rescue or shelter.  If you’re like us and you’re interested in becoming a more green eco-friendly family then one of the greenest things you can do is adopt your puppy from the shelter or animal rescue.
  • Make sure you’re informed and know exactly what your getting into.  I’d suggest reading the entire Puppies For Dummies book before making any decisions on purchasing a puppy.  There are some great tips in the book on how to choose a puppy: puppy temperament tests, breed selection, and many more.

One final thought.  If you plan on getting a Christmas puppy then make sure your significant other is ready to take on the responsibility of a new puppy.  A puppy as a Christmas gift is usually a bad idea because people just simply aren’t ready for that kind of responsibility.

I think that pretty much sums it up.  If your truly bent on getting your loved one a  puppy for Christmas then please try following my “Puppy As A Gift” idea rather than taking the full plunge without the consent of your girlfriend or boyfriend.

This article contains affiliate links.  If you click the links on this page and make a purchase we will receive a small monetary commission that we will use to help cover the costs of running the Puppy In Training website.

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

Dog Bowl Reviews

August 26, 2009 By 22 Comments

Some people are looking for a beautiful custom made ceramic dog bowl that matches the interior of their house like any other piece of art. Others however look for a functional dog bowl, one that gets a specific job done. A dog bowl for most people provides your dog’s meal and a place to drink water.

Do you think I’m looking for a dog bowl as a piece of art or for it’s functional purposes?  That’s right when I look for a dog bowl I try to find one with a purpose.  Take a look at the bowls we’ve collected and reviewed below:

Dog Bowls

That’s Linus, Derby, and Stetson trying to figure out which bowl will hold their next meal.  Not all the dog bowls reviewed are in this picture.

Be sure to check our website every Tuesday for the latest in-depth dog bowl review.  We will continue reviewing dog food and water bowls every Tuesday for the next few months.

Dog Bowls With A Purpose

As a Guide Dog Puppy Raiser and a Labrador Retriever owner we run into two problems quite often.  First of all, as a puppy raiser I take my dog everywhere and often times need a nice traveling dog bowl for both feeding and giving my puppies water.

Second, I have Labrador Retrievers and if you know Labs you’ll know they don’t eat food they gulp down food.  Early on I noticed this was a problem with Stetson.  As a puppy he would eat so fast he’d either start choking on his food or he would vomit shortly after eating.  This happened probably about every other meal.

We tried several different dog bowl options and received many suggestions from our friends and family which led to our very first dog bowl review.  We picked up the Brake-Fast Dog Food Bowl from Linus’s trainer and it helped slow down the eating frenzy.

However, shortly after using the Brake-Fast Dog Food Bowl Stetson began breaking out all over his chin.  He had canine acne and our veterinarian told us the most likely cause was using a plastic bowl.  According to our vet the plastic bowls harbor more bacteria and end up causing canine acne in some dogs.  He suggested we switch back to a stainless steel dog bowl.

That’s where our dog bowl journey begins.  We didn’t totally rule out plastic bowls, but we did keep in mind that a plastic dog bowl might cause acne in our dogs.

Dog Bowls For Fast Eaters

  • Contech EatBetter Dog Bowl – Another dog food bowl with obstacles.  A slightly different configuration then the Brake-Fast Bowl.

contech eatbetter dog bowl

Dog Pause Food Bowl

metal brake fast dog bowl

Dog-Water-Bowl

Those are the contenders for dog bowls that will help slow down a fast eating dog.  I’m sure not everyone runs into the problems associated with a speed eater like my Labrador Retrievers.  We will continue our series on Dog Bowl Reviews over the next couple days.  Tomorrow we’ll cover Traveling Dog Bowls and Products and Friday we’ll check out the ever so popular category of Not Quite A Dog Bowl (most of these products are good for traveling with your dog).

This list may grow over time as I’ve already seen some other products I’m interested in reviewing so check back often to see if your favorite dog bowl is under review.

Are there any dog bowls you think I should add to this list?  What dog bowls have you used to slow down a fast eating dog?

Beginning next Tuesday (every Tuesday we will reveal a new dog bowl review) we will start releasing in-depth reviews of each dog bowl.  Some reviews will include exclusive video footage and all reviews will have great images and detailed reviews from our staff and our dogs.

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

OCTA Offers Service Animal Training

August 20, 2009 By 3 Comments

Last year the Orange County Transportation Authority provided public transit orientation training to service animals and their handlers / trainers.  Myself and Derby were lucky enough to take part in this free program.  We shuttled around in the bus starting at the Fullerton Park and Ride and ended at Knott’s Berry Farm for lunch with several of our friends from Guide Dogs of America and Guide Dogs of the Desert.  If you haven’t seen the pictures from last year take a look at this post: Puppies on Buses. We’re in luck because once again this October OCTA is offering service animal training on their buses.

Service Animal Training With OCTA

Puppy In Bus

Here are the details on this event:

What: OCTA Public Transit Orientation for service animals and their trainers / handlers
When: Saturday, October 3rd, 2009, 8am – 12pm
Where: Fullerton Park and Ride, 3000 West Orangethorpe, Fullerton, California

Here’s the information I received from the Orange County Transportation Authority:

Service Animal Trainers / Handlers of Orange County

The Orange County Transportation Authority will once again be providing public transit orientation training to service animals and their handlers / trainers on Saturday, October 3, 2009 at the Fullerton Park and Ride, 3000 West Orangethorpe, Fullerton, California.

Buses will be departing every thirty minutes on the hour and half hour beginning at 8:00 am, with the last bus leaving at 1200 noon.

All service animals and handlers/trainers are encouraged to attend.

During this event, you will have the opportunity to apply for a No Fare Identification Card (this is not a requirement). The No Fare Identification Card identifies the animal as being in training and the handler/trainer is not required to pay a fare when boarding the bus. The fee for this identification is $2.00.

Please contact event coordinator, Pam Peters at 714-265-4387 or ppeters [at] octa [dot] net with any questions.

I look forward to seeing everyone at this event.

Pam Peters
714-265-4387
ppeters [at] octa [dot] net
Instructor, Operations Training
Orange County Transportation Authority

So not only is OCTA offering this great service to allow us to ride their buses with our animals for the day, but they are also giving us the opportunity to apply for a No Fare Identification Card.  That’s awesome!  I can’t wait for this years event.

Service Animal Training – Puppies On Buses

I rarely ride the bus or any form of public transportation.  The OCTA’s Service Animal Training program is a great opportunity for Guide Dog puppy raisers to introduce their puppies to the bus.  Last year was a lot of fun.  We got to experience the bus ride, walking around with other people training guide dogs, and walking around the outside of Knott’s Berry Farm.  Not only that, but we also got to meet many different people and dogs.  We saw dogs from several other groups including Guide Dogs of America, Guide Dogs for the Blind, Canine Companions for Independence, Guide Dogs of the Desert, Therapy Dogs International, and many other groups.  We even came across a man who was training his Vizsla to be a Cadaver Dog.  The OCTA training was a great experience for both me and my puppy Derby.

Unfortunately this years Service Animal Training coincides with the GDA Partners Awards Dinner.  Hopefully our friends at Guide Dogs of America will have time to attend both events this year.

If you have a service animal we’d love to see you at this years OCTA Service Animal Training.

Have you attended this event in the past?  How was your experience?

A final note, this event takes place the first Saturday in October in case you want to put it on the calendar for next year.

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