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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

First Aid Supplies


In any emergency a family member or you yourself may be cut, burned or suffer other injuries. If you have these basic supplies you are better prepared to help your loved ones when they are hurt. Remember, many injuries are not life threatening and do not require immediate medical attention. Knowing how to treat minor injuries can make a difference in an emergency. Consider taking a first aid class, but simply having the following things can help you stop bleeding, prevent infection and assist in decontamination. (Info From Ready.Gov )

Things You Should Have:

  • Two pairs of Latex, or other sterile gloves (if you are allergic to Latex).
  • Sterile dressings to stop bleeding.
  • Cleansing agent/soap and antibiotic towelettes to disinfect.
  • Antibiotic ointment to prevent infection.
  • Burn ointment to prevent infection.
  • Adhesive bandages in a variety of sizes.
  • Eye wash solution to flush the eyes or as general decontaminant.
  • Thermometer (Read more: Biological Threat)
  • Prescription medications you take every day such as insulin, heart medicine and asthma inhalers. You should periodically rotate medicines to account for expiration dates.
  • Prescribed medical supplies such as glucose and blood pressure monitoring equipment and supplies.

Things That May Be Good To Have In Your Kit:

  • Cell phone with charger
  • Scissors
  • Tweezers
  • Tube of petroleum jelly or other lubricant

Non-Prescription Drugs:

    Medique 40061 First Aid Kit, 61-Piece
  • Aspirin or nonaspirin pain reliever
  • Anti-diarrhea medication
  • Antacid (for upset stomach)
  • Laxative

Housebreaking Tips

Housebreaking Tips
Always keep teamwork in mind instead of punishment when a new dog is brought home.
One thing that makes sense when you are housebreaking a puppy is to take them outside and stay with them to watch for when the business is done so you are there to show them that they have done the right thing in the right spot.
How does the dog know otherwise unless we show them the place we desire them to do this business at?
 How do they know it pleases us if we do not show them?
If you show the puppy how happy you are by petting and praising them, they will love to do that again for you. They will go to that spot and sit waiting for you to be happy.


And, if they puddle inside, unless you catch him in the act there is little you can do because he will only remember that you got mad, and rubbed his nose in something he didn't want his nose in.
The puppy does not think about what it did when you are mad at it but only of your fearful actions and how to react to the fear.
How do you want the puppy to remember you, his beloved owner, as a happy owner, or mad person?

Sure the dog knows they made you mad at that spot inside if you rub their nose there. They do not want to pee there again and will be aware of that spot. Now, they have to find someplace else to do that business.
You'll find puddles all over the house as you continue putting the puppy outside then shutting the door in its face, only to let the pup come in and do it again because you never showed them where they should go do this business to make you happy. You just kick them out which teaches nothing.
Teaching your puppy or older dog where to go to the bathroom only takes a few very happy moments of praise for the dog to desire to please you again which makes going with the pup and petting them a much quicker way to housebreak a dog.
All you do to housebreak and teach a new dog or puppy to go potty outside is give them the opportunity to go outside at the right moment and praise.

Here are the steps I use.
 First, look at your own household schedule and determine how you will get the puppy outside first thing in the morning and as soon as you or another family member arrives home.
The most important thing to remember is that a dog has to go to the bathroom when they first wake up after a long nap and when you get home which wakes them up or allows them the opportunity not to hold on any longer. They have to go if they have been waiting for you all day while you are at work.
You, the owner, must get into the habit of letting the dog outside on your way to the coffee pot in the morning and as soon as you walk in the door. Otherwise, you are not doing your part of allowing the dog the opportunity to relieve itself.
When you let your puppy outside to go potty the first few times go with the puppy and when the puppy potty’s then praise like this is the best thing in the world for you and them. After a few times of this the puppy will start running to the door to get outside for some love after they go potty.
Now it is up to you, the owner, to see when the puppy goes to the door and shows you it’s time to go outside, if you miss this opportunity then the dog is not to blame.  Do not get mad at the dog, just put them outside and clean up the mess because otherwise they will not understand why you are mad. They do not remember or think about what they have done like people do.
Dogs think about the moment and if you make that time enjoyable then you will have a well mannered dog for life.

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Sunday, August 28, 2011

How to Encourage a Dog


Learn to love and watch a dog accomplish what they set out to do. Capture the moment that resides in all of us. The moment of accomplishment of though, focus, action and movement in perfect harmony.
This is what brings into creation the art of being able to put in motion
a thought in real life with the joy of the moment.


Dog love to please us, they have proven time and time again throughout history that they will do for us anything we ask or need with tail wagging joy and total commitment.
They learn early on to come to us and ask us to take them for a walk, to feed them and to love them. They know how to get our attention and we've all heard about how well our dogs train us.
A well trained dog is actually a partnership built on trust and love with its handler.
Dogs that are trained to fear being wrong are not working with their handler as a teammate, as a partner. They are reacting from fear of punishment and have learned that the handler will scare them if they do that behavior again.

They have not learned to think of the performance but of the punishment. Even the slightest punishment puts the dog's attention on what you are doing "to" him and not what he is doing at the moment.
We want your dogs to be thinking of what they can do for you instead of what you might do to them.
Training dogs with food rewards can bring on a similar response where the dog is only working for the food and not with you as a team member. Food therefore, is only recommended as a way to motivate the dog to begin to pay attention and then the food should be replaced with praise that leads to teamwork.
Willie ready for Tsunami Drill

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Family Disaster Dog Equipment Needed


You do not need any special equipment to begin training your family dog to assist your family and friends in a disaster or emergency situation. 

Any dog, any age will help you look for lost family members or friends once you know how to ask the dog to help you. 

Dog's are called Man's Best Friend because they are always willing to be there for us, ready to lend a paw whenever needed. With a little bit of education this natural instinct to please will come in handy during an emergency situation. 

Equipment makes training easier but during an actual emergency equipment can be lost or not available due to location, rubble or flood waters. In that case, all you are left with is your dog which is why our dogs are the most important piece of disaster preparedness equipment we can invest in. 

Throughout human existence the family dog has aided in our survival without any equipment but love. 

All you need is;

        1.  The family Dog (any age will do)

         2. One sock from each family member
    
         3.  Lots of encouragement praise, love

         4. Dog treats for the less inclined dog

Extra Equipment which is useful as training progresses includes;

         1.  20 ft long leash in a width that fits your dog's size.

         2.  A Harness for your dog for Tracking

         3.  Flat Collar with ID tag

         4.  A treat and equipment waist bag for you, a carpenter's nail bag works great!

         5.  A 24 to 72 hour Emergency Survival Pack   click for list to put in backpack

         6. Back Pack for your dog to carry first aid and survival supplies.


Gucci from Sausalito



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Welcome UK and worldwide visitors and friends to Family Disaster Dogs online! Although I'm an American author and dog professional the worldwide web has given me the opportunity to connect with some wonderful folks who have contributed pictures for my books. The "Start Mantrailing" book features RRI K9 North Scotland trained Search and Rescue Dog "Amber" on the cover and her teammates training in the book, plus American dogs using my training methods. A portion of sales of the Start Mantrailing book or copies were donated to RRI North Scotland. The children's picture book "My Puppy Can Find Me" has my daughter and bloodhound as illustrations by UK cartoonist Scotty King. You can find the books on Amazon UK or use the contact page to order from me. When you click the links will take you to your own county pages of this site.

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