4 Factors To Consider When Choosing A Dog Breed

 4 Factors To Consider When Choosing A Dog Breed 

Bringing a pet into your life requires more planning than many people think. It doesn't matter whether you need a pet for companionship or specialized tasks; you want to make sure you choose a suitable breed for your environment and lifestyle. It is important to prepare your home before bringing in your new friend, and choosing the right breed is vital for building a harmonious relationship with fewer risks of trouble in the future. Here are four factors to help you find the right dog breed. 

1. Size matters 

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When choosing a dog breed, the size of your living area is one of the most important elements to consider. Do you live in a house or a modest apartment? Do you have enough room for a huge dog, or will your living space only be big enough for a tiny dog? Depending on the breed, it is convenient to have a backyard where your dog can go outside and relieve themselves. Additionally, large breeds such as the Great Danes have other physical concerns. Smaller dogs such as the Chihuahuas may be more susceptible to mishaps or cooler temperatures than larger breeds. 

2. Breed 

Different breeds have unique characteristics. According to the American Kennel Club, seven dog breed groups are herding, hound, working, sporting, non-sporting, terrier, and toy. Every breed has its traits, so it is crucial to determine if they are compatible with yours. For instance, a hypoallergenic dog breed can be a good fit if you are allergic to animal fur. However, you want to ensure their characteristics match the ones you are looking for. Usually, mixed-breed dogs, like an Australian Cobberdog, are supposed to be better versions of their parents due to the combination of desirable characteristics. However, there's no assurance they will have all of the desirable characteristics and no negative ones. You will have to learn what an Australian Cobberdog is and how ideal it can be for you if you are looking for an ideal breed.

3. Costs 

Regardless of size, temperament, or breed, every dog needs various supplies. This may include bedding, food and water bowls, periodic vaccination, crates for traveling, and other grooming supplies. Other potential costs include professional grooming, boarding fees, and licenses. While large breeds may require more feeding expenses, particular breeds may need extensive medical attention, so you want to factor in the financial commitments that come with picking a particular breed before deciding.

 

4. Present lifestyle 

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Taking care of a dog is similar to taking care of a child, particularly if you have a puppy. Some breeds, regardless of age, require time to play and exercise to manage any destructive behaviors. Meanwhile, your occupation may be keeping you away from home for long periods. How much time you spend with your dog is essential for pet care. However, this shouldn't be a biggie if you have other people who can care for your dog in your absence. You must ensure these caretakers are responsible enough for the job. 

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to finding a new dog. What matters is that you find the correct dog for you. Whether you want to adopt or buy a dog from a breeder, you should look for a breed that fits your lifestyle and living arrangements.

Simple Ways To Keep Your Dog Happy When They're Home Alone

Before we become dog owners, we all have a responsibility to consider the amount of time we’ll be able to dedicate to our canine companions. Unfortunately, even if you’re around a lot of the time, the odd work trip or day out can still see you leaving your dog at home alone.

As many of us find out the hard way, this separation can see even the perfect family dog wreaking havoc at home. From chewed furniture to neighbor noise complaints and beyond, this can make an already difficult separation much harder. However, there are steps you can take to keep your dog happy even while they’re home alone, and we’re going to consider your best options. 

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Provide them with a Safe Space

Dogs are pack animals, and they rely on this pack mentality to face threats. Left alone, your dog may feel exposed, vulnerable, and in need of defensive behaviors, hence they may become destructive or uncharacteristically loud. To avoid this, it’s best to provide them with a generally safe space that they already know and feel relaxed in. Crates are great for this purpose and can even be kept open in any room to provide your dog a go-to safe spot that they know. Equally, leaving them in an area of the house that they spend a lot of time in and that has things like their bed, water, etc. can significantly reduce the impact of separation anxiety, and its overall negative outcomes.

Ensure Plenty of Stimulation

You wouldn’t like to be left at home with nothing to do, and nor would your dog. In fact, boredom is perhaps the leading cause of destructive canine behavior when home alone. To overcome this, it’s therefore important to provide plenty of stimulation for your dog when you aren’t around. Chew toys like Kongs that include puzzles your dog needs to solve can be especially great for this, as can fresh animal chew treats like those from Superior Farms which can last for the entire time you’re away in most instances. Simply experiment with a few different techniques while you’re around, and see which occupies your dog’s attention for the longest time so that you can pick the best option when you are away. 

Get them used to Time Alone

While no dog owner should ever deprive their dog of attention, keeping your pooch happy when they’re home alone is also easiest if you get them used to their own company when you’re around. Obviously, you should never do this to the detriment of playtime or walks, etc., but something as simple as leaving your dog to play in the other room alone while you complete household errands can help them to adjust to the solo life. Then, when you do have to leave, it’ll be far less shocking for a dog that’s already happier in its own company. 

Leaving your dog is never a pleasant experience, but you can at least rest easy that they’ll be happier at home alone when you implement these pointers. 

Have You Just Adopted A Dog? Give Yourself A Big Pat On The Back

 

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Dogs are precious animals. To many of us, they are more than just pets, they’re companions. 

Unfortunately, some dogs can’t find homes. That’s when caring people step in and provide them with a family. 

Is that what you’ve just done? If so, give yourself a big pat on the back. You’re making the world a better place. 

You Might Have Just Saved Their Life

Adopting a dog is about more than providing them with a pleasant home. In fact, in many cases, you could be saving their life. 

Figures suggest that people rescue around a million dogs a year in the US. If it wasn’t for these individuals, shelters would overflow and there would be nowhere to keep them. The only choice would be to put them down, and nobody who cares about dogs wants that. By rescuing a dog, you’re freeing up space for other animals to have a chance to look for a home. 

You’ll Earn A Great Friend

You can also give yourself a nice big pat on the back for getting a new friend. Dogs love people and being around their family. They always want to be in a group. As long as you look after your new pet, they will always be loyal. 

You Can Learn How To Rescue Other Dogs

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Adopted dogs sometimes have checkered pasts. Things haven’t always gone right for them, which is why they wind up in shelters. 

As Nicole Simone of Redemption Paws points out, it can take a lot of work adopting a dog. In many cases, you have to engage in rehabilitation so that the rescued pup can be a happy and healthy animal. 

The first time you do this, it’s a steep learning curve. However, after that, it gets significantly easier. Once you’re on your third or fourth, you know the drill and can rescue dogs much more easily. 

You Just Saved Yourself Some Money

Buying a pedigree pooch as a puppy is expensive, particularly if you go to a well-respected breeder. It’s easy to spend more than $1,000 getting the dog that you want. 

When you adopt, though, it’s pretty much free. Shelters will usually just perform a few background checks, then you’re free to ride off into the sunset with your new dog. Sure, you’ll have to provide food and toys, but the costs of doing so are minimal for most people. 

You’ll Improve Your Own Healthy

Study after study shows that dog owners are healthier than the rest of the population. Not only do they do more exercise, but they also seem less prone to allergies, thanks to the beneficial bacteria and particles that pups bring to the home. 

You Will Change Your Dog’s World

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Lastly, adopting a dog changes their world. They go from a neglectful or abusive life into one full of love and compassion. When you bring them into your home, you are giving them the life that they deserve and making sure that they get the most out of life. 

Train a Dog to Find People Mantrailing Introduction online and training workshops

 

Train a Dog to Find People 

Introduction 

 

 

Welcome to the exciting world of Mantrailing and finding people with a dog ! 

A truly amazing fact about mantrailing is how quickly most dogs’ take to this type of training and how quickly the dogs find people. Dogs love to use their nose to find people. The fun part of mantrailing is that we follow the dog and allow the dog to lead the way without our interference. We, as handlers, literally become a part of the dog at the end of the leash. We go wherever the dog takes us! Which is completely opposite of how we handle and give dog’s commands in obedience and tracking. 

Over the next few months, I will be posting articles to help you get started on the exciting journey of finding people with a dog. The information is suitable for training a dog and handler team to work actual missing person’s incidents or for sporting dog events as well as a fun activity that will amaze you and anyone who watches a dog use its nose in the most incredible way. 

I encourage you to ask friends and family to participate by using the exercises I will be posting here at Family Disaster Dogs . Every post is put together for all dog breeds from working dogs to family pets.

Let's train! 

 The lessons in the follow weeks will give search dog teams a great start and foundation to continue training towards certification as call-out ready and pet dog owners a great way to exercise and have fun with dogs of all ages. 

This training is not hard to do or as strict as most dog training methods are. This fun outdoor adventure will have you and your dog looking forward to the next big search.

The time-tested step by step training method was passed down to me by Master K9 trainers who helped set the standards in Mantrailing many years ago. This method will teach you how to start training a dog and handler team (you and a dog) to find one living human being in a crowd of other human beings. 

Mantrailing dogs pin point and find the person whose scent the dog is given at the start of the search. The dog will ignore all other people and distractions to find only that single person you are looking for.

Mantrailing is one of the most amazing abilities of scent work with dogs. 

For the most part, mantrailing has always been in its own category of K9 Search and Rescue (K9SAR) training and work standards as the way to use a bloodhound’s natural and bred-in trailing ability to find people. Due to different dog breed’s natural traits and the complexity of missing person’s cases along with the science of scent K9SAR has different training and working methods that are utilized to produce reliable and successful search and rescue results. You will learn more about this in the following weeks. 

Here's my dog and I looking for a hidden person.

Mantrailing has a come a long way since I began in 1996. Like most things, due to the advancement of the internet connecting people the world over, slowly but surely more people are learning that mantrailing is another way amongst an array of disciplines used to work a Search and Rescue Dog or K9 to find people. And, it's one of the oldest ways used for centuries to hunt people with dogs.

Pictured below is a few of my search and rescue dogs in 2000.

Until recently, there have always been only a handful or so of qualified mantrailing dog trainers and handlers spread around the world because actual search and rescue operations are handled by law enforcement, fire departments and emergency management agencies who recruit volunteers to train and assist when the need arises. Bloodhounds have always been the mantrailers and other breeds the tracker or area search dogs but now other breeds of dogs are learning what bloodhounds know. Bloodhounds taught me how to find people and I'm passing the knowledge on to you.

This type of dog training was not often offered to the general public until a few years ago. Before then for anyone to learn how to train a search and rescue dog the person had to volunteer with a responding agency and receive training from the agency. Which is still true in many parts of the world. 

If you want to be active in search and rescue with a dog you will most often have to join a local emergency response agency in your area to qualify and to be on a call-out list of resources. I was fortunate to be asked to learn to train and handle search dogs by the fire department I volunteered with because I was already a well-known dog breeder and trainer with years of experience.

With mantrailing becoming popular with other breeds of dogs in SAR and as a recreational and competitive dog sport I noticed a need for a simple to understand training book that is suitable for beginners and experienced handlers who want to start on the exciting journey of Mantrailing. 

I spent most of last year writing the book and now I want to share with my loyal followers and visitors here how to get started by including parts of the book so the lessons come right in your email and are online here for people to refer too. 

Over the next few months I will cover the basics of training to be a mantrailing team for work, sport and fun.

You and your dog will be finding a subject person from the first day of training and beyond. 

The dog will find the person every time using the methods I will outline. 

Each training session thereafter will be a building block for solid reliable success on the trail.

If you want to get a head start then head over to my Start Mantrailing Step by Step book's page for the new book which was published Sept, 2020 and is available on bookshelves worldwide and amazon/ kindle.

Sign up at the pop window (refresh this page for the pop up) to have these posts delivered to your email or bookmark this page and each posts will have a link to the next article and lessons. 

Use the contact page at https://familydisasterdogs.com to reach me about in-person training.

Stay safe out there!