Nobody really knows why dogs eat grass. There are a few theories out there. Some say they eat grass because they have an upset stomach and want to make themselves vomit. Another says they are trying to supplement their diet with nutrients missing from their dog food. Another says that dogs are omnivores which means literally “eat anything”.

I’ve seen many dogs chomp away on grass without any side effects, including not vomiting so I don’t believe dogs eat grass to make themselves throw up. It’s true that when they do throw up there may be some grass in there, the stems and blades have tickly hairs on them that can irritate the stomach lining. Dogs are quite capable of throwing up all by themselves without the aid of grass.

Diet Supplement?

As far as eating grass to supplement their diet, most high quality dog food contain the nutrients a dog needs daily. The primary focus on the phrase “high quality.” If you feed your dog nothing but canned meat, I could go along with this theory. Dogs do need vitamins and minerals other than those contained in meat. Canned dog food does contain some other nutrients but the problem is they are usually mushy and too soft to maintain healthy teeth and bowels. Dogs that are fed canned food are more likely to develop dental problems and constipation from the lack of fiber and roughage.

You do need to keep an eye on them when around lawns that have been treated with fertilizers or pesticides as these are very toxic to dogs. And those clumps of grass that drop off the bottom of the mower can have gas or grease in them, so those should be avoided. The command that works great for me is “drop it”.

Things You Can Do

If your dog’s grass eating really bothers you, you can try a few things. Since one common theory is that they are trying to supplement their diet, try giving them some vegetables with their food. Carrots, tomatoes, and apples are good. Stay away from grapes, raisons, and onions as these are toxic to dogs.

The experts pretty much agree that grass eating is just one of those things, as far as your dog is concerned. It doesn’t hurt him and he really seems to enjoy it. Dogs don’t actually need variety in their meals like we do. They are creatures of habit and will eat the same thing day after day as long as it tastes good. Maybe they eat grass just because it tastes good.

A great resource worth checking out is Kingdom Of Pets which has more information on dog psychology and general canine behavioral traits, with a particular focus on problematic behaviors. Take a look at Secrets to Dog Training. It’s a complete, detailed manual for the intelligent and responsible owner, and covers everything from obedience training through to preventing and handling a huge variety of common problem behaviors.

If you are in the planning stage of getting your pet and haven’t actually gotten them yet, consider the breed of dog you are looking at. The breed of dog often plays a significant role in any given dog’s love of rewarding pastimes, digging is one of them. Terriers and Nordic breeds (Malamutes, Huskies, some Spitz family breeds) seem to especially enjoy digging. I have had Norwegian Elkhounds and American Eskimos that didn’t show any signs of wanting to dig, but our Husky tried chewing through the fence. Of course each dog is an individual and there is no guaranteed way to predict if your chosen family additon will be a digger or not.

Why Do Dogs Dig?

Dogs dig for a variety of reasons besides internal instinct. Some of them are:

• Lack of exercise: Digging can burn off some of their energy.
• Boredom: Dogs need a job to do, something rewarding. To a dog digging holes gives them a sense of purpose, it’s interesting, and rewarding.
• Separation Anxiety: A dog digging under the fence or wall is the most direct path to get to you. See our article on separation anxiety causes and solutions.
• Curiosity: Digging is not the reward here, the reward is the glorious unknown that exists beyond the fence line.

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The reasons above have obvious solutions. Lack of exercise, give him more. Longer walks, playtime with a ball or Frisbee. We train our dogs to use the treadmill as we have long and cold winters. Boredom can be fixed with some toys or chews. Curiosity can be cured with a tie out or a crate.

For those dogs that just like digging itself here are a few basic tips for controlling their pastime:

• Restrict access to the yard. If he’s only allowed in the yard when you can supervise him, he won’t be able to dig.
• Give him an area where he is allowed to dig.
• Use a natural deterrent. Dog poop. 99% of dogs will not dig where there is dog poop, even the ones that eat it (coprophagia). For the same reason that their instincts will keep them from soiling their sleeping area.
• Super effective, but time consuming. Put some chicken will under the first inch or two of grass next to the fence. Dogs will give up if they think it is pointless, which will happen quickly when they hit the chicken wire.

If your dog is a true blue digger, and it is part of his personality, trying to suppress it totally is just setting yourself up for failure. It’s not fair to you or your dog. He needs to be able to express that part of his dog behavior somewhat. Your lawn and dog can coexist. The most natural and easiest way is for you to give them an area where they are allowed to dig. You can make it clear to you dog that digging is allowed in his area but forbidden anywhere else in the yard.

But what if you don’t have any place for him to dig? Solution: buy a small sandbox, or make one yourself, and fill it with dirt and sand, throw some leaves on top and voila. Encourage him to dig in the sandbox, praise him when he starts. If he starts anywhere else give him a stern NO and redirect him to the sandbox. To really get him to understand, give him a reward, a treat, when he digs in the sandbox. Bury a few toys or bones in there as a reward.

For more information and solutions to a great variety of dog behavior problems, visit Kingdom of Pets. They have a great collection of books on training, health care and other dog related problems.

The introduction of the baby to your dog is something that takes utmost care and time to ensure a safe, happy welcoming process. There are 2 things that need to happen. You need to prepare your dog beforehand for the new baby’s arrival. And then you need to actually introduce the dog to the new baby.

Preparing the dog

After being the center of attention up to this point, it is natural for your dog to be jealous when the new baby commands much of the attention the dog used to get. Following are some tips on things you can do to keep that from becoming a problem. Keep in mind that your dog is to understand that these things are not his.

A few months before your baby’s arrival you should:

• Take your dog to the vet for a checkup. Worms and parasites can be harmful to your baby so have your dog cleared of these.
• If your dog is not spayed or neutered it should be done and now is a good time to do it.
• If you have friends with babies, encourage them to bring them over so the dog can start getting used to what a baby is. Be sure to supervise any baby and pet interactions.
• Let your dog explore the new baby’s things. The crib, diaper changing area, the baby powder, lotions, diapers. Let them become familiar with the new smells and objects. Rub some lotion on your hands and let the dog sniff them. This will help the dog understand that the new baby is part of the family pack.
• If you’ve just had the baby and have a day or 2 in the hospital, have someone bring home some clothing the baby has worn to give your dog a chance to become familiar with the baby’s smell.
• For baby noises there are actually cds out there just for this purpose. SoundTherapy4pets.com has a cd called soothing sounds that has baby crying and children playing noises.
• If you have a rocker you can sit in that and give your dog treats to make that a positive experience for the dog.
• Likewise if you have a swing for the baby, turn it on or swing it back and forth do your dog gets used to that also.
• DO NOT let your dog play with any of the baby’s toys, or use any of the baby’s things for sleeping on. Your dog is to understand that these are not for him or her!
• Provide a barrier to the baby’s room if that is to be off limits. Make it something that they can see and hear through so they don’t feel left out or isolated from the family.
• You can use a doll to help your dog get used to the routines. Take the doll in a stroller when you walk your dog.
• Last but most important. Make sure you dog understands that each member of your family is alpha over him/her. This is crucial to ensure that if there are any signs of jealousy that you can reprimand your dog.

Introducing Your Dog To Your New Baby

The first few meetings of your dog and newborn are very important and often will dictate how your dog is to respond and act to the baby from this point forward. Because of this, it is important to do the introduction properly. Some tips when you first bring the baby home:

• Let someone else hold the baby while you greet your dog. It is important to pay attention to them when you first get home.
• Bring home a new toy for them and let them have it when you greet them. They will associate the baby with something positive.
• Once he/she has calmed down from you coming home you can start to introduce the baby. If you are not sure about your dog’s reaction, leash or restrain him for the introduction.
• Talk to your dog and let them sniff the baby and check out the new smells at their own pace.
• Do not force the baby on your dog. He or she may be scared and could bite out of fear.
• If your dog reacts aggressivley, put them in their crate or another room until they calm down. Once they’ve calmed down you can try it again.
• Once everyone is introduced, you can bring your pet to sit next to the baby. Give them treats for good behavior. Always make behaving around the baby a positive experience for your dog.
• Be sure to always spend some quality one-on-one time with your pet every day. Remember that they need to feel like they are part of the family.

There are over 150 dog breeds that are recognized by the AKC, big and small dog breeds, and then you can add all the mixes that are not purebred. The most popular dog breed is the Labrador Retriever. Different dog breeds have characteristics besides appearance that are important. They have their own temperament, needs, and inherited health traits. What dog breed should you get?

Big And Small Dog Breeds

The most obvious characteristic is appearance and size. Dogs can be only a few pounds to over 200 pounds. The biggest dog ever was Hercules, an English Mastiff that weighed in at 282 pounds. English Mastiffs are the largest dog breed and can get up to 200 pounds. With size come needs. A bigger dog needs more food, larger areas to live in. Is your house or apartment big enough? Even small dogs can require a large area to run in. All dogs need exercise. The old saying is “A tired dog is a good dog” and it’s true.

Temperament

Because your dog will be living with you, and hopefully for a long time, it needs to have a temperament to blend with your family’s style of living. Do you want a dog that is really active or one that is more of the couch potato, take it easy personality? Some breeds can be very protective of their property and family, others are friendly towards everyone, including strangers. If the breed you choose is one that needs a lot of attention, they can become destructive if they don’t get it. Other breeds are content to be alone for periods during the day, maybe while you’re at work, school or just out.

Hair-The Long and Short of It

We have had purebreds and mutts, long hair and short. Most dogs shed, some shed a lot and some just a little. Some dogs shed all year around. A vet once told us that dogs shed according to the amount of time they see light. So in the summer when the days are long and it’s lighter out longer, they shed more. During the winter when they would normally see shorter daylight hours they would shed less. But we bring them into the house where we have lights on until we go to bed. So the dog’s eyes see the light and think the days are longer, like in the summer. I don’t know if that’s true or not but it makes sense to me.

Dog grooming is important regardless of the length of their coat to stay clean and healthy. Dogs with longer hair may need to be taken to a professional groomer periodically. So the long and short of it is to decide how much hair you’re willing to put up with.

Boy or Girl

There are minor differences in the average sizes of female vs. male. Usually it’s not much and as far as personalities or temperament, it makes no difference. If you get your dog fixed, and you should, it will eliminate other problems such as a female having pups. If you don’t get them fixed then you will have to prevent your female from getting pregnant during the times when she is in heat. It happened to us once when we were without a fence and the dog was on her tie out.

The Gene Pool

Some breeds are more prone to certain health problems than others. With a purebred the gene pool is smaller and those traits tend to show up more often. It would be wise to consider the types of health issues your breed is prone to have. There are general ailments that all dogs get, just as we do as we age, but ailments such as hip dysplasia will happen in some breeds more often than others.

Conclusion

Pick a breed that fits into YOUR lifestyle. Don’t think that you will change your way of life to fit the dog, it probably won’t happen. If you pick a breed that doesn’t fit your way of living, one or both of you will be unhappy.

Remote Bird and Dummy Launchers

Whether you are using a dummy launcher or a bird launcher, you can use a remote control that allows you to train your dog without having another person present with you.  Without the remote, you would need at least one other person to assist in your training which of course can distract your dog. 

Bird launchers allow you to use numerous sounds as well as various beeps to ensure that your dog becomes familiar sounds that he will hear while hunting.  Use of a dummy launcher or a bird launcher will of course depend on the type of training you need for your dog.  Since the goal in training your dog is ensuring he is an effective hunting companion, these launchers are a necessary and helpful tool.

Remote Bumper Launchers

This is your secret weapon in teaching your dog to learn to retrieve came. The dummy launcher is for those who work alone and you allow you to launch your dummies at a height and distance that is far greater than throwing it yourself.  This allows your dog to learn to retrieve game that is further away.  This is especially helpful when you consider that if you were using hand launching followed by shooting; your dog would become accustomed to fetching game at close distances.  One of the best features of the remote launchers is that you can use the accompanying sounds to train your dog to react as if he were hunting actual game (ducks, pheasant, etc.). 

Bird Launchers

To train a pointer or flushing dog, bird launchers are almost essential.  A significant advantage with these is the ability to set up multiple launchers in the field to simulate an actual hunting area.  Dogs are natural hunters and honing those skills is most easily done by mimicking what their skills were bred for.  Training a dog to honor another’s point for the flush and to be effective in finding and pointing are much more easily done while using a bird launcher.  Pointing dog trainers have been using them for years and now flushing dog trainers are seeing the huge advantages these tools can offer as well.  Using the low-ground spring latch, these launchers can effectively train for quail and pheasant as well as high-flying birds like fowl. 

Dogs are mated to produce a dog with the good looks and ideal disposition. Whatever reasons these dog owners have for breeding the dog, one thing is common. Professional breeder or pet owner, both would want to produce a healthy litter.

The mating of dogs would be considered as an ordinary occurrence by dog experts. An owner watching the pet being mated for the first time may be alarmed at the pet’s behavior. The owner will be concerned if the bitch would whine as if in pain. A dog owner not conversant to the dog mating process would be alarmed at the pet’s obvious sign of distress thus the owner may try to separate the dogs in an effort to help. Even though mating dogs appear to be highly distressed, they should never be separated. Male and female dogs are naturally stuck together while mating and any effort done to separate them will cause unnecessary injury.

Not like female dogs that will allow to be mated only during the estrus stage, male dogs are always ready to mate. The flagging or the lifting of the tail to one side is only shown to a male dog when the bitch is ready to be mated. The bitch will allow the favored dog to mount her from behind in seconds the vulva will be penetrated. After penetration, one of the dogs will twist around so that they will be tied in their rear ends while facing opposite directions.

It will be noticed that human copulation is different from canine copulation given the fact that the male member can penetrate the vulva even if it is not erect. The baculum is a small bone in the dog’s male member that has the purpose of keeping the male member rigid. After penetration is achieved, the dogs will be stuck together in the position that is commonly called the canine mating tie. The tissues at the base of the male member get swollen with blood trapping the male member inside the vulva. The dogs will remain stuck together for about 20 or 30 minutes until all the sperms have entered the vulva. This process is nature’s way of making sure that the bitch gets impregnated.

One of the important uses of a tail is to be the dog’s balancing device. Hunting breeds of dogs are very fast runners. Agility is an important quality that enables hunting dog to catch their prey. Similar to tightrope walkers that uses bars to maintain balance, dogs make use of the tail as a counter balance when scaling cliffs to follow prey. The tail serves as a counter balance that prevents the dog from toppling over when they need to make a sharp turn. Water retrievers make use of the tail as a rudder that makes swimming easier.

In spite of the inability to talk, dogs can communicate effectively by using the tail. By using the tail, dogs can efficiently communicate with humans and with other animals. It is a common knowledge that a loosely wagging tail is a sign that the dog is friendly. A tense dog with bared teeth and stiff tail held aloft is aggressive.

The tail is an important body part that allows dogs to understand each other. Additionally, the tail is the dogs’ one of a kind ID system. By raising the tail, the anal gland is stimulated to secrete. Dogs use this unique scent to identify each other. Dogs are pack animals and the tail is an efficient tool in recognizing the rank of the dog. The leader of the pack is one whose tail is held high and stiffly wagged. A tail held lower and wagged slowly signifies that the dog is lower in rank.

The tail has another purpose – for comfort. Similar to a cow’s tail, a dog’s tail is used as a swatter that will drive pesky flies and other insects away. A tail is the dog’s very own muffler that is used as protection against extremely cold temperature. Northern dogs that sleep outdoors uses the tail to protect the face, especially the nose from cold.

What does it cost to own a dog for their lifetime? Let’s take a look starting with a puppy. The first year is more expensive because you’ve got more vet bills, vaccines, and one time costs like bowls, crates, pen etc. so we can just add a number at the end for the first year. Average YEARLY costs for  your dog after the 1st year would be around:

• Vet bills  around $120. Could be more if your dog is prone to things like ear infections etc.
• Vaccinations – $70
• Heartworm, flea and tick prevention – $75
• Food will be $300
• Treats, bones, toys etc. $50
• Boarding $125 unless you have someone to watch them while you’re on vacation.
• Grooming costs $20 -  this depends on your dog breed, but they still need brushing, baths, shampoo, nail clippers etc.

These come out to be anywhere from $635 without any boarding to $760 if you take a vacation and board the dog.  So if we take the middle and you only take a vacation every other year that would be $700.  For 14 yrs you would spend $680/yr and that would come out to be …$9800…. Now add in the extra costs you have for the first year like:

• Spay or neutering -  $150
• A tie out, dog house, kennel or fence. This could vary widely from a $20 tie out to a kennel for $300 or a fenced in area.
• Crate – $50
• Collar and leash – $15
• bowls – $15
• cleaner -$30 you’ll probably have to buy a little extra stain cleaners the first year.

These add about $260. So there you have it…..$10,000…..These are of course averages and I think pretty conservative. I know we spend more on vet bills than $120. Some years you may not spend this much, some years more. I had a dog that lived to be 19 yrs old but you never know.

Do I Need Special Dog Training?

So if you spend that kind of money on your dog, it would be worth spending a little extra to have a dog that obeys you, that you can have a great relationship with. There are many great dog training courses out there. There are also some that aren’t that good. You are the best trainer for your dog, you are the one they will bond with and you are the one that will be there all the time. Find the best dog training course for you. One that covers the whole lifespan of your dog, from puppy obedience training to dealing with health problems dogs have as they get older. Check out our reviews of the best dog training courses we have tried out. Yes we read through these courses and used techniques from them with our own dogs.