Cici's week in review

I was super excited to have the rest of my family stay home for the week. At Christmas I got a new and tug of war rope, a Wubba, and a new chew toy that looked like a bear,and a ham bone to chew on. It was delicious. This week has been really cold and when ever I'm not playing, I'm in my crate on my pillow trying to get warm. There hasn't been much snow, but I am still enjoying myself and the extra free time with my family.

Growing Problem: Pet Obesity

Why hello there, pup! Pet obesity is a extreme problem in the USA, and a dog or a cat who is obese lives a shorter life with more problems than a regular size dog or cat. Here are a couple of ideas that I thought of off the top of my head:
1. Get more exercise! Take your dog for longer walks and do activities that encourage movement, like fetch, or go swimming!

2. Substitute treats with love. It is so much more meaningful to a dog when you give him praise and love than a fatty treat.

3. Make your own treats! If you only feed your dog treats that you make, you can control the nutritional value of them. I would also suggest looking at your dogs kibble and anything else you feed him.

So what do I do if my pet is already obese? Follow the rules above and visit petobesityprevention.com to learn more. At that site you can find nutritional information, calculate how overweight your pet is, and much more.

What should I do if my pet is not obese? The best cure for any disease is prevention in the first place.

Training Basics: How to Teach Your Dog to Sit.

  Why hello there, pup! Wanna learn how to sit?

Items needed: yummy treat and  leash
 What to do:
 Capture your dogs attention by displaying the treat in your hand. when he shows interest, hold it above his head, and  move your hand away from you, so that it goes behind the dog. As you do this, say the command "SIT" in a firm voice and be encouraging. If all goes well, the he will sit so that he can see the treat.  ONLY after he sits  he should be given the treat. As you give him the treat  be sure to be encouraging and happy.
If all doesn't go well: Use the leash to your advantage. If he starts to walk away, bring him back in to you. However, DO NOT EVER use the leash to punish  him, because he will eventually develop a phobia of either you or the leash, and training will not be good for him. If he tries to jump to get the treat, firmly say NO and try again.

Fun new sport: Skijoring!

Why hello there, pup! Guess what I found! I was searching online for some sports for dogs in the winter time, like dog sledding. I saw an interesting link on a website about skijoring, and clicked on it. Skijoring is like dog sledding mixed with cross country skiing (the dogs pull the skier). It looked really fun and easy, and I would totally try it, but I don't have any of the equipment. But if you have the cross country gear, I think that it would be worth it to drop the $100 or so to get the dog gear. Also, Skijoring doesn't require the six or so dogs, you can even one or two dogs pull you. Heres the link to the website I was telling you about:

http://www.urbanmushers.ca/urbanmushers/Skijoring_info.html

Peanut Butter Puppy Popsicles!

Why hello there, pup! Lots of people have no time to make their dog gourmet treats. Luckily for you there are peanut butter puppy popsicles! Try saying that three times fast!

Ingredients and items needed:
32oz of plain yogurt
1 cup of peanut butter
Cupcake paper wrapping

What to do:
Melt peanut butter in the microwave until its almost liquid
Mix yogurt with the peanut butter in a big bowl
Pour mixture into the cupcake paper and freeze
Thats all! Dogs will love these treats all year long, not just in the summer!

Training Basics: Come

Why hello there, pup! Teaching a dog to come is really easy and almost always considered a necessary obedience trick. Lets get started:

Items for training: long leash, yummy treats.

What to do: take your puppy to an open place with lots of new scents and smells, like the yard. Be sure that the leash that he is on is short but not to short (about three or four feet). Get out your treat, but don't show it to him. Call "come!" in an encouraging way, and then reel him in whether he resists or not. Once he has come to you, give him the treat and lots of praise. Repeat countless times. Every other five times, let him have a little more slack with the leash until you can call him and he comes to you with out you reeling him in. Repeat on this level several more times. When you think he is ready, take the leash off entirely, but do not stop giving him treats. Overtime, start to wean the dog off the treats by alternating when you give the dogs the treats. (Aka: call him and dont give him a treat,call him and do give him a treat.)

Oh Boy! First Post!

Why hello there, pup!  Welcome to Cici's Dog Blog! here I hope you can dig up all sorts of great treats, like doggie recipes, training tricks, funny videos, and even more!  Each week, all kinds of new goodies will be on the blog, and I'm sure they will leave you drooling for more!