Unleashed Unlimited
THE Dog Training Blog

We are often asked, “How much should I feed my dog?” and “What is a good food to feed my dog?”  While there is no one food that every dog will do best with, and the amount of food varies by activity level, brand, age and weight of each dog, there are rules, guidelines, and responsibility should be practiced when it comes to feeding our dogs.

* Do not free feed your dog! Free feeding (food is always in their bowl and available to them) is possibly one of the most common and harmful mistakes a pet owner can make.  Besides it being a very important leadership mistake, free feeding can quickly add a lot of unhealthy weight to a dog and lead to greater problems down the road.  You should control the food in your home; you decide and regulate the amount of food your dog eats, and when they eat it.

*  Be in control of the food. Food is a resource that belongs to you, therefore you should be able to pet your dog during feedings, put your hands in the food, take up the bowl at will, and return it to them without any growling, biting, or serious guarding issues (if you are experiencing this, we urge you to contact a professional to help you deal with the issue). If you live in a household with multiple dogs and are not controlling the food, it is likely one of the dogs in the house have taken that responsibility upon themselves and often times leads to behavior issues amongst themselves.

* Feed your dog a high quality food. Many inexpensive dog foods contain a large percentage of fillers, such as corn.  Only a very small amount of the corn and other fillers are actually digested by your dog, the rest is just passed out in the form of solid waste.  Smaller amounts of high quality food can be fed to your dog because more of the nutrients and other ingredients are digested, resulting in less waste.

*  Do not over feed your dog. On the back of most dog food bags, a suggested amount of food is usually recommended based on the age and weight of your dog.  However, please remember the source of this information - THE DOG FOOD MANUFACTURER!  Often times dog food companies will suggest feeding your dog larger amounts of food in attempts to sell more of their product, and in many cases a lot of the food is un-digestible fillers.

*  Food can be used as a motivator. If you are implementing food into your training sessions, feel free to use some of their kibble.  Kibble is much more nutritious and contains far less calories then the decadent treats that owners often feed their dogs.  When using kibble in training, subtract that amount from their daily intake.  In other words, if your dog eats 1 cup of food at night, use 1/4 cup for training and feed the remaining 3/4 cup as their meal.

*  Be consistent in your feedings. As much as possible, try to feed your dog at the same time of the day, in the same location.  Consistent feedings will aid younger dogs with potty training, and get them into a routine. However, as your schedule varies, your dogs will adjust.  Also, don’t switch brands or flavors all the time.  When introducing a new flavor or brand, the new food should be mixed with the old food in the proper ratios over the course of a few days or weeks.

*  Do not confuse food with love. Take them for a walk, play fetch, or groom them; these are better ways to show your dog you love them then stuffing them full of food and treats.  Giving your dog more and more food and treats will not get them to love you any more.

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We offer a variety of bed styles and sizes from extra small for the toy breeds to extra large for the truly big dogs. These beds allow you to pick the perfect bed to match their best friends’ sleeping habits, no matter if they sleep curled up or like to stretch out - all dogs, little or big, will sleep in comfort.

Also on sale are the West Paw Dog Mats. They are a high quality mat that can be used just about anywhere such as; in front of the fireplace, inside a kennel, in your car, on the front porch, or just on the go - West Paw Design’s dog mats truly are the finest, highest quality mat that gracefully combines comfort and utility to create a perfect fit for any home décor. And with one piece easy machine washing and drying, your mat can always look clean!

To view all of the great dog beds and mats, please visit our online store.  The sale runs until December 31st 2008.

Also, the 20% Off Sale on Dublin Dog Collars ends December 31st! Act now to make sure you don’t miss out on these great collars!

This article comes to us from Brice Cavanugh, of Team Dog!, a dog training company with locations in Chicago and St. Louis.  Team Dog! prides themselves in providing an educational, entertaining, friendly, functional and innovative experience of uncompromising quality that meets the dog training needs of the entire family, building balanced relationships through clear communication.  Brice has written an excellent article on Halloween tips that will help keep our pets and ourselves safe this Halloween.  Enjoy!

Halloween can be an especially trying time for our furry friends, so Team Dog! has put together a list of 13 tips to help you and yours avoid the common problems associated with the most dangerous holiday for dogs!

1.  Make sure that your dog’s ID tag is up to date and secure on their collar…just in case!

2. Keep candy away from your dog! Many candies can be toxic to dogs as well as being a choking hazard!  Wrappers of eaten candies can be of concern as well!

3.  Supervise! Children and dogs should always be supervised together, and this is especially true during this high energy holiday!

4.  Protect dogs from Jack-O-Lanterns, candles and the like.  Besides the obvious problems of getting into a flame, wagging tails can knock over items that can cause big trouble!

5.  Costumes. Many can be chewing/choking hazards, and some dogs just don’t like the constricting nature that most costumes create.  It may be fun for us, but consider your dog!  Make sure that your dog has good peripheral vision to enable them to fully use their senses…

6.  The eyes have it! Costumes worn by humans can take away a dog’s ability to see strangers as they are accustomed to meeting them (in addition to scent).  Hidden eyes can create insecurity in your dog, which can elicit defensive postures and actions.  Let your dog smell your costumes prior to your putting them on, and ease them into this new phenomena!

7.  Don’t take your dog out Trick or Treating with you! Many dogs are balanced and comfortable with this, but many are not.  It is human nature on this holiday to play pranks and scare fellow holiday goers, but your dog may not understand, and therefore protect his family!  Be aware of this!  It is only one day, he will probably be just as content to sleep through it, which leads us to…

8.  Provide a safe and quiet place for your dog. Many dogs look at their crates as a sanctuary (good training!), or a quiet room will serve the same purpose.  Allowing your dog to avoid the craziness of doorbells, strange costumes and the volume of visitors is an excellent way to help your dog through the evening.

9.  Practice your recall! Dog s should come when called, and practicing this skill can be life-saving!  Door bolting is a huge concern when the door is answered and opened dozens of times within an evening.

10.  Holiday decorations, like Silly String™ are fun to play with, for both you and your pet…but they should only be playing with toys designed for them and under your supervision.

11.  Exercise your dog prior to the festivities kicking off!  Having them mentally and physically spent helps them to relax better!

12.  Help your dog through trying times. Reassurance can be helpful, but make sure that you are not encouraging undesired behavior.  Optimally, refer to #8, but if you want your dog out and about, be aware of their state of mind and reward/discourage accordingly!

13.  Have fun! Our pets can be a wonderful part of our celebration, but if they are overwhelmed, the opposite can be true!  There is no need to create a problem that could take weeks to fix just to have a good time for a couple of hours, but if your dog can handle it, then have a blast!

For more great information, dog training tips, and videos, or if you are looking for Dog Training in Chicago, be sure to visit the website of Team Dog!

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There is nothing better that buying a new toy for your furry friend and if you choose the right one, it can make for hours of fun and excitement!  There are so many to choose from you may ask yourself, “How will I know my dog will like it?”  Paying attention to what your dog likes in a toy will tell you everything you need to know. His or her decision may be based on several things that are all relative to one or more of the five senses and are often interchangeable such as:

Touch: This involves the texture of the toy. Some dogs are crazy over a soft tug toy, a bone for chewing, hard rubber bones, furry toys or a softer pliable ball. If your dog loves stealing your socks or clothing this may be an indication that your dog may like a softer texture! Many toys also have a rough texture for chewing meant to aid in keeping teeth clean.

Sound: This is where the squeaky toys and toys that make noise come in and they come in a variety of options. If your dog loves squeaky toys, ask yourself what else he likes as they are usually in “something” such as a ball, plush toy, some types of interactive toys or soft latex type toys.

Smell: Some toys have scent added to them such as peppermint which also helps to freshen breath or by adding a favorite treat to a toy that has a “spot” gets the nose working and invokes interest.

Sight: Fast moving objects and toys that have movement come into play here as well as toys that have an odd shape that bounce a bit haphazardly and Frisbees.  These are for the dogs that enjoy the chase and retrieve (provided they were taught to retrieve).

Taste: These toys usually involve food of some type and come in a variety of options, there are some interactive toys that utilize food and bones or toys that can be stuffed with their favorite treats. These types of toys are also good for the “problem solving” aspect.

Many individual toys fall into two or more of these categories depending on the toy so when shopping for toys and knowing what interests your dog will make it easier for you to choose the right toy. You can also use your imagination with the existing toys you have around the house that they are not interested in by adding something to that your dog does like to the equation.

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  Back on September 23rd, we published a post called Your Dog Swallowed What?! which discussed the dangers foreign objects can cause if swallowed by dogs.  The post contained a few pictures of x-rays showing different objects ingested by dogs (please click here to see those pictures), and it was up to you to guess those objects.  Here are the results…

1. Bottle cap  2. Power chord to a Mac Book  3. Golf ball  4. Toy figurine  5. Rock

Although no one guessed all five objects correct, the person who came the closest, missing only the rock, and the winner of the Unleashed Unlimited T-shirt was Jillian K of K-9 Athletes.

K-9 Athletes is a great blog that discusses dock diving events, competition successes and stories, helpful dog ownership tips, great dog equipment and other aspects of active K-9’s.  Check out Jillian’s site, it is a great resource for all things related to dock diving and K-9 Athletes.

Thank you to everyone who posted their guesses, please check back for more contests in the future.