by mindi on June 29, 2022
Teaching your puppy to heel may feel silly when they are only 10 pounds. But, you will thank yourself for it when they are larger and not pulling your arm off on a walk! Your friends and family will be grateful for your pup’s leash manners, too.
You can start teaching your pup to heel (walking by your side) on a walk. Bring training treats with you, and keep a treat in your hand at your side. Keep the treat where you want your dog to walk. Call “heel” as you lower your treat/arm to their level. Every few steps that they keep their nose at the treat and walk next to you, reward them with the treat. Continue to call out the “heel” command as you place your hand to your side. As they continue to follow this, wait longer and longer to reward them in between. Once you feel that they are getting better at this, you can begin to use the command without a treat.
by mindi on June 22, 2022
Stay is such a convenient command for us as pet-owners! This will prove very helpful. Whether your pup needs to stay so that you can open the oven, grab a package off the porch, or to change the laundry over, it is so helpful to be able to communicate with them in this way.
You will begin by having your pup sit, then you still command “stay.” They must stay for 20 seconds before you reward them. Continue until they are consistently staying for 20+ seconds. Once this feels mastered, you can begin to make it harder by increasing the length of time or being further away/distracted from your pup.
They will need to master sit before you can really work on stay. But, this is such a valuable skill to learn!
by mindi on June 17, 2022
Summer time is flea and tick season. Both fleas and ticks are quite small and are hard to identify right away. That is why you want to be treating your dog when you know they are in season. I have NEVER been a fan of using oral flea and tick medication. Why treat an external issue internally? Instead, I recommend using one of these two products:
- Frontline
Frontline is a topical product that you apply once a month. It comes in different sizes based on weight. A little secret about Frontline is that it comes in different volumes but it is all the same price. By buying the largest size you may be able to get several doses out of it.
2. Seresto Collar
Seresto Collars also treat for fleas and ticks. One collar is potentially good for 8 months. The key with this product is to make sure it is tight enough around your dog’s neck, if it isn’t it will not be effective. Treat it like any other collar you would put on your pet, it should be close to the skin but not too tight that it could choke them.
by mindi on June 15, 2022
Sit is the most common command that pups have mastered! Almost every dog can sit.
To teach your pup to sit, start with a tasty treat in your hand. Move close to your dog and place the treat at the tips of your fingers, palm up. Make sure your pup knows you have the treat (without allowing them to snatch it). Once they are focused on the treat, raise your hand, palm up with treat at fingertips, above their head slowly and give the command “sit.” As their eyes follow up, their body will naturally sit. As soon as their fluffy little booty hits the ground, reward with a treat.
Congrats! Your puppy can sit! Repeat this for as long as needed until they can do this without a treat.
by mindi on June 12, 2022
Each month on Facebook we run a photo contest. CVL owners enter a photo of their pet for a chance to be our display photo for the month. Every month it is so hard to choose and seemingly gets harder to choose! Below are some of our favorites for June.
