Creative Dog Training

Top 5 Tips For Fun This Fall With Your Dog

Fall is a great time of year to include your dog in your plans. I am happy to see that restaurants and coffee houses are becoming more and more dog friendly. As our freedom to take our dogs places increases, our dog’s vocabulary needs to increase. Your understanding of how your dog thinks needs to increase as well.

I have found that socially well-behaved dogs are welcome almost any where. Let’s all be responsible to make sure that these establishments continue to welcome our dogs. I’m sure we all know at least one place we used to like to take our dog that no longer allows dogs.

So, here are my Top 5 Tips to Have Fun This Fall!

FIVE: Taking Your Dog Dining on The Patio (And other fun locales)

This time of year is always great to sit out and have dinner or drinks on your favorite patio. Bringing along your furry wingman only makes it better! The key here is to be responsible, and show the world that having dogs around is a positive! (Read one of Conor’s stories about that here)

Here are some of our tips to make that happen:

• Keep your dog under your control
• Bring a mat and water bowl for your dog
• Ask if someone wants to pet your dog before allowing your dog to approach
• Clean up after your dog

Commands your dog needs to understand and follow:

• Loose Leash Walking (Podcast)
• Leave It (Barking Podcast, teaches Leave It)
• Off (Jumping Podcast, It was our first podcast, so the quality is a little rough around the edges!)
• Settle Down (Podcast)

Concepts you should understand:

• Body Language (Stress Signs Podcast)
• Stress Signs (Stress Signs Podcast)
• Dog to Dog Greetings (Podcast)
• Dog to people greetings (Podcast)

 

FOUR: Taking Your Dogs to Events

My grandchildren play various sports this time of year. I notice that often people bring their dogs to practice and the games. Keep these ideas in mind both with your dog and with your children:

• Teach your children the correct way to greet dogs
• Teach your dog the correct way to greet children
• Keep your dog on leash and under your control
• Watch closely for signs of stress and remove your dog from the situation at the first signs
• Check ahead to be sure dogs are allowed at the field
• Clean up after your dog

 You can find more details in our Kids And Dogs Podcast

THREE: Dressing Up Your Dog

We talked about this last week in my blog post, but with Halloween getting closer, it's worth mentioning again! Not all dogs love to be dressed up, but with a little training they can become more accepting!

For More Information, check out That Blog Post Here

 

 

TWO: The Holidays Are Coming!

 

The holidays are coming up and they are a wonderful time of year, but it can also be very stressful for our dogs and for us. Here are a few things to keep in mind as the season approaches:

• Make any boarding reservations for vacations and visiting relatives as early as possible. (And check out our Podcast on Picking a Daycare on how to find the right place)
• Listen to our Podcast on Holidays With Your Dog to prepare for the seasons (Podcast Link)
• Listen to our Podcast on Traveling With Your Dog if you plan on hitting the road. (Podcast Link)
• Keep any holiday chocolates out of reach of your dog! (Plus check with your vet for any potentially poisonous plants in your area)

 

ONE: Clean Up After Your Pet When You Go Places!

I know I included this in a couple of other tips, and maybe this is a downer to end on, but this is so very important. It is on all of us to ensure that people will allow dogs back to these places.

Here in Alabama, taking our dogs places is a new concept, and not everyone has gotten the memo that it is not only important to, but often required, that we clean up after our dogs. I know I always carry a few spare baggies with me to hand someone if they “forgot” theirs.

 

So, it’s great to include your dog in your activities! Just plan and train before you go, both to increase your enjoyment and ensure all of our dog’s future freedom at public events!

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