The Modern Bark | Dog Training Tips

When Should You Start Teaching Your Puppy Obedience Commands? Wait Until Eight Weeks or Older to Bring Your Puppy Home Some of the most important lessons your puppy will learn are taught to them by their litter mates during their seventh week of life.  They are learning important social skills, including bite inhibition, dominance and submission as well as social rank. Litter mates will quickly let each other know when they are taking things too far or playing too roughly. Soft tempered puppies learn coping skills for dealing with dominant dogs. This can be a life saving skill for a puppy entering a home with an established, dominant dog already in residence. Only after they are 8 weeks old, are ready to leave the den and begin a new journey of bonding and learning the manners that will make them your indispensible, faithful companions. Your First Day Home With Your Puppy Prior to bringing your puppy home, your breeder will probably have already begun teaching them som...

America's favorite dog breed for twenty years running, is also one of America's toughest power chewers.  These five toys have been tested for durability, interest and safety.  Several of these toys float, making them ideal for retrieval training, as well as all round chew toys. Your Labrador Retriever puppy is guaranteed to love these toys for a long time to come! The GoughNuts Stick is Guaranteed for Life The GoughNuts Guaranteed Indestructible Dog Chew Toys Designed with maximum safety in mind, the GoughNuts Dog Toys are made from premium rubber that is not as plastic tasting as some of the competitor's toys.  The Original Toy comes in green with a red center. Their slogan is, "Green means Go! Red means Stop!" If your dog reaches the red center, it is time to take it away from him and send it in for a replacement.  You pay shipping and a small handling fee for the replacement. Here Black means Go, and Red means Stop! Lab owners rave about the d...

Pet health insurance can save pet owners thousands of dollars in veterinary bills, but only if the claim is not denied. Buried in the fine print of many policies are preexisting condition exclusions and annual exam requirements, the scope of which leave many pet owners unreimbursed and infuriated. These tips are designed to help you understand what is and is not covered in a given policy, so that you can make an informed decision – is pet insurance right for me and my particular pets? And if so, how do I find the best plan for my pet's potential needs? Pet Insurance Case Study: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly The story of Zephyr illustrates the advantages and shortfalls of pet insurance coverage.  Zephyr was a six month old puppy and a show dog prospect, when she caught her toe in a screen door and broke one of the delicate bones in her foot. To ensure the foot healed correctly, and prevent a career ending limp, her vet recommended a costly surgery to place a pin in he...

Once puppy teething starts, it seems as though some object must constantly be in the puppy’s mouth. And if it’s not, your window sill, stair risers, or your shoes and socks will make equally delicious teething objects.  Save yourself some heartbreak and expense by starting your puppy off right with these durable and safe teething toys.  At all costs, avoid cute puppy toys that look like objects you don’t want chewed up; rubber squeaky shoes and cell phones are toys that teach your puppy to destroy valuable objects. Keep in mind that many of these toys are made for small, soft deciduous puppy teeth.  Some of these chew toys are not appropriate for a heavy chewer’s adult teeth. Watch for wear patterns on them, and remove or discard toys if look like they are getting worn to a point where they are likely to break or rupture. Note: We recently updated this article with the latest natural chew toy that is making in-the-know puppy owner's puppies content the wo...

Puppy teething begins with the first eruption of milk teeth When Do Puppies Start and Stop Teething Depending on your puppy’s breed, teething will begin somewhere between 12 and 14 weeks, and the small, sharp milk teeth will begin to be pushed out by the larger adult teeth. The teething phase typically lasts 3 months, and puppies should be finished with the process by eight months of age. Large dog breeds tend to start and complete teething faster than smaller breeds.    With this developmental stage comes a new set of challenges. This is the puppy equivalent to the “terrible twos” -staircase balusters, window sills, house plants, leashes, table and chair legs, shoes and socks, all are fair game to the teething puppy, that does not yet know its boundaries. If she can get her mouth around it, it’s going to be fun to destroy! Puppy Teething Signs and Symptoms Red inflamed and swollen gums. Bulging gums where new teeth are about to erupt. Small amou...