Prevent your dog from pulling on its leash
Source: petfinder.com Walking dogs in Chicago can be an enjoyable activity, no matter what the weather, but when your pup doesn’t like its leash and constantly yanks on it, your walking experience could turn sour. Here are some ways to teach your dog to cooperate while on a leash—and make everyone happy. 1) Try to tire your dog out before training A lot of the time, dogs pull on leashes because they are so energetic and want to go faster than you’re willing to go. To make sure your dog is not pulling away from you during your first leash training sessions, make sure it has had some other exercise throughout the day, whether it’s just running around the house or playing fetch. 2) Don’t let your dog get too excited before the walk Even if you’ve played with your dog enough to wear it out a little bit before you or your dog walker takes your dog on a walk around Chicago, it may still be very excited to go on the walk, making it jump around as you try to attach the leash. To prevent this from happening every time, don’t even attach the leash until your dog has calmed down a little bit. That will show your pup that you won’t accept overly hyper behavior, and it can set the precedent for future walks. 3) Move swiftly If you’re walking at a slower pace, your dog might want to speed up, which is not what you want during leash training. If you move at a quick—but not too quick—pace, your dog will have less of an opportunity to run faster than you. If you’re having trouble with this, a dog walker in Chicago could show you the ropes to help you the next time when you’re on your own. 4) Provide rewards You will need to provide some kind of treat to your dog during a positive leash training session to let it know just how great of a job it did. Provide some of your dog’s favorite kind of treats as a reward when it behaves while on your walk. Dogs don’t just love rewards—they learn from them. How do you train your dogs to become familiar with leashes on walks? Do you have any other tips? Let us know on our Facebook and Twitter pages!
Making Sure Your Dog Gets Enough Exercise in Winter
When it gets cold outside, it makes sense that most of us avoid heading out for long dog walks multiple times a day. While your dog probably doesn’t mind staying inside where it’s warm, it’s still important to make sure that they get enough exercise all season long. Follow our tips to make sure that your dog stays in good shape. 1) Take Your Dog on More Frequent, But Shorter, Walks Just because it’s colder doesn’t mean that your dog should be stuck inside all day. Instead of 3 half-hour walks, try four 10 to 15 minute walks each day. If you can’t fit in more walks into your current schedule, you can bring on a dog walker to stop by your home a few times a week or once a day to help out. On weekends, bring your pooch to the dog park where they can run around and enjoy some socialization with other dogs—this will tire them out pretty quickly, and you can head back home. 2) Bundle Up If you’d prefer to keep your dog’s schedule constant, you’ll have to bundle up—and we don’t just mean you wearing a heavy coat. Your dog will need to wear something to keep them warm, like a sweater or jacket, and if it’s icy or snowy outside, boots might be an appropriate way to keep their feet safe. Once you do come inside, make sure that you dry off your pup if it was snowy or wet outside, and if they weren’t wearing boots, wipe off their paws with warm water—pay extra attention between their toes—to remove ice melting chemicals and debris. 3) Sign Up for Doggy Daycare or Dogsitting Groups If you or someone you know works from home, and they also have dogs, you can suggest a meet-up wherein one of you watches both of the dogs indoors, and the dogs can wear each other out by playing with one another. Alternatively, sign your pet up for doggy daycare a few times a week, where they can go and play with a handful of other dogs. Ask anyone who’s had a dog go to daycare—their pet always comes home tired out. Not only is this good for socialization, it’s good exercise too! 4) Create New Ways to Exercise Indoors If your dog likes playing fetch outside, transition the activity to the inside of your home. Find a long hallway and have your dog play fetch in there. If you don’t have a long hallway in your house, try throwing a ball across the largest room in the house or play tug of war to help them burn off some energy. Another way to make sure your dog stays in shape over the winter is to reduce their food intake just slightly. Cutting back by just a few tablespoons a day can cut their calories enough to make up for slower-exercise months.
January Dog of the Month is Bailey
Breed: Cockapoo Age: 7 1/2 Where I live: Lakeview Joys in Life: chasing squirrels, eating apples, peanut butter and carrots, sleeping, chasing tennis balls, cuddling with my family Cruisin’ Canines Chicago Dog Walker: Nate Chicago Dog Walking Buddies: Lucy and Luna