Are you "pet friendly" ?

Being pet friendly means more than just loving animals. It also means that we never subject them to physical or verbal abuse. We are not allowed to treat our children that way, and under Kansas State law, we are not allowed to treat out pets that way either. Beating your dog is considered by law to be a form of animal cruelty, which is now a Felony in the State of Kansas.

I have trained dogs for many years, and frankly, I have never had a time when it was necessary to hit a dog. Most dogs respond quite well to verbal commands and the inflection of the owners voice. There are some breeds that require a firmer bit of handling, but that does not mean hitting them. For these dogs, once you lay a hand on them, you have lost control of them forever.

Recently, I have had several reports of owners that have been seen beating their dogs. I cannot emphasize strongly enough, that this is never an acceptable means of discipline, and in many instances, can be counter productive to what you trying to accomplish. More importantly, it is illegal. If you have a training issue, please contact me for assistance. There are many excellent training programs available online or through the mail that can help you train the perfect dog. I will also be glad to help you with a few tips as well.

I urge everyone to be pet friendly, and let your dogs know that there is never a reason to bite the hand that feeds them. Extend your hand in love, never anger!

Old Man Winter is around the corner...are you ready?

There is a chill in the air, which signals the arrival of the winter season. Are you ready? More importantly, are your animals? This is the time to start helping them get ready by making sure they have adequate shelter if they are outside dogs. Be sure they have sufficient warm bedding inside their dog houses, and you will need to check their water bowls every morning to be sure they are not frozen over. Also, remember that many breeds of dogs have shorter coats, and can get chilled quite easily. Like people, dogs can suffer from hypothermia, and freeze to death at worst, or catch colds or pneumonia at the least. If they need a doggie sweater, please make sure they have one. Last winter, even though it wasn't as cold and snowy as predicted, I did have a couple reports of dogs freezing to death.

Finally, remember that during cold weather, dogs will need a little more food than normal in order to keep their metabolism working up to par, in order to help fight the cold.And don't forget to check those weather reports every evening, and bring Fido or Fluffy inside if the temperature is going to hit the freezing mark. Even if they dog freeze to death, a dog can get frostbite on it's feet, tail and tips of its ears...and even its nose! Be vigilant and help your pet through what many are forecasting to be a potentially bad winter!