Land of Pure Gold Blog

Thought this blog was rather interesting ...

Puppy Training

A Collection of links to great sites:

Web Sources:

Ultimate Puppy
Sirius Pup
Clicker Solutions

San Diego Specifically:

The Uncommon Canine
San Diego Dog Trainers

Update: Aquarius and Zen

Update 4/08. Bellatrix has been adopted, too! Yay!

Both Aquarius and Zen have been adopted! Bellatrix is still available ...

"Bellatrix is a two year old beauty that found herself lost at an LA County shelter. She is as pretty in personality as she is in her good looks. Bella is confused as to why her people never came for her, but she is looking forward to a life filled with all things good from now on. Friendly with other dogs, and lady like in the car, Bella is searching for a full time family that will include her in outings and fun stuff. A positive training class with her new people would be delightful. As a shelter stray, we have no history for Bella with cats or small children, so she is looking for a home without them right now. If this young beauty plays trix with your heart, contact Denise at: mailto:ripcurl8@adelphia.net?subject=GRCGLAR_Bellatrix "

Uncommon Training

I'll admit - I've walked through my son's school and right past the super-well-behaved Gus hundreds of times. Having some dog experience, I have even thought about how well-trained he is and wondered about how he got to be that way. But most of the time his sweet, calm demeanor simply doesn't even catch my eye.

And that's the secret, isn't it?

I've been reading (no surprise there!) and wanted to share a few good resources:

The Uncommon Canine ... I took classes from Joella about 10 years ago. She is wonderful and truly shows what can be accomplished with positive reinforcement!

The Book of Levels ... for some serious WOW!

Public Access Test

You may have seen a "Service Dog In Training" before. Have you ever wondered what that's all about?

Here's the Public Access test service dogs are expected to pass in order to prove their ability to be in public without being a nuisance.

Holy Smokes! No wonder it typically take 2 years to train for this!

Adding to the Knowledge Bank ...

One of my HUGE concerns has been (shhhh! Sven MUST NOT hear of this!) hair. IT will positively give him fits!

Good news! I have what may not be a solution but certainly appears to be a HUGE help in the (shh!) hair arena.

That's right - it's the FURminator. These things are expensive but reportedly worth every penny!

They have food supplements, shampoos, etc. ... even a waterless shampoo which is AWESOME because Sven is threatening to bathe her every day ... that might help relieve his OCD a bit!

Now I'm off to research the Public Access test ... that's the big one we'll be training for over the next year or so. Or two months ... how hard can it be?? : )

Feeding My Virtual Dog

My Virtual Dog is very hungry - and picky! I have been doing a lot of research into human diets lately. When thinking of my Virtual Dog, it seems to me that it can't be THAT hard to feed your dog "real" food, can it?

(Yes. This game requires that I concern myself with whether or not to feed my Virtual Dog home cooked meals. Deal.)

These look like good sources:

• Home Prepared Dog and Cat Diets by Donald Strombeck, DVM
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• Canine Nutrition by Lowell Ackerman, DVM
  
  
• Small Animal Clinical Nutrition by Hand, Thatcher, Remillard, Roudebush

• Dr Pitcairn's New Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats by Richard Pitcairn, DVM
  
  
• Natural Health Bible for Dogs & Cats by Shawn Messonnier, DVM
  
  
• Dog Health & Nutrition for Dummies by Christine Zink, DVM
• Better Food for Dogs by David Bastin
  

Isn't it still just calories, protein, and carbs? NOT rocket science. Do some massive bulk cooking on the weekends, freeze stuff a la Deceptively Delicious ... shazam! Healthy dog. It's a theory.