Dog training

Being a canine therapist, I'm constantly being asked, how to house train pups. I'm a therapist not a trainer but I understand where they are coming from. I've had dogs all my life. Honestly, I cannot remember how I potty train my dogs. The most recent memory I have was to lay down newspaper all over in the kitchen then as the pup chooses her / his spot to pee, slowly remove the paper one by one day by day. It did work. Then eventually I moved the pup into the toilet, bought a pee pad and she just went there.

I must admit, it is easier when there is another older dog around the house when bringing home a new puppy. When we adopted our poogle, she was trained to pee on the rug. I don't understand why people teach their pups to pee on the rug because we have lots of rug in the house and the pup cannot understand which rug to pee! Worse if you have a carpet and they think it's ok to pee on that too! So out came the pee pads. At first she didn't know what she was suppose to do, then she slowly learned that she was suppose to do her business there, big and small, but she still peed on the rugs..what to do, what to do? Now what happened next was quite surprising. We have a 5 year old west highland terrier, male. He has stopped marking the house for 4 years. He only does his business outside, on his walks. I didn't realize this at the time, but this new puppy was observing and learning from him. Within a few months, she stopped doing her business indoors. She would hold her bladder until she got out, she would poo during her walks too! Eventually, the pee pad was made redundant and was kept away.

A year later, we adopted another dog. This time it was a Rottweiler. He was 6 months old when we got him. I admit, it was my husband that trained him. It didn't take him that long to train him. By this point we had moved to a house, with the house came a 10 year old boxer who was a family pet. She was trained to never go out of the house when the gate was opened. This was what the Rottweiler picked up. He's constantly watching the other older dogs and learning new things. He doesn't run out of the gate anymore when we come home. Of course, with learning new things, he also picks up the bad habits from the older dogs as well...they are after all like children. So, we will still need to discipline him not by beating him, but by stern words just like a child.

Ever heard of monkey see monkey do, well it applies to our dogs. :D Having one dog while is brings companionship to the human owner, taking another dog will bring joy to the house. It is true, dogs do keep each other company when the human owner is not around.

Our two adopted dogs and the youngest in our house.

Happydogz Holistic Centre

I have recently opened up a holistic centre for canines for their therapy session. Some may wonder why from house calls I open a centre up and incur cost, easy, the centre helps me to save on journey time and be able to help more dogs that need it. This has been on my mind for a while and finally I decided why not just do it. That way I can bring more holistic products for your canines and bring awareness to the owners on what is better for your dogs. So, I've researched and found toys that are hardy, home made soap, walkies belt that hold poo bags, wet wipes and even a compartment for your phone, natural shampoos for your dogs, holistic dog food that is better for your dog, natural creams that heal, supplements that helps with your dog's gut, skin problem and hair shedding and many more ailments.

No doubt it may cost a little more but think about it..your dog will be happier, your vet bills will lower. My muscle therapy lowers the risk of muscle injury in your dog, increases the oxygen flow in the dog's blood supply which in turn supports a healthy dog. The supplements aids in your dog's gut keeping him in optimum health. I've even got home made soap which has jojoba oil, eucalyptus and lemon grass essential oil. One person even commented how the soap helped her dog's skin and now her dog has itched less because of the soap and the cream. All the products in the shop has been imported.

For those who would like to see what else i have in the shop, drop in. If you want treatment for you dog, please call for an appointment on 016-3940968. Additionally, I also offer animal communication for your pets not just canines.

Functions of Muscle

As owners of canines, we take it for granted the health of our dogs. We expect them to be healthy, perfect and be our companions. We take them to the vet for their yearly vaccinations (which by the way, I do not vaccinate my dog every year for obvious reasons). We walk them, bathe or send them for grooming and shower them with love. So what happens when you're dog suddenly wakes up one morning and become lame? You send him / her to the vet, get pain killers, antibiotics if there's inflammation, cold compress...etc etc. Vet bills increases. 

We must understand and be aware that in every living creature, the contraction of the muscle is what causes movement. In a dog, it's the same. The primary function of the muscular system is the move different parts of  the body. It stabilizes the joints to keep them functioning. There are 2 types of muscles in the body : Voluntary and Involuntary muscles. Involuntary muscles are based around the cardiovascular region, the cardiac muscles and surrounding the arteries, bladder and intestines are smooth muscles.

The second voluntary muscle are the ones that aids in the movement of our canines. It is the skeletal muscles that is attach to the skeletal system. The muscles that is attached to the skeletal system are the ones that helps the canines to walk, run, wag tail, chew, stretch and stretch. It is these muscles that consist of many cells which is held together by connective tissue that causes muscle contraction and therefore movement. 

So if the muscle gets injured, pulled, stressed, sprained, the dog will experience lameness in his / her gait / movement. It may cause inflammation to the muscle. For degenerative disease like hip dysplasia, the muscle surrounding the joint plays an important role. As the humeral head in the femur bone isn't sitting properly in the socket, the muscles play a role to hold the humeral head together to socket or close to the socket. This is important because as your dog ages, if no treatment is done for the hip dysplasia, it will get progressively worse and your dog will eventually become lame, refuses to go for long walks because he / she is in pain. 

For the dogs that are healthy, maintaining your dog's optimum muscle health is important. Muscle therapy for your canines even once a month will lower your canines from injury and save you high vet bills. You will see less sprains, strains on your canines. For dogs with degenerative disease, this therapy is important to ease your canine's pains, increases the oxygen flow, prevents the hip from degenerating further or slows it down at the very least. He / she will be a much happier dog. 

I always believe that prevention is better than cure. If your dog has got a degenerative disease, than maintenance is important. It is not a cure for those dogs that have got hip dysplasia, but it will give your dog a better life free of pain.

This is my boxer, she is 10 years old and already finding it a little difficult to get up due to age. She gets her muscle therapy once a week. In this photo, she is resting from a vigorous play with our 11 month old Rottweiler. Look at how happy she is in this photo. 

So, call me on 016-3940968 for free consultation today.