You wouldn’t think that there would be much of a method, or even a reason, for socializing kittens. They’re adorable. Everybody loves them. What more do you need to know?
Quite a bit, actually. In fact, we do kittens a disservice when we don’t actively attempt to socialize them, says Shawn Simons, the founder of Kitty Bungalow Charm School for Wayward Cats, based in Los Angeles, California. And don’t let the name fool you. It is a nonprofit with a serious mission: to rescue feral street kittens and turn them into beloved pets.
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If you like the gentle character of the Golden Retriever but prefer a dog that does not shed as much hair, the medium Goldendoodle is your ideal companion. For this reason it is ideal for all those who have allergies they are usually chosen as companion dogs in homes where there are children, since they are very affectionate, although they are also suitable to help people who suffer from some type of visual impairment. They are also very intelligent, they learn orders with little effort. They come in different sizes: large, medium and minis. This variable will largely depend on the weight of their parents, although we should not be guided solely and exclusively by it. If you want to know the main characteristics of the Goldendoodle, do not stop reading this article.
The character and behavior of the Goldendoodle
This breed of dog is especially sociable, sweet and affectionate. They love to be around people and even other animals, which is why they are not exactly good watchdogs: they will make friends with thieves instead of driving them away.
They tend to have behavior problems if their owners leave them alone for a long time. They are also faithful, loyal and obedient, which makes them easy dogs to train if they receive good training. Golden doodles tend to gnaw everything they find on their way, so it will be necessary to train them correctly to remove this mania. They also have a great sense of smell, so we can play with them to hide certain objects so that they can find them.
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What are its physical characteristics?
We can find Goldendoodles of different colors: black, beige and chocolate, although the most common are cream and gold. His hair is long, thick and curly, therefore we must brush it constantly, in that way we will prevent it from getting tangled and knots from forming. As mentioned above, their size can vary: the largest weigh between twenty and thirty kilos, the medium ones weigh between fourteen and twenty kilos, and the minis can weigh up to six kilos. Females are usually two inches smaller than males.
They are dogs that have a lot of energy, so we must give them long walks or even go for a run with them. Some Goldendoodles love to swim. This ability can only be developed with good training.
Necessary care for a Goldendoodle
Their life expectancy is around fifteen years and during all that time they are usually in good health, although we must be especially vigilant when our dog reaches an advanced age, as it can suffer from hip dysplasia. You also have to be careful with your eyes and ears. Goldendoodles are prone to diseases in these areas, so it is essential to keep them very clean to avoid any type of infection.
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Adult Goldendoodles have to eat a couple of times a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. Their food should have a high protein content, in this way we make sure that they receive all the energy they need, and they should also rest after meals, to avoid a stomach twist.
Our dog must eat special food for puppies up to the first year of age, from there we can introduce adult food. Obviously we will have to have a container full of water to avoid dehydration, especially during the summer.
TREATS DURING TRAINING can be very helpful. But if the dog only does something when you have a reward in hand, it is far from being a well-trained dog. Today we will tell you how to use them in training and what you should pay attention to.
We all know these dogs who are so fond of treats that they can be very aggressive or just give you attention when you are holding something tasty in hand. To prevent your dog from only listening to you when a reward awaits.
What motivates your dog?
Even though threats are widespread in treats during training and most of the time sound like the easiest way to reward your dog, perhaps there are other types of rewards that your dog will find much better.
Good and successful dog training is based on the dog having fun with the activity and doing it with enthusiasm. Only with a motivated dog can the desired success be achieved. Also, not all dogs automatically just look for treats. Depending on the breed and character of your dog, there are ways to reward him much more effectively, with something that he likes and that motivates him to do his best.
Alternatives to dog treats
First of all, you need to find out what your dog likes the most. Very active dogs can be inspired, for example, by a little game or a little common foraging. Other dogs like it when they are petted or when they receive verbal praise. This way, you won’t have to add every time your dog does something nice. Many dogs find it much more motivating to make their owners happy and proud or to be rewarded with attention. That is why you should find out what your dog likes the most. Make a list of it and how important the individual points are to your dog.
Dogs are always eager to make life as good and harmonious as possible for themselves. Therefore, your decisions are always based on the question: “What advantage do I get from this?” This can be food, of course, but for creatures as sociable as our four-legged friends, interaction with their humans is also extremely important.
Is a treat really that exciting?
It is precisely this question of the advantage for the dog that sometimes makes training difficult. Treats are often not a compelling argument to listen to when other stimuli are waiting for the dog. These can be other dogs, wild animals, or other stimuli. If then you have a dog that is only by your side for food, even with continuous training, you will lose, and the dog will not pay attention to you. Because the other attraction is stronger at the moment and seems more valuable to the dog.
When does it make sense to work with candy?
Often at first, if you have a new puppy or dog, the relationship with the four-legged friend is easier to build if you have treats on hand. Instinctively, the dog is motivated by the little bites to get involved with the new person. So if you start with at the beginning it is not a bad thing. However, you should also play with your dog without the use of, so that you can get to know each other better and build a foundation of trust.
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When should you stop giving your dog treats?
When you see that your dog is constantly looking at your hand or even pushing it because it wants something to eat, you should think about how to get your dog’s attention back. Even if your dog shows some form of food aggression by ripping treats from your hand, it’s time to do something.
There are dogs that are pampered and receive rewards just because they have a cute look or because they are present. Dogs quickly realize what tricks they get from their owners what they want. Some of these little rituals between the human and the dog are important to the relationship, others can turn into really serious behaviors.
Certain behaviors that you initially trained with treats to relate to maybe rewarded differently once the command is internalized. In this way, it will no longer be necessary to reward with food every time the dog has executed the command correctly. You can also choose other types of rewards, such as a game or verbal praise.
The BARF Diet for pets translates to Biologically Appropriate Raw Foods and is something like the equivalent of the Paleo diet for dogs and cats. It has many followers, especially in the United States and Northern Europe, but is the BARF diet safe? What base is behind it?
The benefits of the BARF diet delve, at least in theory, into how animals process food. Also, more than anything else, in the poor quality of commercial food, a way of defending alternative diets and therapies sounds a lot to us. However, one thing must be said before going into flour: much commercial feed may not be totally suitable for pets, but that does not make raw foods better, especially of certain types and sources.
The Paleo Diet for Pets
We are no longer hunter-gatherers, although perhaps our body has not yet been found out. Some people based on this fact promote the so-called Paleo diet, that is, we should eat the same as in the Paleolithic. It is what our body is prepared for, and it is true, although it is also true that in the Paleolithic, life expectancy was low.
Evolution may not have changed our bodies in a very pronounced way, but technology has forever changed the way we eat, for the better. That is a fact in humans, but what about pets? Cats and especially dogs have been with us for thousands of years, something that has also modified their way of eating and their diet.
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The BARF diet promotes standards that include mostly raw meat and some vegetables and fruits. It’s what a dog or cat could get in the wild, the Paleo Diet for pets. Its main problem is that it stumbles on the same arguments as the paleo diet for people: thanks to technology, deficiencies are covered that the so-called “natural diet” does not cover, especially considering that your dog no longer travels kilometers to hunt prey. Your life is different and your needs are probably too.
The so-called BARF diet for pets is popular in certain countries, and that has led to several problems. Owners who have given their friends frozen BARF food have seen dozens of cases of infections by bacteria and other pathogens. It just seems that raw food – oh, surprise – is a source of disease.
Not that we discovered the gunpowder. Humans started cooking food a long time ago for the same reason, but what about animals? If we don’t feed a dog cooked meat, he is not going to make it and probably never would have tasted it. Can an animal eat raw meat without risk or not? Apparently, not entirely, and we refer to the cases cited by EC.
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It is clear that the organism of a dog, a cat, or another animal does not work in the same way, but a domestic dog stopped being a wild animal long ago. Yes, the quality of some processed feed may be questionable, but that does not make a piece of frozen chicken from you who knows what origin and quality safer.
To sample a button: a manual for prey-feeding zoo animals. It is not so easy, and it is that it warns against payments present in corpses in a natural way that could cause diseases, and definitely that is something you do not want for your pet, with or without natural food.
That said, we close this section with something that perhaps the supporters of all the benefits of the BARF diet do not like, at least in its industrial aspect, still unknown: processed feed has been classified by the authorities as safe. More or less nutritious, more or less recommended, but safe. Your cat may shed a little more hair, but it is more difficult for it to catch a life-threatening illness due to bacteria. What to do if you don’t trust the feed and prefer a “natural” diet?
For starters, it is perhaps natural for your dog to roam the steppe in packs. On that basis, qualifying as natural any food provided by a human may not be the most correct, although it is clear that dogs have long ceased to be wolves.
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To continue, the best thing you can do if you have doubts is to consult your vet, who is the professional and the best placed to advise you in these cases. Surely you can ask him if it is convenient to give your pet homemade food, that is, raw or cooked meat but from different sources than that sold frozen as a BARF diet.
In short: it may be that by taking great care of the origin and type of raw food that you give your pet, the BARF diet can be considered safe, but only with extreme care.
