How to Brush your Dog’s Teeth

In honor of out upcoming dental clinic, we thought a good dental care article was in order…

How to Brush your Dog’s Teeth

Healthy teeth and gums actually contributes to your pet’s overall health and, ultimately, their lifespan. If plaque and tartar are allowed to progress to the point of an infection, harmful bacteria can enter the bloodstream and can gradually damage vital organs such as the heart, kidneys, and liver. Regular visits to your vet in addition to daily brushing at home is the best way to keep your dog’s teeth healthy.

Introduce the Idea

Slowly introduce your dog to an oral care routine. First, get them comfortable with you touching their mouth and teeth. Gently touch the outside of their cheeks and lips and reward them. Gradually introduce a dab of pet toothpaste on your finger, letting the dog taste it. Never use toothpaste designed for humans, as it can ingredients that are harmful to dogs. Plus, your dog will like the taste of dog toothpaste much better, and it is designed to be swallowed! A dilution of baking soda and water can also be used instead of toothpaste. Make sure to keep brushing sessions brief, just a couple of minutes a day. Praise and reassure your dog to keep the experience positive.

Help dogs get used to the feel of the brush.

Place a pea sized dab of toothpaste on a brush and use a slow circular motion to brush one or two teeth and the adjoining gum line. Over the next several days, slowly increase the number of teeth brushed. Brush in a circular motion, concentrating on the outside surfaces of the teeth and gum lines. If a dog does not like the toothbrush, you can try wrapping your finger with a piece of gauze and scrubbing the teeth in a circular motion.

Protip

Dogs are creatures of habit, so try to brush your pet’s teeth at least 2-3 times a week. Routine is key. In order to make tooth brushing and maintenance a positive experience for all, make sure to use treats and lavish praise upon your dog. 

Intro to Clicker Training

Why is clicker training effective?

When an animal intentionally performs a behavior in order to bring about a desired consequence, as clicker trained animals do, they are learning using “operant conditioning.”

Animals (and people) may also associate an action, event, place, person, or object with a consequence, whether positive or negative. The more a certain event or environment is paired with a particular consequence, the stronger the association. This type of learning is called “classical conditioning” and represents reflexive or automatic behavior, rather than intentional behavior.

While clicker training initially employs classical conditioning, it quickly becomes operant conditioning as soon as the animal intentionally repeats an action in order to earn a reward. Training through operant conditioning results in purposeful behavior, while training through classical conditioning results in habitual behavior.

The difference between an animal that behaves with purpose, rather than by habit, is vast. Clicker trained or operantly conditioned animals try to learn new behaviors. They remember behaviors even years later because they were aware of them as they learned them, rather than acquiring them without awareness. They develop confidence because they have control over the consequences of their actions. They are enthusiastic because they expect those consequences to be pleasurable.

Why is a clicker used?

The essential difference between clicker training and other reward-based training is that the animal is told exactly which behavior earned it a reward. This information is communicated with a distinct and unique sound, a click, which occurs at the same time as the desired behavior. The reward follows.

Without hearing a click during an action, an animal may not connect the reward with that action. Or, the animal may associate the reward with another, unwanted action. With the click, a trainer can precisely “mark” behavior so that the animal knows exactly what it was doing. That’s why clicker trainers call the click an “event marker.” The click also bridges or connects the behavior and its reward, and so is also called a “bridging signal.”

Why use the click? Why not just a word?

A click is more powerful for training than a spoken word because it is not a sound heard by the animal in other circumstances. It means one thing only: a reward is coming because of what you did when you heard the click. It can be produced instantly and at the exact moment a behavior occurs.

Unlike our voices, which can say the same word in different ways, the click sounds the same every time it is heard; its meaning never varies. Humans are highly verbal creatures, but our pets are not. It can be difficult for them to pick out a single word from the stream of meaningless words they hear us speak every day. The click’s meaning, however, is always clear. It is always directed at the animal, and it is always good news.

How does clicker training work?

The trainer clicks at the moment the behavior occurs: the horse raises its hoof, the trainer clicks simultaneously. The dog sits, the trainer clicks. Clicking is like taking a picture of the behavior the trainer wishes to reinforce. After “taking the picture,” the trainer gives the animal something it likes, usually a small piece of food but sometimes play, petting, or other rewards.Very soon (sometimes within two or three clicks), an animal will associate the sound of the click with something it likes: the reward. Since it wishes to repeat that pleasurable experience, it will repeat the action it was doing when it heard the click.

Any behavior can be trained with any animal following these three simple steps:

1. Get the behavior.
2. Mark the behavior.
3. Reinforce the behavior.

http://www.clickertraining.com/whatis

Hi Everyone,

We're happy to be posting up here for the first time. We plan to use this space to post articles about pet health, training and nutrition, as well as updates on upcoming events here at Poudre Pet & Feed Supply.

How to Choose the Right Dog Food

Dogs are omnivorous carnivores. Dogs are members of the order Carnivora, but, unlike cats, are not obligate carnivores. The most current research indicates that dogs are capable of digesting a wide array of foods--both plants and animals--as part of a healthy and complete diet. Keeping that in mind that your dog still requires a meat-centered diet, plants can be a nutritious part of your dog's diet.

Look for high-quality proteins. Proteins can come from both plant and animal sources, but dogs are better able to process meat-based proteins. Raw chicken meat is about 20% protein, whereas corn, a common carbohydrate source in dog food, is only 3% protein. Since dogs are omnivorous carnivores, it is ideal when meat is listed as the first ingredient.  Dog foods that use list a carbohydrate, such as corn, as the first ingredient should be avoided, as this is not a sufficient source of protein. Sometimes dog food companies will list a meal instead of a whole meat source. This is nothing to be too concerned about. It just means that they have removed the water before using it as an ingredient. Companies that list meat by-products, however, can contain everything from beaks to feathers, which dogs do not digest very well.

Choose nutritious carbohydrates from whole grains or vegetables. All dry dog food has to contain some sort of carbohydrate source, which is used as a binder among other things. Dog food companies can use everything from rice, to sweet potatoes, to lentils in their foods. Ingredients such as corn, wheat, soy and gluten, in general, have recently come under fire as being potential allergens in dog food. As such, more and more companies are now offering grain-free, soy-free and corn-free options for your pet. It is important to keep in mind, however, that veterinary nutritionists estimate that only about one in twenty itchy dogs are actually reacting to any of the ingredients found in high-quality, natural dog foods. If a dog isn’t allergic, then corn, wheat or soy are unlikely to present problems.

Poudre Pet & Feed Supply does not sell junk. We stand by every food on our shelf and if for any reason you, your dog or your cat isn't completely happy with something you've bought at Poudre Pet & Feed Supply, please bring it back. We'll trade it out for something that may work better, or simply refund your money.