return to top

Faiths Dog Information Blog

More Steps for Dog Grooming

Your dog is very important to you. For, this very reason you want to keep your dog in the best health. Grooming your dogs is the most important care you can give to your dog after you see to their basic needs. Dog grooming keeps their skin healthy, the dead hair away, and the matted hair down to a minimum. Think of grooming kind of like you would a horse. A horse needs to be brushed after you ride them to remove the dirt. A dog needs to be brushed every day to remove dead hair, matted hair, and the dirt. You will find a few tips on how to get your dog to cooperate.

First your dog needs to understand who the master is. They also need to enjoy the process. So you have to make it as painless as possible. You may teach them that there is a certain hour and place that grooming will occur on a daily basis. This helps with consistency and making sure they are understanding what you need from them.

Once they are cooperative you can start your daily examination. First you need to make sure there are no cuts, fleas, rashes or bumps. They may have other types of bugs hiding in their hair. Some dogs are more prone to diseases like cancer or skin rashes so you need to keep up with grooming to make sure they don’t have anything you should seek a vet about.

During this process you will need to brush the dogs coat. Depending on the type of dog you have you will need to have a few different kinds of brushes. A fine tooth comb generally takes care of the bugs they may have.

If you are in a prime tick area you will also need to search their fur for the bugs. Ticks are one of the hardest bugs to get rid of because you need to use tweezers and even alcohol to remove them. Ticks bury their heads under the skin so just using tweezers may not be enough. Sometimes if you just pull gently back and forth to loosen the head and then pull firmly you can remove the tick without incident.

You will also need to check the ears, feet, and teeth daily. You are going to be looking for cuts, potential injuries, tumors, or other lumps during this process as well. You want to make sure, especially when left alone, that they did not get hurt. There are many dangers when you leave them alone in the backyard from sticks, bugs, and other things that could harm their thick skin.

Dogs love to chew on things and though their teeth are quite hard they still have problems with tooth decay and can harm their teeth. Part of the grooming process is making sure they get regular cleaning. You may brush their teeth at home and take them to the vet for teeth cleaning once a year. (Depending on vet recommendations)

Your dog’s feet are also important. You will have to clip their nails every two to three weeks. You need the dog to be placid during the grooming so teach them to sit and lift their paw for you. That way you won't nip an area or clip too far down on the nail. You need to understand just where to cut. The dog has a blood supply to their nails, which if you clip with bleed and hurt the dog. Before clipping their nails make sure you know where the quick is, which is the nerve.

Motivation, consistency and reinforcement in dog training

When begging to teach your remember the most important things are consistency, rate of reinforcement and motivation. Consistency would be always giving the dog the same signals dogs love consistency and it will make stress levels go right down and produce far quicker results.
The rate of reinforcement is how often the dog is rewarded when starting to teach a new behavior the rate of reinforcement should be very high. The rate of reinforcement should gradually come down as the dog begins to learn the behavior until the rate of reinforcement is very low. A high rate of reinforcement will also encourage faster behaviors thought motivation.

One of the biggest aspects to any dog training whether it be obedience, agility, fly ball or just general behavior obedience the most important thing is the dogs motivation. The dog must love to do what you're asking of it when this is the case the dog will work fast and highly accurate. A dog that has little or no motivation to work will be very slow and de-motivated making any training extremely difficult. Forced behavior which is where a dog is forced into the behavior will often produce a de-motivated dog in cases where dogs have been forced into behaviors the best thing to do is simply start from scratch with very high levels of reinforcement.

Reinforces to use:
Toys are the number one way to train dogs they produce highly motivated and highly obedient dog. When dogs love there reward and associate it with fast exciting situations then dogs will always work well.

Food is also a motivator often used I personally would always avoid using food for training as it produces a dog that becomes dependent of constantly being fed.

Clickers are a way of reinforcing a dog's behavior with a simple click rather than the reward itself. This is a good way to train as it produces very quick results. The dog is being reinforced down to the millisecond getting through to the dog exactly whets excepted using a consistent click at the same consistent point when the desirable behavior is shown.

Motivation, consistence and the rate of reinforcement are three huge factors in training any dog. I hope through reading this guide you have learned how to train your dog more efficiently while producing a happier dog.

The American Foxhound

As you can imagine there are many hounds that have been used for fox hunting and other hunting over the years. In the UK most are familiar with the foxhounds. The American foxhound is really just another breed of the UK foxhound that has been adapted. If you are looking for a lovable dog that will want to play, exercise, and have a generally good time in your back yard you may be interested in the American foxhound.

The American foxhound looks much likes it UK counterpart in that it has the same color pattern and body type. You will find the American foxhound is a little taller and a little light in the body, but they are still about the same. The height of this foxhound is 21 to 25 inches with 65 to 75 pounds. They have straight bones adding to the height and making them a bit more agile as foxhounds. They have floppy ears, a long tail, and thin legs. They are usually white with black spots, and a brown head; however they can be just about any colour. The American foxhound was breed from the English descendent and the French hound.

The foxhound has several wonderful qualities including hunting, tracking, being a watchdog, and a trail dog. They are a hardy breed, which means they have a lot of energy to expend and love to have some type of job or game to play during the day. They have been used as pack dogs as well. You will find they are not good around other pets like cats. Their instincts are to chase and they can end up harming the other pets. They do okay with other dogs, but again this depends on the breed of the other dog. They can do well with the same breed. You will find they are not the best of dogs to have around children or novice owners. However with the proper training in socialization and obedience they can be in family homes. Training will be difficult as they are a stubborn breed. As long as you are firm, but gentle you should have no difficulty in further training after obedience. They are often a barker, so you may need to train them when to bark and when not to bark. They are very friendly, loyal, and energetic pets to have in your home. You will find they do better in outside kennels and should not be placed in apartment living.

For proper care of your foxhound you will need to have a small or large home with plenty of backyard. The foxhound likes to run around during the day and play. They also need attention from their owner. They should not be left alone for long periods of time. Exercise should be given daily, especially long walks. Usually two to three walks a day are needed. Typically if you provide the right care they can live for twelve years. They are prone to some health conditions that are genetic like hip dysplasia and bone problems, but on the whole they are very healthy. Grooming is important on a weekly basis. The short hair requires a brushing to remove dead or loose hair. They should only be shampooed when necessary as they have sensitive skin. They are an average shedder all year long, so it helps to brush them often. For nutrition it is best to supply them with a high protein diet, with little meals throughout the day to prevent weight gain.