Welcome to Week Twenty-Eight!

Those little packets of silica gel that come in vitamin supplements, medications, shoeboxes, electronics, household goods, leather products, many and varied food products, medications and cat litter can make your dog sick if she ingests them. Read more about, “Silica Packets” in this week’s Perfect Puppy column. Then make sure there are none in your house that she can get to!

Does your dog REALLY give kisses? REALLY? In order to qualify as a kiss, the lips have to pucker and dog lips don’t pucker. So if not a kiss, what is it? It’s a lick! Your dog might lick you because there is some food on your face or you taste salty. She might be licking as a sign of respect, but she also might be licking because she’s stressed! When a dog becomes fearful or anxious, she will lick to restrain or hold back her desire to bite. This week’s Kids & Pets column talks about, “Dog Kisses” and those things you and your kids need to be aware of.

Dogs are so much more sophisticated with body language than humans! We so often misunderstand the communications our dogs send us because we “humanize” our dog’s body language. This week in Training For Success we talk, “Stress Signals” your dog uses to let you know she is fearful, worried and on overload, needing your assistance to end the situation or help her get out of it before she feels the need to bite.

This week’s Understanding Your Puppy talks about, “It’s Important to Teach Impulse Control.” What is impulse control? In our world, it’s not eating the chocolate cake so you can lose a pound or two, or doing your homework to pass tomorrow’s exam rather than playing hockey. Known also as will power, restraint, or self-control, impulse control is the ability to wait in order to acquire something that person desires. Impulse control doesn’t exist in babies, and we learn it from our parents, siblings, teachers, etc. Just like babies, we must also, teach our dogs how to develop impulse control.

The staff of the MyPetTrainer.com and LostMyPet.com community is here to support YOU! We hope you enjoy learning from your Week Twenty-Eight issue of MyPetTrainer.com.

Together in success,
The staff of MyPetTrainer.com