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Do you know what you’ll do with your dog’s body when he dies? Not something you want to think about probably, but it’s worth spending a little time on. Growing up, we were fortunate enough to bury our dogs beneath the apple tree. The dogs didn’t get a special marker – back then I think some people saw us as odd for even caring what happened to our dogs after they died.

The family dog has come a long way since I was a child. Back then, most of our dogs lived outdoors; only two of my childhood dogs ever called the inside of our house a home. We had several "huntin’ dogs" – Beagles – who [I shudder as I write this] lived in pens. They were well taken care of, but only really got out when it was time to hunt rabbits. As the pack dwindled due to old age, the remaining Beagle, Cookies, was allowed to [another shudder] roam the neighborhood, un-penned and free to go here and there as he pleased. By the time he died, we had moved to a neighborhood where roaming wasn’t safe [not that it was ever safe, mind you, but the new neighborhood had much more traffic] and he lived inside our fenced yard. When he died, we paid homage to his wandering spirit and buried him outside the fence – his spirit forever free to roam.

Now that I’m grown and have dogs of my own, I’m faced with the question of what to do when they die. I don’t want to bury them here – my husband and I have already decided we won’t stay in our house when we retire. I don’t want to leave them behind when we sell our house, so what to do?

An article in today’s Washington Post might be my answer: individual cremation. Maybe it’s because I’m getting older. I’m staring 40 square in the face, and I find myself think a lot more about things like this. But I’m warming up to the idea of cremation (no pun intended). I can always have them with me, regardless of where we move, I can even have them buried with me when I finally expire. Together forever…

More than you ever wanted to know about me? Probably. But take a look at the article if you’re as attached to your dogs as I am, and it might give you some comfort for what happens when it’s time to say goodbye.

I promised some more books and here they are:

Quick Tips of the Day: If your dog is engaging in inappropriate behavior (behavior you don’t want them to repeat), stop those behaviors now! The more your dog practices that inappropriate behavior, the harder it will be to teach them a new habit.

Quick Examples: (1) A client has a new pup who is curious about the kitty and loves to chase the cat. Unfortunately, this behavior, based in curiosity right now, won’t go away on it’s own and the puppy quickly learns how fun it is to chase the kitty. (2) Dogs in my neighborhood love to bark when people pass by (they’re behind underground shock fences) and their owners don’t call the dogs in when they begin to bark. This novel behavior (barking at people) will quickly become an ingrained habit – very tough to break!

Earlier this afternoon, I heard a ruckus in my fenced yard (we have a physical fence – not a shock fence). A neighborhood child was skateboarding in the driveway next door. A quick "Come, dogs" was all that was needed to quickly silence my dogs. I brought them in, gave them a piece of cheese for coming so quickly, and silence reigned.

Quick Solutions: (1) For the puppy, simply put her on a leash, so kitty can come and go without being chased to the gate. Also, work on having the pup sit (yes, even 8 week old pups can learn this!) and earn treats when kitty is around. (2) For the barking dogs, teach the dogs that coming when called is extremely rewarding (think cheese or another delectable morsel). Then at the sign of the first bark, call them indoors and reward them heavily. (Or better yet, call them before they bark or keep them indoors during periods of heavy foot-traffic (think: when kids get off the bus).

Don’t wait – if there’s a behavior you see that you don’t want to continue, make sure you interrupt it early and prevent your dog from re-engaging in it. AND – reward your dog for doing something other than that inappropriate behavior. 

I took a look at my bookshelves the other day (which are overflowing at this point) and among those titles that I reference again and again are some that I think every dog owner would enjoy reading. Today I’ve offered two categories: Pleasure and Puppies. In the next post (coming soon), I’ll give you recommendations for Problem Behavior and (Good) Training. I included the links to the books on Amazon – usually the lowest price – if you’re interested in picking up a copy for your own bookshelf. Happy Reading!

Pleasure

Puppies

We all have Spring Fever! My husband, the dogs, and me. I can’t wait for warmer weather! I saw the forecast for the remainder of the week and it’s definitely not spring-like. Ugh. But, on the bright side of things, today was a great day. And the days are getting longer. And Daylight Saving will be here before we know it.

I hope.

Until the seasons progress, I always have memories of summers gone-by: