Rita's Dogs

03/28/2022

This beautiful girl is looking for a new home - she's being fostered right now by good people and is available for adoption through FOAC. Brownie is very smart, affectionate and adorable. I met with the fostering family to work on reducing jumpiness on people just recently - that's just because she's so loving and seeks human company. We were teaching her to sit instead of jumping, and she is learning the new skills fast!
She's medium sized, young (about 10 months) and in need of someone to give her a good home. She's well socialized with dogs and dog-friendly cats. She will require active people who will be willing to exercise her adequately.
https://www.petfinder.com/dog/brownie-54747651/ca/sonora/friends-of-the-animal-community-ca249/

08/23/2021

Meet Leo, our new addition to the family!
He is such sweet and outgoing boy - about 3 months old, terrier mix we just adopted from the Tuolumne County Humane Society.

As usual with puppies, the biggest focus is on socialization and house training right now. Day 2 today, and he has already met numerous new people, three new dogs (one of them young and playful), has ridden a few times in the car, has heard some tools at work, has walked on several different surfaces and met our not too friendly cat!
We are also working hard on establishing routines, setting up his environment for success and teaching him his name, among other things: we have a crate for short term confinement and sleeping, an ex-pen for long term confinement, several interesting tug and chew toys, and a few enticing puzzle toys he can eat his food from. He's taking it all in and loving it!

08/12/2021

This is one of my favourite quotes from Jean Donaldson's Culture Clash. No motivation, no training, is such an important message to get across. And of course, food makes for an excellent motivator. There's a reason this book has been so influential in dog training--it's jam-packed with wisdom.

06/18/2021

Last week I posted about using an anti-pull harness for those dogs who pull on a leash. Sometimes, however, switching to that kind of harness is not enough.
Next step would be to teach your dog wearing a head halter for his or her walk. Head halters such as Halti or Gentle Leader won't physically allow your dog to pull, yet they do not cause pain like some other collars that are still, unfortunately, on the market...

It does take a little time and training to acclimate a dog to the head halter. Here is Piper learning how to wear a Halti and be happy about it. A couple of videos are in the comments below.

06/09/2021

Does your dog pull on a leash?

The easiest first step you could take to improve this is to change the equipment:

1) Ditch the retractable leash
2) Purchase an anti-pull harness - those are the harnesses that have front clips to attach the leash to. Most dogs accept harnesses easily and there is little training required. The pulling won't likely stop without training, but could be reduced significantly by these harnesses.

Our favorite ones are:

🐕‍🦺 Blue-9 Balance harness
🐕‍🦺 Ruffwear Front Range harness
🐕‍🦺 Freedom No Pull harness

Here is a beautiful girl Piper happily wearing the Blue-9 harness. Isn't she adorable?

05/28/2021

Questions about puppy care and raising answered by some of the best experts!
https://www.companionanimalpsychology.com/2021/05/top-tips-on-puppy-raising-from-experts.html?fbclid=IwAR3pZMMA9NLyza5PyjnB4Og15SXALLCue8yxnkQsKcWfAS9O4mhn2nOTNsM

Common questions about caring for puppies, answered by the experts.

05/01/2021

by Lisa Skavienski, CTC One gorgeous summer morning, I watched from across the pool as a small grey bird fluttered down out of a tree and hovered just a few feet in front of my foster dog, Quinn. Quinn tilted her head to the side and froze for a brief moment before lunging forward and …

04/11/2021

So you brought home a new shelter dog. Here are some tips for welcoming and training your new rescue dog.

03/31/2021

03/30/2021