Golden Retreiver - Dog Breed Info

General Description About Golden Retreiver Dogs

The Golden Retreiver is a very intelligent breed of dog. It has its roots from Scotland. In 18th century when the wildfowl hunting was quite popular in wealthy, a particular type of dog was needed to retreive the ducks and upland game birds during hunting and shooting parties and the Golden Retreiver was the best pick for this job because they were able to retreive the game undamaged. They were also well suited to suburban and country environments. As a result she gained the name "retreiver"

English Golden Retreiver (British Golden Retreiver)

The muzzle of the English Golden Retreiver is wider and shorter, and its forehead is blockier. It has shorter legs, with a slightly deeper chest, and shorter tail. Its features make it generally heavier than the American type. Males should be between 56–61 cm (22–24 inches) at the withers and females slightly shorter at between 51–56 cm (20–22 inches). A Golden Retriever of British breeding can have a coat colour of any shade of gold or cream; however, red or mahogany are not permissible colours.

American Golden Retreiver

An American Golden Retreiver is lankier and less stocky than a British Type. A male should stand 22–24 inches (56–61 cm) in height at the shoulders, and females should be 20–22 inches (51–56 cm).[15] The coat is dense and water repellent, in various shades of lustrous gold, with moderate feathering. The gait should be free, smooth, powerful, and well-coordinated.

Canadian Golden Retreiver

As with American type, Canadian Golden Retreiver is often taller and leaner than their British counterparts. However, Canadian retrievers differ in the density and colour of their coats, which are commonly thinner and darker than those of Americans.

Golden Retreiver Characteristics

The temperament of the Golden Retriever is a hallmark of the breed and is described in the standard as "kindly, friendly and confident". Golden Retrievers are great family pets and get along great with children. However, their trusting, gentle disposition makes them a poor guard dog. Golden Retrievers are also noted for their intelligence, it ranks fourth following the Border Collie, Poodle, and German Shepherd Dog, being one of the brightest dogs ranked by obedience command trainability.  The Golden Retriever’s intelligence makes them versatile, allowing them to fill a variety of roles including guide dog for the blind, hearing dog for the deaf, hunting dog, illegal drug detector, and search and rescue participant. These dogs are also renowned for their patience with children. Golden Retrievers are compatible with children and adults and are good with other dogs, cats and most livestock. Their high level of sociability towards people, calmness, and willingness to learn makes Golden Retreiver Puppies a popular pick for the owners.

Husky - Dog Info

General Description About Husky Dogs
The word Husky originated from the word referring to Arctic people in general, Eskimos, "...known as Huskies, a contraction of Huskimos, the pronunciation given to the word Eskimos by the English sailors of trading vessels." Use of Husky is recorded from 1852 for dogs kept by Eskimo people.

Husky is a general name for a type of dog used to pull sleds in northern regions, differentiated from other sled dog types by their fast pulling style. Husky type dogs were originally used to pull sleds, hunt large game, and guard villages in northern regions. DNA analysis has found that Huskies are one of the oldest types of dogs. They are "an ever-changing cross-breed of the fastest dogs". Alaskan Malamute, by contrast, is "the largest and most powerful" sled dog and was used for heavier loads. Huskies are used in sled dog racing. In recent years companies have been marketing tourist treks with dog sleds for adventure travelers in snow regions as well. Huskies are also today kept as pets, and groups work to find new pet homes for retired racing and adventure trekking dogs.


Husky Characteristics
Husky type dogs are energetic and athletic. They usually have a thick double coat. Huskies are known for pale blue eyes, although they may also have brown eyes. Huskies are very intelligent and trainable, but they will only obey a command if they see the human is stronger minded than themselves. If the handler does not display leadership, they will not see the point in obeying. Training takes patience, consistency and an understanding of the Arctic dog character.

They are not usually recommended for apartments, however they can live in apartments if well trained and properly exercised. Since the Husky Puppies are quite popular these days, an owner should mind that they are very active indoors and do best with a fenced-in large yard. Because of their heavy coats, these dogs prefer cool climates. One has to use common sense with respect to maintaining them in the heat by providing adequate shade and/or air conditioning.

Alternate Activities with Husky
Since many owners now have Husky dogs as pets in settings that are not ideal for sledding, other activities have been found which are good for the dog and fun for the owner.

• Skijoring is an alternative to sled pulling, but mainly used in somewhat the same environment as sledding with the exception that the owner (cross-country skier) does not need a full pack in order to participate.
• Dog Hiking is an alternative for owners who live closer to woodland trails. The owner travels with their dogs along trails in the wilderness. This activity allows the owner and dog to gain exercise without using the huskies strong sense of pulling. Some companies make hiking equipment especially for dogs in which they may carry their own gear including water, food, and bowls for each.
• Carting, also known as Dryland Mushing or Sulky Driving, is an urban alternative to Dog Sledding. Here, the dog can pull a cart which contains either supplies or an individual. These carts can be bought or hand-made by the individual.
• Bikejoring is an activity where the owner bikes along with their dog while they are attached to their bike through a harness which keeps both the dog and owner safe. The dog or team of dogs can be attached to a towline to also pull the biker.
• Dog Scootering is a mushing activity which relates to bikejoring and carting, where the owner rides a scooter that is pulled by the dog.

Dog Obedience Training Tips

Obedience training is quite simply training your dog to be obedient. It includes training them the basic commands including: sit, stay, heel, come and so on. There are two basic approaches to obedience training. One school of though employs negative reinforcement techniques like choke collars and electric shocks while the other utilizes a simple clicker and rewards. Which do you think works best? Clicker training and rewards, here’s why...


Negative reinforcement breeds fear. It makes your dog afraid of you and of others. Fear causes aggression and unpredictable behavior. The results are a dog which bites, destroys your property and barks incessantly. While negative reinforcement behaviors may work in the short run, they are not predictable. For the best dog training results you want to make sure that the behaviors are predictable and repeatable.

Dog training with positive reinforcement creates bond that will last a lifetime and using a clicker is the most effective and efficient tool to accomplish the task.

Dog Obedience Training using a clicker is a training method which uses a tool, a clicker. The clicker tells your dog the instant it has performed a correct or desirable behavior. The sound is their signal that they’ve done it right.

This clicking sound combined with positive reinforcement like verbal praise and food rewards (treats) is an incredibly effective way to train your dog to perform any behavior including sit, stay, heel, fetch, speak, attack, roll over, play dead, lay down and just about any behavior or trick you can think of. Before you get started with clicker training there are some tips to make the most of your clicker training sessions:

Schedule Training
Making training sessions a part of your every day life helps your dog know what to expect. They’ll actually anticipate this time with you. If you schedule training sessions before meal time they’ll be extra motivated to learn the obedience behavior you’re trying to train.


Keep Obedience Training Sessions Short
Dogs only have unlimited attention spans when it involves a ball or chasing a cat. Actually, they lose focus for those fun activities too. Keep training sessions to around five minutes and your dog will be attentive and engaged. Drag the session on too long and your dog may lose interest in training all together.


Don’t Punish Your Dog for Bad Behavior
This may seem contrary to how training should be handled however punishment like yelling, hitting or time outs in their crate actually can cause more harm than good. It causes your dog to be fearful, stressed, and destructive. Instead, fix bad behaviors by rewarding good behavior. It may take them a little longer to catch on but the rewards are worth it and the training will last. You won’t have to retrain and retrain and retrain.

Practice Using the Clicker Before You Begin Training Your Dog
A clicker is a simple tool, you pinch it and it makes a clicking sound. However it isn’t as simple to use. Because the sound is the cue to proper obedience behavior it must be accurate. If you click after your dog has performed the correct behavior they may not make the association. Rather click when your dog is performing the correct behavior. To be an accurate clicker, practice.

Puppy Potty Training Tips - General Rules

• Owning a puppy is a big commitment for all family members, especially in the first few days and weeks.
  
  
• Puppy potty training is not a race, the key is to prevent mistakes and establish good habits early. Dogs are creatures of habit.
  
  
• From your dogs point of view there is no right or wrong place to go to the toilet, they feel like going and just do it. It is our job to clearly communicate and reinforce where it is acceptable to eliminate and also where it is not acceptable.
  
  
• Opening your back door every couple of hours to let your puppy out will not house train your puppy.
  
  
• A puppy's natural instinct is to keep their bedding/sleeping area clean.
  
  
• No matter how attentive and diligent you are in the house training process there is bound to be the odd slip up. Don't worry about it just ensure that you clean mistakes up thoroughly, including the use of an odor neutralizer to take away any lingering smell.
  
  
• Puppy house training strategy involves close supervision and confinement to start with but only so we can allow our puppies greater freedom and much sooner.
  
  
• Understand your puppy's capabilities and be realistic, keep in mind you are dealing with a very young animal. Young puppies can only hold on for so long before they need to go, they don't have much control early on. As a general rule a puppy can hold on an hour for every month of his/her age, plus another hour. This means that a 2 month old puppy can be expected to hold on for three hours and at 3 months old this same pup could be expected to hold on for four hours at a time.
  
  
• Develop a dog food and water schedule. Each day feed at the same time (never close to bed time) and take away your dogs water bowl before you go to bed (don't forget to put it back first thing in the morning!). You'll develop a routine this way and "what goes in on schedule comes out on schedule", if you know what I mean...
  
  

Always remember: Physical Punishment Is Never An Option In The House Training Process !