a game for your high energy dog

Everybody likes to play fetch and tug with a dog, but did you know that these games can be a great way to train too? If you have a high energy, possessive dog who likes both toys and food our version of the fetch game can be your number one training tool!  If your dog likes fetch, tug, and understands basic manners you are ready. The more often you play, the more your dog will be committed to giving you immediate attention and snappy responses. Sound good?  Then watch Lucia and Judith use fetch and tug as a training game:

Prepare to play by putting some good training treats in a pouch or pocket where you can get to them easily.  When you are new to the game play in an area that has few distractions so you are the most interesting thing around.  

Tug is game where a high energy dog gets to show her natural rowdiness. Make sure you set rules from the very beginning to keep things from getting out of hand. Most important: you are always the one to start and end the game.  Use the tug toy ONLY when you and the dog are playing together and put it away when you are done.  End the game immediately if the dog bites you instead of the toy or gets too excited to listen.

 To start the game present the tug toy.  Hold it so the dog has a good place to grab on to- See how Judith has her hands placed on the rope so there is plenty of room for Lucia to bite?

Play tug fairly- sometimes you pull back, sometimes you let your dog pull you back.  Encourage her to take firm hold of the toy by changing your movements and how hard you pull.  When your dog is very committed to hanging on to the tug, ask her to release the tug to you by using your "out" command. If she is reluctant, offer a treat in trade.  When she releases the toy give her the treat.

 Then throw the toy!

As soon as she picks up the toy, call her back to you.








Tell her what you want her to do when she gets to you- here Judith signals for a "down"

Give your command for "out" so the dog knows it is time to release the toy and trade the toy for a food reward

Then make the reward even better by playing with tug again!

 Now you are back at the beginning

 you can repeat the entire game.

 End the game while your dog is still having fun, before they get bored, so they will look forward to playing with you again soon.




 With so many high energy dogs here at Dark Moon Kennels we use this game a lot!  Every dog thinks they are special when you spend the time to play the fetch game with them.  Go ahead and try it with your dogs and let us know how it goes.  Every dog and person is a little different and we would love to hear how the game works for you.

Red momma and pups

Dark Moon Puppy Project has a new puppy family.  This Red Momma was taken in by Adopt a Rescue Pet of Southern Nevada.  She was wormed and vaccinated for what was likely the first time in her life.  A few weeks later...Puppies! 

The pups were just a few days old when we picked her up from her previous foster home.  Momma was very worried, but she has shown herself willing to trust us.  She spent the first week or so in the puppy kennel with brief trips outside to use the toilet.  The pups are just old enough that the very edges of their eyes are opening now.  They are very gentle and passive compared to the orphan pups from our previous litters. 

All three pups are male, and each has a different color pattern.

They have been handled daily using our program of early development.

and as you can see Momma has been keeping them fat and healthy!

Momma has been here almost two weeks now and she is showing more interest in exploring, playing with the humans and meeting the other dogs here.  Today she is sharing the computer room with me, asking for attention every few minutes and then returning to the pups.  For a dog with little socialization she is doing very well!

A tale of two litters

The last few months we have had a very interesting opportunity for comparison.  Our Dalmatian/Pit bull litter has been joined by a single orphan Shih Tzu. The first Dalmatian/Pit bull litter raised by the Dark Moon Puppy Project is now 8 months old.  All but two have found forever homes.   Whey have a full range of personalities and energy levels, there are several remarkable similarities that seem to come from the way they were raised:  They are not afraid of obstacles.  They have a great ability to focus and remember.  They have a very strong desire to cooperate with people, and they use this connection to accomplish tasks.

While we know the pups from the Dalmatian/Pit bull litter are remarkable dogs the question remains: how much is from their breeding and how much is from the way they were raised?

Along comes a puppy that is pretty much the opposite in every way!  A purebred Shih Tzu orphan who is raised without any siblings- the Hamster!

 This little guy was raised by us from 3 days when his mother died.  He is a toy breed who will grow to 10 or 15 pounds as an adult.  And because he was raised by himself after his mother and littermates were lost he did not have the experience of living in a pile of puppies the way our first litter did.  He had the same infant exercises, the same socialization to other dogs and people, and early toilet training where he was encouraged to differentiate between toilet areas and living areas starting about 3 weeks.

He went to his forever home at 10 weeks, but by this age he was already showing the same remarkable level of focus, ability to cooperate with people, and confidence around obstacles as the other puppies from the project.

The Hamster also shows more of the problems that orphans and single pups are prone to.  He cries for attention, something only one of the older litter ever learned to do.  He throws great tantrums if he is thwarted in any way.

Our conclusion so far:  we are noticing certain traits in all of the puppies we raise that are not present in dogs that come to us when they are older- the ability to focus, cooperate, and negotiate obstacles confidently may actually come from the way we raised them and not from their genetics. It is likely that these traits can actually be taught as a puppy develops. Now we are wondering how these abilities affect the pups as they go through adolescence into adulthood.  Stay with us as we explore the possibilities!

toxic foods

We answer a lot of questions about what you should and shouldn't feed your dog.

With hundreds of brands of kibble, canned food, and raw diets to consider this can be a very confusing subject! We recommend you look at the ingredient list of various foods and choose a brand that has meat as the main ingredient. Avoid brands that have Corn, Soy, and Wheat on the top of the list as a dog's digestive system does not know how to process these. Spend some time doing research online and in a pet store and you can find a food that fits both your budget and your dog's needs.

A lot simpler is to list the foods you should NOT give your dog. According to the ASPCA national animal poison control center these are the foods that are toxic to dogs:

Onions or onion powder

Chocolate- especially dark or baker's chocolate

Coffee and all coffee- related products

Chocolate covered espresso beans

Tea

Alcoholic beverages

Macadamia nuts

Hops (used in home brewing)

Grapes and raisins (including all associated products such as juice or wine)

Tomato foliage (leaves and stems)

Green parts of potato (green peelings, sprouts and foliage)

Rhubarb leaves

Avocados

Pits and seeds from fruits

Bitter almonds

Moldy or spoiled foods

If you want to feed your dog well stay away from the foods on the toxic list, keep table scraps and salty foods to a minimum, and take some time to choose a good quality food from the many commercially available.

The Dark Moon Puppy Project is working on AKC Canine Good Citizen Certification(CGC). We would like to invite members and friends of the Puppy Project to join us for training sessions designed to get you and your dog ready to pass the CGC test!

The CGC program is designed to promote good basic manners in dogs and responsible ownership for their people.  We think that everyone should be comfortable taking their dog out in public. Passing the CGC test proves that you and your dog can handle situations that commonly arise when a dog goes out for fun or to the groomer or vet. The program lays the foundation for other activities from therapy certification to competition obedience to dog sports like lure coursing and agility. When you work together well enough to earn your CGC certification you can be proud to take your dog with you whenever you go out!

There are 10 test items that a dog must be able to handle gracefully to pass the CGC test:

1. Accepting a friendly stranger
2. Sitting politely for petting
3. Appearance and grooming(allowing the groomer to do her job)
4. Out for a walk(loose lead)
5. Walking through a crowd
6. Sit and Down on command and Staying in place
7. Coming when called
8. Reaction to another dog
9. Reaction to distraction
10. Supervised Separation

You are invited to join us as we work on these skills over the next few months. We will finish by taking the test with a qualified CGC evaluator to see if your dog can be a Canine Good Citizen!

If you and your dog would like to join us for our CGC training sessions contact Asia at:

phone (702)480-8918

email sunhorse1@att.net

5 months old...

At 5 months the puppies are as adorable as ever.  Ghost and Traveler still manage to fit on the little hassock comfortably.  They now weigh about 30 pounds and we are really seeing the benefits of their early handling!  They have all their shots and can safely go out in public where they get lots of comments about how well behaved they are.  All but Runner and Ghost have found families of their own.

We are getting together with the litter and some outside friends every week for puppy class.  In this class the puppies, dogs, and their people can get together to play and work with Judith to keep their manners and socialization current. The last few weeks we have been meeting at Sunset Park where there is a nice fenced dog park and lots of other dogs and people.  We are working on the basics of leash walking without pulling and on recalls- getting the dog to come to you when you call their name.  We would like to get all of the puppies certified as AKC good citizens.

The pups really enjoy seeing the people and dogs they grew up with!

 In one of their favorite greeting rituals Auntie Freyja sings her husky song and shows her teeth while Cookies checks to see if she brought her any food and shows proper puppy/submissive body language.

Bandit and Cookies were very happy to see Lucia this week!

One of the things I like about this litter is how connected they are to their people, especially to Judith who they seem to regard as their mother.  In this photo you can see how each puppy is connected to her in their own way.

Bandit and Cookies are very happy to stay with their person Travis as they walk around the park too!

Puppy class!

 

In this photo you can see me-Asia- with adult mix Corey, Chihuahua Mayet, and an adult Dalmatian/Heeler cross who was boarding with us last week.  Her name is Sophie.  See how much Sophie and the black-eared puppy Traveler look alike?  Buddha and Tank wanted to get in the picture too...

However, this post is not about the eternal cuteness of puppies, it is about our puppy classes!  Now that the puppies are 4 months old they are all receiving their final sets of shots.  That means they have good immunity to the diseases like Parvo that are common killers in this area, and THAT means that they can go out in public!  We want to invite all of the puppies that live in vegas to join us for a socialization class once a week. We introduced the puppies to lots of different people and dogs as they grew up. At four months of age they are starting their shy phase, so to keep them from learning to be afraid we will take them out to see all the things the world has to offer. This 8 week class will keep them in the socialization loop through their shy phase so they can face the world with confidence like Shadow and Freyja in this photo taken in front of Caesar's Palace. 

Judith has lots of fun outings planned.  The plans range from informal dining at Sonic's outdoor tables to puppy parades in Home Depot, attending First Friday's pit bull parade, dealing with the crowds on the strip, and training sessions at the park. This puppy class will take place once a week and should start March 8th.  We are asking a small 10$ donation from each family that comes to a class.  This will help cover our travel expenses. We welcome other dogs, so if you have another dog living with a dark moon puppy or a friend with a dog they can come along too!