5 Steps to a Cuddly Puppy

Some dogs are cuddlier than others and can't get enough of being hugged, kissed and held. Believe it or not, but you can and should train your puppy to be the ultimate cuddle bug so that your dog is very relaxed with being handled and loved. Dogs do not give each other hugs and they also like to have their own personal space. In other words it's very unnatural for a dog to be held and squeezed and kissed and even petted. Getting your puppy to love being loved is a matter of handling them often when they are a puppy and teaching them that relaxed, calm behavior will result in goodies, play and attention.

Here are some puppy handling exercises that you should do daily and often with your puppy:

1. Instead of feeding your puppy in his bowl, hand feed your puppy with one hand and gently pet your puppy with the other hand. Softly touch his ears and slowly pet his back, top of the head and chest. If your puppy is very uncomfortable with being held or is showing signs of being food aggressive, start out just by hand feeding him and then after a few times of doing this exercise, briefly incorporate lightly petting your puppy.

2. When your puppy is in a mellow mood, gently roll him onto his side or on his back and rub his belly in slow circles. If you have a puppy that

tends to play bite, put a chewy or toy in his mouth before rolling him over. If he wiggles and squirms, gently hold him there until he relaxes and then say, "good relax," and then take your hand away and say, "ok".

3. While sitting on the floor with your puppy, put your hands around his shoulders as he is sitting and lightly hold him. If he tries to wiggle away, just keep holding him until he calms down. When he relaxes, tell him, "good relax" and then say "ok" and let him go. This exercise is good for teaching dogs to relax and chill out, before they are able to go play with another puppy or greet a person. They soon learn that self-control allows them to get what they want sooner.

4. With some treats or puppy kibble on hand, briefly touch different parts of your puppy and if he does not try to mouth your hand, tell him "good!" and give him a treat. Touch his paws, tail, and ears very gently and reward calm behavior with lots of treats and praise. This should be done everyday. Incorporate brushes and nail clippers, by holding them out for your puppy to investigate and reward your puppy with a "good!" and a treat for not trying to put them in his mouth. Then gently touch your puppy with the items and tell him "good!" every time he gets touched and stays calm.

5. When your puppy is mellow after playing or going for a walk, pick your puppy up in your lap and gently hug him. Only hug him for a brief second, tell him, "good!" and then release him. Slowly you can build up the amount of time that you hug your puppy. The idea is to build up a positive association with being handled and lightly squeezed, instead of feeling trapped and nervous. If your puppy wiggles and squirms to get out of your arms, keep gently holding him until he relaxes. As soon as he relaxes, say, "good relax" and then release him.

Train your puppy to mellow, calm and happy about being handled by doing these exercises a couple of times a day. Avoid doing these exercises when your puppy has the "puppy crazies" and is biting and running all over the place. Place a toy or a chew toy in your puppy's mouth if he is going for your hands or clothes. Never play with your hands with your puppy because your puppy will want to play bite your hands even more while doing these exercises. Use slow, calm strokes when petting your puppy and avoid fast, scratching, or pulling type of strokes. The best time is handle your puppy a lot when he is the most calm. Have fun loving your puppy and make sure he gets lots of exercise before having cuddle time. Pretty soon your puppy will be the cuddliest, cuddle bug ever!

Training Your Dog During the Lockdown

Training Your Dog During the Lockdown

By Britt Alwerud Brown

While humans struggle with COVID-19 shutting down life as we know it, dogs around the world are rejoicing now that their humans are forced to stay home. Instead of woefully watching as you gather your things to leave for the office, your dog can now happily watch you all day as you Netflix and chill in the same outfit that you wore the day before. This outfit probably has your dog’s glitter all over it, because who needs lint rollers these days? 

Our lives have been turned ‘outside-in’ as we get used to our new stay-at-home routines, and our dogs have to get used to it too. We’ve checked in with a lot of our DogZenergy clients and many of them have concerns about how their dogs have been affected by the lockdown. Several clients have reported that their dogs seem a lot happier that they are home more, while others have said that their dogs seem more anxious and have been displaying strange behaviors toward strangers and other dogs while on a leash. We’ve also noticed that a lot of our clients and our friends have adopted a new furry family member into their lives during the lockdown. It’s a perfect time for people to get a new puppy because they are working from home and it’s a great distraction for their families to bring a sweet, happy puppy into their lives. It’s also a great time to potty train and create a routine for your puppy. However, there are some reasons to be concerned about how the lockdown will affect your puppy as he grows up in isolation. Here are four ways to set your new furry family member up for success during the stay-at-home orders:

1. Preventing separation anxiety. - It’s a wonderful time to bond with your new pup during this time, however, when life goes back to normal your pup might be shocked by the new routine. If you’re spending 24/7 together, but then all of a sudden you have to return to the office from 9-5, your pup may experience separation anxiety. Dogs seek outlets for their stress by barking, whining, howling, chewing, and jumping up on people. It is so much easier to prevent separation anxiety than it is to “fix it”. To prevent it, slowly get your pup used to spending time alone with a very high-value chew toy. Take your dog for a long walk or a trip to the dog park to exhaust all of their energy. When they are tired and ready for a nap, put them in their crate or a safe room. Ask them to go to their “place” and then say, “yes!” or “good!” when all four paws are on their dog bed. Then give them their chew toy. We recommend frozen raw marrow bones or a Kong stuffed with wet dog food or peanut butter. You can freeze it to make the Kong last even longer. Once your dog is happily working on his chew toy, leave the room. Work up to longer amounts of time that your pup is left alone and come back in before you sense that your dog will finish with his chew toy. If your dog falls asleep after his exercise and chew session, you’ll know that your dog is perfectly happy with his alone time. If your dog can’t chew on his treat when you leave the room and gets up to whine or bark, then you may be dealing with some separation anxiety and we recommend seeking out professional dog training help. We recommend the same steps mentioned above, but instead of leaving the room, try tying your dog’s leash to a heavy table and put his bed right next to it. Ask him to go to his “place” and then give him his high-value chew toy reward. In addition to the chew toy, you can sprinkle very small pieces of chicken or cheese all around his place along with his chew toy to encourage him to start eating and relaxing. Then try sitting on the other side of the room within eyesight. Once your dog can relax and happily chew on his toy at this point, then you can increase the distance and go out of eyesight. It may take many sessions where you gradually increase the distance and time that your dog is comfortable with. The key is to take tiny, tiny steps over time until your dog associates you leaving with high-value rewards and understands that you will return. When you do return to your dog after being gone for any length of time, be sure to stay calm when you approach them and use a steady, calm voice. Do not get overly excited or use a high pitched voice. Stay calm and ask them to sit before you pet them. The same goes for when you prepare to leave your dog. Try not to make a big deal out of it when you leave them. Channel the Terminator and simply say, “I’ll be back.” Prevention is the best cure, so be sure to practice this exercise with your new pup before they develop separation anxiety. 

2. Socializing your puppy with other dogs and people. - One of the major drawbacks of the 6’ social distancing rules is that dogs are not able to socialize while out on a walk. So many dogs already suffer from leash aggression and we fear that this may become an even bigger problem with social distancing rules in place. One way to prevent leash aggression with your new dog is to teach your dog how to react when seeing new dogs and people. It is a natural inclination for dogs to want to run up to and greet others when they are off-leash, but when they are on a leash they try to lunge and pull towards the new person. This puts pressure on the trachea and makes it difficult to breathe which heightens their anxiety. Try putting your hand up to your throat and pushing into it as though you had a collar around your neck. It instantly raises your stress level. When your dog tries to drag you over to the other dog it heightens their stress level and causes a lot of frustration. Over time, this frustration can compound into aggression. To prevent this, make sure that your dog wears a well-fitted harness with a front attachment for the leash. This way, your dog will not experience the choking sensation and when he pulls his shoulders will be brought back around towards you. Load up a treat pouch with tiny pieces of chicken or cheese (we’re talking pea size) and every time you come across another dog or human, ask your pup to sit, make a kissy noise and say “look!”. When your pup looks at you instead of the other dog or human, say “yes!” and quickly give them five pieces of chicken in a row. Make it a party and either continue to feed your dog treats in rapid succession as the other dog approaches you or turn and walk away as though there is a really fun thing happening in the other direction. The key here is to keep your dog’s attention and to not pull your dog away from the other dog. This means that you may have to start your party 100’ away from the other dog.  The closer your dog is to the other dog, the harder it will be to get their attention. You have to figure out how far away your dog can keep calm and then close the gap as your dog’s ability to focus on you improves. If your dog will not take a treat and is too hyper-focused, pulling, or barking at the other dog, then you need to start this exercise at a much greater distance. You might also have to use a parked car as a visual block from the other dog. If your dog isn’t food motivated, you can also bring along a squeaker tug toy to reward your dog for keeping his attention on you. Remember to keep your dog’s walk engaging and fun, so that it doesn’t turn into a stressful experience. 

3. Socializing your puppy in new places. - Successfully socializing your puppy means spending a lot of time at new places experiencing new people, things, sights, sounds, and smells. Before the stay-at-home orders, this would mean exposing your puppy to at least 10 new people per day, 5 new dogs, and going to at least 2 new places. It’s so important for puppies to go everywhere with you in the first year of their life especially so that they can learn to calmly lay at your feet while at a coffee shop, vet office, park, etc. Even though coffee shops and restaurants are sadly off-limits at the moment, it’s so important to take the time to sit on a bench with your dog to take in the sights and smells of people and dogs walking by. You can also do this in front of your home. Work on your puppy’s basic commands such as “look”, “touch”, “sit”, “down”, “leave it” and “stay” outside with a lot of distractions. You may have to start with just the first two, and then work your way up to a long “stay”. You may have to start in your backyard and then work your way up to adding more distractions. Always remember to set your dog up for success by starting with fewer distractions, less time, and more distance and then make it more challenging as you practice together. 

4. Making sure your puppy is getting adequate exercise and positive attention. - Even though we’re all cooped up at home, it’s amazing how busy life can be. Working from home and having kids learning from home can be challenging enough, but training a new pup can really add to the stress. As hard as it might be, try to schedule in your dog’s special exercise time with you or their dog walker early on in the day so that your dog will be calm and Zen the rest of the day. We recommend at least one 30-60 minute walk or off-leash playtime in the morning and another walk in the evening. If your dog isn’t getting adequate exercise, they are going to look for their own extracurricular activities and that might include shoe chewing, sock stealing, or couch shredding. If you find yourself getting frustrated with your dog, you will both benefit from a good long walk. Just remember, a tired dog is a good, Zen dog.

Is your dog a Zen master? Find out below!

San Diego’s Best Cat Sitters

Our name might be DogZenergy, but we love our good karma kitties too! Over the years we’ve taken care of many cats in San Diego, but we realize that our name can be misleading. That’s why we’ve decided to dedicated a whole new part of our company to our Karma Kitty Care program. We have so many cat lovers here at Dogzenergy that we want to make sure we specialize our cat sitting and make sure that we are training our staff to give top of the line care to our feline friends.

A lot of people assume that cats can just be left alone for long periods of time as long as they have a few litter boxes and enough food and water. But this is just not the case. Cats are often more independent than dogs, but cats really need consistency and attention when needed. A lot of cats suffer from separation anxiety, which can lead to behavioral issues and unwanted “displays of dissatisfaction”.

For example, a kitten that my husband rescued many years ago was separated from his mother when he was only a few weeks old. Because of this he had major abandonment issues and would be so distressed when left alone for a night that he would eliminate all over the house. It was extremely stressful for everyone and he quickly learned that he needed a reliable overnight cat sitter to ease his cat’s anxiety.

Another friend of mine had a cat who would mark his territory on her bed if he was left alone. He was neutered late because he was a tom cat found on the streets. Even though her roommates were home, he wanted to let everyone know that he was very distressed that my friend had left him to fend for himself. Many cats do not do well with change and have a tendency to communicate this by marking in unwanted places, crying out, scratching furniture or acting aloof and depressed.

Happy cats love routine. It’s so easy to make cats happy if you are able to meet their needs and expectations. Daily litter box scooping and weekly litter box disinfecting is so important for their well being. Water should be changed everyday and food should not always be available for your adult house cat. It should be given in measured portions every morning and night. Wet or raw food is also very important for their health to make sure they do not develop bladder or kidney issues later in life. Many house cats are severely obese because they are fed freely and  living indoors without the freedom to chase, run and climb outside. It’s so important to make sure they are getting the appropriate amount of food, exercise and mental stimulation. Cat wands, fake mice, and cat nip toys will keep your cat engaged and in shape. It will also lead to a happier and sometimes more cuddly cat after a fun game of chase with you.

Giving your cat a perch to look out the window is a great way to give them their own TV channel to the outside world and it’s a way to give them their own space away from other pets in the household. Mental stimulation is so important to keep your cat happy and stress free.

Kitty cuddles should always be given when a cat asks for it. It’s never a good idea to pursue a cat and “force” it into cuddling with you. If a cat comes up to you and sits on your lap, it should be looked at as a privilege. You are the chosen one! Cats love to have the sides of their face stroked, behind their ears scratched, or the base of their tail and back scratched. Gentle patting on their back and a stroke of the tail are also fan favorites. Avoid patting them on the top of the head or rubbing their belly. Every cat is different so it’s important to read their body language and respond to their cues.

If you are looking for a loving, dedicated, reliable cat sitter in La Jolla, Pacific Beach, UCT, Clairmont, Point Loma, Del Mar or any part of coastal San Diego, feel free to contact us for a free consultation. We would love to help you take the best care of your cat!

Is it OK to leave my pup alone overnight?

Dear Zen Dog Girl,

I have a 10 month old golden retriever puppy who is house trained and is pretty used to being left alone for long periods of time when I go to work during the day. Is it alright for me to leave him overnight for a quick trip up to LA. I'll be gone from 6pm on Saturday and I'll be getting back in the morning at 9am. Do you think he'll be ok or am I being a neglectful dog owner?

Dear Concerned Golden Owner,

Thank you for writing! Unfortunately, we can't take our dogs everywhere with us even though most of us wish we could. Leaving your dog by himself overnight can be risky. In the event that an emergency happened (a fire, gas leak, flood, etc.) your dog would be trapped in the house and wouldn't be able to get out. It's important that if you do choose to leave your dog by himself that you alert a neighbor and make sure that you leave a spare key and emergency contacts with them just in case. It's also important to have a friend, neighbor, or better yet a professional dog walker or sitter to walk and feed your dog at the usual times that you would at night and in the morning. For example, if you are leaving at 6pm in the evening, schedule to have someone come by at the usual time that you would potty your dog at night, say 8:30pm and then have them return no later than 8am in the morning if your dog is used to holding it this long overnight. If your dog is crate trained this may be too long of a time and an overnight pet sitter who sleeps at your house may be necessary. If your dog is hardly left alone during the day and/or suffers from any degree of separation anxiety he should not be left alone overnight. Also, ten months is still pretty young and your puppy might get into trouble if he's left for a long amount of time. If you're going to be gone for more than one night at a time, it's very important to hire a professional dog sitter or to have a friend that you trust with your life to stay with your dog overnight because it can be very stressful for most dogs to be left alone for a long period of time. Stressed out dogs show signs of depression and anxiety by not eating, excessive chewing and scratching, salivating, lethargy, listlessness, pacing, destructiveness, scratching on doors, digging, barking, whining, etc. If your dog shows any of these signs of separation anxiety it's very important that you don't leave your dog overnight for any period of time because they can do great harm to themselves. With a loving, caring, compassionate pet sitter, they will feel right at home, safe and secure, and you will feel at ease knowing that your dog is having fun, getting lots of exercise and has someone to snuggle with at night. If you have any questions or if you'd like to schedule a free consultation with one of our professional loving pet sitters please feel free to call us at (858) 349-5700.