five ways to keep your dog fit & healthy

Having previously been on the subject of weight and how to manage it, here are a few ideas for keeping your dog fit so that those extra pounds don't get the chance to creep on.

1.  Make sure your dog gets at least one walk every day.  Walking should be more than just pootling along sniffing the ground (For your dog, that is.  You are free to pootle & sniff if you wish).  If when released in a safe place your dog doesn't choose to run and play, then put him on a lead and take him on a brisk walk. How far you walk your dog, or for how long, will depend on the breed/mix of your dog.  A high-energy, medium-sized dog like a Finnish Lapphund, Border Collie or Labrador needs at least an hour a day.  Half of that time, or more, should be free running/playing or briskly walking.  (Just so we're clear: a puppy will need much less than an hour each day.)

2.  Don't over-feed your dog.  Again, how much to feed your dog will depend his breed, size and what you are feeding.  As a general rule, feed 10% less than advised on the bag of dog kibble.  If your dog is gaining too much weight - or if he is already overweight - then it cut by an additional 10%.  Dog food companies are in the business of making money by encouraging you to use as much of their food as possible and so buy more of it.  Usually, the recommended daily amount is way too much.  If your dog or puppy has loose, runny poos, chances are you are giving him too much food.  Take advice from your breeder.  Take advice from your vet.

A bunch of fat-bellied puppies busy growing into strong & fit dogs.










3.  Keep the treats under control!  Everybody likes to give their dog treats, but consider how much junk food you would allow your child to have and allow your dog to have less than that.  Treats should be earned and should be given in moderation.  My idea of  "moderation" and yours may differ enormously, but consider giving small portions - like only half a gravy bone or Bonio instead of a whole one.  And, yes, one is most definitely enough!  Consider swapping treats with food value for other kinds of things your dog enjoys: a game, a belly rub, a walk.

4.  Keep an eye on your dog's weight regularly - both how he looks and how the numbers look by having him weighed at the vet.  Most vet surgeries have a scale in the waiting room and you can pop in there and weigh your dog anytime free of charge.  Dogs' weights vary widely, of course, depending on the size, breed, etc, so the numbers should be a guide only.  How does your dog look?  You should be able to feel his ribs as you run your hands down his sides, but he should not be so skinny that they are very prominent.  Even with a fluffy dog like a Lapphund, you will still feel faint ribs.  Also, look at your dog from the top - he should have a distinct narrowing at the waist.

5. Consider training in one of the doggie sports like agility, obedience or Rally-O.  Agility, in particular, is excellent exercise for you and your dog.  Any of this sort of training will increase the bond between you both as well as improving how well your dog listens and responds to you generally.  You can find a wealth of information on finding training clubs in your area from the Kennel Club. 

five (make that 3) more things you should teach your dog

Following on from my earlier post, five things you should teach your dog, here are a few more absolute essentials that didn't make the cut on the original five.

1.  Leave - Also known in some training classes as "Leave It".  The addition of the "it" may have something to do with the fact that dogs hear hard consonants better than soft sounds, so finishing the command on a hard T gives it a bit of extra punch.  Otherwise it can sound to a dog a bit like any other eee-word.  This really is an essential command for every dog.  It's useful for getting him to part with treasures he finds such as tissues, shoes, disgusting things found in fields, or, as in the case of Keskiyo a few years ago, a live and rather surprised pheasant.  Keskiyo, whose leave is really excellent, dropped the pheasant, albeit probably as much in shock at having caught it as in response to my roared command.  Nonetheless, drop it he did, and it survived to wind up another dog on another day.  Leave also works as in "leave that other dog/cat/person alone."

Karhu:  "May I please leave this bath?"

2.  Heel - Otherwise known as walking nicely on a lead.  This can be a tough one for Lapphunds.  Neka took an absolute age to finally stop pulling on her lead, regardless of how much training we did.  And we did a lot.  When she was about 5 months old she actually pulled me over into the street in the path of a bus.  Lappies pack a lot of power for a relatively small dog and they go from 0 to 60 in a split second, usually off to the side, taking your shoulder out of its joint as they go.  There are lots of good products available to help with the really stubborn pullers, and I eventually went the harness and head collar route.  These days she's excellent on her lead.  Unless she sees a squirrell, of course.  Or a cat.  Or occasionally a squirrell-shaped blowing leaf.

3.  Off - This is the all-purpose command to mean "get all 4 paws on the ground".  Use it to mean "get off the sofa," or "get off the street from the path of oncoming taffic and back onto the pavement," or "get off the stairs."  The real biggie, though, for this command is to stop your dog jumping up on people.  Some are happy to have their dog jumping up occasionally for a quick cuddle.  After all, it's certainly easier to reach them when they jump up to you rather than you bending down to their level.  However, if you do that you need to beware that they will forevermore equate jumping up on people with affection and therefore they will jump up on other people at every opportunity.  Don't let your dog jump up on other people, people.  Little folks don't do too well with dogs jumping up on them.  Equally old folks.  Not to mention folks dressed in their nice clothes.




Kallio illustrating another excellent use for the "Off" command.  Obviously he thinks anything the cat can do is fair game.











There are lots of things you can and should teach your dog, but I've reached the end of my list of absolute essentials.  Hmmm, maybe I should have kept point one from the first list as separate entries: sit, down, stay. That would have nicely filled out 2 sets of 5.

What has been the best or most important thing you ever taught your dog?

five things you should teach your dog

Even if you have no intention of ever attending a formal obedience competition, all dogs should be enrolled in obedience classes when they are young, at least.  Training your dog is good for you both.  Quite apart from the socialisation that your dog receives at such classes, the training increases the bond between the two of you, and it gets your dog in the frame of mind for doing as he's told.  If you're inexperienced at training, you learn how to do it, and your dog gets to learn all the basics that he needs in order to be a responsible member of canine and human society.

And even if you have never attended any kind of dog training class, there are some things every dog should do on command.  Here are five of them.

1.  Your dog should sit, lie down and wait/stay on command.  These are basic doggie manners that you will use again and again. The more impatient and fidgety your dog, the more important it is that he will respond to the basics.

Keskiyo learning to stand on command.











2.  Every dog should have a reliable recall.  Now, I can actually hear the legions of Finnish Lapphund owners howling with mirth as I type this.  You see, Lapphunds are renown for finding every person, dog, squirrell (twig, blade of grass, etc, etc) so absolutely captivating that they will leave you waiting until they are good and ready to come back.  However, if you ever plan to allow your dog to run freely off-lead, then you must have at least some prospect of getting him to come back to you when you call him.  If you are lucky enough to have a greedy, food-motivated dog, then the recall is much easier to train - and much more likely to work in practice, even when there are extreme distractions involved.

3.  Every dog is likely to have an injury during its lifetime, whether it is a major one requiring vets and surgery or just a minor one like a skin graze or splinter in the paw.  If you - or the vet - are going to be able to find the problem safely and without frightening or further injuring your dog, then he needs to be accustomed to being examined.  You should therefore teach your dog to willingly submit to being gently handled from head to toe, in his ears, nose, eyes, mouth, belly, paws, between the toes and the sensitive bits under the tail.  You should teach him to accept such intrusions while he is standing, while he is sitting, while he is lying down and to expose his belly for examination too.

4.  The instant down is one that I credit with saving Neka's life - perhaps more than once.  The ability to get your dog to immediately stop what he's doing, drop to the ground and stay there is a vital skill to keeping your dog safe.  It will also possibly keep the local squirrell and cat population safe too, as the very best instant down will even stop your dog in mid-chase.

5.  Finally, one great skill for dogs is to have what is known as a soft mouth.  This is also known as bite inhibition.  Dogs with good bite inhibition will take things from fingers without grabbing and they will hold things in their mouth without biting down hard.  It's this capability that means your dog will instantly let go when his teeth encounter human skin.  In playing with people, he won't accidentally bite, and in a scuffle with another dog it really will be all noise and fur with no actual damage done.  My favorite places to go for all things training, including soft mouth, are Gwen Bailey's Perfect Puppy and and Ian Dunbar.  Online, you can get some good Dunbar advice in a free pdf from Dogstar Daily.





 Quite apart from anything else, good training ensures you can occasionally get your group of dogs together for a photo opportunity.

 L-R: Keksi, Keskiyo, Neka (back), Maija

Already I can think of at least 2 more essential things that every dog should know.  I feel a five more things you should teach your dog post coming on...

five ways to help your dog lose weight

While recently on the subject of overweight dogs, and assuming your dog's girth is not expanding due to a litter of puppies growing in there, here are some tips for helping your pooch to shed those unhealthy kgs.

Taito looking a bit pudgy

1.   Before embarking on a drastic weight-loss programme, visit your vet.  Find out what a reasonable and healthy weight is for your dog and make sure your dog is physically able to exercise safely. 

2.  Start and maintain a regular exercise routine. If your dog is unfit, start small with short, easy walks and build it up gradually.  Aim to get your dog on at least one long walk every day. If you have time for two walks, or more, so much the better.  Don't let your dog wander along sniffing the ground - put him on a lead and keep up a brisk pace.

3.  Look very carefully at what you're feeding your dog and then cut out the treats.   All of them.  For training, use pieces of kibble taken from your dog's meals (not in addition to his meals).  If you must give a treat, give raw vegetables instead of unhealthy high-fat, high-salt store-bought treats.  If your dog won't eat raw veggies, then he is not hungry!  Give your dog big meaty bones fresh from the butcher - they are very satisfying.

4.  Change your dog food.  Get rid of the standard brands you can buy in supermarkets.  They are full of unhealthy additives and preservatives and generally have too much fat and sometimes even non-edible rubbish! Instead, replace them with high-quality premium dog foods such as those sold in pet shops or veterinary surgeries.  

5.  Give your dog two or more small meals a day instead of one big one.  To slow him down, consider one of the bowls specially designed for dogs who eat too fast.  Feed your dog less than the amount recommended on the dog food bag - the aim of those guidelines is to sell more dog food!  If your dog is still not losing weight, decrease the amount in his meals by 10%.  Add a few raw vegetables to your dog's meals to bulk them up without the extra calories.

Taito looking perfectly fit

 For more reading about helping your dog to lose weight, here is an interesting article from the Whole Dog Journal with lots of good advice about what to feed and how.

five things that are not so great about having a dog

1.  You are often carrying around a bag of poo.

2.  All your pockets are stained with dog treats.  And your walls/furniture/car with mud.

3.  Much of your wardrobe is chosen on the basis of what hides dog hair most effectively.

4.  You can forget disappearing off to Paris for a spontaneous romantic break - spontaneity
     requires advance planning.

5.  You are forced to get fresh air & exercise everyday whether you want it or not
     and regardless of the weather.

Wet, muddy Kesä having a drink

five great things about having a dog

Here is the first of what I intend to be a regular feature - a list of 5 light-hearted dog-related things.

Today's list comprises 5 great things about having a dog.

1. A dog is terrific company and having one means you need never be lonely
2. Having a dog makes sure you get exercise everyday
3. A dog is there for you without being the least critical or judgemental
4. Dogs are beautiful to look at (even those who are so-ugly-they're-cute)
5. When you have a dog you are pretty much guaranteed never to have the worst breath in your house

The perfect companion - Usko & Liz - photo by Ian Dean