Lifestyle

Pet Pals

In partnership with some of South Florida’ adoption shelters, we’ve selected several prime pups you should consider for adoption this month.
Text by Ryan Jarrell | May 15, 2018 | Lifestyle

BENJI
This loyal lap dog of the Lab variety came to a county shelter with a devastating leg injury. Multiple surgeries later, he’s skilled in basic obedience and house trained; DogBoardingAndTrainingMiami.com.

 

LILLY
A small Lab Mix, one needs only to take a look at her charming grin to realize Lilly would make a great furry friend. At a compact 35 lbs., she’s a perfect city dog;
100PlusAbandonedDogsOfEvergladesFlorida.org

 

WINDY
You’ll be blown away by this dog’s lovable lust for life! A 6-year-old short-haired Dachshund, Windy’s a peaceful dog-loving pup who’s much prefers human company; DaschshundRescueSouthFlorida.com.

GOOD DOGGIE!
A little secret to all you new pet owners: The best way to stop behavior problems is to prevent them in the first place. The easiest way to enforce house rules for a new dog is to use a leash indoors for the first week your dog comes home. Your dog should always be supervised while on leash, or should be secure in a crate during the times when you can’t watch them. A leash allows us to gently guide a dog away from things he shouldn’t be doing, and encourages him to follow us wherever we go. During the first week, you should also hand-feed as many meals as possible (no bowl!), which quickly deepens your relationship with your pup; in essence, you become the provider of all good things! When you catch your dog displaying good behaviors like being quiet, lying down nicely, not jumping up, or coming when called, you should use some of his daily meal portion to reward him for great behavior. You have to provide all that food to your dog each day anyway, why not use it to your advantage? By using the leash indoors to prevent unwanted destructive behavior and using the daily food portion to reinforce preferable behaviors, you’ll quickly have a dog that looks to you for guidance instead of one that wanders off and gets into trouble.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
› Dee Hoult is the CEO of Applause Your Paws, South Florida’s largest privately-owned pet dog training company, and one of Miami’s leading users-rated dog training companies on Yelp.com; DogBoardingAndTrainingMiami.com.