When we talk about a dog being part of the family, it's usually because the family took the time to socialize the animal when he was a puppy. The term socialization isn't necessarily training, it just involves teaching the dog what others expect of them. There are many things that a new puppy should be taught if you want to end up with a great member of the family. These include:
Not peeing in the house. The idea that certain parts of your home make an acceptable place to relieve themselves should be strongly discouraged. It's only through learning this behavior will your new found friend ever be considered trustworthy enough to be left alone in your home.
Don't bite. While puppies are naturally curious and playful, biting should not be allowed. It's during those first few formidable months that the pecking order of your family becomes established. A pet should never be considered alpha dog in the family but be subservient to all humans. This means that although roughhousing and playing around is fine, biting is definitely not acceptable.
Sit. While this is a learned behavior, having control of your dog is critical to them being part of your family. You don't need a full-grown dog to charge the door each time the doorbell rings. You may however consider it a positive thing when someone comes to the door that your dog announces the visitor by barking then sits obediently at the door. This can add a measure of safety and put the visitor on notice that a dog is also home.
While there are many other behaviors, you can train your dog to do, socialization should start almost immediately. Showing your new puppy what you expect is easy to do, provided that you are a consistent teacher. The key to teaching your dog anything new is to realize that they have a very short attention span and they want to please you. This means that even during socialization or formal training, any effort to teach a new behavior should be fun.
When you first get a new puppy, it's important that you keep them confined and under control. There's no point in allowing bad habits to develop that will only need to be broken in the future. This is a good reason why allowing your puppy to potty or relieve themselves in the house on newspapers or piddle pads is not the best way to house train your dog.
Crate training works because it uses your dogs natural instinct of keeping the sleeping area clean. This, along with consistent visits outside and lots of praise will result in your puppy not only getting the idea of what makes you happy, but also helps with the socialization aspect of his young life. Visit the link below for more information on how to quickly house train your dog using the very effective crate training method.
While socialization and formal training may be similar, training looks for certain reliable actions from the animal. With socialization, we give your new best friend a lot of slack in doing the behavior.

Abigail Franks and her family love dogs of all sizes. visit her site for information on dog training and the all necessary housebreaking puppy techniques.


Pet Turtles And Possible Health Problems
In case your little turtle is ill, it is very important for its water to be very clean, for its food to be appropriate and carefully chosen and for the temperature to be sufficiently high. The absence of any of these factors causes your pet to get sick. Even the most expensive available treatment is useless, unless the above mentioned conditions are met.
If the turtle’s condition seems to worsen or the environmental changes bring no improvement, a veterinarian must be consulted. You may find an expert either in the yellow pages or at the animals hospital.
* Sneezing and gaping rarely
It is normal for turtles, as it is for humans to sneeze sometimes, because of the water that enters their nose and needs to be eliminated. In case of no mucus discharge and of isolated situations in which it sneezes, no problem seems to be present.
* Sneezing, gaping and coughing frequently
These symptoms should worry you, because they indicate pneumonia or any other respiratory problem. The veterinarian should be immediately seen, and he/she will prescribe antibiotics, will perform X-rays and will recommend you means to take proper care of your sick little friend. Pneumonia in turtles may be caused by water that is too cold. Try to warm it up and wait; in case you don’t notice any improvement, see a specialist.
* Swelling of the eyes.
This symptom represents the first sign that announces an infection, possibly a bacterial one, generated by stress associated with a physical problem, such as scratches from another turtle or foreign substances that enter the eyes. Eye drops may not be sufficient, so you should take your little friend to the veterinarian and, in case the problem only affects the eyes, he will recommend drops of Gentocin. Even if this substance will significantly improve the symptoms, the source of the problem still needs to be discovered and eliminated. It will do much more harm than good to the little reptile to take excessive A vitamin. Never administer it under the form of injection, because this may even kill your turtle. Try some dietary supplements instead.
* Silver colored spots on the carapace
Silver colored spots are usually due to an air collection under the first layer, which will soon shed. It is perfectly normal for this to happen; however you should keep your turtle under observation, because algae may enter the layer and color the spots in green. In case this happens, try to remove the transparent layer with delicacy.
* Shading of the skin
From time to time, a skin exfoliation is perfectly normal. More over, turtles have an increased frequency of the process compared to other reptiles. In case the shading involves only thin transparent skin, leaves no lesions and is not happening in excess, there doesn’t seem to be a problem. On the contrary, in case the peeling takes place all the time, the skin of the turtle turns red and sore, a fungus may be present. A veterinarian should examine it as soon as possible. Another possibility involves bathing your turtle in an idodine solution for 15 minutes two times a day then keeping it in a dry and worm environment for a while.

http://www.turtle-care.com provides turtle care information and a types of turtles presentation.


Housebreaking a Puppy Made Easy
Housebreaking a puppy is probably the number one reason people don’t enter into dog ownership. There is no doubt that this is the hardest part of owning a puppy, but if the process is started immediately and taken seriously your puppy will be trained in no time.
Kennel Training
First and foremost, buy a kennel. This is as important as the toys the leash and the food dish. Kennel training is the easiest and most effective way to housebreak your puppy. Not to mention it will save you hundreds in cleaning bills and damage to your personal property. Forget all you that you have heard that kenneling a puppy is cruel. By providing a kennel for your puppy you are actually catering to his natural instinct as a den animal. Depending on your puppy’s breed, choose a kennel that can accommodate the puppy as a full grown dog. You will be surprised how much your mature dog will utilize their kennel as a place of refuge or just as a place to hang out years down the road. Whatever you do don’t use the kennel as a place to punish your pup. Make the kennel a fun and safe place your puppy will want to be.
Start the process immediately
After you pick up your cute fuzz ball at the breeder make the first stop the backyard or the outside area you plan to take your pup to do his business everyday. Get him acquainted with a spot. Dogs are creatures of habit that crave a schedule and familiarity.
Put together a schedule the entire household will follow on how to of care for your puppy. When everyone is on the same page it will be easy to housebreak your puppy. Puppies on average eat three times a day and sleep about 18 hours a day. After every feeding take him out to his spot and go with him. Yes, even when it’s below freezing and snowing. Take this into consideration when you’re deciding what time of year to bring your puppy home. You need to make sure he takes his outside trips seriously. Eventually you will be able to open the door and let him out, but not at first.
Newspaper training is a waste of time when housebreaking a puppy. You’re just making more work for yourself. You will end up training your puppy twice, and time is of the essence in the house breaking process. You can never take your puppy out too much. They must go out first thing in the morning and right before you go to bed. If you are accustomed to staying out till 3 am and sleeping till 10, then maybe you aren’t ready to have a puppy.
Now back to the kennel. As I mentioned before, puppies sleep a lot! So after a meal, a trip outside to do his business and some playtime, put him in his kennel. Repeat this and it will become habit. Start out leaving your puppy in the crate for short periods of time when you are home. Gradually extend the stay and take him outside after each time. Dogs in general will not mess where they sleep. If the housebreaking process is done correctly there will be minimal accidents. Don’t leave a puppy to run free when you are not home. You are just asking for a mess.
Bedtime
Right before you go to bed throw on your slippers and head out one last time with your puppy. When you come back in, give your puppy a treat and tuck him into his kennel for the night. All night! Don’t cave to the sad cries of a home sick puppy that would rather snuggle under your down comforter. Before you invite your puppy into your bed remember, cute 10lb puppies grew into 80lb adults! To ease the loneliness you can put a radio near the kennel or a leave on a night light. After a night or two, when your puppy realizes the crying gets him nowhere, he will stop. It’s so important to remain consistent in this house breaking process or it just won’t work. There is no such thing as a partially house trained dog. They either get it or they don’t.
Praise, Praise, Praise
Last but not least dogs crave praise. After every outside trip make a big deal. Scratch under his chin and give him a treat. Don’t scold your puppy for accidents unless you catch them in the act. Puppy’s memory capacity is small. He will have no idea why he is being punished after the fact. If you do catch him in the act, grab him by the scruff of his neck, as his mother would do in the den, and give him a firm NO! Then immediately clean the area with an odor eliminating cleaner.
So that’s it in a nut shell. Puppy training sounds a lot harder than it is. With a little patience and a kennel, you are on the path to puppy training success.