|
January 2012 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Click headlines to skip to specific article: RecipeDid You Know?Training TipsCanine Comics |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Dear Friends of the Eskie Connection: |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Happy
new year to you all. Hopefully 2012 is
off to a great start for everyone.
Most of us have resolved to eat better, exercise more, and to finish
some chore(s) that has been neglected.
Along with improving ourselves, we should also resolve to improve our
dogs’ lives. If they aren’t on a good
diet, review what you’ve been feeding for meals and treats and see how you
can make better choices for them. In
addition to better eating habits, most of our dogs could benefit from more
exercise, too. |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
As
you schedule in more exercise time for you, schedule in time for your dog,
too. Whatever you are doing for
yourself, see how you can include your dog.
Walking, jogging, and biking are some of the obvious exercises your
dog can do with you. Inside activities
your dog can follow along with are step exercises, yoga positions, and
stretching exercises. Everyone
knows climbing stairs is good for us humans.
It’s also an excellent exercise for dogs. RUNNING up and down after a toy is good
cardiovascular exercise, while WALKING the steps (with you) is a good
strength training exercise. |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
For
those of you who enjoy doing yoga, you can get your dog to do some of the
positions with you. Most dogs will copy you going into the downward dog
position. You can also entice your dog
to do the crawl by sitting on the floor facing your dog with your dog in the
down position facing you. As you
stretch your arms forward, encourage your dog to inch forward himself towards
you. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
If
you’re into calisthenics, here’s a great routine for the two of you to do
together: |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
Sit |
Down |
Up
(back into a sit) |
Stand |
Twirl |
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
And
just because there is snow on the ground don’t let that stop you from
walking/jogging. You can shovel a path
around your yard so you and your dog can keep up on daily walks. There’s no need to put away those agility
jumps, either. A little colored duct
tape will make it easy for your dog to distinguish the jump from the snow,
and he’ll be happy to continue playing. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Recipe— Dog Biscuits |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
I
don’t have a name for these biscuits, nor do I know who gets credit for the
recipe as it was a regift from a friend.
The recipe was given to her in a ziplock baggie that contained the dry
ingredients already measured out. |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Ingredients 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup whole wheat flour 3/4 cup rolled oats 1/8 cup honey 1/4 cup natural peanut
butter 1/4 cup unsweetened
applesauce 1/2 cup natural apple
juice 1/2 tablespoon oil |
Preheat
oven to 325º. In
a large saucepan beat together honey, peanut butter, applesauce, apple juice,
and oil. Cook over medium heat until mixture begins to simmer and thicken.
Add the flours and oats. Stir together
and allow the dough ball to cool for 15 minutes. Add more white flour if necessary to
stiffen. Roll
out on floured surface to 1/4” thickness and cut into desired shapes. Place
on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, turn and bake another 15
- 20 minutes. (See note below.) When done, turn the oven off, and leave the
cookies in the oven for 1 hour. Store
in an airtight container. |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
NOTE:
I tend to make my treats very small, so for this recipe they were done after
the first 20 minutes. At that point
they were soft and really quite good.
The mixture of peanut butter and apple juice was surprisingly tasty
(yes, I ate quite a few). I did make
another batch of these treats and baked them a little longer, on both sides,
and left them in the oven for the extra hour.
They were too dried out for me, but the dogs like them that way. I think this recipe can be used to make
either a soft cookie, baking the treats for 15 – 20 minutes, or a crunchy
biscuit, baking for the full time above – your choice! |
||||||||||||||||||||||
Did You Know? |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
A dog wagging his tail often means he is happy and friendly, but it can also mean fear, a social challenge, or even a warning that if you approach you are apt to be bitten. Like any other language, tail wags have a vocabulary and grammar that need to be understood. |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
A relaxed dog will hold
his tail at middle height. The higher
up the tail is held, the more threatening the dog is becoming. The lower the
tail, the more submissive. How the
tail is moving gives additional meaning to the tail wag. The speed of the wag
indicates how excited the dog is, while the breadth of the wag reveals the
dog's emotional state. Another newly discovered
feature of dog tail language is that when dogs feel generally positive about
something or someone, their tails wag more to the right side of their rear
ends, and when they have negative feelings, their tail wagging is biased to
the left. |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Training Tips – Put Your Toys Away |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
If
your dog already knows how to retrieve, teaching him to “put his toys away”
is easy. To begin, sit on the floor and warm up with a few short, low-key
retrieves, having your dog drop the toy in front of you. Click and reward for each drop. When he is consistently dropping the toy,
place a short, wide container in the area where he is dropping the ball.
Continuing the retrieves, keeping yourself in the same position so your dog
continues to drop the ball in the same place which now has the container in
it. Click and reward every time he drops the ball into the container. Once
he is used to dropping the ball into the container, start doing the retrieves
with you standing up, and then just a step away from the container. Continue
to move away from the container, clicking and treating each time your dog
drops the ball in the container. Start
adding other toys to the routine, and having your dog pick up a toy that is
lying on the floor rather than being thrown.
Practice each step individually until your dog is consistently getting
the toy and putting it in the container.
At this point you can switch out the container for his toy bucket, and
add the cue “pick up toys” or whatever you want to call the behavior. |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
Canine Comics |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
I
want to hear from you! |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
I always enjoy hearing stories about the dogs and seeing pictures. If you have something to share, you can e-mail it to The Eskie Connection. |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
This message is from The Eskie Connection in regards to your expressed interest in receiving The Eskie Connection Newsletter. If you have received this in error, please accept our apology. If you would like to be removed from this mailing list, please reply to this e-mail with “remove” in the subject line. |