I know that I promised these blogs would arrive before the holidays. Let’s just say it didn’t happen, and leave it at that! However, that means I have two great, wonderful New Year’s blogs to bring you from the folks at Cyber Dog – just in time for National Train Your Dog Month! This fantastic guest blog from Cyber Dog team member Lynn Martin will help you keep your dog safe by recognizing some common food items that may be in your kitchen and a threat to your dog’s safety.

Common Kitchen Threats to Your Dog’s Safety

100,000 dogs are poisoned yearly and ingesting people food is the third largest cause of these poisonings.  Your canine companion may look so cute as he sits there politely asking for a bite of your chocolate cake or a chip covered in guacamole.  Remember that dog metabolism is different from our metabolism.  What is perfectly safe for people can be dangerous, and sometimes fatal for our dogs.

• Chocolate. Chocolate products contain substances called methylxanthines that can cause vomiting in small doses, and death in larger doses. Darker chocolate contains more of these methylxanthines than do white or milk chocolate.  For smaller breeds, just half an ounce of baking chocolate can be fatal, while a larger dog might survive eating 4 to 8 ounces. Coffee and caffeine have the same dangerous chemicals.
• Alcohol.  Just likepeople, symptoms of alcohol poisoning may include vomiting, breathing problems, coma and even death.
• Avocado. Healthy for humans, but avocadoes have a substance called persin that can act as a dog poison, causing vomiting and diarrhea.
• Xylitol. This sweetener is found in many products, including sugar-free gum and candy. It causes a rapid drop in blood sugar, resulting in weakness and seizures. Liver failure also has been reported.
• Macadamia nuts. Dogs may suffer from a series of symptoms, including weakness, overheating, and vomiting, after consumption of macadamia nuts.
• Grapes and raisins.  These fruits can induce kidney failure in dogs. Even a small number may cause problems in some dogs.

When entertaining, protect your dog from all the troublesome human treats by monitoring what is readily available in your house.  Then, be proactive with your visitors and mention the problems that can arise with feeding your dogs human treats.  Then relax and enjoy time with your dogs and visitors knowing that your dog will be safe from a poisoning tragedy.

Lynn Martin KPA-CTP

www.cyberdogonline.com

Hi everyone!

The Association of Pet Dog Trainers is proud to welcome the return of National Train Your Dog Month.  Throughout the month of January, you will be able to find lots of resources to help you better train your dog at www.trainyourdogmonth.com, including free webinars on a variety of topics.

You can also “like” National Train Your Dog Month on Facebook, where there are a number of live chats on a variety of topics with dog trainers scheduled throughout the month.

Tonight, from 7 – 8 pm EST, I will be hosting a chat on Treibball along with some of the other members from the APDT Treibball Task Force. Please do stop by and join us if you have any questions about this great new sport, and stay tuned! Later this week, a one-hour long webinar I prepared last week will go live with more information on Treibball!
 

I’ll be honest, my plate is pretty full right now.   There is a strong likelihood that this blog would have went un-updated, stagnating in the blogosphere, until 2012.  January’s filling quickly too, and I certainly did not want it to be a month before our next update!

Imagine my relief and excitement when checking my email to find that three extremely talented trainers and Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partners (Helix Fairweather, faculty, Lynn Martin, CTP, and Sarah Owens, CTP) would like to stop by the Rewarding Behaviors site as guest bloggers!  Hello?  Can I just say “Merry Christmas to me?”  All three of these fantastic trainers are individuals that I admire and have learned much from.  I’m very excited to have them on board for a couple of guest blogs this holiday season, and look forward to being able to offer my readers the opportunity to learn more about dogs and training from three of the best in the business.

Helix Fairweather is a pioneer in the profession, being among the first to offer online training classes for pet owners with her CyberAgility program. She has now partnered with Sarah and Lynn offer a clicker training foundations’ course for pet owners who want to see better manners from their pet but may want to learn new skills from the comfort of their own home. You can learn more about this great program by checking out CyberDogOnline.com.

Stay tuned!  I’ll be posting a new article from the CyberDog team in the next day or so.  Please join me in welcoming Helix, Lynn, and Sarah!