Pros and Cons of Boarding & Training Client’s Dogs
By Ben Kersen
In this clip I discuss the advantages and disadvantages of dog boarding and training your client’s dog as opposed to doing individual or group lessons with them. There is definitely some good arguments for both sides. Which do you prefer as a trainer?
Until Next Time,
Ben Kersen
Ben Kersen & the Wonderdogs
Victoria, BC
http://www.wonderdogs.ca
Common Client Complaints – By Ben Kersen (written by Nancy Noden)
Housebreaking Issues
A common complaint that we hear from future clients of Ben Kersen and the Wonderdogs is difficulty in teaching a puppy or young dog to be housebroken.
Ben Kersen’s approach is one of prevention, make sure that your dog does not have the opportunity to do it’s business in the house. Ben says “If you are holding your puppy in your arms, very few will have an accident in this situation”. If you are using a crate with your dog, put them in the crate if you are unable to watch them. Another safe situation is to put the dog outside in a secure fenced yard as ideally this is where you want them to go.
Clients will often forget to watch their puppy when they are inside and this is when the accidents happen, the pup will go off into a corner of the house and do it’s business. Instead, Ben recommends watching your puppy like a hawk and taking it outside frequently. Don’t forget the importance too of praising it immediately when it does it for going in the correct area.
Ben has had great success using this method with his own Wonderdogs to the point that one of his dogs, Shiloh, never had an accident in the house in her many years in the Kersen household.
Until Next Time,
Ben Kersen
Ben Kersen & the Wonderdogs
http://www.wonderdogs.ca
Daily Safety Rules for Your Dog
By Ben Kersen
In this clip I discuss some of the rules I use with my own and my doggy daycare that ensure good manners and more importantly, safety!
Until Next Time,
Ben Kersen
Ben Kersen & the Wonderdogs
Victoria, BC
http://www.wonderdogs.ca
Considering your Outdoor Dog Environment – By Ben Kersen
Wondering where the best place is to position your outdoor dog pen? Based on my own experience building outdoor pens for Ben Kersen and the Wonderdogs doggy day care in Victoria, sun, shade and sight lines are factors you will definitely want to consider when designing your own facility.
Video filmed on location at Ben Kersen and the Wonderdogs, 1639 Charlton Rd., Victoria, BC
Until Next Time,
Ben Kersen
Ben Kersen and the Wonderdogs
Safety for Your Dog in Your Home
By Ben Kersen
Training gear (whether it’s a “choke”/check chain, harness or head harness) should only be used for training. It is also important that the equipment is fitted properly so there is less chance of it snagging on something when you turn your back. Dogs can get a training collar that is too long caught on a shrub in the yard or on furniture in the house. If the dog is unsupervised, it may panic, and this can be fatal.
At Ben Kersen and the Wonderdogs we tell all our clients to be careful with feeding and exercising their dogs. Ensure you feed your dog 20 minutes or more after exercising, and NEVER right before. When a dog has a full stomach then starts to exercise, the stomach can ‘flip’ or bloat (also called a stomach torsion) and this can often be a fatal condition.
Chocolate, though yummy for people, is poisonous for dogs. Semi-sweet chocolate in very small quantities can be fatal; milk chocolate isn’t quite as toxic but can still kill a dog if eaten in large quantities.
Ben Kersen and the Wonderdogs Poison Proofing
Dogs are natural-born scavengers, and they will head for the worst things: a spot of antifreeze in a driveway (which is HIGHLY toxic and often fatal), a discarded chicken bone, chocolate, etc. Because scavenging is such a natural instinct, poison proofing is a vital part of your dog’s training.
We offer Poison Proofing at Ben Kersen and the Wonderdogs. There are two different concepts when teaching this:
| 1. teach your dog to take food from your hand only and never to scavenge for food on the ground; or2. if you have to be away or kennel your dog at times, you can teach your dog never to scavenge for food on the ground, but allow it to take food from other people. |
Poison proofing is a service that Ben Kersen and the Wonderdogs provide with consistent results. This consultation can be done in our office or by telephone. Visit our website for more information: www.wonderdogs.ca.
There are also many houseplants and some outdoor plants that are poisonous. Most nurseries have lists of these. Before you bring a puppy home, you will want to make an inventory of plants around the house.
The following is a list of plants that can be toxic or fatal to dogs:
| Aloe Vera Amaryllis Apple (seeds) Apple Leaf Croton Apricot (pit) Asparagus Fern Autumn Crocus Avocado (fruit and pit) Azalea Baby’s Breath Bittersweet Bird of Paradise Branching Ivy Buckey Buddhist Pine Caladium Calla Lily Castor Bean Ceriman Charming Dieffenbachia Cherry (seeds and wilting leaves) Chinese Evergreen Christmas Rose Cineraria Clematis Cordatum Corn Plant Cornstalk Plant Croton Cuban Laurel Cutleaf Philodendron Cycad Cyclamen Daffodil Devil’s Ivy Dieffenbachia Dracaena Palm Dragon Tree |
Dumb Cane Easter Lily (especially in cats!!!!) Elaine Elephant Ears Emerald Feather English Ivy Fiddle-leaf fig Florida Beauty Foxglove Fruit Salad Plant Geranium German Ivy Giant Dumb Cane Glacier Ivy Gold Dieffenbachia Gold Dust Dracaena Golden Pothos Hahn’s Self-Branching Ivy Heartland Philodendron Hurricane Plant Indian Rubber Plant Janet Craig Dracaena Japanese Show Lily (especially cats !!!) Jerusalem Cherry Kalanchoe Lacy Tree Philodendron Lily of the Valley Madagascar Dragon Tree Marble Queen Marijuana Mexican Breadfruit Miniature Croton Mistletoe Morning Glory Mother-in Law’s Tongue Narcissus Needlepoint Ivy Nephytis |
Nightshade Oleander Onion Oriental Lily (especially in cats!!!) Peace Lily Peach (wilting leaves and pits) Pencil Cactus Plumosa Fern Poinsettia (low toxicity) Poison Ivy Poison Oak Pothos Precatory Bean Primrose Red Emerald Red Princess Red-Margined Dracaena Rhododendron Ribbon Plant Saddle Leaf Philodendron Sago Palm Satin Pothos Schefflera Silver Pothos Spotted Dumb Cane String of Pearls Striped Dracaena Sweetheart Ivy Swiss Cheese Plant Taro Vine Tiger Lily (especially cats!!!) Tomato Plant (green fruit, stem and leaves) Tree Philodendron Tropic Snow Dieffenbachia Weeping Fig Yew |
Until Next Time,
Ben Kersen
Ben Kersen and the Wonderdogs
Victoria, BC
http://www.wonderdogs.ca
Safety and Your Wonderdog (or perhaps not so much of a Wonderdog!):
By Ben Kersen
“Ben, be careful.” “Ben, don’t fall dear.” “Ben, look out for the…” These were the constant reminders during my childhood from Mrs. Kersen, my dear mother. Despite her best intentions, I managed to acquire my share of scraped knees and bumped foreheads.
As doggie parents, we are responsible for our four-legged children’s safety. Speaking of children, could you imagine leaving a young toddler to play near traffic without supervision? If you love your dog, and want to enjoy its company to a ripe old age, I would encourage you to take the same precautions as you would for a baby and more—dogs are MUCH faster!! Since opening my business (Ben Kersen and the Wonderdogs) 30 years ago, I have seen some close calls… don’t let this be you!
All the good nutrition, training, and your loving care can be destroyed instantly by an accident if your dog isn’t safety trained. The next few blog posts (which were taken from my previous newsletter, Ben Kersen and the Wonderdogs News & Tips) will offer general suggestions, but should not be used instead of going for active training with a qualified trainer. For more info on training, visit my website www.wonderdogs.ca.
Until Next Time,
Ben Kersen
Ben Kersen & the Wonderdogs
Victoria, BC
Ben Kersen 