Our goal at Rising Sun Veterinary Clinic is to help pet owners as well as farm livestock owners to have healthy animals that live long lives. Our goals as veterinarians are to educate our clients on good preventative medicine so that our patients can thrive for their owners throughout life. For nearly 60 years Rising Sun Veterinary Clinic has been dedicated to its patients and clients with a constantly changing veterinary field and we will continue to provide these services in a clinic that is ready to grow and provide current medical techniques with a small hometown practice etiquette for our clients.
Are you ready to ring in the New Year with some new tricks to teach your dog or cat? Yes--cats can learn tricks, and they’re rather good at it! January is “Train Your Pet Month”. You can celebrate with your best friend by teaching them a few new moves to impress the neighbors. It’s also a great time to make an appointment with our clinic to work on breaking some bad habits if you’re concerned about new or recurring behaviors that are getting in the way of the bond you share.
While performing tricks may seem like fun and games, the training that goes into your pet’s learning has value beyond itself. What are the hidden benefits of training your pet?
Positive reinforcement training or reward-based training is the best method to encourage your pet’s healthy learning and encourage the desire to train more often. We recommend low-calorie treats when learning a new command since it can often take quite a few to achieve the desired outcome.
If your pet isn’t as food motivated as you wish she could be, try high-value treats like those with fish or peanut butter.
Recall or teaching your dog to come when you call her helps keep her safe. The last thing you want is your dog to ignore you and continue running head-on into a dangerous situation. If your dog or puppy doesn’t know this trick, it should be a priority for you.
Coming when called will be one of the most useful behaviors your dog learns. It can also lose its appeal and your dog’s compliance if your dog always receives a response she perceives as negative. For example, if she knows she’s going to get leashed and brought home from the oh-so-fun park, it becomes much easier to ignore her name being called and keeping playing. So, continue to practice this one with treats from time to time even after she comes without a reward to prevent desensitization to “come” over time.
This one comes in handy when we need to trim your pup’s nails or check her paws for cracks or burrs. It’s also pretty easy.
This one may seem cutesy, and it is, but it’s super simple. All it takes is a few treats and the desire to receive a sweet smooch from your pooch.
People find this one quite impressive, and your pup can enjoy a bit of the dizzy-spins. To teach your dog to spin:
Cats also benefit from learning tricks. And they tend to learn really quickly. When preparing to train your cat, choose a calm, quiet area of your home and place your kitty on the edge of a surface like a sofa or bed, facing you.
If you haven’t trained your kitty, here are two tricks to get you started (spoiler: they’ll sound familiar):
After your cat learns “sit,”’ move onto teaching her this classic trick.
For better success in your training sessions, give your pet breaks every 10-15 minutes, keep training sessions short, and be consistent. You’ll find these commands can help you with some of your pet parent duties and give your pet the challenge she needs to rest well and feel accomplished.
For any questions you may have, whether what type of treats to use, questions about weight gain during training, or appropriate training for your pet’s life stage, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
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