Category: Puppy Raising for the new owner.

Tip Tuesday: Quick & Easy Pacifiers

When I was a girl and my mom would take me shopping (boring!) she would give me a new book to take along. I would happily sit in the corner and read this book while Mom took care of her shopping. No fussy child meant my mom was able to relax and finish her shopping faster. We would do the same for long car rides, or when my parents had parties. In this case the book (or coloring book and crayons) kept me busy and also taught me to enjoy these events that might have otherwise really disliked.

Our puppies and dogs are not so different from that hyperactive bookworm of a child that I was. There are just SO many uses for pacifiers. A pacifier is a toy or chew given to a dog or puppy to engage them in a quiet activity for a few moments.

Now, if my mom had given me a book way over my reading level, say an adult novel with no pictures, tiny text, and words I had not yet learned, I might have given up on books. I might have even thought that books were terrible and I was a bad reader.

We often do something similar with puppies and pacifiers. We give our puppies pacifiers best suited to an adult dog, and one with great skill, learned through many hours spent experimenting and learning what works, what doesn’t, and how fun it is to try.

But most puppies are easily discouraged if they can’t succeed, and further, they may learn to give up when faced with a too difficult pacifier, because they are never successful. Then they generalize that too all types of pacifier challenges and they give up more easily in future.

So when you bring your new puppy home, realize that one of the important things you need to teach your puppy is pacifier skills, and pacifier enjoyment. These skills are arguably as important as learning to sit, or down, or heel.

Today’s Tip Tuesday is beginner level quick and easy pacifiers, while these are “starter” pacifiers for puppies they are also great for adult dogs who have just never learned the joy of engaging with a pacifier, or even a pacifier savvy dog who just needs something to do for a moment.

Supplies I used:

Nylabone Dinosaur
Benebone Pawplexer
Cream Cheese
Peanut Butter
Purina ONE True Instinct Canned
Instant Oatmeal (unflavored plain oats)
Purebites: Freeze Dried Beef Liver
Kong Ziggies (1)

Assembly.



Step By Step Pacifier Prep.

Tips!

  • Dry clean toys “grip” the soft foods better.
  • Pasty thick cold soft foods are easier to smear on.
  • Pre freeze a cookie sheet, put cream cheese side down first for easier clean up.
  • “Pate” type ground canned food works best.
  • Make the oatmeal mixture rather pasty so it stays in place during freezing.
  • If you want to stick a chew (like the Ziggi, or a chicken foot) into the Benebone cavity do that before filling it.
  • You could use any soft but pasty food to smear on, such as canned baby meat, canned pumpkin, Greek yogurt, whatever stays put and your puppy’s tummy can tolerate.

This is part one of a series on teaching dogs to use pacifiers. For part two, click here!

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New Puppy Shopping

Never underestimate the importance of having a shopping list for your new puppy!

Getting a new puppy? Congratulations! Your new family member will need some puppy-specific items to help them settle into their new life with you. Picking these items can be daunting, especially if you’re buying online, or not familiar with the various brands and marketing jargon.

After answering the same questions on puppy supplies over and over, we decided to make a list of our favorite puppy products. Products that we have tried and tested ourselves. Hopefully, you’ll find them just as reliable and useful as we did!

This is made with our clients in mind, so the products are German Shepherd puppy sized, as well as the diet our puppies are used to. So, if you are using this and don’t have an Austerlitz puppy, don’t worry! You may have to double check the sizing of products, and the diet section will be different.

Section 1 – Treats, Dog Food, Chews.

DOG FOOD

Your Austerlitz puppy will come home eating Purina ProPlan Sport, 30/20 Chicken. We recommend feeding this product for at least a month after the puppy comes home, to let your puppy adjust to their new home without also adjusting to a diet change.

No matter who you have a puppy from, it’s important to keep your puppy on the original food the breeder fed for at month, even if you plan on changing the diet. This allows the puppy to adjust to their new home without having the added stress of a new diet. This also will allow you to know more easily if your puppy is having GI upset from a new type of chew or treat, and not having to decide if it’s that OR the new diet you just changed them onto.

Additionally, we find having some canned dog food on hand during transitions is helpful. For stuffing pacifiers, training, or just jazzing up a meal.


TREATS

You will want several types of treats to choose from, ideally purchased before your puppy comes home. It’s very helpful to bring high value treats to pick up your puppy. We want a variety of high value treats, that your puppy will be extremely excited about! Beyond making puppies happier about the transition to your home, it will also be more tempting for puppies who may be nervous and less hungry then normal.

First, think of treats as having an innate value for the dog, based on how tasty they are. High value treats are sometimes a single ingredient such as meat, or very smelly, such as cheese or prepackaged treats. They need to be pea or lima bean sized, and slightly soft. We do not want something very large or very crunchy, such as a MilkBone biscuit.

High value treats can be as simple as cooked chicken breast, cheese, ham dices, or plain meatballs. And honestly, this is the majority of treats we use and recommend. However, having self stable prepackaged dog treats is extremely handy and (ask any parent) variety is extremely exciting.


CHEWS

For puppies, chewing is a need just like play and exercise. Puppies need to develop strong jaw muscles, teeth, and relieve stress – and chewing does all of this! It also gives puppies a calming and innately pleasant way to pass time, which is helpful for crate training.

You’ll want several kinds of chews for your puppy, as variety is the spice of life. We recommend animal body part chews such as bully sticks, ears, horns, hooves, hides, tendons, snouts, and bones. Remember, the below are sized for German Shepherd puppies!


Section 2 – Toys

This is definitely where the fun begins! Toys are a puppy raising staple, and thank goodness for that – they’re very fun to buy!

Toys fall into a few broad categories.

First, there’s chewing type toys. While these are fun to chew, they aren’t edible like the chews listed above. This also means they aren’t particularly exciting – however, they can satisfied chewing urges. Toys in this category are marketing towards chewing, so it’s obvious what they’re for. You’ll want a good assortment of softer, “puppy” toys and harder “adult” toys.


Second, there’s soft toys. These are often for wrestling, squeaking, thrashing, and playing tug. They also are often destroyed, which is less of an issue with baby puppies. They can also be comforting, if puppies are missing littermate snuggles. When picking soft toys, pick something prey-like – remember, puppies are practicing their predatory behaviors when they play, especially when they play with soft, floppy toys. So fuzzy fur, interesting noises, and a good grip surface wins!


Thirdly, we have pacifiers. These are usually hard, plastic or rubber, and designed to have food stuffed or inserted. This includes Kongs, Kibble Nibbles, Squirrel Dudes, and much more. For puppies, we want a modest variety of pacifier toys for confinement training and enrichment. Remember, select ones that don’t have removable parts, seem easy to clean, and are hard enough to resist chewing.


And finally, we have everything else! Balls, discs, throwing sticks, tugs, flirts poles… Oh my! These are specifically for play involving the handler, and shouldn’t be left down all the time.


Section 3 – Collar, Leashes, Harnesses.

COLLARS

For puppies we want a very adjustable, budget friendly collar, as puppies are likely going to go through many collars before they finish growing.

We recommend you have two types of collars, both with ID tags with your current contact information. One flat, non-cinching collar for day-to-day wear. For baby puppies, choose a narrower collar (3/4 inch wide) with a plastic buckle.


The other collar is for outings and walks, and should be a martingale or partial cinch collar. This prevents the puppy from backing out of the collar and escaping. This is common in puppies, especially when their head is smaller than their neck. Choose a martingale collar with a buckle ideally, or adjust it so that you can slip it over their head when fully “open”, but cannot when it’s “cinched”.


LEASHES

It’s not strictly required to get a lightweight puppy leash, but consider it if you have a small breed puppy, or a sensitive puppy.

When choosing a leash, it’s mostly up to your own preferences. Nylon, biothane, leather, and rope all make fine leash materials. But if you have a large dog, look for brass or stainless steel hardware.


We do recommend you get two leashes – one that’s 5 to 6 feet long for regular outings, and one that’s 10 to 15 feet long. The latter is often called a “long line” and this is ideal for walks in controlled settings or in parks. We do recommend getting a waterproof biothane long line if you plan on hiking or getting your puppy wet.


HARNESSES

Harnesses are great for walks and outings, and should be comfortable and very adjustable. They’re also a bit safer than a collar or martingale, as puppies are less likely to escape from one. They also make leash conditioning easier. We know they will likely outgrow a harness or two, so ideally get a budget friendly model if this is a concern. Look for something easy to get on and off, nylon, and lightweight.


Section 4 – Training

Puppies need training, that is pretty much a given. There are a few products that will make your job easier, for sure. First, you will need a few clickers, the type is not super important. However those with volume adjustment tend to break sooner then any other we’ve tried. Button style clickers are the easiest to use, but if you have dexterity issues a cylinder style clicker is something to try. Box style clickers are the default choice, and a good starting point.

You will also benefit from using a bait bag. While you can get a simple nail bag, the bait bags with a hinge closure is very handy, especially for rambunctious puppies. I prefer bags with an included belt, but a clip on style is easier to get on for some people.


Section 5 – Crates and Play Pens

Austerlitz puppies all receive crate conditioning from an early age. You will receive enrollment to our Confident Crating course on how to continue this work. We recommend you start out with two crates, one in your play pen and one in your bedroom for nighttime. See our Management Product Review for a more in depth crate and play pen review.


Section 6 – Odds and Ends

FOOD PREP

For your convenience, think about purchasing something to store pet food in. Make sure it it closes tightly, to prevent accidental meals. Speaking of meals, don’t forget to pick up some food bowls and a 1 cup dry measure.

You will also need some food bowls. I prefer metal, but these are noisy. If you don’t mind some chewing, plastic is fine also. I use a Neater Feeder for my water bowls, this cuts down on mess and spilled water!


TRAVEL

I always keep a few dog items in my car, and they can really help keep a trip calm and orderly. For your first ride home, these items can make a huge difference for your comfort, too!

I keep a basic first aid kit in my car, along with clean up supplies. The clean up supplies are a roll of paper towels, several drawstring kitchen trash bags, poop bags, Wet Wipes, and several Puppy Pads. These can fit neatly into a reusable shopping bag. I throw in a slip lead, an extra flat collar, and seatbelt cutter, the latter being for emergency collar removal. Also be sure to bring a bottle of water and a travel bowl.


While this isn’t an exhaustive list of things you will need for your puppy, this is at least a good starting point. Oh, and congrats on your new puppy!

For more product ideas and lists, visit our Amazon Storefront.

Be sure to like us on FaceBook to keep up with future blogs and breeding program updates.

Confident Crating: A Guide For The New Puppy Owner.

Wow! When we wrote this blog to help our puppies transition to their new home and retain their crate skills we never knew how needed this information was. After years of crate training our own puppies, and coaching clients through the crate training process with their puppies we now have an on demand course available year round! You can find information on Crate School: Confident Crating on our training website.

Crate training for puppies is long due for an overhaul.  For too long a puppy’s first exposure to the crate was being locked inside, left to panic, and then being “taught” to be crated by being ignored until it ceased crying.

Too long has the crate training standard been to induce learned helplessness when confined by ignoring the puppies vocalizations, not to gradually acclimate puppies to confinement. Then we wonder why so many grown dogs exhibit behaviors associated with barrier frustration/aggression, separation distress/anxiety, and a myriad of other confinement specific undesirable behaviors later in life.

New puppy owners often feel overwhelmed by the crying, puppies already sensitive to stress while transitioning to a new home are stressed further, potentially triggering separation distress, and a myriad of other potential undesirable outcomes become more likely.

There is a better way.  Instead of forcing puppies to give up complaining about confinement, we can easily condition them to be confident craters.

If you’re a breeder or foster who cares for puppies from birth, please use our Crate Conditioning For Puppies: An Incremental Approach.

If you are bringing home a new puppy (from a breeder, shelter, or rescue) who has never been exposed to a crate, or who may have had unpleasant associations with confinement, you may also start with our free blog: Crate Conditioning For Puppies: An Incremental Approach or our on demand Crate School class for your foundation crate work.

If you are fortunate enough to be bringing home a puppy from a Puppy Culture or Crate School breeder, or a breeder who has used our (or a similar) crate conditioning protocol, you can easily continue that work by following these principles.

Leading Principle: Crates are where good things happen. 

 Make the crate the “best bed in the house.”

  • During crate conditioning, have the bed inside the crate be the only bed. We want our puppy to prefer to rest inside the crate, so make resting in the crate desirable with a good bed.   It’s a very good idea to have both a smaller night time crate in the bedroom, and a larger daytime crate in the living area.
  • When your puppy falls asleep, gently pick it up and place it in it’s daytime crate to nap. Do this every time you find your puppy asleep outside it’s crate.  Close the door if you will be nearby to release the puppy when it awakens, or place an x pen around the crate.
  •  Feed your puppy in it’s crate if it’s eating from a bowl.


Gradually teach your puppy to expect a few minutes of confinement after each meal.

Large breed dogs, such as my German Shepherds, benefit from crate rest after eating.  Teaching your puppy to expect to crate rest after eating also means you can feed your puppy right before the humans eat, and you can enjoy a “dog free” dinner time. Always provide puppies with a high value chew after eating, to help them relax and pacify themselves. Normalizing and using the expectation that grows from routine is extremely valuable. Consistency really does help puppies know what to expect. We build up to a two hour nap after each meal in our house. Dogs use this “digestion time” to nap, puppies need even more rest than dogs (around 20 hours per day as compared to an adult dogs 18) but scheduled nap time is beneficial for everyone.


Provide daily  “chewing” sessions in the crate.

Dogs love to chew, and puppies especially require chewing. The crate is the perfect place to provide this activity. When you can’t directly supervise your puppy or when your puppy is due for a nap, pull out a pacifier and put your puppy in it’s crate for a chew session. By pairing HIGH value chews with confinement you make the most of both the pacifiers you invest in, and teaching your puppy that being confined is great. Puppies need a lot of rest time, so take advantage of that time to create happy associations with confinement.

Be prepared to pair all duration crating sessions with high value chews for the first few weeks.

Collect as many types of chews as you can, stuff them them yummy things if they are stuffable, and provide them only in the crate. Puppies preferences change and develop as they age, and just like us they can get bored of the same thing every day, chewing is a basic core dog need anyway, so don’t be stingy, invest in a wide variety of chews.

You find find more ideas and inspiration in my blog, The Power of a Pacifier.

Crate your puppy at night, but not alone.

Puppies are sensitive to separation and will vocalize when they feel isolated.   This is very strong survival instinct that has it’s roots in the dog’s evolution, long before it was a pet.

Here are some suggestions to bypass separation distress.

  • At night, crate your puppy on your bed, or place the crate at bed height right next to your bed.   Your breathing and movement will help sooth a puppy and prevent it from feeling “lost” and alone.
  • Provide a large stuffed animal, or Snuggle Buddy, for the puppy to cuddle with at night.
  • For every night your puppy sleeps at least 6 hours without waking, you can move the crate 1 foot away from your bed until you reach the area of the bedroom where you would like your bedtime crate to be located.
  • Put a tired puppy to bed with the last person to retire for the night.   Feed dinner at least 3 hours before  bedtime, and take water up 1 hour before bedtime.   Calmly walk the puppy for at least 10 minutes before putting it to bed.
  • If your puppy is fussing at night, offer it a chance to potty. Keep nighttime potty breaks “businesslike.” Simply carry the puppy out, clip the leash on, and stand in one place for no more than 3 minutes while the puppy relieves itself. Do not talk, play or feed your puppy. Doing these things distract from the purpose of the potty break and can teach your puppy to wake you up for play and treats.
  • Be consistent in the nighttime pottybreak protocol. You want your puppy to learn to “ask out” if it needs to void in the night (otherwise, it may learn to void in the crate) but you don’t want to teach your puppy that waking you up has ANY purpose other than going to the potty.
  • When 3 minutes is up, carry the puppy back to it’s crate on your bed, place it inside, close the door and turn out the lights and go back to sleep.
  • Repeat EVERY time your puppy vocalizes in the night crate, your puppy will learn to ask out only to potty during the night.  This process may take a week, so be prepared.
  • Do not offer chews or pacifiers in the Night Crate.  Nighttime is for sleeping, and sleepy puppies need to sleep.
  • Soothing music, scents (such as Adaptal) and a cool room will help puppies sleep.

 Devise a routine and stick with it.

Puppies love routine because it’s comforting to know what to expect. Find a routine that includes crate conditioning time.  Good examples are to crate your puppy after each meal, at human mealtimes, and the first 10 to 15 minutes after visitors arrive. Be sure to pair a high value chew with each duration session! Use the same routine when you leave the house – pair this with a high value chew and soothing sounds and scents. 

Provide high value pacifiers for car crate time too!

Be sure to take the time to condition your dog to traveling in a crate.   Not only can this prevent barrier aggressive behaviors from starting, but it’s safer for the dog and driver. Pair all car crate rides with high value chews at first.

Practice Crating on outings.

If you plan to travel or compete with your dog, it’s worth it to condition your dog to enjoy crating anywhere.   Purchase a “tent” or cloth crate that’s easy to carry and take it to training classes with you.  Crate your puppy (with a pacifier) during class down time when your instructor is teaching or other dogs are working.   If your instructor includes mat training (yay!) place your mat inside your tent crate to do some of your mat work.

Some common and not so common sense tips.

  1. Don’t crate your puppy too much. It’s unhealthy for their body and mind – a crated puppy isn’t being socialized or learning any life skills. Yes, puppies need crate time every day, but they do not benefit from being confined too often.
  2. Play lots of crate entry games!   Have someone hold the puppy while you run and put it’s food bowl inside the crate. Next, call the puppy with your crate entry cue – this is also your helper’s cue to release the puppy! Cheer the puppy while it’s running to the crate and praise while the puppy enjoys it’s meal.   Play lots of these types of games.
  3. “Bait” your crate ahead of time.   If you put your puppy’s chew in the crate and close the door, the puppy will REALLY want to enter the crate!   Plan ahead and bait the crate with your chosen pacifier 10 to 30 minutes ahead of scheduled crate times, then call your puppy to crate up with your crate entry cue, open the door, and voila…your puppy loves to run into the crate!
  4. Don’t bribe your puppy to enter the crate.   If your puppy is reluctant to enter the crate, do more of number 2 and 3, but avoid at all costs bribing your puppy to enter the crate.   This will backfire!   It’s actually better to pick your puppy up and place it inside the crate than to bribe it to enter the crate.
  5. If your puppy is reluctant to enter the crate, figure out why and fix the problem!   Don’t be tempted to bribe or trick the puppy to enter the crate, that will backfire!   Consult with a skilled positive reinforcement trainer if needed.

Do you need help crate training your puppy?  Or are you a breeder who wants help building a crate conditioning plan into your puppy raising protocols?  
Distance coaching is available and we are very happy to help, contact us to find out more!

Kong Stuffing: Quick and Easy!

Sometimes I just want a quick and low prep way to stuff a Kong or Squirrel Dude.

Maybe because company’s come over and I would like to give my dog a pacifier to occupy her (kinda like giving a child a coloring book) so she can hang with us without pestering my guests.

Or maybe I’m offering a Kong every day, and I want variety, and some no cook options!

So, here ya go, three super easy, and two super quick stuffing hacks.

1. Kibble Kongs: 

What could be easier than a Kong stuffed with Kibble?   Now, even easier than this method is that the Squirrel Dudes come equipped with small fingers around the opening, this allows you to put dry kibble right in the Squirrel Dude and the kibble will fall out slowely.   Super easy.

However, if you are using a Kong or other type of dispenser with just a plain opening the dry kibble would just fall out, not much fun, and not much enrichment value.

But never fear, you can use something as simple as your dogs dry food kibble and some water to make a kong.

I make about 12 Kongs at once with this method, because I can fit that many in my sink, but you can make a single Kong by dropping the kong into a cup that is slightly larger and deeper than the Kong.

But I use my sink either with, or without, a dish drying rack.

Put your empty Kongs (OK, I refer to all these things as Kongs, but these purple ones are actually Squirrel Dudes) into your cup or, in this case, my sink.   This is a really fast way to make multiple Kongs, because you can NEVER have too many!

If you want to monitor how much kibble you are using here, so you can subtract it from your dogs daily ration, measure how much your toy holds.

I use a funnel made from a 12 oz bottle of soda, this really helps speed this process up!   Worth the $1.50 for a Coke!

Take your homemade funnel and insert the narrow end into the opening of your Kong (or SD) and slowly pour your kibble into the Kong.   If you pour too fast it may clog up, just use a knife or chopstick to dislodge the clog.   Kongs don’t have the projections around the opening, so kibble flows into them easily, but it can take lots of poking to get the kibble into your Squirrel Dude.


Once all your Kongs are full of kibble, and any treats you might want to drop in, fill your cup/sink, with hot water.

Optional: Use low/no sodium broth or bone broth instead of water.

The kibble will soak up the hot water and expand!  When it’s fully expanded (usually takes 30 minutes to an hour) take the kong out of the water, or if you are using a sink like I am, open the drain.  The water will drain away and your Kongs can drain a few minutes before either feeding fresh, or freezeing for use later.

If your dog is a hard core extractor, freeze these, if your dog is a beginner or easily discouraged, feed them fresh. If you feed them fresh let them drain longer, and be aware the stuffing will be moist.

If you like to put a hole through your kong stuffing, to prevent suction, now is the time to run a skewer or chopstick up from the small hole at the top and through the large opening.   Pull out the skewer and the hole should remain, then freeze.

This is super fast, takes me less than 5 minutes to fill 12 toys!

Here is the same thing with all Kongs. The Kongs stand up better if there is a rack to support them.  This is a regular sink sized dish drying rack.

I make kibble Kongs every day because we feed part of our dog’s daily meals from these toys, making kibble kongs is a fast and easy way to keep stuffed toys in your freezer for use whenever needed or wanted.

Tip:  You can drop bit of different things into these kongs when you are filling them, I often use:

Cheese shreds or cubes.
Small dog treats
Ham cubes or other bits of meat.
A few kibbles of dry cat food
A bit of novel kibble.

But honestly, my dogs love these no matter what!

2. Sandwich Kongs.  

These are a super fast and easy way to stuff toys!

You will need:

1. Whatever toy you are stuffing (Kong, Squirrel Dude, Tux)
2. Healthy whole grain bread (read ingredients, avoid artificial sweeteners, raisins, onions, or anything else not safe for dogs to eat).
3. A spread (I use: canned Pate style dog/cat food, peanut butter, cottage cheese, baby food First Meats).

I’m using canned Fromm Gold and peanut butter to stuff these items.

1. Spread your filling on slices of bread just like making a sandwich.
2. Cut the bread into strips.
3. Stuff into your toy or bone!

If I’m stuffing the sandwich slices into something like these Squirrel Dudes, I put a bit of kibble in first, this makes it easier to clean out later.  You can use up to half kibble if you wanted.  I also put a cheese cube in, just for fun.

If you are stuffing the sandwich into a shank bone, stuff one end and then put some kibble in the middle, the middle is hard for most dogs to get to and it’s hard to clean out, the kibble in the middle means the dog can unstuff the end, find the kibble and then unstuff the other end.   Easier to clean and more fun for the dog.

All finished and ready for feeding or freezing.

I also like to stuff this mixture into my West Paws Tux.

This toy is surprisingly difficult to unstuff!

Seriously, sandwich stuffing is super fast and easy to make with items you likely have on hand.   These can be fed fresh or frozen.

3. Canned Kongs!

As long as we are talking about canned dog food, one of the easiest stuffing hacks is just stuffing your bone or Kong with canned dog food.  I’ve stuffed these hooves and bones with canned dog food right from the can.   You can mix the canned food with some kibble too.  Just stuff it in your item, and freeze, I find the canned food too messy for feeding fresh.  Fast, easy!

This is easy for dogs to get out, perfect for puppies or dogs who are new to working for their food this way.

Hooves and Shank bones stuffed with canned dog food.

Now, with these ideas you are ready!   Now, get to stuffing and enrich your dogs life!

Finally, remember, monitor your dog, don’t feed your things it can’t tolerate or is allergic to, don’t feed your dog things that are not safe, like raisins, grapes, or some artificial sweeteners.   Basically, use your due diligence.  These are all foods my dogs tolerate, my dogs have  robust and health gut and so these things never cause them problems.  If you are unsure about your dog, start with a small amount and see.

Kong of the Month: Thanksgiving Leftovers!

I always make kong stuffing out of my Thanksgiving leftovers.   I use whatever safe and appropriate items we have and the dogs get to celebrate along with us.

1. The Turkey carcass.  I strip off all the meat and connective tissue and boil the carcass (I use an 8 quart stockpot) in enough water to cover plus fresh apple cider vinegar (I used 1/4 cup to 10 cups water).  Boil as long as suits you, the vinegar will help release minerals from the bones, these minerals are very healthy for your dog, so the longer you boil the healthier the broth.

Chop any meat you are not going to save for yourself.   The greater the proportion of meat to oatmeal the richer your finished product, so keep your dogs preferences in mind.  If your dog has trouble with digestion, leave the skin out, I’ve used all the skin because my dogs have amazing digestion and I know they won’t have any trouble digesting the fat.

I made extra veggies, I have both cooked green beans and Brussels sprouts.  The sprouts I’ve well cooked, otherwise they are difficult for dogs to digest.  Since my veggies are cooked, I do not boil them with the carcass You can use whatever veggie you want, don’t have any, try mixing in a bag of fresh leafy greens when the end product is hot but done cooking.

Green Beans!  Lightly cooked.


Well cooked Brussels sprouts.

Remove the turkey bones by running your stock through a strainer, be sure to get all tiny bones too!  Then add the chopped meat and veg back to the simmer stock.  Turn off heat!  The rest is done without any heat.

Tip: be sure to finely chop the meat and veg, otherwise it’s hard to get into the kong and hard for your dog to get out.

I’m using Old Fashioned oatmeal, just keep adding until your mixture gets thick.

I also had some stale Cheerios, so those go in too.

Keep adding oats until your mixture is thick and pastey.  Let this mixture cool until you can easily handle it.

Then start stuffing!

This makes a thick and sticky mixture that is HARD for dogs to remove, excellent for expert level de-stuffers!  If your dog isn’t yet level expert at de-stuffing, try stuffing cows hooves (puppies and beginners), hollow shank bones (intermediate), Kongs (intermediate), West Paws Tux (advanced) and Squirrel Dudes (advanced).  This mixture is also suitable for lick mats, and slow feeder bowls.  Offered fresh is easier than if you stuff and offer the item frozen.

Tip: If you are worried about suction forming in the toy when the dog is licking it, at this stage and before freezing, run the stuffing through with a skewer, chop stick, or straw, the hole should run through the toy, and will remain after you remove the skewer.

 

 

Stuffing of the Month: October, Pumpkin Spice

Zahara sneaking a bone, in the totally obvious way that GSs are known for.

As October approaches the world starts craving all things Pumpkin Spice!

Each October I make a batch of Pumpkin Spice stuffing mixture, but pumpkin is so healthy for dogs that you can add it to any stuffing recipe.

As with all my stuffing recipes, please note, I make huge quantities and stuff every Kong, Squirrel Dude, bone, hoof, and West Paw Zogoflex Tux that I have in the house and I just judge everything by eye, so please adjust amounts to suit your preferences.

This is an oatmeal based recipe and as such it’s sticky, sticky stuffing are more DIFFICULT for your dog to extract, taking more time and effort.  If your dog is new to enrichment see the bottom of the recipe for ways to make this activity easier or more difficult based on your dogs skill and drive level.

Stuffing:

Oatmeal, either Old Fashioned, Steel Cut, or Instant, UNFLAVORED without sugar, or flavor added.   I’m using Quaker Instant Oatmeal because I found it on sale, I usually use Old Fashioned Oats.

Canned Pumpkin, or any cooked and mashed squash.

Eggs: The entire egg, shell and all.

Coconut Oil or Olive Oil (optional) some dogs cannot tolerate supplemental oil, others can.  Know your dog.

Spice:  Granulated Garlic and Ground Cinnamon.

Veg:  Whatever you have!  I used apple and rainbow kale, coarsly chopped.

Optional but Awesome:

I ALWAYS save the fine dust that is left over in treat packages, biscuit boxes, or when I chop up rolled dog treats (Natural Balance and Redbarn Rolls leave TONS of crumbs!) and instead of throwing these yummy bits away I save them in a plastic tub in the fridge.   When I made this recipe I happened to have crumbs from chopping up Natural Balance Rolls into treats and so I poured that in this recipe.

Quantities:  I make a huge batch and here is the recipe for that, followed by a smaller recipe for a single GS sized dog with 7 stuffable dispensers (Kongs, Squirrel Dudes etc).

Combine in a 8 quart stock pot or larger:

1 large tube of  Oats (42 oz)

1 dozen eggs, shell and all.

1/4 Cup Granulated Garlic (NOT Garlic Salt)

1 TBS Ground Cinnamon (No more!)

2 Cans Pumpkin Purée or 3 Cups Mashed Squash

4 Cups Vegetable (I used Rainbow Kale and Apple) coarsely chopped.  Only use dog safe fruits and veggies!

Optional:  Treat dust (I had 1 Cups worth, oil, I used 1/4 Cup Coconut Oil).

Small Batch:

1 Small Tube of Oatmeal
4 Eggs
1 TBS Granulated Garlic
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon (no more)
1 can Pumpkin Purée or 1.5 Cups Mashed Squash
2 Cups Veggie/Fruit.
Optional: Treat Dust or 1 tsp oil.

Make it!

I seriously eye ball this recipe because I’m going for a particular texture (sticky and clumpy) and not regular people eating oatmeal texture!

In your 8 quart stockpot over medium heat, add the amount of water recommended on the Oatmeal package (I start with 2 cups water per 1 cup uncooked oats, adding more water if needed).

Bring the water to a simmer and add all your veggies and fruit, cook lightly (dogs can’t digest plant matter unless it’s lightly cooked or puréed).

To simmering water/veggie mixture add eggs and stir to break eggs up as much/little as desired.  Cook until just set, about 2 minutes.

Add canned Pumpkin or mashed squash, stir to combine and heat through and return to a low boil.

Add Oil (optional), treat dust (optional), spices (also optional really), and Oatmeal.

Reduce heat to medium/low, you want the mixture to just barely boil, enough to cook the oatmeal.

Quickly stir to mix all ingredients, the mixture should thicken up rather quickly, so combine while you can.

Once well combined, and the oats cooked, remove from heat and allow to stand until cool enough to handle with your hands.  Mixture should thicken considerably upon cooling.

Once the mixture is cool enough to handle it should be really thick and gummy, almost like cookie dough consistency.   It sticks to EVERYTHING!   This makes it really challenging to get out of a Kong.

Stuff, Stuff, Stuff!  I stuff this into Kongs, Squirrel Dudes, cows hooves (for puppies/seniors only), Tux, and short shank bones.   You could also stuff this into a lick mat or slow feeder bowl.

Above: West Paws Tux
Below: Short Shank Bone.

Tux, Kongs, and Squirrel Dudes.

Save the extra!  This mixture is sticky enough that I also save some back and use this like a Pill Pocket, to wrap around pills so the dogs will eat them.

I also use it like canned food, to mix in with dry food at meal times.

It freezes well too, and can be used as a stuffing after being thawed.

The large recipe stuffs about 30 different items.  The small recipe will stuff about 10, depending of course on the volume of the item being stuffed.  

Remember, you can adjust the recipe to suit your needs!

Dogs benefit greatly from relaxing activities such as food dispensers, you can use this Relaxing Activity to balance Arousing activities such as fetch, tug, agility, or obedience to help your dog relax.

Tip:  Making it easier.   This stuffing, like all oatmeal based stuffings, is very sticky and difficult to extract.  This is perfect if you have a Kong Level Expert dog, you know, the kind who can clean out a Kong in under 30 minutes.   But this filling might be discouraging to a beginner dog or a lower drive dog.  To make this stuffing easier to extract from the toy you can:

1.  Fill the Kong half way full with kibble before stuffing.
2.  Coat the inside of the Kong with butter, coconut, or olive oil.
3.  Fill a slow feed bowl, or lick mat instead of a Kong or Squirrel Dude.
4. Feed it fresh instead of frozen.

Happy Enriching!

Tip Tuesday: Basic Kong Stuffing

Momma’s dogs need new bones! This blog contains affiliate links, so we can earn a small amount of money while you pay nothing extra!

This is the third level of stuffed pacifier toy we use. Please see the first and second levels before introducing this step to your dog. Your dog will thank you!

Supplies

  • Kong, Squirrel Dude, or Busy Time
  • Base Kibble (your dog’s regular food)
  • Novel Kibble (not your dog’s regular food)
  • Freeze-dried treats, powdered, optional
  • Sink drying rack, OR large bowl
  • Wide mouth funnel, optional
  • Chopstick, optional

You can manipulate the ratios to your dog’s liking.  My dogs love their base kibble and enjoy pacifiers with just their base kibble.  But I usually mix about half of the base kibble with a novel kibble, which is any brand of dry food they don’t eat for their normal meals.

If your dog is picky, you can add some pea-sized dog treats, or powder some freeze-dried dog treats to mix in with the kibble.

Directions

  1. Prepare your kibble – I’m using all novel kibble. You can also use your base kibble, a mixture of base kibble plus novel kibble, and/or mix powdered freeze dried treats with your kibble.
  2. Arrange your toys in a sink or large bowl. Bowl must be deep enough to almost cover each toy.
  3. Pour kibble into each toy. I use a funnel and chopstick to get the kibble in neatly.
  4. Add hot tap water until nearly to the top of the toys.
  5. Let sit at least 30 minutes, or until kibble is fully saturated. This will depend on the individual kibble and may take some experimenting.
  6. For toys soaking in a bowl, carefully pour most of the water out, then remove toys to a sink rack or dry bowl. For sink soaking toys, pick up the rack and set in the dry side of the sink, or on a cookie sheet. Drain for at least 5 minutes.
  7. Either put in fridge for beginners, or freezer for more advanced dogs.

We want the first time we offer our dog this type of pacifier to be easy, so I typically give them unfrozen the first time. My dog has already learned the skills of how to manipulate two “easier” pacifiers from our previous lessons by licking or physically manipulating food toys, so typically dogs will generalize these skills to this new type of pacifier. Once they have succeeded, I freeze these so they last longer.

When to use pacifiers

So, we’ve put all this work into teaching our dogs to use pacifiers… What will we use this skill for, exactly? Well, lots of things!

  1. During crate training practice
  2. When caregivers need the puppy to be quiet (phone or video calls)
  3. During car rides (if the puppy isn’t prone to carsickness)
  4. When the puppy is prone to being destructive or hyper
  5. When company comes over

Ideally, you will introduce pacifiers during confinement (crates or play pens). This will prevent any mess on your rugs, lost toys under furniture, and any squabbles between dogs. This will also give your dog a positive feeling about being confined.

You will want to also match the interest of the stuffing to the interest of the distraction. For example, if I want to put a young dog in her crate while I have company, I will choose all novel kibble with freeze dried liver powder mixed in. The distraction (my company) is high, so I match the interest level of the stuffing by making the stuffing very exciting (all novel kibble plus liver).

Fate Favors The Prepared: Training Bags

Momma’s dogs need new bones! This blog contains affiliate links, so we can earn a small amount of money while you pay nothing extra!

You don’t have to spend much time at dog training clubs to notice that every trainer sports at least 1 equipment tote. Trainers set themselves and their dogs up for success by being prepared.  You can tell they take their training very seriously! Raising any puppy is serious business, there are long term ramifications of NOT being prepared and NOT taking your puppy’s socialization seriously.

We send every puppy home with a tote bag. The reason isn’t just to hold all your supplies! We hope you will use this bag to set yourself (and your puppy) up for success!

Here’s my present boobler puppy, Funneigh, and her tote bag.   I thought you might like to see what we take along EVERY time we take our puppy out for training and socialization.

Funneigh von der burg Austerlitz

First, we need her tote bag.  No worries, we have this amazing Puppy Culture tote bag.

We have two of these totes, a gray one and a blue one, love the quality and functionality of them.

I love my Puppy Culture tote bag.  It holds tons without ever feeling bulky, it’s easy to get things in and out of, and it’s made from durable materials so it will hold up to lots of toting! It’s got six side pockets and two mesh side pockets. Wowza!

What do I bring when I take my puppy out and about for a basic socialization exposure?

Buckle collar with ID. We don’t hook the leash to the collar with the ID.

An emergency slip lead.

My leash, harness and collar, all ready for Funneigh.

Bait: I NEVER leave the house without bait. This great Bento box holds three different values: Highest is salmon cubes, then meatball, then a trail mix of different treats. The top has a cold pack! Super handy.

Bento box all closed up and ready for travel. I like this because i can grab just this if I’m really in a hurry.

Clean up supplies: papertowels, puppy pads, and waste bags.

of COURSE, a clicker or two.

Water from home, plus a small water bowl.

Optionals: For classes I take a chew for “down time” , a food tube, and an extra cold pack.

Bait bag: I often use my pockets, but if you prefer not to do that, bring a bait bag.

Optionals: Long line. If I’m going to a wide open park to walk or train, I always bring a long line. These are all 15 feet nylon.

Want to really do it right? Include a notebook (a small notebook was sent home in your puppy pack!) with your training and socialization goals for that day.

All packed up and ready!

 

Without being prepared, I would have missed being able to click/treat this voluntary attention Funneigh offered. And don’t kid yourself, puppies only become attentive adolescents if we reinforce attention consistently.

So, I hope this helps you “pack like a pro trainer”!   Fate does favor the prepared, and mannerly, well trained dogs are NOT born, they are made through consistent reinforcment of the behaviors YOU value.

Treat every outing as a training class, practice all your puppies learned skills!  Make yourself the most interesting thing in her environment!   Always be prepared!

Here’s a list of affiliate links to the items we recommend for your tote bags! I hope they work as well for you as they do for me!

Note:  Not pictured, and the subject for a future post, a travel first aid kit for dogs.

Junco “checking in” on a walk around the lake. If I wasn’t prepared with my clicker, bait bag, and a high value treat, I would not have been able to catch and reinforce Junco for checking in with me. Given how interesting the environment is (lake!) I would likely see less attention to me, instead of of more. If you want an attentive adult dog, be sure to build a reinforcment history for attentive behavior from day 1!