Rocklin Ranch Veterinary Hospital’s Blog

If you are like most dog owners, it takes patience, time, and repetition when you begin to train a puppy or even an adult dog. The challenges of cleaning up accidents, the constant struggle to redirect your pet from spraying the couch, and the ongoing time and skills to teach basic commands are the things that you deal with. Without a doubt, house training your dog is not for the faint of heart!

But once you and your pet have established the basics of house training, the positive effects can last a lifetime. This is why your team at Rocklin Ranch Veterinary Hospital wants to give you the tools and techniques for house training your dog. Let’s begin!

When an adult dog and a puppy are introduced, the results can be devastatingly cute. 

Much like human children, puppies are often unencumbered by normal social cues and norms. This endearing quality can cause problems, however, especially among dogs who do not have a lot of patience for puppy behavior .

When allowing adult dog and puppy interactions to occur, Rocklin Ranch Veterinary Hospital wants you to know what is normal, what’s not, and when it’s time for you to intervene.

The Normal Order of Things

Puppies are playful, and they can be a whole lot of fun to watch. Normal puppy body language may include play gestures such as:

Most, if not all, pets enjoy their food and relish meal times. This doesn’t mean that they savor every bite, however. Instead, a common reaction to a bowl of food is to simply inhale it without appearing to chew even a morsel of it. This is true for pets of all ages, but if your puppy eats too fast, he could actually face serious health consequences. 

Kittens love to play, but the predatory instincts that guide them can cause accidental harm to their partner. Additionally, owners can inadvertently reinforce bad behaviors by using their hands and fingers to entice their kitten to play. Training a kitten your rules for play isn’t hard, but it requires consistency and patience. With our tips, you’ll be playing without blood in no time!

Your quarters may be cramped, but your heart is overflowing with love to spare, so why not adopt a puppy? While your desire to add a furry companion to your environment may be strong, there are some important aspects of raising a puppy in an apartment that you need to consider before taking the plunge.

At Rocklin Ranch Veterinary Hospital, we completely understand the joy and companionship that pets bring to our lives. We want you and your puppy to live happily ever after, so here are some tips that can help. 

You pay the bills in your home, but if your dog thinks he’s the boss, it may not feel like you make all the decisions. A bossy dog might be the one setting your schedule, getting first-choice when it comes to where to sit, and pushing their noses into all of your business (literally). If you are tired of bowing down to your dog boss, Rocklin Ranch Veterinary Hospital has some tips to help you take back control in your home:

Most pet owners get used to their pets eating weird stuff. Between sticks, socks, rotten food, and waste, we can hardly be surprised by their odd cuisine choices. Of course, we want to be sure that nothing they ingest can cause dangerous intestinal obstruction, or increase choking or poisoning risks. What happens when your pet starts chomping on grass?

But when a pet eats grass as a hobby or habit, does a pet owner need to be concerned?

Anyone who has ever met a cat knows they have personalities of their own with unique behaviors that sometimes only make sense to other felines. While many people associate a satisfied purr with feelings of kitty content, there is another easy way to spot if your favorite feline is living her best life. When your cat starts to knead the furniture, his favorite blanket, or even your body, you can be sure he is in top spirits.

Cats are incredible and quirky creatures, and kneading, or making biscuits, is one of their most endearing traits. Even if you could spend hours watching your cat knead, you might still be wondering what is behind this unusual behavior. Thankfully, the team at Rocklin Ranch Veterinary Hospital is here to shed some light on why cats knead.

When it comes to training man’s best friend, many reach for shock collars to help send home a message. While shock collars can have some utility, they are really not the best choice for a first line training tool. Likewise, they also require a good deal of knowledge to utilize well.

At Rocklin Ranch Veterinary Hospital we want pet parents to understand how and when to properly use shock collars and to recognize that there are many valid alternatives. Choosing appropriate training tools for your dog can really help them to put their best paw forward. 

If your little dog shakes all of the time, even if it isn’t cold outside, you may wonder why. Small dogs who tremble are not uncommon and pet owners ask us about the reasons for this behavior. Trembling in dogs is caused by several factors, some of which can be physical or behavioral, or both. The Chihuahua is well known for this strange trembling, but why does that happen?

The team at Rocklin Ranch Veterinary Hospital is here to explain is phenomenon in small dogs and what you can do to address it in your four-legged friend.