Words That My Dogs Know

• out - Let's go out to the yard.
• potty - Time to relieve yourself.
• water - Drink some water.
• yummy - Eat some food.
• cookie - A dog biscuit.
• chewie - A rawhide chew stick.
• bed - It's 3 AM! Return to your bed.
• walk - Would you like to go for a walk?
• car - Would you like to go for a ride in the car? (and this time I'll drive)
• let's go - Opposite of stay.
• this way - Change your direction to the way that I am indicating.
• stay - Don't move.
• come - Come to me.
• hug - Come here and get a hug. (This was Roger's favorite word.)
• run - Run.
• up - Jump up.
• off - Jump down.
• ramp - Walk up or down on the ramp (Roger could not jump).
• move - Get out of my way.
• no - Cease and desist.
• leave it - Cease and desist.
• done - Cease and desist.
• all done - Cease and desist.
• no more - Cease and desist.
• more - Do that again.
• two-fee - Time to brush your teeth.
• brushy - Time to be groomed.
• pill - Let me give you your pill.
• home - Let's go home (turn up the driveway).
• PetCo - Let's go shopping.
• garage door - I convinced some of the kids in the neighborhood that all of the dogs have swallowed garage door remotes and they can open the garage door whenever they want to. (The remote is in my pocket, but don't tell the kids.)

How to Train a Dog

Here are some steps on training a dog.

When the dog does something you like then reward the dog with praise. Just like with people you are telling your dog to keep up the good work. If you add a word while the dog is doing the action then dog will soon learn that the word is a command to do the action.

Try to ignore any bad behavior. Dogs love attention. If bad behavior gets them noticed they will continue with that action, too. Of course it there is the chance that someone or something will be hurt by all means speak up, but use a harsh voice, not a gentle comforting voice. Dogs may not know what the words are but they do learn what the tone of your voice means.

How to Walk Your Dog Five Miles Everyday

DNA Testing for Dog Breeds is a Waste of Money For Greyhounds

My friends at Friends of Greyhounds recently rescued a dog that was only part greyhound. With a well meaning desire to determine its breeding to help get it adopted, they submitted its DNA to a company that for a fee of $80 will tell you what breed or breeds your dog contains. In addition to this unknown part-greyhound the DNA for an ex-racing greyhound was submitted as a control to verify the accuracy of the DNA analysis. This greyhound is named Yahtzee and his racing name was Cry Yahtzee.

You can see in the Direct Sire Line table that Yahtzee has greyhound ancestry going back for over 30 generations. When Yahtzee's DNA analysis results were received we were surprised. According to Yahtzee's DNA report, he and all of his ancestors are pure bred whippets!

Feel free to make you own conclusion. The title is what I think.

A Friend Took a Really Nice Photo of Cole.

Photo by Valberta Guthrie