Posts tagged "mutt"

Name: Leia

Location: Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, England

Age: 3 months

Dog Breed: Mix

Favorite Toy: Squeaky ball.

Favorite Treat: Dried pigs' ears.

Likes: Running and rolling in the snow and giving kisses.

Congratulations to our submitter, Portlandbill. If you'd like to submit your pet, upload your favorite pet photos to our Flickr pool!

More Cute Pets

Meet Mary Burch, American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen Director and Paw Nation's expert columnist addressing your questions on animal behavior. Dr. Burch has over 25 years of experience working with dogs, and she is one of fewer than 50 Certified Applied Animal Behaviorists based in the United States. She is the author of 10 books, including the new official book on the AKC Canine Good Citizen Program, "Citizen Canine: 10 Essential Skills Every Well-Mannered Dog Should Know."

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My dog, Butch, is a 10-year-old mutt. I never got around to teaching him very many tricks, though he can sit on command. Can I really teach my senior dog new things? I think it would be nice for him to have something fun to try. What would you recommend?

Yes, it's true! You can teach an old dog new tricks.

At the age of 10, Butch will look forward to daily or evening training sessions with you as long as you keep the sessions short, fun, and use plenty of positive reinforcement including praise and small bits of Butch's favorite treat.

Here are three tricks you can teach indoors to beat the summer heat:

Shake Hands
1. Start by having your dog sit.
2. Kneel in front of him.
3. Say, "Shake hands," as you take his paw.
4. As soon as you take the paw, say, "Good shake!" and give the dog a treat.
5. Repeat this process a few times, then say, "Shake hands," and wait to see if the dog lifts his paw on his own. Most dogs will start lifting their paw to shake after a few trials. When the dog does the shake on his own, give him the treat immediately along with enthusiastic praise, "GOOD shake!!"
6. If it looks like your dog isn't getting the hang of lifting his paw to shake, you can very gently push his shoulder. This will push him off balance and he will automatically lift his paw. Take the paw, say, "Good shake!" and give him the reward.

In honor of National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week, we've asked our bloggers to share their stories of shelter animal adoption.

On a warm fall Saturday in 2002, my fiance and I stopped in a Petsmart to buy cat litter. While he searched the aisles for the right brand, I wandered over to one of the pet-rescue groups, Puppy Hill Farm, that sets up shop in the store each weekend. I'd grown up with dogs, but my fiance hadn't, and I had yet to talk him into adopting one.

As we were about to leave the store, we both stopped in our tracks. A young couple was bringing in a black Labrador mix puppy, and we overheard something about it being their roommate's dog, for which they couldn't provide care after the roommate had dropped out of school and moved home. It took my husband about five seconds to fall in love with this puppy. It took me less time.

We named the dog Yuki, and she quickly became an enormous part of our lives. Yuki exhibited typical puppy behavior, but was eager to please and very smart, so although she was large (about 60 pounds), she went everywhere with us. We took her tailgating, to outdoor restaurants, up to Canada for vacation, and she was even in our wedding. She was the perfect running buddy, but was gentle enough to take on visits to my grandmother's nursing home.