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Category Archives: Puppy Training

Teach Your Children How to Handle Pets Safely

March 30, 2018 3:26 pm ⋅

Almost everyone has seen adorable videos of children and animals interacting together. And just as many have heard stories of times when either a pet or a child has been hurt when an interaction didn’t go the right way. It is up to both human and pet parents to help children as well as pets learn the necessary skills to keep relationships between animals and the children in their lives as positive as possible.
Boy and Puppy

Preparing Your Pet to Live With Children

In many cases people have pets in their home before they have children and they bring their new baby home to a place where a pet has already been there for a while. Because newborns are vulnerable, and pets, especially dogs, can be territorial, your pet will need some schooling in order to understand how to be gentle with a baby and play safely as the baby grows.

It can be hard for a pet to adjust to a new family member, so it is important to allow them to acclimate as gradually as possible. If your pet is not trained in basic obedience skills, it is important to enroll them in any necessary courses as soon as possible. Be sure that they know and respond to commands such as sit, stay, and down. Make sure they have a safe place they can access that will give them a much needed break from the children and adult humans in the house when they need it.

Before the baby comes home, allow your pet to smell an article of clothing, such as a hat, that the baby has worn. They will then recognize the baby as a member of the family that belongs rather than an intruder. Keep in mind, however, that regardless of how much effort you put in to preparing your pet, proper supervision is always necessary between babies or young children and pets to protect both from any behavioral slips.

Preparing Your Child for a New Pet

As many children start to get old enough to express their own opinions, they may indicate that they want a pet of their own. Whether that pet is a dog, a cat, or another animal, it is important that they are able to understand their pet’s limitations and their role in making sure that pet is properly cared for. Although the ultimate responsibility for caring for a pet lies with their adult owner, giving a child age appropriate supervised, pet responsibilities will help him in to feel like a part of your family’s pet experience. It will also help your pet, especially a dog, see your child as one of his masters, rather than a rival.

Child holding budgie

Observing Animals Together

Even if you do not choose to have a pet in your home, it is important that children learn to respect animals in their surroundings and appreciate them. You can take the first steps by just watching the animals that are in your own yard, a local park, or a humane zoo or rescue center. Even if you don’t have a lot of opportunity for first hand interactions, watching movies or other videos that show interactions between humans and animals is helpful. Making and filling outdoor bird feeders or watching rabbits or squirrels run through your yard can help your children learn that animals are an important part of the world, just like they are.
Girl and cat

The Positive Side of Kids and Pets

There are times when kids who are not properly educated about pets may be too rough with a pet, hugging it too tight, or pulling ears, or some other similar treatment. But when both children and pets are taught to respect one another and any necessary boundaries, the results can be very positive. Children raised with pets are often more cooperative and willing to share, and are stronger overall emotionally, including having a positive self image. Pets too learn to be gentle and protective of children in their lives.
Child Petting Dog

Contact Us

If you have questions about how to care for your pet, submit our website contact form below or call our Santa Rosa location at 707-595-3834 or our Rohnert Park location at 707-206-9000.

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Posted in: Dog Training, Pet care, Puppy Training

6 Tricks to Teach Your Dog

May 26, 2015 1:18 am ⋅

At Paradise Pet Resorts we love teaching new tricks to the dogs and puppies in our care.Trainer Teaching A Dog Tricks And then, of course, there’s the joy we feel watching their joy when we give them a treat for their hard work!

Our clients often ask us how we have been able to teach their dog the tricks they’ve learned at Paradise Pets, when they have been unable to learn them at home. No trade secrets revealed here – it’s a simple mantra that dogs — and kids at Halloween — learn very early: tricks and treats. To get to the tricks and treats, however, you must also apply equal measures of praise and patience. Really that’s all there is to it. For dogs, that is. Kids quickly learn that while they may get praise for their costume on Halloween, getting candy doesn’t require a lot of patience!

Kids, Dogs, and You

The kids and dogs idea got us thinking about a new angle to take for this blog on teaching dogs cool new tricks. Adults often decide to add a new puppy or dog to the family as the children come along. The tangible and intangible rewards of growing up with a dog in the home are hard to measure, but dogs remind us all of the importance of play. So in the spirit of play, we wanted to find some tricks that you, and your children can learn to teach your dog as you all grow up together.

While the interwebs offer hundreds of great articles that walk you through how to teach your dog new tricks, we think we’ve found a unique one to point you to that details just what you need to do to teach certain tricks to your dog. We’ve plucked ones that more or less follow the various age-specific milestones for kids as they grow. So, with a big thank you to Dog Notebook for doing the legwork on the article we’ve linked to below, here are six dog tricks to grow on. Whether you have a newborn and a new puppy at home, or a high school senior and a senior dog, we hope you and your family will enjoy the play that comes with learning and teaching these dog tricks!

  1. Babies & Puppies: Peek-a-Boo


    2. For parents with young children and a new puppy, a great trick to teach is peek-a-boo, which is just adorable whether you’re playing it with puppies or babies! And now they can play it with each other (when you let the baby have a turn)! Trick: Peek-a-Boo

  2. Toddlers & Adolescent Dogs: Pick Up Their Toys


    3. Toy accumulation in America is not just a childhood phenomenon. Dogs may not have quite as many, but the Pet Product Industry is working on that and we spend billions per year on stuff for our dogs and pets. Why not teach your dog to pick up his or her toys when you’re beginning to teach your child to do the same. Trick: Pick Up Toys

  3. Children & Dogs: Handstand


    4. Kids gravitate to tumbling activities by about 3 or 4 years old, so while you’re showing your child how to do a handstand, you can teach it to your dog, too. Of course, we think it is misnamed here, so we’ll call this Trick: Paw-stand

    Dogs Playing Soccer

    Photo courtesy of DogNotebook.com


  4. Tweens & Dogs: Playing Soccer


    5. You’ve taught your dog to catch and fetch. Take it to the next level and get your tweens out in the yard running around playing with the dog in the process. Your tween may not want to play with you as much anymore, but you can get them moving when they play soccer with the dog. Trick: Play Soccer

  5. Teens & Dogs: Skateboarding


    6. Youtube is awash with videos of dogs doing extraordinary things. After all, the web is not just for cat videos! And if you’re reading this from somewhere in Northern California, chances are good that next to watching Youtube vids, your teen likes riding a skateboard. Combine two teen loves to get your teenager to teach your dog this cool Trick: Skateboarding

  6. Prodigies: Play Piano


    7. OK, learning to play the piano does not make your child a prodigy, but teaching your dog to play the piano may convince your friends that she is one. Prodigy or not, “neuroscience research has shown that children involved in music have larger growth of neural activity than people not in music training” so if that can happen for your kid, think what it might do to your dog’s brain when she learns this Trick: Play Piano

Bonus Dog Trick for Any Age: High Five

Well, we humans likely learned the High Five by the time we learned to pick up our toys, but let’s face it, the High Five is cool at any age, and no age matters when it comes to teaching your dog to give you a High Five!

Want to learn about a whole slew of other fun pet tricks you and your kids can teach your dog? Check out the full article with all 20 Unusual Tricks You Should Start Teaching Your Dog Today.

Posted in: Dog Training, Dog Tricks, Pet care, Puppy Training