Your Trainin
Questions

Sixth in a helpful new pet series
sponsored by Invisible Fencing of Birmingham.

The FaMibof CI o
and Young Children

Grrrrrreat
Food

"Don't buy a dog for your child: Buy a dog for your family."

Children cannot care for pets without help. Caring for a dog can be challenging
for adults; it is close to impossible for a child. Many parents acquire the pet in the hopes
of instilling responsibility in their child. Caring for a pet can do this, with the help of
the parents.
,
4Pw
.
0 tn,
n
0, *
,,,,,„
e *--,,,
0 *v
As,,,.
ii4C
t
',•,,,
,,,,,, \-.,
OM

ave you ever made
a tiger sand-
wich?

All you need are:
1 slice of bread
I piece mozzarella (or other
light-colored cheese)
I piece cheddar (or other
dark cheese)
1 olive, sliced in half
peanut butter

Alternate slices of mozzarel-
la and cheddar cheese from
top to bottom of bread; these
are the tiger's stripes. If you
like, place in the toaster for a
few minutes. The "stripes" will

blend in the baking, but the re-
sult will be quite tasty. Next,
use one half of olive for each
eye. Affix with a touch of
peanut butter. Last, draw on a
peanut-butter mouth.
Have you ever made an ani-
mal food? If so, we would love
to hear about it. Please send to:
Fun Food, c/o The AppleTree,
27676 Franklin Rd., South-
field, MI 48034.

List all the chores —from shopping for pet food to scoop-
ing the yard, from trips to the vet to picking up toys.

tolerant he or she is of brushing. Some dogs love it. These
dogs can be groomed by children under the supervision of
an adult.

Walking the Dog

Good Games, Bad Games

Most children should NOT walk the dog
unattended. Dogs, even small ones, are
incredibly strong, and unless the animal
is extremely well-behaved, a child walk-
ing a dog unattended is a dangerous
situation. As a general guideline, if the
dog is heavier than one fifth of your
child's weight, it's too big for him
or her to walk.

Exercising the Dog

Not that this is split into par-
ent/child teams. Both of these
children are too young to ex-
ercise the dog by them-
selves. Playing with the dog
in teams gives everyone
some nice time together.

Feeding the Dog

Did You Know...

Ants can carry loads of food more than 50 times heav-
ier than their own bodies.
.
A beaver signals danger by slapping its tail against the
water.
..•mit The blue whale is the largest living animal -- bigger
than any elephant and bigger than any dinosaur ever was.
le The hummingbird can fly backward and hover in midair.
When they're especially hot, elephants will put mud on
their heads to keep cool.
41 Even though they can swim from the moment they're
born, baby hippopotamuses often prefer to ride on their moth-
ers' backs in the water.

.6

'FIND
3

Write Down the Dog Related Chores

1GLo o

Even small children can assist
with getting the bowl, washing it out, filling it, giving it to the
dog. This last one ONLY if your dog is nonaggressive and
controlled around food. The adult job is to supervise amounts
and make sure the dog is under control. A good canine habit
to develop is making the dog sit until the food bowl is put
down. Then have the child release him with a happy "OK,
good dog!"

Cleaning Up the Yard

Yuck. Rotate this one among all able-bodied family mem-
bers. It is too easy to dump the cleanup chore on the kids;
don't do it. Sharing this job among everyone teaches the child
more about fairness and responsibility than any discussion.

Grooming the Dog,

Whether or not a child can assist you with this is largely
determined by what kind of coat your dog has and how

A■ V'4

Tug-of-War teaches the pup that
you like it when he fights with
you. Never train a puppy or adult
dog to do anything with you that
you don't want him to do with
your child.
Bad games foster combat and
competition between human
and canine. Any game that in-
volves play fighting with the
dog (wrestling), competing for
possession of an object (Tug-
of-War), or one that has you
following the dog's lead
(Chase!) are to be avoided.
Good games promote
cooperation and
control. Games
like Fetch, Beat the
Clock, Hide and
Seek, and all manner
of tricks are great. Good games develop the working rela-
tionship between you and your pet as well as reinforcing your
leadership.

Training the Dog

Training is the best way to teach a dog to respect a child.
Once a dog will follow a child's command, it will be less like-
ly to steal a toy from, jump up on, knock over, run into, or
otherwise be rude to the child. But—and here's a big but—
this requires adult supervision at all times, much like using a
knife. If a child attempts this himself and fails, the dog learns
that the child is incapable of asserting control. This is the last
thing you want the dog to know. You want the dog to believe
that the child is fully able to manage him. This will give the
child psychological control long before he can manage phys-
ical control.

original tiectimnic Pet Coni nment aystem

• 126 "Dog Years" Experience
• Over 1/2 Million Pets Contained
• Indoor & Outdoor Systems
• Professional Installation, Training & Service
LIFETIME WARRANTY

ONE-YEAR MONEY-BACK PERFORMANCE GUARANTEE

rime

Call Today for your
FREE, No-Obligation Estimate!

CB

2C
CD
2C

INVISIBLE Er.

31645 Southfield Rd. • BIRMINGHAM
(810) 646-WOOF
(9663)

ROCHESTER AREA: Call (810) 969-2600

0)

r--1

2

15

