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Have you ever wondered about the smartest dog breeds? What specific breeds are highly intelligent, easy to train, and know what you mean when you say it?

Well, we’ve compiled a list of the smartest dog breeds, and we’ve based this on several levels, including trainability, raw intelligence, and the ability to pick up on cues.

Remember that not all dogs of the same breed are guaranteed to be brilliant minds. Breeding comes into play, as does the environment in which you raise your dog, like a child.

If you want to spend your time with a smart pooch, remember to always be training him and giving him something new to do. Physical exercise also plays a large part in mental health. To remain one of the smartest dog breeds, your pooch needs to stay healthy and active!

The Border Collie

While the Border collie is without a doubt a dog that is on the high maintenance list, he’s also one of the smartest dog breeds you can find.

Used to a lot of work, the problem many owners find with their Border Collies is that they’re extremely restless. If they don’t have enough space to move, or a job to do, they’re going to be unhappy.

When you’re considering purchasing a Border collie, make sure that someone is going to be home most of the time to play with and love your dog, and ensure that you have enough room to satisfy their needs.

The Shetland Sheepdog

You’ll often hear owners of this voluptuous breed swear that their dog has more intelligence than a young child, and they’re not far off. These dogs aren’t just beautiful; they’re one of the smartest dog breeds around.

Raised to mostly herd literally hundreds of sheep, or even cattle (two to three times their size), the job requires plenty of concentration and a ton of smarts to know where you’re going and what you’re doing.

The Shetland sheepdog has a wonderful personality and makes a super family pet. Remember though, these dogs can be wary of strangers, so introducing a new family member or friend can take time.

Got the Smarts

Remember that the smartest dog breeds have the same basic traits in common - the need for plenty of love, plenty of room to run around in, and a wonderful personality.

Not Finding What You Wanted?

Remember that other intelligent breeds include golden retrievers, Labrador retrievers, poodles, Australian cattle dogs and Doberman pinschers.

Giving your dog love, training, and stimulation - both mental and physical - will raise a wonderful, and intelligent, dog no matter what breed!

Oleg Savchenko is the author of the eBook “Choosing the Perfect Dog” and the site “Small Breeds Dog”. He is enthusiast of dog breeding and he can give FREE information to You - just visit Small Breeds Dog - subscribe to eMail Course. It’s Absolutely Free!

The training of a seeing eye dog is rather difficult because a lot of responsibility is placed upon the dog to keep his or her owner safe. Many individuals are in awe of these dogs because of everything that they do. But that is because the training that they have received is quite strenuous and started when they were puppies, which can be as young as eight weeks old. However, they are usually not ready to be assigned to an owner until they are about two years old. This is how long it takes to make sure these dogs are ready to do what it is they need to do to keep their owner safe.

As for the breeds that are commonly used as seeing eye dogs, the Labrador Retriever is a very common breed. These dogs are very good at being seeing eye dogs, but they are also dogs that remain immature for quite some time. That is why these dogs are still considered to be puppies until they are around the age of three. Another breed that is considered to be a very good seeing eye dog is the Golden Retriever. Retriever breeds are great for training because they are intelligent and are genetically predisposed to serve.

The training program

The dogs do receive their standard obedience training as young as 7 or 8 weeks in a foster home. The puppy is taught to obey their owner out of love. This requires that he puppy is trained using positive techniques such as positive reinforcement. This means that intimidation techniques are not used at all. This is because it is important that a seeing eye dog serves his or her owner out of love and not fear of the owner.

After learning obedience through love and not fear, the dog is then sent to a training facility at around 1 or 1 1/2 years of age to learn the more complex skills of being a seeing eye dog. The dog has to work with an instructor on the obedience commands that were taught in the foster home. This teaches the dog the ability to transfer commands from one individual to another. This skill is very important when being placed with a visually impaired individual.

Once the basic obedience commands are refined, it is time to start on the advanced commands. This includes teaching the dog to walk forward, turn right and left, and stopping at curbs. The dog is taught that their owner will be harmed if they do not stop at curbs. The dogs are also taught to navigate around objects that are both moving and are stationery. The dog learns that their owner will trip and fall if the dog does not do this.

A great companion

It is obvious that a seeing eye dog makes for a great companion. There are other skills that the dogs are taught such as navigating traffic, guiding the owner onto a subway or into a taxi, avoiding distractions, and other things that the owner will encounter during the course of a day. Once the dog has undergone all of this training, the trainer then blindfolds him or herself and lets the dog guide them. This is how they know the dog is ready. In no time, the dog will be placed into the home of a visually impaired individual in serious need of a guide dog to help them function. Not only do they end up with a guide, but they have a companion who means the world to them.

Providing an in-home puppy training school since 1989. We offer dog and puppy training solutions across Canada for all dog breeds and ages.

You may think that training your dog is not going to be easy, or that you may not even be able to train your dog at all. Well, I am here to tell you that your dog can be trained!

You just have to know what to do and what not to do when you begin to train your dog. All dog owners know this at first before their dog is trained and this can become quite a real pain.

Peeing all over the floor, jumping on you when you come home, not listening, and anything else that dogs may do can really frustrate their owners. In order to get the respect you think you deserve as the dogs master, you need to learn to respect the dog as well.

The first no-no in dog training or in even owning a dog is never to hit your dog with your hand or any other instrument, such as a stick or rolled up newspaper.

This makes the dog more aggressive. Another thing, if you are trying to teach your dog to sit, stay, lay down or any other command, you should reward the dog with treats or praise him when he does what you commanded.

If you think your dog barks too much while you are out, this means that the dog has separation anxiety. Start leaving for short periods of time and gradually move the time up.

Make sure that you always leave her with some kind of chew toy or treat to keep her busy while you are gone. You can also crate your dog if you have to leave the house without her, but this can lead to having to crate her around every time you leave for the rest of her life.

Did you know that if a dog does not get enough exercise it will cause him to misbehave? Just walking around the yard is not enough to give your dog the exercise it needs. You should take your dog for a walk at least once everyday.

Having mental stimulation is also quite important to the dogs behavior. If a dog is bored he will bark more, but if he is understanding and interested in what is going on around him, he will not misbehave.

Potty training seems to be a big problem for a lot of people when they first get their new puppy. Potty training your dog is a must if she is going to live inside the house! Dogs love schedules, therefore, you need to keep your beloved new pet of a potty schedule.

You also need to have a lot of patience and some doggy treats handy when potty training. Dogs usually need to go outside about 20 to 30 minutes after eating, so make sure that you pay close attention.

Always keep in mind that dogs will never go potty where they sleep. You can confine your dog to a crate or a specific area while you are training him so you can control his food and water intake.

This will help teach the dog that going potty is something that is only done outside. You must be consistent with training your dog to keep it behaving appropriately. That means rewarding good behavior or dishing out discipline as required.

Once you train your dog, you will be able to enjoy him much more and he can really become your best friend. Your dog will obey and respect you more for all the love, care and attention you are giving to her.

Alan Largo is the creator and administrator of Doggie Trainer and strives to assist others identify with their dog’s adverse behavioral problems through informative reviews. You’re invited to visit Doggie Trainer to read his most recent article review.

Feeding your tropical fish the right tropical fish food is essential to ensuring their survival. Feed some species of fish the wrong food and they won’t eat it. Some species will simply starve if they’re not interested in the food you give them, whilst other species, such as those that are carnivores, may even eat smaller fish! So ensuring that your fish receive the right tropical fish food is important.

Now the first step to remember with tropical fish food is that quantity is just as important as the quality of the product you’re giving. Give your pet tropical fish too much tropical fish food, even if it’s good, and you’ll notice your tank will begin to gain slime and the quality of your water will become bad. This can lead to further problems such as constant tank cleaning, and general poor health of your tropical fish.

So how do you circumvent the potential problems of feeding your tropical fish the wrong tropical fish food? Quite simply by feeding the species of your tropical fish with the correct food for that species. If your species needs a certain vitamin in particular, then put food containing that vitamin in your fish tank. If your species needs a certain quantity of a fish food more than a smaller tropical fish species, then make sure to give them more fish food. Once again, the quality and the quantity of your fish food are both important for your pet tropical fish.

Defecencies in the essential vitamins for your tropical fish can lead to unhealthyness within your fish. It is not uncummon for poorly fed tropical fish to show elements of depression, lose of appetite, and may even cause certain fish diseases. All of these things would be very sad indeed, and could be prevented if only you had used the correct tropical fish food to begin with.

So remember, that your tropical fish are beautiful and unique, and deserve the best tropical fish food possible. For this reason, make sure to research the species of tropical fish that you wish to maintain, and if you have multiple species within your tank, try and find fish food that all species can enjoy. Last but not least, ensure that you clean your tank frequently so that excess food scraps don’t begin to rot and dirty your fish tank.

So to sum it up, remember that both quantity and the quality of your tropical fish food are important to ensuring the health of your fish, to ensuring they live the happiest and most fulfilling lives possible. A happy and healthy tropical fish means that you can observe the beauty of a living organism that you’ve nurtured and maintained. All of your friends will be amazed by the beuaty of your tropical fish, and all this will be as a result of the tropical fish food you’ve fed them.

John Hubert is an avid researcher of tropical fish and maintains a lens on Tropical Fish Food. You may also check out the ebook on Caring For Your Tropical Fish.

Fido may be man`s best friend, but the odor sure isn`t! Whether you have a cat or a dog, you`ll find that pet odor can be overwhelming at times. Many people turn to pet spa products in an attempt to get rid of this nasty smell, but do these products really work?

Pet spa products are usually specifically formulated to give your pet an odor makeover and get rid of unpleasant smells that might keep you from getting too close to your pet. Often they are quite effective, but you do need to watch what ingredients are in the products you are using your dog or cat. Most of the pet shampoos, deodorizers and conditioners are made with a number of harsh ingredients that might not be so good for your pet.

The Downside of Chemical Pet Spa Products

Many of the pet spa products that are offered on today`s market are chock full of chemicals to get rid of smells, eliminate fleas, etc. While these are great benefits, the actual effect might not be what you are looking for.

What many pet owners don`t realize is that their pet may be sensitive to certain chemicals. It`s often difficult to know if this is the case, but your pet may be suffering in silence. Itchiness and agitation are signs that your dog or cat isn`t doing so well with the chemicals in the pet spa products being used. Sometimes these symptoms won`t appear until a little later and end up being mistaken for allergies to other things. Animals can also build up sensitivities to certain chemical s that are used over a long period of time, so it`s not usually a good idea to use anything that could cause irritation.

Even if your pet isn`t reacting to the chemicals, they aren`t necessarily a good idea. Do you really want to treat your best friend with substances containing something you can`t even pronounce?

Natural Pet Spa Products

Natural solutions to pet odor exist and they work just as well as the chemical laden pet spa products, but without the side effects. The use of natural ingredients and herbs is rapidly growing in popularity and quite a few pet owners are moving toward the all natural approach.

The advantages of going natural are many and you`ll find that your pet does far better without the extra ingredients that can cause problems both now and in the future. Your pet has no likelihood of developing an allergy to the pet spa product and the natural ingredients are often what the chemical version was based on, anyway!

Be sure to check the label on any product before using it on your pet. Often bottles that claim the ingredients are organic and natural still contain some chemicals. A brief scan of the ingredient list will let you know if that`s the case or not and you can treat your pet for bad odor without feeling guilty.

Look for pet products that contain herbs and essences to control the odor and to add shine. If you are looking for combination product to repel insects while getting rid of pet odor, there are natural methods of doing this, as well. Herbs like eucalyptus and lemon grass work well to combat both pests like fleas and those icky smells.

No one should have to tolerate nasty pet odors, but that doesn`t mean you need to treat your cat or dog with a harsh cleanser, either. Opt for natural pet spa products to get the job done . . . minus the chemicals.

Sells and markets all-natural dog products from Dog shampoo and conditioners, flea control, herbal elixirs & breath spray. Quality ingredients to pamper and soothe your dog.

Whether your new pet will be a tiny baby or a well-traveled companion from a rescue centre, your most recent addition will surely become an extremely important part of the family, and one that will bring much joy and happiness.

However, determining your pet’s needs may not be as straightforward as many people think, especially for first time owners.

Before committing and becoming a pet owner, make sure you know their requirements. Just like any important family member, you will want to be able to provide the correct care and support for your pet to ensure they settle in well and become a happy, contented and affectionate companion.

Cats and dogs make excellent companions if they are cared for correctly. However potential pet owners need to be aware that this can be costly and expensive and your new pet will require your time and interest for the rest of their lives.

We have come up with a list of essentials that you should be able to provide to guarantee your pretty new pet remains happy and contented.

Can you…

1. Provide a balanced diet and fresh water - to keep your little scruffs coat shining and their eyes twinkling.

2. Provide companionship - to be able to spend quality time with you, or other pets, for at the very least part of the day.

3. Provide regular worming and flea treatments - to keep your pet happy, comfortable and healthy.

4. Provide recommended vaccinations and injections - to protect your pet from a variety of serious illnesses.

5. Provide a safe place to play and exercise every day - to keep your little rascal entertained and amused and to ensure they are always tired by bedtime!

6. Immediately take your pet to the vets if ill or injured - to make sure your pet is never suffering.

It is also extremely important to consider pet insurance when you bring home your new pet as vet bills can really be crippling to you finances. Our family had to take our kitten to the vets after he suffered an allergic reaction and the blood test alone cost 400GBP. Thankfully our insurance paid the full amount less a 50GBP excess

Cats and dogs are naturally very clean animals and often pride themselves in keeping their coats squeaky clean and their eyes twinkling. However, they do have sharp claws, and if not provided with the correct care and equipment they may be more tempted to dig them into your new furniture!

For more information about your pet’s welfare, get in touch with your local vets who will be more than happy to help.

Article written by Rachael Wood, owner of Little Scruffs Pet Boutique. If you decide you can offer a loving, caring home for either a dog or cat, visit our friendly, quirky boutique to see a broad range of beautiful pet supplies that will make their little eyes light up! www.LittleScruffs.com or email enquiries@littlescruffs.com.

Going to horse shows, the equestrian show jumping event is one of the most popular attractions. The team work between horse and man, the physical challenges of overcoming obstacles, the pressures of a timed event, make show jumping a truly marvelous spectacle to watch.

In a show jumping course, there are five different types of jumps to overcome:

-verticals
-spreads
-combinations
-walls
-water jumps

Prior to the event, the riders will study the course to determine the best strategy to tackle it. They calculate how many strides between each jump and the tightest line to take in order to save time. However, it is usually best to go over the allotted time than to be assessed penalties.

Penalties, or faults can be assessed by the following ways:

-knocking over an obstacle: 4 faults
-first disobedience of horse for refusing a jump: 4 faults
-rider falls off the horse: 8 faults
-exceeding the time limit: either a quarter-point per second or 1 point per second

The above are considered minor infractions but there are other infractions that result in disqualification:

-second disobedience from the horse
-horse refusing a jump for more than 45 seconds
-a fall by the horse
-going the wrong way in the obstacle course, missing a turn or a jump
-receiving help from an outside source while on course

To negotiate an obstacle course under the prescribed amount of time, trust and cooperation is vital for a successful run with no penalties. When a horse gets head strong and the rider has to react by pulling on the reins, kicking hard or turning hard, that’s a sign that the partnership is not going well.

The horse jumps over the obstacles guided by the motion of the riders legs and the reins. However, the horse can also sense the rider’s emotions and reacts to that as well. It is a constant interaction between the rider and the horse. A perfect run through the obstacle course should seem effortless as the horse and rider work in unison.

Unlike other sports and their horse racing counterparts, show jumping horses get better with age and experience. The top horses are between nine and fifteen years of age with at least four years of training. Likewise, the riders need the experience and discipline to remain calm to guide the horse through the obstacle course.

Indeed, show jumping is an equestrian event where grace under pressure marks the characteristics of a champion rider and horse alike.

Drop In Bucket is your source for horse care supplies. Keep pests at bay with horse fly masks and horse fly sheets.

All working dog breeds need a lot of exercise. Both to keep them healthy but also to tire them out. This is especially true of Pit Bulls, as the saying goes “A Tired Pit Bull is a Good Pit Bull”. If your dog isn’t getting enough exercise, the excess energy that he or she has will likely be spent chewing your new couch or jumping on every visitor too your home.

Everyone when they get a new dog is told to take it on long walks. Personally, I don’t think walking is enough. Pit bulls were bread to be active working dogs. If you notice when you walk your dog that it never runs. The dog’s were breed to run. Walking just doesn’t get a dog’s activity level high enough to drain much energy. You need to find another way to increase your dogs exercise.

You may be able to jog with your dog, however even at normal jogging paces the dog just isn’t really exerting himself. The object of exercising your dog much like a human is to get it to run for a solid 20 to 30 minutes. I find that adding a intense game of fetch at the local park gets my dogs running at the best pace for a good amount of time.

I have a park close by that is quite open and rarely has other people (or dogs for that matter). I normally walk my dog to this park on his leash and then once at the park, I pull out his favorite ball and we play a intense game of fetch. No short passes here, I throw as far as I am able and my dog runs as fast as possible to fetch the ball and return it too me. My dog gets a lot of pleasure out of this game.

I only suggest you take your dog to an open park if it is well trained. If you dog doesn’t return unquestioned to the “recall” command you probably need to work with the dog some more before thinking about taking the dog off of leash at a park. This is especially important for the Pit Bull, due both to the breeds tendency to be dog aggressive you may find yourself in a bad situation if your dog decides to be unruly.

Even if you don’t have access to a vacant park or have a dog that isn’t quite trained enough to be allowed off leash. There are several things you can still do. I use a Flirt pole with younger dogs to tire them out. This can be done in a normal sized back yard. Also, you could hang a spring pole from a tree or other structure and train your dog to use it. I have also read about people that have trained their dogs to use a treadmill.

Exercise should be an important part of your dogs daily routine. I have yet to have behavior problems with any dog that has been properly exercised.

Dave Russell is an advocate for the true conforming pit bull breed. Visit his site and learn valuable tips about Pit Bulls.

Training isn’t a something that you do for a short period of time and quit once your dog has started being obedient. Training needs to be an important part of your daily routine with your pit bull.

When it comes to training your dog, there are as many techniques out there as there are trainers. Talk to ten dog owners about how they train, and you will get ten different answers.

I always suggest that new owners avoid prong collars, not because they can’t be effective at training, but because the techniques required to effectively use a prong collar on your dog isn’t easy to learn. An inexperienced trainer runs the risk or over correcting and causing potential dog - trainer relationship problems by using a prong collar. I have never met a dog that didn’t respond well to positive reinforcement training techniques. It may not be the fastest way to train a dog, but in my opinion it produces the best results both in the dogs attitude and his desire to learn new things.

When starting to train your pit bull with positive reinforcement, I find that the use of treats works the best. You may be able to try using a favorite toy. I try to wing my dogs off of treats and on to toys once they get older.

To train using positive reinforcement is quite simple. For the first couple of sessions with your dog, you are going to have to vocalize a command and then use the treat to trick the dog into doing it. For example I would say “Sit” and then hold a treat over the dogs head until the dog sat down. Then I would give the dog the treat while verbally praising her.

It is important to keep the sessions short and fun. For young dogs its best to keep it too around 5 minutes, as they get older and their attention span increases you can increase the time of the sessions.

As the dog learns that the sitting after hearing the command sit, means he gets a treat, you will notice that you no longer have to trick the dog. However, at this point it is important that you keep giving the treat. Once your dog masters one trick its time to move on to something else.

Always remember that when you teach new tricks it is important to continue to review old tricks as well. Dogs are like people in the sense that they sometimes forget what they did yesterday.

Once your dog has learned the basic commands of Sit, Lay Down, Roll Over, and stay you can move on to something more difficult. With my young dogs I play a game of “Name that Toy”, where I say a toy name and the dog goes and picks it out. Training for this game takes some time and patience but it teaches a lot the skills that the dog will use later, including releasing the toy after he has brought it back too me.

Always remember to keep training sessions fun, this is good for both you the owner and the dog. By keeping it fun the dog will look forward to learning new things, and you the owner will be amazed at how capable the pit bull is at learning.

Dave Russell is an advocate for the true conforming pit bull breed. Visit his site at Adorable Pit Bulls.

Socializing is important for any breed of dog because it teaches them about the world around them. Much like a human child does when it’s young. The dog needs to smell, see, touch and feel things in order to get an understanding about what is around him.

A pit bull that isn’t properly socialized can have several problems. The majority of dog bite that occurs is caused by dogs that have been chained up or not socialized properly. When this happens the dog tends to see everything as a potential danger and acts accordingly.

Dogs don’t just have to be socialized when they are puppies. Socialization is a process that should start when the dog is young and continue until it dies. However, young dogs are like sponges much like young children, it is especially important that a young puppy be properly socialized.

When you start socializing your dog, it is important to get the dog around as many different type of people as you possibly can. Young, Old, Small, Large, Short and Tall, it is very important for a young dog to get use to be handled by children.

When you are socializing your puppy or dog it is best that you control the experience as best you can. Don’t take your dog to dog park so that it can get overwhelmed by 20 dogs. Instead invite a friend over with their dog or meet somewhere neutral so that the dog can be introduced slowly.

Even if you do the best job socializing a Pit bull, it may still show aggression to other dogs and animals. This isn’t a bad thing. It isn’t a sign of future aggression to people. It is just a trait that has been genetically bred into the breed over hundreds of years. Never trust a pit bull not to fight with other dogs.

Make sure to introduce your dogs to as many sights and sounds as you can. Don’t limit the socialization to just people and other dogs. Introduce them to cats (just have them leashed), take them to a park and have them smell the trees and watch the squirrels. Take them too the lake and have them play in the water. Just don’t push them; causing undue stress early in the socialization process can cause problems down the road.

Just remember that socializing doesn’t ever stop with dogs. Be patient and introduce them slowly on their own terms and you find that your dog will enjoy learning about and meeting new things.

Continue to introduce your pit bull to new things for the rest of his or her life. Socialization should never stop. You will find that a dog that is continually socialized will enjoy learning about and meeting new things.

Dave Russell is an advocate for the true conforming pit bull breed. Visit his site about redeeming the Good Pit Bull Name.