Pets Tips & Advice
1. What do you wish someone would have told
you before you brought home your dog/cat?
• Research all the breeds before making a decision. People often make
an instant decision when they see a cute animal and want to adopt
immediately.
• The adamancy of dogs to eat/chew on items other than dog toys.
• It’s just like having a child. You have to teach it, love it and grow old
with it.
• Cats like to hide in places you wouldn’t expect. Usually just to make
you panic.
• The time you need to spend training in the first few months. The more
time you spend early on with your pet, the better trained they’ll be for
the rest of their lives.
• Kittens are not the same as cats, and puppies are not the same as
dogs in that they are very energetic and into everything. There’s no
such thing as a lazy kitten.
• How to socialize dogs properly with other dogs.
• Cats will scratch like crazy, and you need to give them something to
scratch on. Otherwise, it’s the carpet and furniture.
• How to understand basic signals and commands cats and dogs
respond to and how to communicate with your pet better.
• How hard house-breaking your pet will be!
2. What advice do you have for pet parents
regarding house-training your pet?
• Consistency is the key. Do the same thing over and over, and always
reward good behavior.
• Don’t give up! The best thing to do is give them time and don’t force
them, because they will do it when they are ready.
• Schedule, schedule, schedule! It’s important to get into a routine.
Knowing when they are drinking water and eating food will help you
predict when they need to use the restroom.
• Cats are very easy to potty train. Just put them in the room where the
litter box will be kept for a couple of days!
• Be patient and reward the good behavior when it happens. You
expect them to be completely house trained by the time they’re a few
months old, but it’s like having a child; accidents happen.
• Crate dogs overnight from the start, so they learn not to pee where
they stay. Then slowly give them access to one room at a time
(overnight). Eventually, they will graduate to the entire house.
• Consider keeping a “Dog Log” of all the trips outside to the bathroom,
so everyone in the house knows when your dog last went out and
what happened. It really helps, especially when your dog is young and
hard to predict.
• Be patient. Watch for cues that signal it’s time to go out. Praise and
reward for a job well done — go easy on disciplining for accidents.
• Take them out every hour or so once you bring them home. Draw this
out to develop a more consistent schedule.
3. What is one item you couldn’t live without once
welcoming your pet home?
• Kong toys and peanut butter.
• Puppy pads.
• Chew toys. Puppies love to chew! If you don’t give them something to
chew on, they will chew on everything else.
• Cat cube beds for each cat.
• For my dog, it would be his frisbees and his kennel. For my cat it
would be her hidey-hole; she loves the little cave-like compartment
and you can tell she feels safe.
• Our dog crate really helped us potty train and keep him out of trouble
if we weren’t in the house.
• For our dogs, a leash. They were always so excited to go for walks
and it gave us great bonding time. For our cats, treats to get them to
do what we needed them to!
• Treats! They helped me potty train my dog through positive
reinforcement. Also, my dog couldn’t live without her crate. She loves
it and is crated while I’m at work unless I take her to work with me.
4. What items/advice were most helpful when
bringing your pet home?
• Training, reward treats and a clicker. Be big on positive reinforcement
training.
• A harness for walking.
• Develop a schedule with them while they’re young.