Make the Switch to a Raw Food Diet

Here's a fantastic list of reasons to switch your dog to the food he's built to eat. This is courtesy of Jane Anderson's website http://www.rawlearning.com/

"A raw diet provides a range of benefits that commercial dog diets can never hope to even closely match.

These benefits include:

• no doggy odour
• naturally cleans teeth - no need for toothbrushes, de-scaling jobs, or gum disease
• the time it takes for a dog to chew a raw meaty bones give their stomach adequate time to get the acids moving
• much less stools produced - and they are firm, and turn chalky after a couple of days
• decreased or non-existant vet bills (your dogs are healthier!)
• less cost for dog food - commercial dog foods are ludicriously expensive
• mirrors what a dog would be getting in the wild - and certainly even the modern day dog has a digestive tract exactly the same as a wolf
• puppies develop at a more appropriate rate - and quick growth spurts are avoided. A GOOD breeder will want to stop fast growth in any pup.
• the ripping and chewing involved in eating raw meaty bones develops the jaw, neck, and shoulder muscles of the dog. Commercial dog foods will never assist in this important muscle development. "

So what are you waiting for? Make the switch!!

Don't Get Walked By Your Dog

We've all seen it & giggled. Someone getting dragged along behind their dog and you can't help but make the smug comment - "Who's walking who?". It can be an uphill battle if your dog was born with leader instincts or is an Alpha dog as we like to call it. But even an alpha dog can become a follower, given the right direction and guidance.
It's easy to see who the Pack Leader is - the one walking out front. This is best observed during off-leash walking but can also be seen on a regular leash (not a retractable leash). So if your dog drags you down the street and insists on sniffing everything in sight, then he is the pack leader and you need to correct this. As mean as you may feel, your dog should not be allowed to sniff everything he wants until you allow him. He should never drag you down the street - despite what you think, your dog is not just over-excited about the walk. He is exercising his authority over you & this relationship will never work. Not only are you showing everyone in your neighbourhood and at the dog park that you have no control over your dog should he decide to snap at something, but these people may develop a fear of your dog which will come through as negative energy. Your dog will sense this right away & could react aggresively towards it. Remember, dogs sense negative energy and interpret it as a threat or a weakness. They do not nurture weakness as we humans do. Instead they will act to eliminate weaker pack members for the overall strength of the pack.

Funny dog

Hehe, I just found this silly clip of a lab patiently waiting to go outside...

Top 5 Staffing Tips for your Dog Daycare

Finding good staff is often the hardest, yet absolutely THE most crucial part of running a doggie daycare. Sourcing good, reliable, well-balanced, experienced pack leaders for your business will always be a challenge, but once you have a solid crew working for you the only way is up!

Here are my top 5 tips:

1. Don't hire the "I love Dogs!" person. There are plenty of them out there but without any real experience of working with dogs it can turn out to be a disaster.
2. Previous experience working with animals required. This needs to be in your job advertisement. At the very least they need to have a background in animal psychology or canine behaviour.
3. Establish your staff/dog ratio and stick to it. Pushing this limit can create a dangerous & unpredicatable environment for staff and dogs alike. Only 1 bad incident could see you having to close down.
4. Pay your staff what they're worth. As I've said above, good staff are very had to find and once you find them, do what you need to do to hang on to them. It can be the difference between your business flying or failing.
5. Offer incentives. You may not be able to offer the highest wages or the best perks, but find a way to get your staff discounts in the pet industry, access to further education and get those contra deals working for you and your team.

Staffing Tip #5: Offer Incentives

If you are just starting out you most probably will not be in a position to offer healthcare, bonuses or high pay rates. What you can offer your staff is free use of the daycare for their own dogs while they are working and while they are not. However, you do need to be aware that for some reason, professional dog people often have the worst behaved dogs! I don't know why this is exactly. Perhaps because they spend so much time with other peoples dogs that they neglect to properly train their own? Not sure. So you must make it clear that the very same rules and warning systems apply to their dog as do to client dogs.
Another idea is to work out some freebies & discounts for your staff with your own retail suppliers. Then maybe strike some contra deals for your staff with veterinary clinics & other pet services in exchange for word of mouth promotion of their businesses to your clients or put up posters for their services in your facility.

Staffing Tip #4: Pay Your Staff What They're Worth

Whatever you do, don't take advantage of animal lovers. If you've been through the hiring process already, you know that good staff in the daycare are very hard to come by. Establishing a fair pay rate is a must. It is a lot of people's dream job to work with dogs but at the end of the day, if it doesn't pay the bills, any job no matter how much you love it can become a burden. A decent pay rate in the animal industry only confirms to the staff member that they have made the right choice coming to work for you. I know it may be hard to come up with a decent figure when you are starting out so really rack your brains to think of any other incentives you could offer your team to make it worth their while.

Staffing Tip #3: Establish your Staff/Dog Ratio and Stick To It

A good staff/dog ratio to work with when deciding how many staff to hire is up to 10 dogs to each person. Once you have been going for a little while or if you have very experienced staff, you can run it with up to 15 dogs per staff member. However, at this level staff must implicitly follow all aspects of the daycare processes you have in place and adhere to these with no exceptions. That includes following detailed safety precautions, avoiding putting staff & dogs in danger & preventative measures where possible.

Remember - at the end of the day, if a fight breaks out in the daycare you are essentially dealing with a pack of wild animals. The last thing you want is a staff member in a position where they feel threatened or worse, where a staff member is injured or bitten.

Staffing Tip #2: 'Previous Experience Working with Animals Required'

When you advertise your jobs, make sure to put 'previous experience working with animals required'. Working with animals is very different to living with animals, or growing up with a family dog. You need staff that can walk in to the daycare & exhibit the right energy & attitude from the get-go. Make sure you sort through the resumes you receive and only take people seriously if they have a) worked with pack animals before (not necessarily dogs) or b) studied animal behaviour or canine psychology papers. Owning a dog and taking it to puppy training by no means qualifies someone to work with animals. You can be sure that more than half of your applicants will still not have had any experience working with animals, but at least it may discourage some people from applying and reduce your work load.

Once I had a very nice guy show up pulling a crumpled up, wet resume out of his pocket while opening his wallet at the same time to show me a photo of his beautiful Staffordshire. When I asked where his dog was he told me he had left it on the other side of Canada while he went traveling & was missing the animal contact, had seen my ad and thought he'd be a shoo-in. He had been a delivery driver prior to this point & was now applying to be the Manager of a very high-end dog daycare!

Staffing Tip #1: "Don't Hire the "I Love Dogs!" Person

It may sound harsh, I mean of course your staff have to love dogs, but there is a lot more to it than that. One of the first things you will notice when you begin hiring is that there are an awful lot of people out there who 'love dogs'. They will come rushing in droves when they see your advertisement for staff, with no experience, some with photos of family dogs, others with just a passion for playing with dogs 24/7. Don't hire these people no matter how much you may feel they should be given a chance.

In saying that, if someone is absolutely desperate to work for you and won't take no for an answer, consider taking them on as a volunteer for a few shifts working alongside your current staff. Don't think of it as a money saving option and put them on the schedule in a regular shift. If you then decide to train them up bear in mind that the valuable time you take training them could be wasted if you (or they) decide they're not cut out for the job. Make sure they are aware of the hard work involved in the job, that it is not just about 'playing with dogs', the potential hazards involved in working with animals and what kind of remuneration they can expect for their time.

Walking Your Dog

During a walk or run it is essential to maintain your status as Pack Leader. Dogs work on cues. These can be physical, visual cues but more often there are non-visual cues that they pick up on through your energy. I guess that may sound a little deep for some people, maybe even a little hard to believe? But if you assume the air of superiority & truly believe in your role, your dog will recognise the energy you are exhibiting and fall in behind you.

You are your dog's provider as well as companion.

Exercise

If you have to start work early, get up even earlier to make sure your dog gets some exercise before you head out for 7-8 hours. I know, I know, I can hear the sighs from here - 'Get up even earlier?!'. In reality, if your dog were in the wild like her ancestors, she would spend about 10 hours a day on the move with her pack. I'm only suggesting 30 mins - 1 hour in the morning. If you don't like exercising in the morning, then just throw her in your car and drive to the nearest dog-friendly park or beach. Let her run off-leash and wear herself out, it does help if there are other dogs to socialise with too (I call it the 'self-exercising' dog). Not all of us have the fitness to run with our dog for an hour or more, so this way they do it for themselves.

If these ideas do not appeal, then be prepared to spend some money on a dog walker. In many places you can either provide a trusted dog walker with keys to your house or leave your dog in an accessible area of your property. Your dog walker will come and collect your dog, walk her & return her for between $10-$20/day. This is the way to go if life is just too hectic to find the time to do it yourself.

In saying this, can I underline that there is really NO REPLACEMENT to taking your own dog out walking & running every day. It is all part and parcel of establishing yourself as Pack Leader. A dog walker will assume that role too and they will be the leader of all the dogs out walkign each day. It is the only way to maintain control of the pack & be certain, in the case of off-leash walkers, that they will all return to the walker at the end of the day.

I know I'm probably pushing it now, but when you come home from work once again, your dog needs another, this time longer, energy-burning walk. And this time it needs to be you that does it!

Structure Your Dog's Day

Let's face it, we're all busy human-doings. Non-stop, on the go with all the increased responsibilities that life demands from us.

But, you got a dog.

You either chose to get one, someone gave you one or maybe one just wandered up to your door and chose you. Either way, you are a dog owner AKA a Pack Leader. You may only lead a pack of 1 but your role is no less important than a Pack Leader of 10 dogs.

Being the Pack Leader

Being Pack Leader is a full-time job. You don't see the lead wolf just sit down one day and say 'I just can't be bothered to do this today' - no way!! The survival of his pack depends on his ability to source food, water & shelter. The Pack Leader role is crucial to a well-balanced, harmonious & healthy pack.

So too, is the role of the dog owner to his dog. Your dog needs to realise that without you, he would not have a reliable source of food, water & shelter. How you do this is the tricky part for any dog owner because it involves detatching yourself from your dog; not all the time, but there needs to be a time & a place for affection. Although this may sound harsh, especially when your fluffy friend is giving you a big wide-eyed look - one he learned from you I might add - it truly is the key to having a well-balanced, content & fulfilled dog.

Dogs need purpose in their lives much like we do. They need to work for their 'room & board' so to speak. By work I mean walk, run, socialise, practice obedience, follow instructions and be alert. While some dogs have proper jobs like guide dogs, cattle dogs or drug dogs, we must invent a fulfilling role for our companions so that they too have a good reason to gobble down their dinner and sleep like there's no tomorrow at the end of the day. If you want to give your dog the best life possible and have him around for years to come, this is the key to your dogs happiness.

So, when you're ready, give these methods the benefit of the doubt (along with years of dog psychology back up from the experts in the field) & watch your dog become the dog he's supposed to be. It's worth it!