While the argument that Jimi and Fanny do not speak English does have some merit, that doesn’t make it airtight. Your dogs would notice if you changed their names. In fact, there are a whole slew of reasons not to go about renaming your dogs whenever the whim strikes you. These reasons can be sorted into two categories: the ways it would affect them, and the ways that it would affect you. You may be surprised how much of a difference renaming your pooch can make.

The Effects On Them
The biggest problem with changing your dogs’ names is that it is confusing to them. Learning a new name is just like learning a new trick. It takes time, effort, and training – for both of you. The likelihood that this process of adapting Jimi to his new name will be stressful for the two of you is very high indeed. No one, neither human nor canine likes to encounter stress, so why add more to the relationship between man and beast?

This can be especially true for dogs that have a harder time learning tricks due to breeding, attention span, or other factors. Boxer can be hyperactive, and a bit slow on the uptake. It could take Jimi months to learn his new name and incorporate it into his human vocabulary. So, you will have effectively spent months fixing something that is not broken. Renaming Jimi or Fanny would be possible with training, to be sure, but you would want to have a very good, important reason for doing so.

Also, once you’ve successfully changed your pup’s name once, what’s to stop you from changing your mind again, and renaming him again – which would cause even more stress for both of you.

The Effects On You
The biggest effect that it will have on you is that it will damage your relationship to Fanny to rename him. Renaming your dog takes away the identity that you associate with his name. To you, Fanny is not just some bloodhound whose name happens to be Fanny, but rather, she is your bloodhound Fanny. Rename her Droopy or whatever you feel like, but understand that he will become some bloodhound named Droopy for a while before he becomes your bloodhound Droopy.

Many people who pick out dogs from shelters want to rename them because they “don’t like the name that their dog comes with.” What they don’t understand is that the very first time they learn their dog’s name, they create a sort of identity for their pet in their mind. This paradigm creation of your dog is forced to shift and change as new information about their pet becomes available. Changing your pet’s name is not just another shift in this paradigm. It is a complete alteration of your identification of this paradigm.

If you haven’t noticed by now, the effects that changing Fanny and Jimi’s names have on them also affect you, and vise versa. The names, “Fanny” and “Jimi” are the fulcrum point of the special relationship that you share with them. Don’t fix what isn’t broken. Just like you wouldn’t rename your children on a whim, you shouldn’t rename your dogs. Fanny and Jimi are the perfect names for Fanny and Jimi, because it is who they have always been and will forever be.

Some of these you may have considered and others you may not have but it’s a good idea to debunk all the reasons people give for wanting to breed their dogs.

“I just love my little Fifi so much; I want another just like her.”
Dogs are complete individuals. While it is true that if you breed two purebred dogs, you will get a dog of the same breed, there is absolutely no insurance that you will get a dog just like “Fifi.” In fact, the chances are slim to none, because what makes little Fifi special are personal traits unique to her.

“I want my children to experience the joys of birth.”
There are many, many safer and better ways to teach your children about the birthing process. What you’re more likely to teach them about is the pain of the breeding process, the loss of their favorite pet due to a birthing complication and/or the illness or death of one or more puppies. You can teach your children about responsible pet ownership by adopting a less sought after, but highly appreciative dog from the shelter. This message will stick with them well into adulthood.

“I’m not in it to make money…”
That’s fabulous! Because as a serious breeder, you’re not going to make any, but as a pet owner playing around without concern for or awareness of genetics, your experiments and dabbles in the breeding world are likely to cost you quite a bit. Without the proper research into your dog’s genetic background, health testing and the same for the sire (father) of the puppies, you’re very likely to be breeding little time bombs that will become seriously ill or disabled as they get older.

A note on the aforementioned health tests: Just because you have taken little Fifi to the veterinarian for a yearly checkup and he’s said she’s fine does not mean she has been health tested. Both Fifi and Fido (the sire) should be tested for any hereditary disease specific to that dog. And thanks to selective breeding over the last 200 years or more, all dogs have many and most of them are very unpleasant. Some are debilitating, others are horrifically painful and still others are fatal. All breeds, regardless of breed should be tested for cardiac problems, hip dysplasia, and eye problems. These tests can be enormously expensive.

“My dog isn’t a purebred, I just want to have a few puppies and all my friends want one so I know they’re going to a good home.”
If you have already placed more puppies than you can possibly expect from a breeding, you’re one up on the game, but the problem is many of those people will back down when it comes time to pick up little Fifiette. Even if they don’t, do you really want to give people you care about, or even people you don’t, a puppy that you don’t know anything about genetically, and may be hiding serious genetic diseases? That’s no fun for your friends, the little Fifiettes and in turn, it won’t be fun for you.

The Truth About Breeding That Few People Discuss
If you were to trace where every puppy that was purchased from a breeder ends up, you would find that a good percentage end up in the very same shelters you are avoiding adopting from when you breed dogs. What oftentimes occurs is that the dog ends up being too much for the inexperienced owner. People fall in love with a certain look of a dog and have no clue what the breed’s typical temperament is. The result is ending up with an overly protective, highly intelligent, in desperate need of copious amounts of exercise German Shepherd, for example, who doesn’t fit in with two people whose livelihoods depend on being away from home 10 hours a day.

Before you think about breeding little Fifi, visit your local animal shelter and find a little dog who desperately needs a good home. Very little replaces the feeling of saving a dog from an otherwise miserable life.

As is true for wild foxes, the SibFox is small, comparable to the size of a medium-sized dog. SibFoxes have sleek, silvery coats, big, intelligent eyes, and the trendiest new pet since toy potbelly pigs. Of course, upon hearing this most joyous of news, you want to buy one and take it home and love it and name it Foxy. So what can you exactly can you expect from your new pet, Foxy?

Food – What will Foxy Eat?
Foxy will need to eat 1 to 1 and ½ pounds of food each day. You can feed her a balanced diet of vegetables, red meat, poultry, fish, and veterinarian prescribed vitamins, although canned/wet dog food formulated for medium sized dogs is just as well. Canned dog food is also an easier solution that fixing your Foxy special meals. If you should choose to cook for Foxy, watch out for bones and fats in the food you give her. If she is energetic, and her coat is fluffy with a healthy sheen, you will know that you are feeding her right. Overfeeding is a danger; even more so than with dogs because the fox metabolism is designed for a higher level of activity than Foxy will probably get as a domestic fox. In other words, it is easier for her to become overweight. Also, Foxy will drink a lot, so make sure to check her water supply daily. If it is often dry when you check it, then check multiple times a day. Foxy, you’ll discover, is a drinker. The hotter and dryer the climate, the more she’ll tend to drink.

Housing – Where will Foxy Sleep/Live?
Foxy can live indoors or out, just like a medium to large dog. If you want her to live outside, Foxy will need shelter from severe weather like snow and rain and excessive heat. Be sure that she has a shade and a little house type structure lined with a blanket or towel. She will need to be in a fenced in area, with either a bottom to her cage or a fence that goes several feet down into the ground so that she can’t dig out underneath it. Remember, she’s not that far removed from her cousin the fox. They’re diggers.

If you want Foxy to live indoors, she will be just fine sleeping in a medium sized dog bed. She can also feel at home inside of a medium to large dog kennel or crate, especially during the adjustment period. This will help her to feel protected, and like she has her own space. It is likely that once Foxy is accustomed to her new home, she will enjoy snoozing on couches, chairs, and even the foot of your bed, just like a cat! However, if you are a person who is strict about, “no dogs on human furniture,” her own bed will be perfect.

Other Care – What Else Do You Need to Know About Foxy?
Foxy should be walked on a leash for about 30 minutes a day, whether that ends up being three 10-minute walks, two 15-minute walks, or one 30 minute walk, this is for exercise. Foxy will need quite a bit of it, similar to a Greyhound or Labrador. If you want Foxy to do her business outside, those walks will have to be separate. Foxy can be trained to use a litter box like a cat. But exercise is paramount for this breed.

Also, Foxy will be quite easy going. She should get along fine with any dogs or cats that already live in the house, though she may be hostile to smaller animals like rabbits, ferrets, rats, and other rodents that may have been food sources for her in the wild. Excellent training and establishing yourself as pack leader will mitigate any oopses that end up with your rabbit being um, Foxy’s lunch.

The most important thing to remember is that while Foxy may share traits in common with other household pets like a dog or cat, she is a fox – a domestic fox, but a fox nonetheless. You will need to learn about her just as you would your first dog or cat in order to help your pet/owner relationship to be the best it can be!

• Get your head on straight. Some people can’t cope seeing all those animals in cages, but this is why some shelters have special rooms where you can interact with their charges in a more relaxed, leisurely environment. This links to the next point.
• Go with a levelheaded friend who knows you well. This ensures that you don’t get snared in by those bottomless eyes without considering the ins and outs first.
• It is okay if you go and don’t leave with a new friend. Go when you aren’t rushed and have ample time to consider your choice.
• Carefully observe the dogs you come in contact with. Let them explore you too. While the happy, wriggly types may seem like your first choice, don’t be so hasty. Likewise, maybe the most timid and withdrawn of the lot may call more insistently. This can be a good thing or a bad thing. Optimally, dogs who are friendly without being desperate are likely to make the best friends, though this is not always the case.
• Consider the temperament of several dogs. For a good match with your personality, prior to visiting the shelter, do an Internet search to find articles that discuss low, medium and high energy dogs and know ahead of time which style is best suited for you.
• Temperament should actually be considered long before breed. People often have their hearts set on one breed and go to the shelter and fall in love with the Heinz 57 who matches their personalities best.

Be sure to ask plenty of questions, such as:
• Was the dog a stray?
• Was the dog turned in by the owner and if so, why? Bear in mind, however that people often lie about their reasons and so your interactions with this pooch is what should matter most.
• Was the dog abused or did it show signs of it when you got it?
• Have the dog’s social skills been tested? Kids? Cats? Other pet types?
• Does it have any other training if it had a home previously? Sit, stay, etc.
This is just a selection of things you will want to find out. The answers will go a long way to ensuring not only that the dog you want and you find one another, but that you are able to start on the possibly long, yet eventful road to your life together. If the dog requires training or in some cases retraining, be prepared for this. Having the foresight to approach this in the right way will make you both happier in the end.

Tips For Introducing New Dogs Successfully

1. Make Sure Someone that Lives in the House is Home at All Times
For the first few days to one week after you have introduced your dog to your home, someone else needs to be home at all times. It may be a good idea to take a vacation from work and stay with your dog at all hours of the day. The dog has to get as used to you as it does to your house, and the only way to make sure your dog will be able to become less fearful about its new surroundings is if it feels safe when you are there with it.

2. All Family Members Should Have Treats and Train
As soon as your dog has grown at least slightly accustomed to your family member’s presence, you should immediately begin having all of the members of your family training the puppy from the beginning. Your dog needs to know it is not high on the totem pole, and the only way to ensure that is to have every member of your family both commanding and rewarding your dog with praise.

3. Start Crate Training
It is very important to give your dog a safe place that it can stay when it is feeling anxious. Crate training early will ensure it has that safe place. Dogs naturally feel safer in enclosed, tight spaces, and though it is hard to crate train dogs at first, a dog that is properly crate trained will be considerably more mentally healthy.

4. Take Your Dog on Long Walks
You should also be regularly taking your dog on long, tiring walks. The more your dog is tired out, the less anxiety it can feel in its new surroundings. Tired dogs are calmer dogs, and calmer dogs adjust better to their environment. Even if your dog is known to find only an hour walk sufficiently tiring, you should still consider double that simply to make sure that your dog is physically and mentally exhausted, so it will focus less on the anxieties it is feeling.

5. Take Proper Precautions With Old Pets
Finally, there are a variety of safe practices that you need to do if you already have pets in your home. Follow those instructions to the letter, because you need your dog to feel safe around all of the members of its new “pack” and that includes other dogs, cats, etc. The last thing you want is for your dog to be attacked by an old dog already living in the home. It could set your training back for weeks.

New Dogs to New Homes

Dogs do adjust fairly quickly when given the proper types of training. They need to, because in the wild they will have to be moving from location to location in order to forage for new food and stay safe from predators. But for you to train them effectively in your new home, you need to make sure you are prepared and ready to handle the responsibilities of bringing a new pet into the household.