8 Things Riley and I Cannot Live Without

Yes, it is important to love your dog. But love alone isn't going to prevent aggression, rotting teeth, safety, or simple boredom. I am a very careful dog owner, and I try extremely hard to care for all aspects to owning a dog. Here I present things I commonly use in and outside of the house that are must haves when owning a dog (especially one like mine). If someone was to get a new dog, these are things I would suggest they get prior to welcoming the dog home (other than the obvious such as a collar, ID tag, water bowl, bed, leash).

1. Gentle Leader Head Collar
If your dog is pulling, or even dragging you into a bush or lose control when they see another dog, you should invest in a head collar. A head collar, such as the gentle leader, controls the dog's head rather than control their entire front body. A dog's head is much more sensitive than their necks. When used correctly, the gentle leader allows the owner to control the dog with much ease and better control of the dog lunging and allows the dog to focus on the owner. When you purchase the gentle leader, please watch the instructional DVD that comes with the product to know how exactly how to use it. Do not put tension on the gentle leader when going on walks, make sure you're always walking on a loose leash. Note: the gentle leader is NOT a muzzle. The dog can still pant, bark, drink, and eat with the gentle leader on, so he can for sure still bite if he wanted to!

Gentle Leader Head Collar sold by Premier Pets- $13 on Amazon

Here's another great blog entry by Dr. Sophia Yin about head collars: http://drsophiayin.com/blog/entry/are-head-collars-on-dogs-dangerous-or-safe

2. Buddy System Hands-Free Leash
There are many types of leashes out there, but this one works very effectively in many situations. First, this leash help to train dogs how to heel. Your hands are free to treat your dog, and your dog cannot pull you as easily because the leash is attached to your waist, instead of in your hand. Second, it is an excellent tool to jog with your dog. It is awkward to run with things in your hand, so this hands-free leash allows to have your dog tethered to your during that morning jog.

Buddy System Hands-free leash-  $18 on Amazon.

3. Collapsible Water Bowl
This nylon water bowl is cheap, very versatile, and easer to carry around than a metal or plastic bowl. I keep it in my car because it is spill proof. I can always dump out the water, collapse the bowl, and put it in my purse. I carry it on outings and it takes up almost zero space in my bag.

Nylon collapsible bowl $3 by Outward Hound

4. Treat Bag
For training purposes, I don't walk my dog anywhere without a treat bag. As a matter of fact, when I run out of food, I head back home as fast as I can to prevent him from doing something that I cannot have prevent him from doing. A good treat bag is useful because it is secured to your pants, and if there is a closure, you can run without treats falling out.

Treat Bag- $16 by Doggone Good!

5. Toothbrush & Toothpaste
Many owners neglect to see that as a necessity, but as all veterinarians stress, canine dental hygiene is essential as anything else. It's always easy to ignore dental hygiene when you've got a young pup and his teeth are spotless and white. But as they age, you start to notice the heavy plaque and tartar built up on your dog due to years of oral hygiene neglect. Think about it; what would your teeth look like if you never brushed, rinsed, or took care of your teeth in any way throughout your whole life? Your teeth would be rotting out of your head...which is exactly what happens to most senior dogs. You may find that there are numerous products such as mouth rinses, oral additives, oral gel applications sold at pet stores. However, the physical brushing of the teeth is the most helpful tool.
But getting your dogs to like a plastic rod sticking in their mouths is the challenge. Treats combined with positive reinforcement will eventually lead to their acceptance. But make sure that you take precautions to make sure you don't get bitten. First, put the toothpaste on your finger so your dog can taste them. Then I try a variety of toothbrushes, beginning with a finger toothbrush to a regular human sized toothbrush. Every time you put the toothbrush in their mouth for a while, give lots of praise reward them with a dental treat.

Various types of tools for tooth brushing left to right: Dog toothbrush, human toothbrush, human Phillips sonicare brush, finger toothbrush

The C.E.T. toothpaste has certain enzymes that soften plaque

6. Bob-A-Lot Interactive Toy
This toy allows kibble to be put into the toy, and has two compartments where you control how much kibble falls out; one at the cap and one at the side of the toy. The dog tilts the toy and kibble falls out, but the toy rights itself in the upright position due to the nature of the heavy bottom. The dog has to figure out that food only comes out if he moves and tilts the toy.

$15 on Amazon.com

7. Crate
Having a crate can help you in several ways:

• Potty training: You can crate you pup to avoid accidents in cases where you cannot watch them while you're in the bathroom, or simply going to get the mail.
• Riding in a car: If you got into a car accident and your dog is not secured, he is certain to fly out the window during the collision. Even if it is not a huge accident, you don't want him to freak out and run out of the car into traffic, or bite the person coming to see if you're ok. Also, if you have a reactive dog and you get pulled over, how are you going to explain to the officer that your dog is about to bite the officer's head off? 
• Friends/family coming to your house: If untrained dogs are too large and excited, they might jump and knock over elderly or young children, If the dogs do not have impulse control, it is best to crate them for safety reasons. In the same concept, if the dog is aggressive to people coming to his house, you wouldn't want the greetings to be unpleasant for either party. In this case, crating is a good option for avoiding bites.

With that said, you should never use force by pushing them or throwing them in the crate. This creates negative associations with the crate, giving them more reasons to hate the crate when you try to coax them in. Instead, associate the crate with good things like toys and food. Start by throwing food in the crate, then once they are in the crate, give them more food. Close the door for a few seconds, open it, then treat them again. Put some toys and a stuffed Kong in there, close it, walk away for a few minutes, come back, open the crate door, and treat them again. Soon, they will make positive associations with the crate and will go there on command once they learn to that going in the crate means rewards.

8. Kong
The Kong is perhaps the most versatile toy yet! It is cheap ($8 on Amazon), and used for mental stimulation of figuring out how to get food out of the toy, or training dogs that the crate is a good place because they get rewarded with the toy. You can have various creative ways to put treats in the Kong for hours of entertainment! Here are some examples:

• Put kibble in the Kong and seal off the end with peanut butter
• Put peanut butter towards the smaller end of the Kong
• Put "whipped cheese in a can" into the Kong
• Stuff cookies into the Kong
• Freeze water in the Kong

A Rainbow of Riley Collars

As a dog owner, I want the best for my dog, such as good dental hygiene, nutritious food, frequent toenail trims, etc. But I also am obsessed about the aesthetic things such as good looking collars (among other things). Yes, I am obsessed with dog collars. I'm a frugal person, so I also only buy collars if they are on sale. So here is a collection of two years worth of collars I have gotten Riley to rotate in (also beneficial when I need to temporarily provide collars for foster dogs).

Personalized English Bridle Leather Dog Collar with Nameplate, $29-$34 from DogIDs.com

Leather collar, $8 on sale at Pet Food Express

Christmas nylon collar, $10 from Pet Food Express

Leather collar, on sale $8 at Petco

Martingale Collar, $9 from DogSupplies.com

Leather collar called "Swirl," on sale $20 by Paco Collars

Paisley nylon collar, on sale $6 at Petco

Riley's first collar: red nylon collar, $3 from Walmart. I still have it, and it's by far the most useful collar :)

So how do I manage to switch tags back and forth from collar to collar so easily? I use the  collar tag changer that can  remove tags easily by unclipping the buckle. $3 on Etsy.

Riley and the Foster Dogs

I don't know Riley's past, but based on his reactions towards dogs he doesn't know, trainers have pointed out that he is fearful of new dogs due to improper socialization with dogs when he was a puppy. Dog who were not exposed to a variety of dogs during their learning period (up to 3months of age), develop fear of meeting new dogs, and that fear may easily turn into aggression because they want to protect themselves from the new dogs. In their minds, "Offense is my best defense." So that exactly describes Riley. He is fearful of new dogs, especially ones that are bigger than him. However, after a day or two of socializing him with another dog, he can live peacefully with them in our small one bedroom apartment. I foster dogs for non-profit organizations (Scooter's Pals and PROS Pug Rescue of Sacramento) that saves dogs  who have lost their homes or about to be euthanized. I do admit, one of the reasons I foster is to get Riley more accepting of new dogs. I never force the dog on Riley, and I never put the foster dog in any danger. Of course, we are constantly trying new ways to improve his behavior in hopes that he can shorten his adjustment period of a new dog. Here are some ways I've been socializing Riley to new foster dogs:

1. Meet in the neutral location such as a park for greetings.
2. Keep them in separate rooms when the foster dog arrives inside the house.
3. Tether the foster dog, walk Riley into the room and have him focus on me so that the new dog isn't scaring him
4. Walk Riley back and forth until he's comfortable with the other dog in sight.
5. Have them greet for 2 seconds on leash, then call him back to me so he doesn't get too scared when too close to the new dog for a long time. The next time, I have them greet for 4 seconds instead of 2 seconds.
6. I repeat this until Riley offers to play with the dog. 

At first, it took him more than a week for him to get along with the first foster dog I ever had. Over a year has passed and 10 dogs later, he is able to get along with a dog within a day (situation and dog dependent). So it's not the foster dogs who need to thank me for saving them, it's them that I have to thank for improving Riley's behavior towards dogs. Here are Riley's foster siblings in order (fostered non-concurrently):

Roxy, 5 year old Lab/Terrier Mix

Milo, 2 year old Queensland Heeler Mix 

Mercury,  8 year old Rat Terrier Mix

Daisy, 6 month old Jack Russell Terrier Mix

Pico, 2 year old Toy Fox Terrier/Chihuahua Mix

Toby, 1 year old Chihuahua/Terrier Mix

Sedrick (not a foster but stayed for 1 month), 13 year old Yellow Labrador

Oscar, 3 year old Daschund/Chihuahua Mix

Chopper, 8 year old Fawn Pug

Bob Barker, 4 year old Pug Bugg (Boston/Pug Mix)

Welcome to Your New Life, Riley

October 10th, 2010. The day, I picked up my neutered dog from the shelter. I couldn't wait to get him, and was antsy at work all day. This was the day I had been waiting for my whole life. I've always wanted a dog, but never was able to because of school, lack of funds, and time. I had just finished my master's degree, and started a full-time job. I thought this was the perfect opportunity that now I finally have time to own a dog.  So back to picking up Riley on that day. He was a 2-4 year old terrier mix, 30lbs, and looked a bit malnourished and sad. When we visited him at the shelter, he mainly sniffed other dogs on the other side of the fence, let us pet him, and wasn't really interested in toys. The sheriff from Yolo Co. Animal Service (aka the pound) called me and said, "Do you still want this dog? Come pick him up if you do!" I quickly raced to the shelter. He was dosed with pain medication after his neuter that day, didn't what was going on as I loaded him into my car. The crate I had gotten him was half his size, so he rode in the passenger seat with me. I will never forget how scared he was when we drove under the overpasses. He would duck, as if the overpass was going to collapse onto him. Finally we get home, he was still pretty out of it, and went to bed on a blanket on the kitchen floor. Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life, Riley.

Taking Entertaining Pictures of Riley

My mom is really into photography and has and a super nice SLR. This camera is great at capture the moment, especially for a really fast moving dog like Riley.


Do you wish you could take pictures of your dog doing something awesome instead of just sitting there, or laying on the couch? Here are a few pictures of my dog posing and doing some cool things that make great pictures to impress your friends and family!

JUMPING THROUGH A HOOP. This one is fun to do because you can pretty much do this with any hooped object such as bike tire rims, or hula hoops. Start out with the hoop low to the ground, and then eventually raise it when your dog is feeling safer jumping through the hoop.

JUMPING THROUGH ARMS. Eventually, you can create a hoop with your arms and your dog can practice tucking in the legs to make it through such a narrow hoop.

POSING WITH GLASSES & BOOK. This one requires the basic command down and stay. Tell him to lay down on book, then stay, and put on the glasses, and stay again. If your dog cannot stay long enough, practice these commands without books or glasses until he can do it for long periods of time.

TAKING JUMPING PICTURE IN SYNC WITH YOU! This one was taught by having my dog catching a toy in the air. Everytime he'd jump, I would click and treat. Eventually, I would start jumping with him and reward him for jumping every time I jumped. Neat trick!

FRONT PAW UP. This is cute because he looks like he is begging without all the jumping and pawing at your legs.

TREAT ON NOSE. The treat on the nose is the classic dog trick. If your dog knows how to stay, simply place the treat for a short second, then give him a reward. Continue to do this until he can go for extended periods of time.

PAWS UP, TREAT ON NOSE. When your dog has mastered putting his front legs up and learning to tolerate a treat on his nose, he can combine both things and create a masterpiece trick for a picture or showing off to people.

BATH TIME SHAKES. Bath time is the best time to take pictures because a helix of water forms around them when they shake, which makes a pretty cool picture! By the way, if you have a dog with big drooly lips, it's fun to take these pictures because their lips flip up to their ears when they shake!

SHY. Like dog like master. Having your dog put his paws over his nose will take some work, but it's doable. Once he gets it, you can have him mirror you!

PLAY DEAD. If your dog already knows lay down, you can lure him with food to his side. Once he gets that, you can  pair a gesture with the command and he'll drop to his side once you make a gun-shaped hand gesture.

TEDDY BEAR PAWS. This doesn't take any work except for your dog tolerating you to handle his paws. Some dogs are uncomfortable with people touching their paws, mouth, and/or anus. So make sure you are rewarding him for letting you touch his paws. A sharpie is good for drawing this, and will wear off within a day.

Here is a video of my dog Riley doing most of the commands and tricks I've taught him. Many of these tricks can be turned into still images for an impressive picture!

Riley's Hall of Shame

When we were first getting used to him, it took us a while to figure out how to dog proof our house. He would get a bit of separation anxiety, broke out of his crate, defecated in the house then stepped on it and continued to spread it on the walls and cabinets. He has turned out quite well to be a house dog, but here are some of the mishaps we had along the way.


My dog Riley is infamous for taking guilty, shameful pictures. I am thankful he has not destroyed anything of monetary value. They have mostly been incidents where I just shake my head and say, "Oh, Riley. Why are you such a dog?!" Here are his various dog shaming days. Have a good laugh or two, and learn from my mistakes.

Hello my name is Riley and I took all all the plastic bags out of the closet (and some clothes).

Preventative: Close the closet doors.

Hello my name is Riley and I like to hump the faces of other dogs.

Preventative: Distract him with something else, like toys or food.

Hello my name is Riley and I ate out of a trash bag. Then my head got stuck on the trash bag handle and I ran around like this for who knows how long before my owners got home.

Preventative: Get a trash can with a lid, one of those with a step-on lid. Or put the trash in a room and close the door when you're away.

Hello my name is Riley and I steal other dogs' food every chance I get. This time  I  ate a week's worth of my diet within 3 hours.

Preventative: Keep dog food in tight container. If it's in a ziplock bag, put in higher places out of reach. I put this on the floor and closed the door. But Riley managed to open the door and get to it (it was a sliding door, not a hinged door).

Hello my name is Riley and I like to eat bathroom trash such as used toilet paper and tampons.

Preventative: Keep bathroom door closed!

Hello my name is Riley and I helped unwrap the Christmas presents before they are given to anyone.

Preventative: Keep presents out of reach. I put it under the bed and he found them!

Hello my name is Riley and I trashed the living room just because.

Preventative: Don't leave a dog in boredom over his tolerance threshold. Boredom and separation anxiety results in destruction. Also, if you do not trust your dog, crate him while he is home alone.

Hello my name is Riley and I ate my owner's pink slip to his car.

Preventative: Keep important documents out of reach!

Hello my name is Riley and male dogs like to lick my penis. I am not ashamed.

Preventative: Distract the other dog with toys or food. It's not Riley's fault that his penis is attractive to all. 

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Learn what triggers your dog to do naughty things. Consult with a behaviorist if the problem persists, and be consistent in your training so that you clearly state what it is you want your dog to do.