Your Questions About Dog Training Classes Denver

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You can make up to $20 an hours as your own business picking up dog droppings in backyards. It is a job no one likes doing, and are willing to pay to have it done. A woman in Denver is making $75,000 a year doing it. You just need a small garden rake, a handle dust pan, plastic bags, and transportation, which can be a bicycle.

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Most agility/obedience clubs won’t let your dog start classes and especially competitions until the dog is at least a year old. I’m not sure about larger breeds, but I have a Papillon I plan to do agility with and we have to wait until he is a year to avoid joint development issues from the jumping and hard running.

Contact your local agility/obedience club, most of them will have agility training courses in stages for you to take with your dog. I found the club we are going to sign up with through Google, most have websites now. Usually the clubs also host competition/events, so when you sign up for courses, after you have completed the basic and beginner level agility training, the club will have lots of information on how to sign up to complete within the club, and also at other events in your area. Or just contact the organization that runs the event or visit their website, I’m sure they have lots of sign-up information on-line.

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Pugs have about the best personality of any dog, period, towards humans. (I speak as a non-pug owner – I have an awesome corgi, but we get outside a lot more than you do, and I’m home all day.) They’re ideal for the kind of apartment living you want. They are real people lovers, and don’t need a lot of exercise or space. The thing to keep in mind about pugs is that their heads are too big for their own birth canals, so they can’t give birth naturally. They have to have a c-section. That eliminates backyard breeders from the mix pretty much completely. As a result, with only ‘real’ breeders raising pugs, habits of aggression, etc have been bred out. They really do have great personalities.

The flip side is that, with all the inbreeding, they’re genetic disasters, with all kinds of health problems, inward sneezing, water on the brain, weak bones and joints, etc. You’ll have to keep this in mind, and have any new dog carefully checked out – not that that should stop you from adopting a dog with a few difficulties, but keep it in mind.

You might consider a pug-something mix for the health benefits. I’m only familiar with puggles, pug-beagle mixes, but that’s WAY too active for you. The one I know, admittedly a pup, gives the local jack russells a run for their money. On the subject, one drawback of pugs is that, with such fragile hips and bones, they can be easily injured in a dog park by bigger dogs just playing, so if you have a local dog park that you want to attend (it can be fun, and a good way to meet people) that has a fair share of bigger dogs like Labs, etc., be warned. Sounds like you’re in a city, but I don’t know if it’s Manhattan or Denver – big difference in dog park dogs.

This (head too big, great personalities) also applies, though not quite so dramatically, to Boston terriers, which you should also consider. Really, I’m not sure many pugs can keep up for a 45 minute walk, especially once they get past 8 or so. Boston terriers top out at 25 pounds, but there are classes of them that top at 15 and 20 pounds too, and female dogs are often smaller than the boys, so you might well find a winner there too. Don’t let the ‘terrier’ in the name fool you, or their origin as fighting dogs – these are happy apartment people-loving dogs that don’t require more exercise than you plan.

If you are really looking for a three year old dog, you’re pretty much locked in to a shelter or a rescue dog. Your first plan should probably be to figure out what kind(s) of dog you want, just as you’re doing – the more you’re ok with, the better your odds – and then visit your humane society pretty often. It may take a dozen visits to find the dog you want.

Three year old dogs are pretty much in the prime of their lives, though, so the most likely way to find one who hasn’t been abused or completely untrained at that age would probably be to contact a rescue club for the breed(s) you’re interested in. They are more likely to find dogs that an elderly person might have to give up, or someone who is moving into a building that doesn’t take dogs, etc. Right now, with the economy as it is, you probably are more likely to find much-loved and well-trained dogs in both spots than normal – a lot of people are moving from their own places into rental spots or relatives’ homes and can’t take the dog.

Don’t lock yourself into a three-year-old, though – a 6 year old is still plenty young, in a smaller dog. Fortunately for you, dog longevity is very strongly correlated with size. ‘Giant’ breeds like Great Danes or St Bernards usually make it to 7 or so; ‘toy’ breeds often make it to 16 or 17 or even more. (My mom’s neighbor’s 18 pound Italian greyhound just died, but almost made it to 20, and ran every day of her life with her ‘dad’ until the last week or so.) Any dog under 20 pounds is likely to make it to 14 or 15, maybe more, if there is no particular health issue and you don’t let it get fat.

One thing you haven’t mentioned is your climate. Both of the dogs I mentioned are short muzzled dogs which don’t do well in a lot of heat because of that short muzzle; at the same time, both are short haired, so they don’t do so well if it’s really cold, either, though of course they can wear coats and booties for walks. Keep your climate in mind as you pick.

You should also consider a bichon frise. They’re full of energy, especially when young, but have a wonderful personality, are super easy to care for (though they do have to have their hair cut every 6-8 weeks or so; you can do it yourself, though, with a little training and patience and a pair of clippers). Since you’re going for a mature dog, a 6 year old Bichon would be just great. And unlike the other two, you can let the hair grow out in winter, and clip short in summer, and they have a long muzzle, so they’re fine in any climate within reason. They don’t have the inbreeding problems that the big head guys do, either. They are notoriously slow to house train, but that shouldn’t matter in a mature dog.

One thing to keep in mind, as you ‘interview’ dogs, especially mutts, is that while you do want a fairly independent dog (ruling out some toys), you don’t really want a smart, inquisitive dog either. You want one who loves you, then is OK lying around.