Serve up his 2014 meals in this stylish, fun, playful food and water feeder. Two generous removable stainless bowls sit snuggly inside the brightly colored plastic ‘bone’ for easy washing and filling. Non-slip rubber feet keep the whole thing from sliding around at dinner time. Pick the color that matches your room or opt for black which goes with everything. The bowl comes in two sizes so cats and small dogs can have a taste of personality as well. $25-35, http://www.prestigepet.com.

There are two things I vowed I would never do- I would never let my kid be seen in public without her hair brushed and I would never jail my dog behind metal bars in my car. The hair thing? Right; anyone with a kid knows that’s a battle us mothers lose often. The car thing? I held out as long as I could.
New car + Park City summers + dog = severe frustration.
As I drove my Honda off the lot my joy shifted to one thing- keeping a long-haired, outdoor dog from destroying not only my new-car smell but my new car in general. I love Takoda but no matter how hard I try, he prefers the driver’s seat when I’m not in it. I hate that.
I had my Petmate crate. That was an option but I’m just too lazy to drag it back and forth from the house. Shouting at him to “get back”? Uh, doesn’t work. Therefore, I hunted for one of those barriers that would turn my entire rear into a kennel but they were expensive and I feared those ceiling and floor mounts would damage my little, shiny SUV.
That’s when I spotted the EZ Pet Barrier. Unlike other grates that use disks that wind into your ceiling and floor for stability, the EZ lashes down with bungee cords so long as your seats have headrests, you’re golden.

I pieced together the durable metal tubing and mounted it in less than 15 minutes. The barrier has “arms” that extend, sliding into each other, to adjust for the height and width. Plastic caps keep them from slipping back and a plastic sleeve protects your car and windows from scrapes and smaller dogs attempting to squeeze between the bars.
I didn’t even need tools.

Ken and Joan Beechie were onto something when they decided to build a better barrier. What was on the market was inadequate and expensive, they described. You know what they say about the mother of invention? Necessity encouraged the Washington state inventors to create a similar device that didn’t need to be messed with every time you wanted to move your carseat. The barrier moves with the seats because it’s attached to them and not to the ceiling. I can fold the whole backseat down without ever having to take the grate out of the car.
I’m told the barrier fits most cars, trucks and SUVs but I can only vouch for a Honda CRV. You can even use it behind the driver seat if you don’t mind your dog lounging on the backseat but I choose to keep everything but the back rug free hair, drool, mud, and nail marks.

The barrier is not without its challenges, however. When my pooch really really wants to get past it, he can. He’s figured out that if he struggles between the side window and the arm, the arm slides out of the way. I’m hoping that he’ll get used to being barred so that I don’t have to super glue the metal but there is that solution. My other (small) annoyance is that he’s young and chews. I went through four straps in two weeks.

Thankfully, bungee cords are cheap. I’d rather replace them than, say, my gearshift handle. Plus, once I catch him in the act I can train him to stop. I’ll just hide out on the side of the car and bang on the window the minute I see sniff those ties. As the Beechies showed, think hard enough and you can come up with a solution to any problem. Now, if only I could get them to invent a scream-free brush for morning hair…
$59-79, http://www.ezpetbarrier.com/petbarrier.htm

Last night I learned about Alpha Rolls.

I met Jan Perkins last fall during the Walk and Wag event held at the University of Utah. I really liked her, liked where she was coming from in terms of dog training and she stuck in my mind. Now that Takoda’s nearing his first birthday I’m getting serious about going beyond basic obedience. Plus, He’s a teenager and starting to push boundaries. I’m sick of him trying to jump out of the car and ‘escape’; of him jumping on strangers to say hello, etc. And now he’s trying to nip Sage when she runs past him- typical Australian shepherd behavior but nonetheless unacceptable.

I called Jan and that same night she was starting a rally/agility class. He loved it; I loved it and at the end we had time to discuss personal ‘homework’. Boundary training- I always go first; through doors. He’s not allowed out of the car until I say so. We of course discussed how to correct naughty behaviors. And when a dog tried to act like he’s man of the house, it’s the Alpha Roll….

Alpha Rolls: 

Make sure you are doing your alpha rolls daily.  Alpha rolls are the same thing that the mother dog or an alpha dog would do to another dog to show dominance over them.  When a puppy gets out of control, the mother dog will put her mouth over the puppy’s neck and put them on the ground.  The puppy then will usually submit by rolling on its back and showing its flank or if very submissive will piddle.   If a more dominant dog goes after a submissive dog the dominate dog will go for the neck, put their hackles up and become very large, or get on top of the submissive dog and the submissive dog will roll on his back to show submission.  At this point most dogs will walk away from each other unless they are on their own property and are very territorial. 

Dogs understand alpha rolls and by doing these you put yourself in the leadership position.  

To alpha roll your dog:

Roll them on their side taking one hand and gently but firmly placing it over the neck.  The other hand firmly but carefully lies over their body, keeping them in a prone position.  Be careful with their legs to make sure they do not get caught underneath and get hurt.  If your dog submits easily, these can be done as a fun body massage with lots of love.  When massaging your dog use two fingers and massage gently down the spine from the base of the skull to the tail.  Massage each leg and down to each foot.  If they are sensitive, move your hand up to a more comfortable area and work back to the sensitive place slowly.  You can massage the ears, gums and jaw muscle.  You can also use these as a correction for your dog. 

Now, if your dog defies you and is not listening to your correction you can put them in an alpha roll firmly but do not praise at the end with the massage.  Have them get back up and do whatever you were correcting for.  Then you can praise.  Just make sure your dog stays down until you release them.  If your dog fights his way up and you let him, you lose big time.  They then know they are stronger than you are.  Also, make sure that your dog doesn’t put his paw over your arm while they are being rolled.  That is another way they show that they are not totally submissive. 

Do be careful when trying this as some dogs are dominate over you and you just don’t know it. They’ll snap at you when you put them down.  If you are afraid, you might have one of these dogs, give Jan a call at Live Oak Obedience.