Papillon dogs. Papillon dog care, costs, feeding, grooming, health and training all included. Papillon dog Complete Owners Manual. Kindle Edition

The book was good information for the first time Papillon owner. I have owned a Papillon since 2010, and didn't read anything I had not found in other dog books. Still,I think it's a good book to have in your library.

Insightful

You see that dog looking slightly dubiously at you? It is symbolic for everything the author wants to let you know: YOU ARE NOT READY FOR A PAPILLON! Chances are you are not ready for a dog unless you happen to be a stay-at-home dog owner! If you decide to go against the author's constant jabs, hints and implications and get a dog anyway, you better be ready to do PROPERLY. You, good madam or sir, are now walking the ancient path of dog ownership which will discipline your body, mind and soul! Using modern conveniences? LAZY DOG OWNER (direct quote!). Your voice should be all that is needed! Oh and whenever you do not follow her advice exactly your dog will likely end up with long term behavioural problems. Or you don't choose the right puppy after a strict set of criteria. Or have an entire litter to choose from. Or your breeder can not provide a dissertation on her dogs with defending and Q&A session. YOUR PUPPY WILL GROW UP TO BE A DISTURBED ZOMBIE RUNNING AROUND YOU IN WILD BOUTS! 16 to 20 years of HELL lie before you!!!Let's rewind a little: I am a proud dog owner of no less than three Pomeranian/Spitz crosses of various ages and sizes. However lately we decided that I should have a working/comfort/disability dog for my mental illness. The good news you can train those yourself, but a certain size and intelligence is recommended and none of our three fitted the bill (not to mention you should start early). The Papillon was decided not only for its intelligence and my love for the breed, but also because as a toy breed we could show it with my grandmother-in-law who is one of the big breeders for her toy breed of choice. Not wishing to be under prepared though, I bought this book. I know a lot about Pomeranians, but have never known a Papillon. What I encountered I put verbatim above. I quite understand that a lot of dogs get abandoned, but at the same time squashing the excitement of any prospective dog owner can't be the way either. Berating them and threatening them with behavioural quirks even less so. Most actual advice however is solid and applicable across the board, with a few exceptions which I will list here. Keep in mind that I am not a trainer. These are merely my personal experiences from being around and owning a lot of dogs in a family that has a room just filled with certificates from dog shows:- Having two dogs is absolutely not double the amount of work and it also does not mean you don't have enough time for your dogs. Dogs need a lot of play. I play with ours every hour (as I work from home), we go out with them three times a day and the house is littered with toys that will engage a dog's brain in return for kibble. However rearing a single puppy by itself, even with all these things, is hard. They don't understand human play with and you can't allow them to play rough and tumble with you, unless you want them to do it as an adult. They need a lot of play. Really they are either playing or sleeping like a stone. If you can not negotiate a game with them that they understand, they will start getting difficult, due to not getting the play they need, even if you are sitting on the floor and poking balls back and forth until you are blue in the face. Another dog instantly solves that problem. It means the dogs are looking forward to doing human play with you, but are getting their fill with doggy play. If you have an older dog it is even better, as they will teach the puppy some tricks of the human world already. It also means when they need a cuddle or something scared them (a leaf!!!), there is a fluffy companion to help out, rather than you having to fulfil all the needs. Two puppies can be a lot of work due to the need to toilet train both at the same time and ideally you should have two humans to do this for the first weeks. In my experience it will still produce a substantially more relaxed puppy, even if toilet training is taking longer. What is worth keeping in mind is that most puppy courses and puppy parties want one human per dog, so if you are alone, you will need a dedicated friend to help at those times or take up two different slots.- IF YOU WANT TO SHOW YOUR DOG YOU ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT SPRAY OR NEUTER THEM!!! I was really shocked to find recommendations for universal spraying and neutering alongside basics such as vaccination and health insurance. If you are going through the trouble and expense of getting a purebred, I would assume that you at least want to have a look at the world of dog competition - otherwise I would honestly recommend a cross, which tend to have much better health and be cheaper, while still being fairly predictable in temperament. However as the author does not discuss the option of keeping the dog intact, she misses out on some vital advice what to do when your lady is in season and you don't want pups or your gentleman will forget all recall when a ladydog in season floats past on wafting waves of pheromones. Worse, what if you have both a lady and a gent with all their bits residing in your home? The answer (in case you are interested) is manyfold: If you have just a female dog in season only go for walks late at night in areas where there are no other dogs and absolutely do not let her off the leash. Make sure she is wearing a harness, so she doesn't throttle herself if she smells a male. There are little panties that will take normal pads you can have her wearing in-doors, which conveniently also avoid copulation. You obviously need to take them off for walks or going outside though - they are only intended to avoid blood on the carpet or a dog getting over your fence. If you have a male dog, you have to rely on your fellow dog owners doing the above (in my experience), because the only way to get them away from a bitch in heat is with a leash. If your area is small enough, delicately enquire with fellow dog walkers and start marking down seasons in your calendar, so you know what areas only to approach with a leash at what time. If you have both genders in tact living in your house the matter is more difficult: Both grandmother-in-law and we tend to separate the two completely with one living upstairs for the entire duration of the season and the other downstairs. Keep in mind that Papillons are little Houdini dogs and your barrier better be jump, climb and tamper proof. If you are at all worried about a potential pregnancy, go to your vet straight away as dog abortions are only an option within the first few weeks.- Finding a breeder is a nightmare and most breeders are fairly rude and full of themselves. Their puppies are literally their babies and usually promised early on to fellow breeders in the showing-business. The best way to find a breeder is actually to go to a few shows and strike up conversations. There they will be delighted to let you admire their dog, ask questions about it and you are bound to hear about stud arrangements. Don't start with Crofts though. A Croft breeder is just not going to give their puppy to someone who has never won a show. Instead try large toy breed shows or ones specific to the breed. Just bring earplugs. Papillon only shows can get very noisy indeed. Do not expect to get much choice. If you want choice, you need to make close friends or breed your own. However it is virtually impossible to predict breed conformation that early on anyway. For the same reason it is silly to call breeders and ask for a companion quality puppy. Unless the breeder has an older dog who is not suited to shows, they will have nothing to sell you. All their puppies are potential champions and will be handled at such.-It is pretty hard to give your dog a permanent mental tick. Doing something a little wrong is not enough. Having your puppy sleep in your bed is definitely not enough. Although scaring your puppy from behind because you find it funny over and over will do it.-Modern conveniences are not the devil. I have never used a shock collar and have no intentions of doing so, but I have used remote control air ones. Positive reinforcement is awesome, if the dog isn't doing something they aren't meant to which they enjoy. Then you are competing with that enjoyment and if you have a dog with a single track mind that can be difficult. For example we currently have two dogs that love the game of running to me as fast as they can as soon as I say "That's enough!" after a neighbour's door triggered a barking assault. They get a treat and praise and all is good. However our third one must have had a guard dog in the blood line, because he will not stop unless we get physically up and shoo him (and sometimes even then). Once he realised the air canisters you trigger behind your back to interrupt them don't do anything to him, they were ignored too. Yet the collar gets him every time. Obviously the art is to praise him as soon as he stops and give him a treat too. He is slowly getting better, but I don't think we could do it without the collar and I don't think we should have to. He definitely doesn't seem the worse to wear for it.OVERALL: The book is solid, but don't read it if you are easily intimidated or are enjoying it as a treat. There are books out there that are not specific to the Papillon, but strike a much better balance. The author clearly does not show which seems odd for a book on purebreds. If you can ignore those bits, then it will give you decent advice without many pictures or humour. At the same time there are a lot of books out there that do the same in a more entertaining and friendly fashion. I felt all that was Papillon specific could be gained equally dry from the Kennel club homepage for free.

Lots of good information

All things to know are Well described