A dog’s jaw muscles are among his strongest. An average-sized Golden Retriever can untie the knot in a rawhide bone (or just chew it off) in minutes. If only they’d stick to those!

The tendency to chew will vary from one breed - and one individual - to another. But most dogs will chew on objects in and around the house. Keeping them focused on objects intended for them is a continuing challenge.

Younger dogs, puppies in particular, will usually have a greater tendency to chew and less discrimination about what they choose. But even young puppies can be discouraged from grabbing things the owner would prefer to keep whole.

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There are several reasons why your dog barks. You must distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate barking to properly teach your dog to stop only when he shouldn’t bark. If your house is being robbed and you’ve scared the bark out of your dog he’s not going to be very good at alerting you to trouble.

Dogs bark for all kinds of reasons: aggression, defending their territory, to sound the alarm, to get their needs met, to get attention, and boredom. It is this boredom barking (barking for no good reason) that we want to stop, right? Before you do anything else, find out why your dog is barking. If he needs something (food, water, shelter, to be let outside) make sure he has it and doesn’t have to ask. Basic essentials should never be withheld from your dog!

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I received this email from Wayne Pacelle, author of A Humane Nation (the United States Humane Society (USHS) blog) and CEO of the USHS. Wayne distributed this informative email after Oprah Winfrey last week featured an expose on the horrible puppy mill industry (and problem) across the United States. Her broadcast reached millions across the country, undoubtedly encouraging thousands of people into action.

Wanye released this email to newsletter members on Seven Things You Can Do to Stop Puppy Mills after Oprah’s show aired.

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