New K9’s 4 Living

09/04/2026

07/20/2026

How to stop my dog from barking?

1. Rule out why they’re barking. There are multiple reasons why they bark. If you have kiddos in your neighborhood, remind them to not tease them. Dogs do not like it when someone teases them. They will respond to it.

2. Rule out time of day they bark. Is it in the morning, midday, afternoon, or evening time. Remember, their ears are 10 times stronger than ours. They maybe barking / howling at the things up the street.

3. Work on a solid “leave it” command.

4. Be consistent with them all day / everyday. Especially with their training. It has to be consistent and on point.

5. Redirect them to other things such as playtime, daily walks, bringing them inside for their nap time.

6. Cannot stress on being consistent. At the end of the day, whatever effort you put into training and correcting your dog, that will be the end result.

Note: Barking isn’t something that can be fixed overnight. Some dogs (hounds and the terrier breeds specifically), it is a natural (DNA) instinct to bark / bey. You can’t really get it out of them. You can control it, but that’s about it.

Barking for the most part is a learned behavior. It comes from teasing, being manipulated (sometimes), being aggravated, attention seeking, list goes on.

Human kids are by far the most challenging part when it comes to owning dogs. They do not know right from wrong. They only know how to play whether it’s rough housing or playing calmly. Human Kids tend to tease dogs. Not always, but it can happen.

Teaching is believing. Believing is seeing. You have to believe that they can do better. The only way this will happen is by you working with them day in and day out, setting them up for success, and rewarding them when they’re not misbehaving.

07/20/2026

Here is an inexpensive yard spray that is safe for your dogs. This recipe is made with essential oils that are NOT harmful to dogs.

Essential Oil spray for bugs, snakes, & rodents

Two shots of odorless alcohol (vodka, clear rum, everclear) add :
10 drops Peppermint Essential Oil
10 drops Clove Essential Oil
10 drops Cinnamon Essential Oil
10 drops Lemongrass Essential Oil
10 drops Cedarwood Essential oil
Stir slightly to blend (should turn a milky white when the oil blends with the alcohol).

In a 1 gallon yard sprayer canister, pour in the above mixture and add 1 gallon of water. Spray the desired area thoroughly. Repeat after every rain and/or watering.

07/20/2026

How to choose a puppy:

Step 1: When choosing a puppy, ask them if you can watch them eat their meal. This will let you observe the pups characteristics as well as temperament. If one is showing food aggression do not pick that one.

Step 2: Observe puppy playtime. See how they play with one another. Here you want to try to avoid the ones that show any signs of aggression or dominant behaviors.

Step 3: Sit on the ground with all the puppies. This is the part where patience comes into play. Observe them playing in addition to seeing which puppy or puppies tend to come up to you more often than the the others.

If you have 2-3 that tend to come up to you more out of the 6, remove the other puppies and only focus on those 2-3. Do the same thing until only one puppy shows interest in you.

If the puppy starts coming up to you more frequently and offering hugs, snuggles, licks your arms, that would be more of the ideal one to go with. That one will less likely have behavioral issues down the road.

Questions:

Hip certifications.

Genetic and Health tested for both the puppies and parents.

Guarantee of health.

Proper socialization around littermates, sounds, children, other animals, etc.

Can you meet the parents?

Are they raised in a home?