ApacheRidge Ranch ** loveyourridgeback.com ** 360.878.4272 **   diana@loveyourridgeback.com

This is how we feed our dogs. Rhodesian Ridgebacks, and all dogs want to know who to follow and what to do with their lives. Our #1 job is to challenge their minds, give them understanding of their boundaries, house rules and help them follow the rules, discipline, and share our love with them, so they can be happy, polite family members. Practicing these elementary feeding principles everyday with your beloved dog will gently and effectively communicate to them that their position in the hierarchy is very submissive and subordinate to yours. An obedient, mannerly dog is always a happy dog. This is the proper and successful feeding foundation method we use as the basis for every training procedure. It will help your precious canine friend be happy and want to obey you. By using this very simple method of feeding, your dog will definitely be a better and more patient dog.

This very uncomplicated, informative feeding strategy will teach you how to practice loving, assertive, discipline with your precious friend and put you both on the road to developing that dynamic dog who has a solid obedience education, is a joy to live with, responds well to all household routines, has good manners in the presence of people and other dogs, and fully enjoys the blessings of your company and life, because you took the time to provide the proper training and intellectual stimulation, thus producing a high quality of life for your canine family member.

Requiring your dog to work for every bite of food they receive is a very safe, non-confrontational way for you to establish and maintain complete control at meal times. This will branch into you having complete control over every other area of your dog’s life. It is a natural, permanent - life of the dog - obedience, mealtime training method. When you train your dog to always have to do something for you to be able to eat, it will gently remind your dog that abiding by your rules will allow them to have the comfort and joys in life. Building a healthy state of mind through patience, waiting, work and love is essential for a dog's well being and happiness.

Here is the correct feeding method: By all means, always use your feeding time as a training moment by using your very happy voice to give your dog a command to sit-stay or laydown before you feed your special friend. People sometimes have no idea that doing something as simple as making your dog sit before you put their bowl of food down will make a substantial difference in how your dog views you and how patient they will become because of this special interaction between you. Before your dog is allowed to eat: he or she must always be submissive and calmly obey your command to sit or laydown and watch you prepare their food and wait till you set the bowl down and then give your signal that it is time for them to eat. At first, you may need to stand there and wait 5 or 10 minutes for them to settle down and be peacefully calm. Very soon they will know the drill. Our signal then, is to swish our hand beginning from their nose and continue swishing our hand ending at their food dish as we say "okay". That means it is “okay” or they have permission to eat their meal.

This positive, canine mealtime training can be very successfully done with a dog of any age. If your dog doesn't do what you ask of them, they simply don't eat at that time. This is particularly successful with children also. Can you imagine a disorderly house full of uncontrolled children who do not politely sit at the table for their dinners? After realizing how successful you are in using this positive, canine mealtime training method with your dog, it will be very hard to imagine how anyone has ever raised kids or dogs without it.

Making sure everyone in your house treats your puppy and/or dog with the same rules and your dog always is polite and does something for even a treat or a vitamin is very important also.

We love our dogs and do everything in our power to keep them happy, be the healthiest possible, live their ultimate, longest life span, and keep their immune systems totally strengthened. To do this: we use superior, all natural, tried and proven, vitamins! Because it is somewhat difficult to guarantee the food you are feeding your loved one is a complete healthy diet for each individual puppy and/or dog, we highly recommend supplementing your canine friend with the same superior, all natural, human-grade vitamins the we use. These have been formulated by a team of concerned veterinarians, physicians, pharmacists and nutritional scientists and manufactured in an FDA human-grade facility. We feed vitamins for the love, health and longevity of our dogs. Our dogs gobble them up like a treat! Click Here for more info.

After our dogs have a little basic obedience training down, like: sit, this is the type of "No Free Lunch Dogs Training" method we use. It teaches submissiveness to your Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy or dog as an everyday experience and lets them know their place in your pack. You are their leader. To achieve this canine etiquette that you are looking for, you must always duplicate the assertive, consistent, training attitude of a canine leader.

We set and enforce rules, boundaries and limitations in a patient, consistent, yet assertive way for all our canine friends. We require our dogs to work for everything they want in their lives. It is a very safe, non-confrontational way for you to establish and maintain complete control of your dog at all times. It is a permanent, 'life of the dog' obedience training lifestyle. When you train your dog to always have to do something for you to get anything they want in life, it will gently remind your dog that abiding by your rules will allow them to have these comforts and joys in their life. Building a healthy state of mind through patience, waiting, work and love is essential for a dog's well being, mental stability, and overall happiness.

Dogs are social beings. They crave structure and leadership. It is up to you to position yourself as the dominant leader for your friend, establishing that your dog falls below you in the family pack ranking. You are the role model and leader they watch, love, wag their tail at, and look to each day for direction, rules and encouragement. All dogs want to know who to follow and what to do with their lives and our job is to challenge their minds, give them understanding of their boundaries, house rules and help them follow the rules, discipline, and share our love with them, so they can be happy. Practicing this positive lifestyle method will gently and effectively communicate to your dog that their position in the hierarchy is very submissive and subordinate to yours. An obedient dog is always a happy dog.

Use positive reinforcement methods to teach your dog a few of the obedience commands and/or tricks. "Sit," "Down," and "Stay" are very useful commands. You want your dog to trust you and consider you their pack leader.

Make sure your dog knows your commands well, is totally submissive, is in a calm state of mind, and understands what you want before you begin making your dog "do something for everything they get".

Once you've given your pooch a command, don't give your little baby what they want until they do what you want. It's as simple as that! If your dog refuses to perform the command, walk away, come back a few minutes later, and start again. If your dog refuses to obey the command, be patient and remember that eventually your dog will have to obey your command to get what they want.

Remember: Make sure your dog knows your commands well, has a totally calm state of mind, is being very submissive, is looking at you and understands what you want before you begin making your canine friend "do something for everything they get".

The best time to start training your dog to obey a command before they get something, is before you feed them. (See No Free Lunch Dogs Feeding Strategy on the right). http://www.nofreelunchdogs.com

If your dog doesn't do what you ask of them, they don't eat at that time. This is particularly successful with children also. The first time we heard of it, we thought it sounded rather cruel. After realizing how successful we were in using it, we can't imagine raising kids or dogs without this method. Believe me, missing or being late for one meal is not going to hurt a child or a dog at our house, but they sure will be extremely attentive to you when the next feeding time comes around.

Once your dog has mastered even one command: like "SIT", you can give your dog anything (food, a treat, a walk, a pat on the head, scratching their back), but before they get something they like, they must first perform one of your commands they have learned. All people, including the children in the house should practice the same policy - "Never give the dog attention, a treat, a vitamin, or food until your dog is of a calm state of mind, is totally submissive to you and does something for you."

When someone comes to the door: your dog must always be calm, obey the command to sit or go lay down on their dog bed and stay there until after the company leave. After the company leaves, your dog can be rewarded with a pet or scratch on the head.

Before your dog goes outside or comes inside: they must always be showing submissiveness, calmly obey your command to sit at the door and wait till you give the verbal command and/or hand signal that it is time for them to do so. (This is a wonderful technique - No more running out in front of you or trying to get into the door in front of you and/or your company.)

Before putting a leash on your dog's collar or going for a walk: your dog must always relax, calmly obey your command to sit and wait until you give the signal that you are ready to put the leash on.

Before you scratch your dog's back or give petting time: your dog must always be submissive, in a calm state of mind, and obey your command to laydown or sit for you.

Before playing a game of fetch: your sweetheart must once again be calm, obey your command to sit for you each time before you throw the fetching toy. Great patience will be enjoyed by you and your canine friend.

These loving and positive lifestyle "No Free Lunch Dogs" training strategies can be done with a dog of any age. By practicing this type of loving, assertive, discipline with your precious canine friend, you will have that dog who has a solid obedience education, is a joy to live with, responds well to all household routines, has good manners in the presence of people and other dogs, will fully enjoy the blessings of your company, and love life, because you took the time to provide the proper training, intellectual stimulation, and a high quality of life for your family friend.

Being loving, consistent and letting your dog know that you are the alpha, pack leader is very important. A most effective action is to take your dog on a 30 - 45 minute power walk every morning before you are leaving your house or each evening before dinner or preferably both.

We realize that every time we give our affection to our beloved canine friends, we are reinforcing the behavior that has just preceded our affection, so naturally our sweet canine thinks that whatever they just did, they are getting a reward for, so we must make sure that we are giving our affection only when our sweethearts are being polite, submissive and obedient dogs.

We wish you the ultimate best in all your puppy and dog training adventures. Go to No Free Lunch Dogs website for more information.