by Dr Marie Rowe
20th June 2016
Getting your dog’s attention in all circumstances is the first, and possibly the most important thing to teach your dog. Learning to immediately look at you when called could well save her life, so let’s make paying attention worthwhile for her.
Begin at home. Each morning, fill a small bag or your pocket with some love’em beef liver treats (or puppy rewards for a new addition to the household). Randomly, during the day (preferably when your dog is close at hand and not distracted by something else) call your dog’s name in an excited voice. When she looks at you, smile and say ‘good’ to mark the behaviour you want and reward with a treat immediately. It is so important that you reward immediately (within 1 second) so that your dog learns to associate the right behaviour with the reward. Remember, behaviour that gets rewarded gets repeated.
Once your dog has mastered this in the house and consistently looks at you when you call her name, move your dog outside to a more challenging environment such as the yard, the car and finally the park with all those interesting distractions around. It’s important to build up in this way to slowly increase the distractions to make it easier for your dog to learn.
The Story Behind Love’em
Whilst practising as a Vet in rural New South Wales, I was often asked by pet owners to recommend a wholesome treat that they could reward their pets with as a treat or training aid. Knowing of nothing suitable that met my high standards of health and nutrition, I decided to develop my own. Using only human grade beef liver sourced from my family butcher, I sliced, oven dried and packaged what was to become the first 100% natural liver treats.
Word-of-mouth recommendation amongst customers, friends and even other vets saw the demand grow beyond the ability of my home-based business to satisfy. In November 1998 the Show’em How Much You Love’em company was born and the first love’em® liver treats were successfully launched.
Since then the love’em® brand has become synonymous with healthy pet treats and our range of products has grown ten-fold. More importantly, our company proudly continues its original promise to consumers: “To develop products for pet lovers that enhance both the health of their pets and the enjoyment of pet ownership.”
I’m proud to say that the Show’em How Much You Love’em company is a 100% Australian owned and family operated business and we are committed to remaining so. Our products use only local ingredients raised sustainably by regional farmers we know and trust and who are as committed to quality produce as we are.
Veterinarian Dr. Marie Rowe BVSc.MSc. is the Founder & Developer of love’em pet treats and guarantees satisfaction with all love’em products. She is passionate about animal health and well being.