The Woof Agency – Pawjourr | Blog contributors

When people think about pet influencer marketing, dogs and cats with thousands of likes on their photos often come into the picture. However, the world of pet influencers is a creative and vibrant community that is inclusive of many diverse pets and animals. Here is a shoutout to three internationally famous pets that are extraordinarily unique.

MacGyver the Lizard (@macgyverthelizard)

This giant Argentine red tegu lizard-doggo, is a cutie staying in the United States. MacGyver is indeed doggo size (or even larger), and has charmed the Internet when animal fans online saw that MacGyver behaves just like a dog. He responds to his name, cuddles with his owners, and shares a bed with them.

Juniper the Fox (@juniperfoxx)

Juniper is a North American red fox that goes by the tagline of being “the happiest fox”. As she was born in captivity and is genetically different from other wild foxes, she was unable to be released into the wild, thus giving Juniper the opportunity to become an online sensation as she lives and behaves in a dog-like manner at home. Juniper is so popular on Instagram that he has 2.9 million followers, and even has its own website selling related merchandise! Its owners also rescue other exotic animals, and donations towards their good cause are always welcome.

Hamlet the Pig (@hamlet_the_piggy)

Pet pigs might seem rare, but the heartwarming story of the popular Hamlet the Pig from Nashville shows that they are good companion animals. Hamlet was the one pet that saved her owner from the stress and suffering from experiencing epilepsy in life. Melanie, Hamlet’s owner, started Hamlet’s Instagram account to document Hamlet’s life moments, but the account grew in popularity as people realised that pigs are the most adorable therapy animals! Hamlet’s Instagram posts generate tens of thousands of likes, and she also has her own website with merchandise such as shirts and pins featuring Hamlet’s cute face.

Evidently, this list of unique pet influencers shows that any pet, be it common or not, can become an Internet celebrity, as online netizens are attracted to the quirkiness and cuteness of every animal.

We know that training your fur kid on your own can sometimes be frustrating and difficult… As such, we want to change that for you and help you through the process. Recently, we have collaborated with a professional dog trainer, Darren Yew (@MyDogsAdventuressg) to share some dog training tips with our pawrents. He was aspired to become a dog trainer since young and finally got to pursue his dream career as a dog trainer!

The top five areas of concern that our pawjourr pawrents face with their fur kids are: Potty training, giving healthy praises and scoldings, conducting basic commands, dealing with aggressive behaviour and separation anxiety. Read on to find out what tips Darren has been using to tackle these issues.

Tips on potty training: For a start, pawrents can begin toilet training their dog by ‘crating’ him or her up during their puppy stage. Gradually, expand the ‘crating’ area as their dog grows up. Once their dog becomes an adult, they may choose to forgo the crate as they have already mastered potty training.
Tips on giving healthy praises and scoldings to pets: Pawrents should give praises only when their dog is obedient or calm. As for scoldings, simple ones like “Hey!” and “No!” will do. Forbid slamming things or shouting at them.
Tips on how to conduct basic command trainings: Pawrents can give treats to their dog like kibbles or small size snacks. An advice that I would give is to start conducting basic command training at home instead of holding it outdoors – safety comes first nonetheless! This is to avoid distractions that will more likely occur outdoors from things like birds and cars etc. Of course, pawrents can transition to training their dog outdoors but only when their dog is more advanced.
Tips to deal with aggressive behaviour: When pawrents think that their dog is aggressive, they are not. Rather, they may just exhibit emotions like fear, uncertainty and defensiveness. When pawrents are faced with such situations, they should observe their dog’s body language. If their dog expresses fear, then pawrents should refrain from approaching them until their dog is more comfortable like if their dog starts sniffing or displaying curious behaviour.
Tips to help with pet’s separation anxiety: Pawrents with anxious dogs should start to build a comfort place for their dog to rest like a mat. Their dog should not be following them around the house but learning to stay put in their comfort place. If their dog keeps following their pawrents around the house, this means that the hooman has become their comfort place instead, which would lead to separation anxiety.

We hope that you have found what Darren shared to be useful. To Darren, dog training is a constant learning process because each dog is unique in terms of their temperament. What matters most is for pawrents to be patient and never give up.

These tips are based on my own experience. There is no right or wrong training method because there are many ways a dog can be trained. These tips that I am sharing happen to work for me, and I truly hope that they would work for you too!

– Darren