Family Time: Housetraining your puppy

Responsible pet parents start planning long before bringing a puppy home. "Research your lifestyle - what your living accommodations are. Do breed research into what you want the pet for," says Dr. Chris Stearns, partner at Dalton Animal Care clinic in Dalton, Ga. "It's so important to have the right environment - enough room indoors and out, and enough attention."

Stearns, along with Stephanie Daughtrey, a certified animal behaviorist at the clinic, offers these important tips for housetraining your puppy and keeping your home intact in the process.

1. Know potty triggers. Start by understanding your puppy's potty triggers. What exactly stimulates a pup's bladder and digestive system? While it varies from dog to dog, triggers are typically feelings of excitement, like when visitors arrive, and particular times of day, like after he wakes up or right before bed. Keep in mind, puppies will need to go after eating and/or drinking - usually within 15 minutes.

2. Establish a routine. Find a designated "potty patch" outdoors so your dog can associate that space with doing his business. Start by leash walking the pup to that spot so he can focus before spending any time playing. If your dog doesn't go, consider keeping him on a leash inside, too. Rotate 15 minutes inside and 15 minutes outside. Stay close to your new furry family member. If he starts to circle and sniff, in that familiar way, take him outside. If he starts to squat to urinate, clap or make a sharp sound that will stop him in the act. You can transfer him outside to finish and praise him there. "Young puppies learn through positive reinforcement - not negative. Give them a treat when they go potty outside - that reinforces the good behavior right then and there. Praise them with a happy tone of voice," says Stearns.

3. Avoid indoor accidents. Accept that a puppy will need to go outside every one or two hours. It's the owner's responsibility to provide plenty of time outdoors, otherwise if left unattended for extended periods, a puppy will find a place to piddle. "Close the doors out of the room where the puppy is - get baby gates to seal off other areas. A puppy will seek out areas of the house that are not part of the 'family den'," says Daughtrey.

4. Clean messes immediately. "Accidents will happen," says Stearns. "Expect it and work with it when it happens. You must deodorize it, so he can't use it as a scent-marking area. Use a product that does more than just mask the odor - it needs to enzymatically destroy the chemical in the urine."

5. Spay or neuter. Finally, spay or neuter your dog at the appropriate age according to your vet's recommendations. Unneutered dogs typically urinate more in the house as an action of marking their territory, so it's something every caring pet parent should consider.

- Brandpoint

Family Movie Night

"Fast & Furious 6"

Rated: PG-13

Length: 130 minutes

Synopsis: Since Dom and Brian's Rio heist toppled a kingpin's empire and left their crew with $100 million, our heroes have scattered across the globe. But their inability to return home and living forever on the lam have left their lives incomplete. Meanwhile, Hobbs has been tracking an organization of lethally skilled mercenary drivers across 12 countries, whose mastermind is aided by a ruthless second-in-command revealed to be the love Dom thought was dead, Letty. The only way to stop the criminal outfit is to outmatch them at street level, so Hobbs asks Dom to assemble his elite team in London. Payment? Full pardons for all of them so they can return home and make their families whole again. - Universal Pictures

Violence/scary rating: 4

Sexual-content rating: 2.5

Profanity rating: 3.5

Drugs/alcohol rating: 3

Family Time rating: 3.5. It's not dissimilar to previous "Fast & Furious" movies, so if you're kids have watched those, they should be OK with this one. It's a strong PG-13, however.

(Ratings are judged on a five-point scale, with 5 being "bad for kids" and 1 being "fine for kids.")

Book Report

"Where I Belong," by Gwendolyn Heasley

Ages: 13-17

Pages: 304

Synopsis: Meet Corrinne. She's living every girl's dream in New York City — shopping sprees at Barneys, open access to the best clubs and parties, and her own horse at the country club. Her perfect life is perfectly on track. At least it was. … When Corrinne's father is laid off, her world suddenly falls apart. Instead of heading to boarding school, she's stripped of her credit cards and shipped off to the boonies of Texas to live with her grandparents. On her own in a big public school and forced to take a job shoveling manure, Corrinne is determined to get back to the life she's supposed to be living. She doesn't care who she stomps on in the process. But when Corrinne makes an unlikely friend and discovers a total hottie at work, she begins to wonder if her life B.R. — before the recession — was as perfect as it seemed. - HarperCollins Publishers

Did You Know

The Institute of Medicine recently recommended that school provide kids with at least 60 minutes of physical activity each school day and that PE should be a core subject.

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Weekly family rail, with puppy training tips, a review of "Fast & Furious 6" and more.