One basic trick your dog can learn is not really a trick at all, but a behavior that can change your entire relationship with your dog. That trick? Eye contact. One of the most common complaints I hear is that a dog just doesn’t pay attention to his owners. But why would he? Think about [...]

Every dog should take at least one obedience class! It is a great way to expose young puppies to other dogs and people in a positive manner, to practice working in distraction, to bond with your new (or not!) dog, and to get some tips from a professional on how to adjust your training for [...]

Nutrition affects all areas of life. A healthy diet helps your dog live a longer, fuller life. It saves you money on vet bills for things like teeth cleanings, or many of the other “random” health problems that come up in a dog’s life. It gives them more healthy energy, and less manic energy. It [...]

Clicker training is one positive training technique that, when done correctly, can be extremely effective in teaching dogs virtually any new behavior. The clicker is a hand-held device that is used to clearly communicate with the dog when he has done the correct behavior. By teaching the dog that the sound of the click means [...]

Early development of clicker training was done by trainers working with large marine mammals. You can’t physically manipulate a killer whale into position, nor can you give them a leash correction, so a new method had to be developed! Virtually any animal can be clicker trained; horses, cats, and chickens are some o f the [...]

After reading our previous post on the many different places your new dog or puppy could come from you’ve decided you do not want to contribute to pet overpopulation and the suffering of dogs in puppy mills, and so you will be getting your new companion from a shelter, rescue, or responsible breeder. You want [...]

There are many places from which you can get a dog – a shelter, a rescue, a pet store, a puppy mill, or a breeder. Some are better than others, for the dogs and for you. Shelters take in animals who no longer have homes, either because their people brought them in or because they [...]

In my Basics group class I always teach targeting, and this cue, more than any other, elicits the question, “Why are we doing this?” Targeting typically refers to nose targeting, or teaching a dog to touch her nose to a target. The target can be a hand, something held,like a plastic lid, a target stick [...]

Another blog post of ours, A New Kind of Stuffed Toy, was selected for another carnival! The carnival this time is Carnival for Pet Writers, which has information not only on training, but on many pet-related topics topics, along with humor and stories about animals. Check it out for a monthly set of fun and [...]

Muzzles can be a necessity for any dog at some point in their life. As Katalin over at Special Paws Blog recently illustrated, even the most well-trained, lovable dog can run into a situation where a muzzle is needed! In her case, her dog had surgery, and she had been warned that the physical therapy [...]