Darn Dog, I need to get this fixed!

  “I need to get this fixed and as soon as possible!” This is a statement we hear often from a prospective client when their dog has some sort of behavioral issue. They want their dog to behave differently but just don’t know where to start.  We understand, we were once there with Cody, our […]

Does Your Dog Think You’re Management Material?

When you hear the word management, I bet you aren’t thinking about your dog. But I and many of my training colleagues work hard every day to change that. Most people think of management as planning, organizing, leading and directing. Every one of these words describes the type of management you use with your dog […]

The Power of Incompatibility

I had a house full of out of town friends visiting this past weekend and it sure was fun to catch up with people I hadn’t seen in quite a few years, some in over 15 years, which was prior to beginning my professional dog training career.  When someone finds out what I now do […]

Cats. A mind of their own?

Did you know cats respond extremely well to training? While behaviorally different than dogs, cats respond very well to training. You can teach them to stay off the counter. You can teach them to sit. You can teach them to scratch on surfaces of your preference. You can teach them to ride peacefully in your […]

How do I get my dog to stop ______?

All you have to do is fill in that blank with jumping, digging, barking, chewing, etc. First, think about it from a dog’s perspective. All those behaviors (digging, jumping, biting, barking and chewing) are typical species behaviors. They’re the things that all dogs need to get along and to live safely in their own world. […]

4th of July Safety for Your Dog

  The 4th of July holiday is fast approaching….mere days away! It saddens me each year on July 5th to read the numerous posts about dogs being lost on the 4th of July.  This can be prevented.  While you may want to take your furry friend with you to a fireworks event, the best advice I can […]

Keeping Furry Felines in their Forever Homes – Inappropriate Elimination

It’s our mission to keep dogs and cats in their forever homes through training and education.  While cats don’t join us in group classes, we do a number of in-home private sessions to help cats adjust to a new dog in the home or vice versa.  However, there are a number of behavioral issues families […]

Lollipops & Dog Training, Where the Two Meet

It comes as a big surprise to our clients when we ask them not to talk to their dog during a training exercise.  Believe it or not, dogs don’t come with an English software package installed.  We have to teach them our language.  Oh certainly, they easily learn our body cues (even when we don’t intend for […]

Shaping….a Fun and Errorless Way for Your Dog to Learn

  Shaping is an amazingly effective training technique which not only teaches your dog specific behaviors, but actually teaches your dog how to learn.  And it’s FUN.  Fun for you.  Fun for your dog! Whether you want to teach your dog to enjoy a crate, go to mat and stay,  hold a dumb­bell for Com­pet­i­tive Obe­di­ence, teach a ser­vice […]