Seems our dog brains rarely power down, and there has to be a depository for all our musings. We hope you enjoy this ongoing collection of our training thoughts, with a bit of CNC news thrown in here and there.
My favorite expression is, “You don’t know what you don’t know till you know it.” That was true when I sought dog training information in 2003 before I became a certified professional dog trainer. Luckily, I found my way to modern, scientific, humane dog training information, which led me to
Is your dog a member of The Poop Patrol? If you teach your dog to “find their poop” then it makes cleaning up much easier! When we were on vacation visiting Bob and Susan Ryder of Pawsitive Transformations some time ago, I watched Daisy help Bob clean up. I thought
Teaching your dog to park himself on a mat might be one of the most useful skills you could ever train. Once your dog has learned the skill, there are countless ways to use it. For example: When your dog is a little too excited and needs to settle, the
I wrote this article some years ago and it popped into my mind again today. I’ve been thinking about all the things I want to teach Cailie, our now 7 month old Australian Shepherd. We’ve focused mostly on tricks (fun for her, fun for me!) and family manners – the
Keeping families and dogs happy in the home during the holidays is a worthy goal. Read more to learn how to ease the stress your dog feels during the holidays. You’ll feel less stressed too. The hustle and bustle of the holidays are upon us. It’s a busy time of
Would you be comfortable if your child’s math teacher described her as headstrong or stubborn because she wasn’t doing well in class? Would you assume the teacher is right and your child is willfully choosing not to learn her multiplication tables? Or, would you consider that your child may not
So often in training, when a dog doesn’t perform the desired behavior in response to the given cue, we blame the dog. I often hear, “He’s blowing me off!” or “She’s being stubborn!” However, in reality, the handler just didn’t make it clear enough for the dog to fully understand
There’s nothing that evokes the “Normal Rockwell Christmas Experience” like the picture of a family with a soft, cuddly puppy next to a Christmas tree. My sincere hope is that the family was wise and did their homework in order to be well prepared before bringing the sweet puppy home.
In a group class the other day, I witnessed a couple constantly using their voice like a buzzer noise, “Agh! Agh!” with their dog in a harsh tone. They were attempting to tell the dog he was doing something wrong, though it was easy to see from the dog’s body
As “National Train Your Dog Month” comes to a close again this year, I’m reviewing the comments and questions below our daily Training Tip posts on Facebook. The overwhelming majority of comments were positive and the questions gave us great ideas for future posts. Thank you to everyone who
