Some of the advice you might hear from me or other trainers might sound like it just won’t work – it is too time-consuming, too hard to remember, too silly, too disciplined, or whatever. But invariably, when clients take the “leap of faith” to try them, they find they work beautifully, almost completely eliminating “bad” […]
Fireworks Many dogs are afraid of fireworks and other loud noises. Please do not bring your dog to fireworks displays – they will not appreciate the colors, and the noise will likely scare them or at least stress them out. If you go to see fireworks and leave your canine friend at home, make sure […]
Do you have a beautiful lawn in front of your house? Maybe your kids play on it, or your own pets, or maybe you yourself play croquet, hang out to sunbathe, or chat with friends, and the idea of neighborhood dogs pooping or peeing on it is horrifying to you. Here is the one sure-fire […]
In June of 2022 I was fortunate enough to join my daughter in her travels in Europe (she’s going to school there for two years), and I got to see some differences in how dogs live there. The most amazing thing to me was how much dogs and people ignored each other. It was just […]
In the Quick-Fix training tips I listed a number of management techniques you can use to immediately stop your dog from doing some of the behaviors you really don’t like, but I noted that these were stop-gap measures. The doors, gates, leashes, crates and other physical tools you use to control your dog must always […]
“Love” is often a shorthand way of saying that the dog is given a stable, non-scary, supportive environment, and ALL dogs need that, but dogs with behavior issues may need it even more. Love will help you have patience, the patience you need to be consistent, to be optimistic, to have perseverance. And you may […]
There are many reasons to play games with your dog. It will strengthen your relationship. It will keep the dog from getting bored, which will keep him from things you don’t want him doing, and make him healthier. Many of the games described here will actually help train your dog. It’s important that you can […]
What is Clicker Training? In a nutshell, it is using a marker signal to indicate when the animal has achieved your training goal, telling them that they accomplished the task and will be rewarded with a significant reward. For more information on what it is, please see some excellent articles here. The clicker is a […]
Halloween can indeed be a frightening experience for dogs, especially for puppies who have never experienced this event, and for shy dogs who are easily frightened. Think about it: Strange people in weird shapes keep ringing the doorbell, and they smell so sweet! And are you thinking that Fido would look really great dressed up in […]
Whether you attach a leash to your dog’s collar or to a harness is pretty much a personal decision, but you should be aware that using a collar with a dog who has not learned to walk on a slack leash (at a human’s pace) could be at risk to some damage from the pressure […]