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Weaning a dog off the crate
While not everyone uses crates, most of us do when our dogs are puppies or adolescents. Providing too much freedom in the house unsupervised during these stages of development can set our dogs up for [...]
A new dog sport to try – Treibball
Looking for something new to try with your dog? In aanother post, I discussed the sport of K9 Nosework. This latest sport, called Treibball, comes from Germany. It was created with herding dogs in mind, but [...]
Take Your Dog to Work Day is Friday, June 24 (2011)
There are days to celebrate just about everything these days, so you shouldn’t be surprised to know there is a “Take Your Dog to Work” Day. Established by Petsitters International in 1999, their primary goal [...]
Persistence pays off with “stubborn” dogs
You probably have heard that “consistency” is essential in dog training. And it is. Just as important is “persistence” – especially when you live with a dog who many people would call “stubborn”. Many dogs [...]
Good leash manners prevent injuries
Teaching your dog to walk politely on leash is one of the top reasons for people seeking training assistance with their dogs. Dogs generally like to walk a lot faster than we do and aren’t [...]
It seemed like a good idea at the time!
I prefer hearing my clients’ success stories, but the “It seemed like a good idea at the time” stories are sometimes pretty entertaining. They often provide me with good real-life stories to share so you [...]
Outwit, outplay, outlast – motto for Survivor and our dogs
Whether or not you’re a fan of the show Survivor, you might have heard the show’s motto: Outwit, Outplay, Outlast. That same motto could be applied to dog training, especially when you live with an [...]
Exposure to new things: Romeo and the lambs
During the critical development stage for puppies, it's important to expose them to as many new and different people, animals, places and things as we can. It's just as important to expose them in a [...]
What does sheep herding have to do with dog training?
Ever tried your hand at sheep herding? Not with your dog, just you. Not something most of us would think of trying ourselves, but I got my opportunity quite unexpectedly the other day. We were [...]
Have you heard of the sport of K9 Nosework?
It's no secret that our dogs' sense of smell far surpasses our own. Most dogs love to sniff when out on walks, sometimes to the point that it becomes difficult to get much exercise. At [...]
Testing off-leash readiness, revisited
In a previous post, I discussed testing off-leash readiness with our dogs. As I described in that post, I am working toward off-leash reliability with Romeo, my Vizsla. At that time, he wasn't quite ready [...]
What is the epitome of adolescence?
At the time I wrote this post (May 2011) I was working on my first book. . . I am making revisions and hoping to get the final draft completed this month. I'm not sure [...]
Does your dog have trouble with stairs?
I recently worked with a couple of clients whose dogs were having trouble navigating stairs. In both cases, the families live in split level homes with several stairs but not full flights of stairs. In [...]
Reduce anxiety by teaching your dog to focus on you
Romeo and I attended our Rally drop-in class again on Friday (April 2011). The last time we were there, it was crowded which resulted in my post about looking out for your dog's safety. This [...]
How good is your dog's memory?
If you think your dog doesn't have a very good memory, just try walking past the spot where he found a dead animal or other equally smelly and enticing (to our dogs) object the other [...]
Are you looking out for your dog's safety?
Are you a safety advocate for your dog? Do you step in when needed to ensure your dog not only IS safe but FEELS safe? If we want our dogs to remain calm and not [...]
Does stress affect your dog's performance?
We know that our own stress can greatly affect our performance and ability to function, but do you ever consider how your dog's stress level might affect his/her performance? Not only your dog's stress level, [...]
Practice makes perfect – or at least more pleasant!
One of the things I miss about being in the suburbs (perhaps the only thing!) is the variety of dog-walking routes we had available. Although we had some favorites routes, I tried to make sure [...]
Keep your senior dogs active!
Senior dogs often get the short end of the stick when it comes to our attention, exercise, training and bonding activities. Since they are usually easier-going and less problem-causing than our younger dogs, it's easy [...]
What is your dog's hunting style?
Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a hunter, but I do allow my dogs to practice their "hunting" skills with no intent to actually kill anything. It's a great energy-burning outlet for [...]
What does your dog hear?
Dogs can hear sounds up to four times the distance that we can. They can also hear a wider frequency of sounds than we can. Sometimes I wonder what they are hearing that I am [...]