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 bark, lunge, snap or do other things we might consider "aggressive" or "reactive" or "excitable", we need to ensure that [...]
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, but your own stress level can affect his performance as well. My Sunday afternoon Basic Training Class graduated yesterday (April [...]
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 I included plenty of variety, even if it was walking the opposite way or on the other side of the [...]
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 them and a chance to do what comes naturally to them. I find it very interesting to observe the differences [...]
I have pretty high expectations for my dogs. I have specific goals and expectations for what Romeo will eventually be doing. (Note: I originally wrote this blog post when Romeo was under 2 years old in March 2011.) I expect him to be extremely well-behaved and reliable wherever we are and whatever I ask of [...]
