I often receive calls from people who’ve just brought home a new puppy. One of the questions they often ask is: “When can I start training?” The answer is, the sooner the better! Once upon a time, people were told they had to wait until their puppies were six months old to begin training. (This [...]
Think your dog would never bite someone? Think again. ANY dog will bite if pushed too far. Many people believe their dogs would never bite a person. Others know it could happen but hope that it doesn't. For others, it already has happened. Regardless of which category you fit in, you should be working to reduce the likelihood [...]
If your dog has ever been involved in a fight with another dog, you know what a scary and stressful situation it can be. Professionals often recommend not trying to break up a fight simply to avoid people being injured. For most of us, that’s hard to do if we fear for the safety of [...]
In my last post (October 2010), I discussed my evaluation of a dog who had bitten someone. In my evaluation, I determined that most likely this dog had been placed in a high stress situation with many factors contributing to the bite. In normal circumstances - ones without several stressful factors added one on top [...]
I am sometimes asked to evaluate a foster dog for Colorado Greyhound Adoption. I conducted one such evaluation last week (October 2010) for a female greyhound who is believed to be around 5 years old. Before I evaluate a dog, I do not want to know much of the dog's history. I prefer to go [...]
