When I ask clients about their biggest difficulties in training their dogs, one of the most common answers I get is “distractions.” Their dogs might be doing great at home or in places with very few distractions, but as soon as the dogs are distracted by something else, all that training seems to go out [...]
Working with shelters and/or rescue groups has always been a part of my work in helping dogs. I recently conducted a behavior consultation with a Greyhound in the Colorado Greyhound Adoption (CGA) foster program. At 6 years old, she has been relinquished twice due to issues with the other household dogs. Since we don’t have the details [...]
Training sessions are all good and fun (or should be!) but the real measure of your dog’s skills is when a real-life situation puts your training to the test. I had a chance to test Romeo’s “drop it” skills on our walk this morning. (July 2011) We were on our usual walk. I am doing [...]
I spend much of my “spare time” thinking about dog training and the dogs with whom I work. The time I invest in the dogs with whom I work is not limited to the actual time spent with them. So it’s no surprise that as I was driving to class the other day, I was [...]
How many cues does your dog know? Have you ever counted? I did, and I'll get to that in a minute. But first. . . If you have done any training with me, you've probably heard me say at least once: "Mental stimulation is just as taxing, if not more so, than physical stimulation." OR, [...]
