You Don’t Have to Go Through the Door Before Your Dog!
When Annie Phenix of Phenix Dogs recently mentioned to me that the “door myth” is still alive and well, I got to wondering what that actually would look like. The advice to always precede your dog through the door is propagated by those who think the key to having a well-behaved dog ...
What You Think Is One Dog’s Punishment May Be Another Dog’s Fun Game!
I was first introduced to a positive reinforcement instructor many years ago when I adopted my shelter dog, Freddie, an adolescent dog who was very enthused about EVERYTHING! As the instructor explained how to reinforce our dogs, and even as I was seeing results, what I really wanted to hear ...
Learning Becomes Almost Effortless
An excerpt from an upcoming article in BARKS from The Guild.
Why do I love teaching tricks and why do my dogs love learning them? Why would you want to teach your dog tricks? What are tricks, anyway? How old should your dog if you want them to learn how to do tricks? How do I teach them? ...
30 Reasons to Join the Pet Professional Guild
You may be wondering what exactly are the benefits of joining a member organization such as PPG so we've decided to help you out by listing a mere 30 of them. Whether you're a seasoned pet ...
Do Cats Really Like Music?
By Jane Ehrlich
According to a study by Snowdon et al., ‘cats may ignore human music—but they are highly responsive to music written especially for them’ according to their study published in applied Animal Behavior Science. Professor Charles Snowdon, of the University of Wisconsin, ...
Teaching Thinking Dogs
A study that was published recently by an Oregon State University researcher compared wolves with dogs … and many people reading the conclusions appear to have understood the study to mean that we teach dogs to be stupid.
The study tested pet dogs’, shelter dogs’, and wolves’ ability to ...
Will Your Halloween Be Fun or Scary?
Halloween can be a fun time for the entire family, including the family dog, or it can be a scary, and sometimes even a dangerous situation. Think about it for a moment from your dog's perspective. Loud, screaming, running monsters, rushing up to the door, ringing the doorbell, screaming and ...
Is Planet Earth Flat?
Well the simple answer to that is NO! Of course we know that. If anybody asked you that question nowadays you’d probably be very amused.
Why do I ask this on a dog training blog I hear you say? Well, I have been asked this question so much lately on social media, training consults and ...