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Latest Training Articles
A Foot in the Door
By Tabitha Davies
Shelter is defined as a place to rest, a place for comfort and a place for safety. But with 3.9 million dogs entering shelters and an average of 1.2 million of them being euthanized each year (Source: ASPCA), this is sadly not the case for many dogs in US shelters. Life in ...
Target Practice
By Lara Joseph
Training animals to target makes husbandry a lot less stressful and much safer. It is also a useful tool to have at your disposal in an emergency situation. But first, let’s define some of the terms:
Targeting is getting an animal (or human) to touch a predetermined body ...
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Stress-Free Dog Brushing
Brushing your dog on a daily basis has many benefits. Grooming or brushing your dog is more than just keeping his appearance spiffy. Brushing your dog's coat every day not only keeps it free of debris but free of mats that can pinch your ...
I Only Have Eyes For You!
One of my specialities is doing in-home training so that the human gets trained and then I highly recommend taking Fido to a group class to practice the new skills in a more distracting environment. And for puppies, this is very important as it ...
Training ‘Thoughtfully’
Many of you will know that I think all training should be fun but science-based. I teach all behaviors as ‘tricks’ because I believe that, in doing so, we set up both trainer and learner for success. Whether teaching a ‘stay’, a ‘recall’, a ...
Happy New Year! Happy New Life!
First impressions are often lasting ones and so it was with my first behavior case involving a two-year old Australian Shepherd named Ranger. He was in the custody of a breed rescue and was deemed beyond hope. Ranger was destined for euthanasia ...
One of the Most Important Things to Teach Your New Puppy
By now, your new puppy is adjusting well to his new family. You probably already have started him in a good, positive puppy training class. After all, you have heard time and time again, that you should be socializing your puppy.
Puppy ...
A Revelation about Resolutions
Over the years, I’ve made many New Year’s resolutions to lose weight, get organized, read more, and hundreds of other goals that became part of my never ending “To Do” list. But this year, I had a revelation and decided to do something ...
Loving the Vacuum Cleaner
Here’s a little video I made of my dogs’ response to the vacuum cleaner. Hurray for classical conditioning! As soon as any dog comes into my home, I start pairing any potentially scary sounds of human life with great stuff. Two of my dogs ...
Treats or Bingos?
Traditionally, tidbits given to dogs outside their regular meals are labeled 'treats'. Pet shops sell 'treats' and we traditionally refer to any food the dog gets by hand for doing nothing as a 'treat'.
I feel this 'treat' word can sometimes ...