Don’t Go To Obedience Classes! Why would a dog trainer who teaches group classes say that? Group classes are great for teaching basic good manners and things like “sit” or “come”. But if your dog has behavior issues, an obedience class ...
Puppies Jumping Up on People First let’s just clear up why puppies jump on people. It’s because they’re friendly and are trying to say hello! That’s all. Of course there are multiple (good) reasons why we don’t want them putting their ...
“Walking” a Puppy I think loose leash walking is one of the hardest things to teach a dog. They just don’t walk the way we do: comparatively slow, in straight lines, without stopping to check things out. Certainly it’s much easier if ...
My Puppy Hates His Crate! Trainers hear this all the time. What puppies really hate is not the crate, it’s being left alone. There are certain instincts that our domestic dogs seem to retain from their wild ancestors and this is ...
10 Traits of a Savvy Dog Owner 1 You use high value treats when training in distracting environments (like a dog training class) 2. You’ve ditched your retractable leash 3. You let your dog wander and sniff on a walk, instead of ...
This usually comes up in the winter when it’s too cold to go outside. But what if it’s pouring rain, or you get home from work and it’s dark, or you’re too tired . . . I’m not a fan of dogs playing mindless fetch. It’s not natural. It ...
Puppies and Poop I’ve heard it said that women always forget the pain of childbirth — otherwise no one would ever have more than one baby! I think the same might be true of raising a puppy. You forget what a pain in the behind it is. I ...
First Things I’m Teaching My Puppy Sit? Down? Stay? Heel? Nope. Her name (of course). “Get your TOY” (If you don’t want a puppy biting your hands, toes, clothes, furniture, other dogs, everything in reach . . . what do you want ...
“NO!”: It’s Not Dog Training People ask me all the time: “Do positive reinforcement trainers ever say “No”? I used to tell people not to say “no” to their dogs. But I quit saying that because I know not a single ...
Many positive reinforcement trainers (which I do identify as) tell people to “ignore bad behavior”. As with much advice, depending on context, that can be a mistake. Or at least it isn’t the whole story. And a huge problem is ...
