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The Long Cold Winter and your Dog
Even though the temperature is cold outside, your dogs still need exercise and training. Many dogs begin to exhibit negative behavior in the winter because their owners do not want to go outside to exercise and play with their dogs. Many send the dog into the yard to ‘entertain” themselves, but really, they are not doing anything but waiting for their owners to interact with them. Behavioral Problems in the Winter Months: I have seen many types of unusual and/or negative behavior arise in the winter that were not there the season before and usually go away once the temperatures rise and you and your dog are able to get outside for some fresh air and exercise. To their…
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Nuisance Behavior
Since when did nuisance behavior like barking, jumping, relieving themselves indoors and mouthing become acceptable behaviors for a puppy? While this is normal puppy behavior it is far from acceptable. Puppies that are allowed to continue this behavior grow up to be nuisance barkers, bullies and markers (lift their legs on everything). Why Puppy Training? Puppy training was created as a way to teach good manners before bad manners become a habit. If you wait until your dog is 7 months old, yes, he can still learn but many of his bad manners are now habits. Habits are harder to break than teaching good manners from the start. Puppies are…
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Food Aggression
We are now in the era where our concern for our new dog or puppy is to be sure he or she is not food aggressive. I will attempt to explain the reasons for food aggression but I will not explain how to re-train your dog. Why? Because each dog is an individual, what I may do with one dog for food aggression, may not be the same thing I will do with another. I will explain what I do when raising a puppy so to be sure he or she does not grow up to be food aggressive, but if your dog is food aggressive, I recommend that you…
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Your Dog’s post-holiday blues
Happy New Year! The holidays are finally over and life is back to normal. The kids are back to school, you are back to work and the dog is in shock because he is all alone. Dogs are pack animals and as pack animals it is innate within them to want to have others around them. In the wild, that is their canine pack but in domesticated animals, that is you and your family. Even older dogs go through stress at being left alone after having a couple weeks of company and activity. Under normal situations your dog might be fine being alone but now that they have had company for some time,…
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Agility: More than Just Teaching your Dog to Jump
The Beginning: The first widely-documented appearance of dog Agility was as entertainment at the Crufts Dog Show (England) in 1978. The demonstration immediately intrigued dog owners because of its speed, challenge and the dexterity displayed by the dogs. People wanted to see more, and indeed wanted their own dogs to be able to participate. The demonstration was so popular that it went on to grow into local, then national, and eventually international, competitions with standardized equipment. In 1986, Kenneth Tatsch founded the United States Dog Agility Association (USDAA). The event’s popularity sparked interest around the country. One year later, Charles (Bud) Kramer founded the National Club for Dog Agility (NCDA) in Kansas with the goal of…
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The Vision of a Dog
We, as humans, have better eyesight than our dog friends. A dog sees 20/75, which means what we see at 75 feet, a dog can only see when it is 20 feet away. But because of this loss, a dog can see much better at night than we can see. Contrary to popular belief, a dog can see color, as humans we have 4 colors that stand out for us, a dog only has two, blue and green. Yet a dog can see contrast and detail much better than their human counterparts. A dog can walk into a room and see a chain swinging but unless he saw the piece of kibble drop to the…
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Working in Drive
Everyone has heard the phrase of a dog working “in drive”. Whether the dog is doing obedience in food drive (what type of treat am I getting tonight?) or prey drive (where’s my ball?), most trainers use some type of motivator for their dog. Unfortunately, this is mostly utilized by obedience enthusiasts and competitors and not pet owners. We have all heard the phrase, ‘what’s in it for me’, like their human counterparts; dogs do what is good for them. Training in Drive? If your dog has a high food or prey drive, it may not be wise to train your dog in that drive. Points are lost in training because of the dogs…
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Positive Dog Training vs. Compulsion
Many people believe that there are two theories of thinking when it comes to dog training, simply by their name, but in essence the ideas are the same. The first theory is usually referred to as “Positive Training”; many people believe that the definition of Positive means that there is no punishment or correction and that the dogs are trained through praise and rewards only. The second theory is usually referred to as ‘Compulsive Training’, which is training done through the use of force or corrections. Both definitions above are incorrect and if you speak with trainers who define themselves as being of one or the other ‘religion’, you will understand what I mean. Passé Dog Training: There was a time many years ago that trainers…
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Obedience is not only Classroom Behavior
Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Competition, Agility, etc., all of these are wonderful classes that owners take with their dogs to better their obedience skills and mentally stimulate their dogs. I enjoy watching my client’s dogs improve each time they work their dog in each class. The improvement is dramatic and the results are great; but, why do owners believe that obedience is only the mastering of skills learned in class, during class? Obedience is 24/7 with our dogs. From the moment we wake up until the moment our eyes are closed, if we are near our dogs, they should be well mannered and obedient. Too often I have dogs entering my classes and…
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Doggie Day Care Facilities
What a great idea – a day care for your dog. Why not? While you’re working your 8-10 hour day your dog is playing and socializing with other dogs and being pampered. After your full day of work, pick up your dog and both of you are ready to sit down and watch some mindless television. Great idea, right? Wrong. When I began my dog training career 16 years ago I thought it would be a great idea also. Unfortunately, like everything else, the idea of day care for your dog is being ruined by people looking to make a quick buck. Day cares for dogs are going the route of bagel shops and pizza parlors; there will…