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A dog should be allowed to bark. After all, that is one reason we have dogs, to alert us. We would just like to control the “on and off switch.” It’s the rare human who hasn’t yelled at their dog, “Quiet" or "Shut Up!” when the dog is barking at the doorbell, a noise, or at you to get your attention. We think that if we raise the volume of our voice, this ...

Behavioral Terminology: What are they talking about?

You hear dog trainers tossing around training terms that don’t make sense to you? Here’s a look into decoding the lingo.

The definitions are generally accepted among behaviorists (which is where this terminology is standardized): Whether a given act is reinforcement or punishment is defined by what the dog does in the future. Doesn't matter what anyone else thinks of it, it's the dog ...

Today I want to talk to you about the often dreaded "Vet trip."

For some lucky dog owners, it's a breeze. Their dog happily bounds into the examination room and only seems mildly put off by the doctors poking and prodding. Most dog owners aren't so lucky. The good news is your dog can learn to enjoy the Vet if you start doing a few specific things. But before I tell you how ...

Pack work, or using a group of dogs to influence the behavior of an individual dog, is an amazing tool which can create permanent change in a dog and help create a healthy balanced attitude and behavior.

There are a variety of ways in which trainers use this concept to assist in the training of a client dog from simply using a senior steady, trained dog to calm a nervous nelly, to having a young ...

In my ‘Behavioral HELP for Dogs’ seminars and 1 on 1 sessions, I start teaching with a sound foundation.

During the course of our time together, I build line upon line on that foundation until my students or clients have a complete understanding of how to interact with their dogs, so as to draw from them the behavior they want, thus creating harmony in the home and the neighborhood.

One of the main reasons that ...

(Addictive behavior in dogs which can sever the bond with their family)

You may already be in trouble if you did not study the history and purpose of your purebred dog before you brought him home. Your failure to diligently manage your dog to prevent his characteristics from growing into dangerous obsessions could seal your dog's fate.

You may think you did everything you could to successfully raise your dog. Following well-meaning veterinary advice ...

Teaching a dog to touch his nose to your hand on command is a simple, highly effective training protocol that has many practical uses:

• It can teach a touch sensitive or hand shy dog to welcome physical contact instead of avoiding it.
• It can help a reactive dog to direct his attention to the handler, thereby interrupting fixation.
• It can establish a bond between an anti-social dog to a human handler because it is a ...

Our old dog, Casey (Traveling Salesman X Pet Store Cocker) was acquired from the SPCA at age 8 weeks. We lived in the city in a town house with no yard. All of Casey's exercise happened on leash on concrete. Doing toenails was never a problem. She wore them down walking. She was 2 when we moved to the suburbs and bought the dog a respectable fenced yard. She was in heaven, running and ...