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Make Holidays Enjoyable for Your Dog

Make The Holidays Enjoyable For Your Dogs As humans we often think of the holidays as a chance to see family members that we don’t see often, go to parties, and eat festive food.  For us this time can be very fun and exciting, but it is also typically more hectic.  As you celebrate the holiday season, take moment to consider the holidays from your dog’s point of view. Don’t Force Your Dog to Socialize With all of the dogs and people I have worked with, I have never met a bad dog, and I have never met a bad person. I have met many dogs that exhibit bad or inappropriate behavior, and I have met many people who don’t know what to do in those situations. I often compare it to a parent who has a child that had severe ADHD, Autism, Asperger’s, or another brain disease. The parents are not bad because they have these children. They just need help figuring out how best to help their children. Asking for help is hard to do, but it is the best thing to do when you love your dog or child. Although we love to invite friends and [...]

By |2022-01-11T19:13:07-08:00December 13th, 2021|Blog of the Month|0 Comments

Teaching the Humans

Teaching the Humans Like humans, dogs respond best to praise, encouragement, and rewards. When I am working with my clients, at some point they eventually realize that I am not actually teaching their dogs, I am teaching them how to teach their dogs. I admit that working with a dog who is experiencing fear, anxiety, one who is barking, growling, or lunging, may be more challenging, but teaching your dog the basics is not as complicated. In addition, once you understand the basics of how to teach your dog, helping them in fearful situations will be easier. I work with dogs who just need to learn manners, dogs that bite, and everything in between. No Bad Dogs, Only Bad Behavior With all of the dogs and people I have worked with, I have never met a bad dog, and I have never met a bad person. I have met many dogs that exhibit bad or inappropriate behavior, and I have met many people who don’t know what to do in those situations. I often compare it to a parent who has a child that had severe ADHD, Autism, Asperger’s, or another brain disease. The parents are not [...]

By |2022-01-11T16:30:25-08:00November 10th, 2021|Blog of the Month|0 Comments

Why Is My Dog Eating Rocks

Why Do Dogs Eat Rocks? Dogs can eat rocks for many reasons - habit, boredom, play, curiosity, anxiety... Sometimes it starts out as curiosity then turns into a habit. The habit often gets worse when the people give the dog a lot of attention when they have the rock in their mouth. What Re the Risks of a Dog Eating Rocks? No matter what their reason is, it can be dangerous. They can break their teeth, choke and/ or create an obstruction in their digestive tract. Dogs can require surgery to remove rocks from their stomach or to remove teeth that break from chewing on the rock. How Do I Stop My Dog From Eating Rocks? There are many ways to STOP dogs from eating rocks: Prevent access to the rocks - remove them or block access in your yard or keep them on leash when they are around rocks. Teach your dog "leave it" and "drop it." Be sure to use high value treats when you reward them for doing “leave it” or “drop it.” Provide other safe toys for them to chew on like stuffed Kongs, no hide chews, bully sticks, food dispensing toys/ kibble nibble ball, Kong [...]

By |2021-10-18T21:54:35-07:00October 18th, 2021|Blog of the Month|0 Comments

How Your Personality Can Affect Your Dog

How Your Personality Can Affect Your Dog Carefully choose a dog whose personality and energy level are a match for yours and/or your family's. When we adopt a puppy or an adult dog, we rarely consider if their personality is a match with our own.  We fall in love with how cute they are, or their picture on the rescue site, or we just like the breed. When we are adopting a dog, we are often trying to adopt our new “best friend.” Just like people, dogs can be energetic, impulsive, silly, shy, fearful…..the list of personality traits are endless.  And, just like in people, some personalities do not “mesh” as well as others do. Playing the Match Game - Yours & Your Dog's Personalities When we match with the right dog, the relationship can be magical.  If you are a couch potato and you find a dog who loves laying by your feet, you can both be at ease in your relationship. If you are a marathon runner and you find a dog that never seems to tire, your relationship can be blissful. If you adopt a dog who gets distracted easily or is impulsive, you [...]

By |2021-09-14T22:39:48-07:00September 14th, 2021|Blog of the Month|0 Comments

Building a Relationship With Your Dog

Excerpted from "The Evolution of Dog Training" by Shannon Coyner Use positive training techniques to create an unbreakable bond with your dog. When you are training your dog, it is important to remember that both of you are learning. Even if you have trained dogs before, each time you train a new dog, you are both learning. As a professional, I treat every dog and human as an individual, and just because one technique works for one, it may not work for another. It is important that you show patience to yourself and your dog. If you are in a bad or stressful mood, you may decide not to train your dog at that time. Be sure that if you are aware that you are experiencing anxiety or fears, your dog may notice and become warier. Use Force-Free, Positive Techniques When you begin to work with your dog on a regular basis, they will learn your mood and will become a true partner. Training using force-free, positive techniques can create a beautiful, unbreakable bond. Remember: There are no bad dogs or bad humans – just inappropriate behavior. Get help when needed. Look for the “yes” when training. [...]

By |2021-09-14T22:40:12-07:00August 18th, 2021|Blog of the Month|0 Comments

Giving Animals the Benefit of the Doubt

No matter how many studies we do or how much we analyze our animals, the reality is we don’t really know what they are thinking.  Although studies and observation have helped us recognize body language that seems to represent emotions and communications, if we are honest with ourselves, we still don’t know what is going through our animal’s minds.  Just like I don’t “know” what other people are thinking when we see them on the street.  Of course, if we see someone sobbing, we will assume the person is sad or if we see another person laughing, we will assume that that person is happy, but do we really know what they are thinking if we don’t ask?  We have all heard the expression, “when we assume, we make an ass of u and me” so why do we assume with animals? […]

By |2021-01-29T02:07:41-08:00November 20th, 2019|Blog of the Month|0 Comments

The Unheard Cries of a Traditionally Trained Dog

If you have been following me at all you know that I use positive, force free training techniques when I am teaching a dog.  You may or may not know that I also wrote a book called “The Evolution of Dog Training”.  The main reason I wrote the book was because I am passionate about changing the culture of dog training.  In the book, I explain how dog training has changed and evolved over the years from aversive, punishment-based training to a more positive, less stressful way to train.  Although traditional training has been around for over 100 years, we learned over 20 years ago that positive training is both psychologically and emotionally better for dogs. Unfortunately, there are still many trainers that use traditional training techniques.  What is even worse is that some of these trainers do not have any type of real education to train dogs and because there is no licensing for dog trainers, they can call themselves dog trainers. […]

By |2021-01-29T02:14:01-08:00October 9th, 2019|Blog of the Month|0 Comments

The Service Dog Crisis

In 1975 Canine Companions for Independence was established as the first service dog-training program in the United States.  These dogs were highly trained by professional trainers to help people with disabilities.  These dogs are bred to be service dogs, begin training as puppies and are trained until they are about 2 years of age.  Even though these dogs are bred to have the right temperament and get consistent training, just over half actually become service dogs.  Because becoming a service dog is such a specialized skill, many dogs that are bred specifically to become service dogs do not actually become service dogs.  In my opinion, becoming a service dog is like becoming an Olympic athlete.  Just like an Olympic athlete, these dogs must have the natural ability, temperament and personality to become a service dog.  In addition, they must go above and beyond with their training and practice, far more than a pet dog would experience. […]

By |2021-01-29T02:17:14-08:00September 17th, 2019|Blog of the Month|0 Comments

Puppies vs Newborn Humans

Anytime I counsel a client about whether they should get a puppy or rescue an adult dog, I always compare the puppy to a newborn. This clear comparison helps people realize how much work a puppy actually is and can help them determine what is best for their lifestyle. […]

By |2021-01-29T02:02:59-08:00August 15th, 2019|Blog of the Month|0 Comments

Why Dog Training Can be Difficult

I often say that dog training is simple, but not easy. One of the main reasons this is true is because any kind of change can be difficult. When we are training our dog (or any animal), we are asking them to change their behavior. However, the reality is that the trainer has to change their behavior in order to see a behavior change in their dog. As Albert Einstein so wisely said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” If your attempt to train your dog is not working, or you’re struggling to train the behaviors you would like, you likely need to change your technique. […]

By |2021-01-29T02:19:56-08:00July 10th, 2019|Blog of the Month|0 Comments

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