Tag: Dog
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3 Games That Work Your Dog’s Brain
If you’ve already read my previous post on Mental vs. Physical Exercise, then you already know that I’m a huge fan of mental exercise! In other words, I’m a big fan of anything that really works out your dog’s brain. The reasons why are listed in the above post, but I’ll quickly list them here…
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How to Handle Feeling Frustration in Training
Everyone has dealt with feeling frustrated during a training session. We want our dogs to be perfect because we see perfect videos of perfect dogs made by perfect trainers all over the Internet, right? What these videos don’t show you is the process that the trainers went through. Even my own videos show a finished…
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Mental vs. Physical Exercise
I hear it all the time. “I walk him for an hour, but…” “He can swim for forty-five minutes, but…” “She can run around in a field for two hours, but…” “… he (or she) can’t calm down!” I’ve touched a little bit on teaching dogs to be calm in this (kinda lengthy) blog post:…
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Give In! To Leash Pressure!
In my previous post talking about loose leash walking, I described my usual go-to for teaching a dog to walk on a loose leash. If you haven’t read it already, check it out here: My Dog is Dragging Me Everywhere! Teaching your dog where to walk – right next to you – is going to…
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Rewards, Lures, and Bribes; Oh My!
Yes, dear readers, as the title suggests, today I will be talking about the differences between Rewards, Lures, and Bribes. There are many people – owners and trainers alike – who make the claim that using food in training is “bribery.” Many believe that using food will create a dog who only works – or…
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Humans and Canines: The Unfortunate Side Effects of Miscommunication
Today, I am not writing a how-to. I’m not going to teach you how to train your dog to behave the way you want her to. Today, I’m going to tell you why it’s important for you to behave the way your dog needs you to. Today, I’m going to be serious. I’m going to…
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My Dog is Dragging Me Everywhere!
Training a dog to walk nicely on leash can be difficult for many owners! Walking nicely seems to be a foreign concept for so many of our beloved pets, and many owners learn to just deal with being dragged around because nothing seems to help! Dogs have what’s known as the Opposition Reflex. This means…
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Potty Training 101: For Adults And Puppies!
This is the most common reason I’m called in for training. Whether for puppies or adults, if you’re having potty training woes, this is the general method I use! If your adult is having potty training issues, this means that you have to go back to Potty Training 101, and treat the adult dog as…
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No Paws Here: Invisible Boundaries!
Does your puppy or older dog like to walk on places where you’d really rather he didn’t? That’s right, faithful followers. Today we are discussing Boundary Training! *Gasp!* Does that mean you’re going to suggest an ecollar or prong collar? But aren’t you a positive reinforcement trainer? No! I mean, no, I’m not going to…
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Dogs Being Dogs!: Chasing!
Chasing is a behavior that many, many dog owners struggle with. Chasing cats, chasing cars, chasing prey, chasing children… The list goes on and on. The first thing to understand is, dogs are not intentionally trying to disobey you. They aren’t being “cruel.” They aren’t being “bad dogs.” In fact, a dog who chases is…
Espresso Dog Training 