Dogs Decoded 

House training is an important step to living successfully with a dog. More than likely, it was the first thing you thought about when you planned to bring home your new puppy. It may also have been the thing that worried you the most. The good news is that housebreaking can be very easy if […]

Discouraging Unwanted Behavior The first thing most people think about when they bring a dog home is how to stop bad behaviors. Stopping them is important but even more important is preventing bad behaviors from occurring in the first place. Prevention not only keeps bad behaviors from becoming habits, it also stops the dog from […]

There is such joy in the simple act of taking a walk with your dog. It can be a time when you get to relax and let your mind drift away from the worries of the day. It is just you with your dog at your side, that is until he suddenly sees another dog […]

To Greet or Not to Greet? Is it ok to let your dog greet another dog while on leash? You see it happeningeverywhere. Everyone does it, from neighbors to complete strangers in the park. It lookseasy and fun, and it is considered a very social thing to do, for both people and dogs.With leash laws […]

Dominance in the pet dog has become a common topic of discussion in just about every training session I conduct. Nervous and fearful owners confide in me “My dog is dominant” and then they timidly ask: “How do I dominate my dog?”. The more confident few even ask: “How do I teach my dog that […]

Recently, I was asked about mounting behavior (i.e., ’humping’) and why it occurs. Since this is a frequent question, I thought that a blog about it might be a good idea. This is the one behavior that seems to really freak people out. Most people erroneously attribute it to dominance. It is important to remember […]

The endless supply of energy that dogs have can result in behavior problems. Expending it correctly can solve your problems!!!

This sounds like a silly title for a dog training blog. No trainer would ever want to teach you how to ruin your dog’s recall or ‘come’ cue! The sad truth is though, that despite valiant attempts to teach human’s how to train this particular behavior, a perfectly good recall is ruined every ten seconds. […]

Today I had a day off and spent it enjoying my dog. On this day we didn’t practice our fancy agility moves, we didn’t work on our obedience skills, we learned no new tricks – we just took a nice relaxing walk in the woods; my little guy and me off on a little adventure […]

The very best mental stimulation encourages your dog to use his brain to solve some sort of a problem.

Most people think that the dog needs to be outside and should be able to do so without human intervention. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I teach around 16 classes a week and I open every class with a question and answer period. It never fails, I’m always asked the same question. “Why does my dog…” or “How can I stop my dog from….”. The answer to most of these questions is relatively simple, but most people don’t like the […]