How to Stop Aggressive Dog Barking at People

For shy or fearful dogs, having a human move into their space is very scary, and it takes away their personal choice. In the Treat and Retreat game, we reverse this situation. Instead of adding social pressure to the dogs, we remove that pressure. This adds to the dogs feeling of control while also giving the dog another opportunity to make a choice. Removal of social pressure should always be part of the Treat and Retreat game, as a way to check how the dog is doing and help keep them under threshold. If a dog goes over threshold, they learn that snapping works, period.

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3 Tips for Changing Your Dogs Behavior

There are many ways to get behavior from an animal, for example you can hold your dog down when he jumps up on you, this may work for you, but the negative is that your dog may start barking more when guest arrive. Some dogs will become really wiggly and jumpy with strangers as a way of showing appeasement to the guest to ward off that scary punishment of being held down. This can also make your recall much more

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Does Your Dog Come When You Call?

Many people contact me to help them with recall or getting their dog to come when they call them.

A good recall begins with a strong relationship between the human and the dog. The dog who happily comes when called shares a bond with them and trust them completely. They go to them repeatedly because they associate their owner with good things.

If you call your dog and they look at you as if to say why? “Why should I?”   It would be nice if relationships were that easy, but we know any relationship has a balance of trust and respect.  Anyone parenting children can see similarities as we are able to say “because I said so!” Many of us have learned to give a specific reason, expressing our intentions clearly we will have better success and maintain a healthy relationship with our children in the process.

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Effective Potty Training A Puppy

I am house training an adult 3 yr old dog that has been allowed to use pee pads all his life.  This handsome mix is a very shy boy and did take a day for me to be able to body handle him without him screaming.  He is vetted and in good health, just has no idea where the toilet is.

Does Age Matter?
House training a new puppy or an adult rescue dog, uses the same technique, as you are assuming the dog has no idea where to eliminate.  While you are conditioning a puppy a new behavior and your are counter conditioning an adult dog a different behavior needs to be considered in your time line for sure.  Counter conditioning behaviors will most often take longer. 

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Stop Puppy Biting, the Best Way!

As a Professional Dog Trainer, it is my job to teach you how to teach your puppy or rescue dog to have a soft mouth. This goes for your puppy mouthing a human, child or another dog.  

If you have adopted a rescue dog, can you be assured this dog knows not to bite?  

I discuss a soft mouth in all my classes because it is so important and many of you have rescued a dog. If I approach your tethered dog holding a scarf, glove or toy, will your dog lunge and grab the item along with my hand?  Have you tried  yelling, “no!” Did yelling teach your dog an appropriate behavior? Instead of yelling, you can simply walk away the second the feet come off the floor. Approach the dog again, if his behavior is not appropriate, walk away, repeat until he sits or does not jump, then reward with play! Rewarding your dog for the appropriate behavior is much faster than telling the dog “no”. 

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Bite Prevention – Warning signs

Clients often say their dog bit without warning, however if you understood dogs body language, you would have seen signs that your dog was worried prior to the bite. Signs of Stress: Head lowered  Tail tucked  Lip licking Panting and Pacing barking Excessive salivation Ears pulled to the side or way back Hiding behind the

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Pets For Vets, Portland Maine

Pets for Vets Portland, Maine thanks Time Warner and Melinda Poore, VP Government Relations for a great evening held at the Inn By The Sea (pet friendly hotel, Cape Elizabeth).     Judy Moore, PFV Head Trainer and Tom Targett, Chapter Director presented the Pets For Vets Mission and Process to the Legislatures of both

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