Imagine being able to identify the unique traits of a puppy before selecting one and bringing it home for the first time. Is the puppy independent, full of energy, strongly opinionated about resources like food, or isn’t afraid to push back when handled? Wouldn’t that be valuable information to have before you selected and picked […]
GETTING THE RIGHT PUPPY Read More »
The detail is in the Sociability + Arousal + Social Confidence Many puppies and adolescent dogs steal items which they find interesting. Some for consumption, attention, play, and some try to teach their human how to play tug! Some for the pleasure of chewing on a particular fabric, and some to full-fill an individual need
Is my puppy playing or guarding? Read More »
Help! My puppy has a rude play style! A client recently reached out with concerns about her five month old pups “over the top” play style. Petunia rushes up to dogs, uninvited, making fast physical contact while standing on her hind legs biting at their faces. Petunia becomes quite activated and persistent in her play
How can we help Petunia? Read More »
Jade shows a relaxed, confident expression in this photo. This is Jade moments after she recovered from an emotional barky greeting with a scary dress! As Jade and I were sitting on this bench, I noticed Jade close her mouth, narrow her eyes somewhat, and track a women across the road. The young woman had
Purposeful Socialization Read More »
Based on their maturity and tolerance, dogs respond to other dogs behaviors in different ways. Let’s be honest, many of you reading this have disagreed with another person, lost your temper, and became angry in response to someones actions.
Consider: Una, a beautiful long haired German Shepherd, loves to play with dogs and has shown friendly behaviors to all the dogs she has ever met. Until last week. As she was running on the beach with a Sheltie she just met, and all was well until she saw a tennis ball go flying over head. Already on the run, Una bolted after the ball, but was immediately body slammed by a Retriever mix who was in hot pursuit of his beloved tennis ball. Upon crashing into each other, Una snarled at the Retriever mix as a reprimand for causing her a bit of pain, Una is six years old. He did not respond to her reprimand, yet remained running at her hip, Una beat him to the ball and snatched it up.
Aggression or a Normal Response? Read More »
Online positive reinforcement dog training video to be watched anywhere, anytime. You will see real dogs with real problems become relaxed and focused while using all positive training techniques. Perfect for families with a new puppy, rescue dog, reactive dog or those fostering a dog who needs some skills to be adopted.
Judy gives you tools so you can Drop The Leash and still keep your dogs focus on you with many distractions nearby. Normally a 6-week course, Judy condensed the information into one video so you can learn at your own pace, anywhere you want!
Drop the Leash, Dog Training Video Read More »
If you reward someone’s behavior when it is occurring, they are more likely to do that behavior again in the future. I wanted to give you some tips to get your dog to do the behaviors you want without always reaching for the treat bag.
Non Food Rewards to Offer Your Dog Read More »
Looking at this dogs body language, the boxer is leaning away from his best friend, his ears are pinned back in fear, the whites of his eyes show
How Does this Dog Feel? Read More »
Unfortunately a popular reality TV show has captured people’s attention and is talking about dogs as pack animals and again perpetuating the idea of using “calm-assertive energy” (read: fear and intimidation) to resolve issues with problem dogs. Like most “reality” TV shows
by Donald J. Hanson, BFRAP, CDBC, CPDT-KA
It was in the September of 2000 that the first version of this article appeared in Paw Prints, the Green Acres Kennel Shop newsletter. I have updated the article ten years later because sadly there are still too many people, some of them animal professionals, and some who try to play the part on TV, promulgating the dominance myth.
Dominance: Reality or Myth Read More »
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
3 Tips for Changing Your Dogs Behavior Read More »
