Dog Blog
Communicating with the Leash: Restraints, Pops and Pulls
"No pulling, stop, stop, easy girl, sit, sit, sit!" - average dog owner whose dog just won't listen. On any given day it's not uncommon to see people being towed along behind a dog straining at the end of a tight leash. Wait, let me...
The Four D’s of Dog Training
Many clients will start off by telling me that their dog already knows all the basic commands BUT...only at home, only if they have a treat, and certainly not if there's another dog anywhere nearby. There's almost always a 'but' and it's almost always connected to the...
Q & A: Should I Get Another Dog?
Thinking about getting a second dog...or third, fourth or fifth? That’s great! I'm happy for you, but, I’m also glad I caught you before you make too hasty a decision. I have four dogs and would love to have more but, like everyone, I have limits. No matter how many...
Should Dogs Be Allowed on Furniture?
When I do private behavior consults, the topic of dogs on the furniture comes up a lot. Clients will say, "I know I shouldn't let her on the sofa but we like to cuddle." Others try to keep the dog off the sofa without success. Sometimes one family member...
The 6 Types of Growling
“My dog growls at my kids." “My dog growls at strangers.” “My dog growls if I try to take his bone.” I get called for growling issues quite frequently because people think their dog is aggressive. Sometimes this is so and sometimes not. While growling can be very...
The 5 Essentials for a Great Off-Leash Experience with Your Dog
One of the first steps for my clients to schedule an appointment with me is to have them fill out a training request form to provide me with some background information on the human and dog. One of the questions I ask on the form is "What is your favorite thing to do...
The 7 Most Common Mistakes in Modern Dog Training
Training dogs with food has become commonplace in "Modern" dog training but there is still a lot of resistance to the idea as well. Most of the resistance goes something like "I want my dog to work for me, not for treats!" This is not an...
Buy a Book, Help a Rescue Dog!
"Success is best when it's shared." ~Howard Schultz I'm very pleased with the response to my new book Separation Anxiety: Leaving Dogs Home Alone. To take a page from Howard Schultz, I'd like to share the success of my book with...
Adventure Walks: The Path Less-Traveled
What do you think of when you hear the word adventure? For most folks the term tends to conjure up adjectives like dangerous, unknown, risky, and exciting. Maybe you picture an Indiana Jones movie or backpacking the Appalachian Trail or some other exotic journey. Hey,...
Mary Poppins Would Have Made an Excellent Dog Trainer
There are several movies that the world deems "Classics" that I have yet to see in my nearly 5 decades on this earth - some by accident (and, yes, they are on my list) and some by design (could go my whole life without seeing them). Fortunately, my...
