Do You Need To Be Firmer With Your Dog?
Do you have trouble getting your dog to listen? I got a call the other day from a woman who, when she was talking about training problems with her dog told me she knows she needs to do a better job of being firmer with him. If you are someone with this same concern, I […]
Winter Safety Tips For Your Dog
If you live in my Greater Cincinnati region, I don’t need to tell you we are just about on the verge of one of worst winter storms. Very quickly over the next few hours, outside wind chill temperatures will be dropping to minus 20 to 30 degrees or lower with snow and ice. We will […]
Understanding Flooding And Learned Helplessness In Training
I had been looking forward to that night for several months, since the day I first heard about the upcoming performance one of my favorite local bands. My friends and I got there over two hours early to reserve our spot, before heading across the street to get dinner. By the time we got back […]
Thanksgiving Tips For a Well-Mannered Dog
Our Thanksgiving feast is definitely among my favorite meals of the year! Not only is it typically the one week that our entire family is together, that Thursday we gather for delicious appetizers, turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, vegetable casserole, pumpkin bread, and desert. My mouth waters just thinking about it. All those reasons are why […]
Habituation vs Sensitization In Dog Training
I know some people who live not far from one of the flight paths going to and away from the airport. I remember us having a discussion one time about how annoying I thought it’d be to hear that loud noise so often. The response I would hear was the same response I got from […]
Dangers Of Chaining Your Dog
While I haven’t seen as much of it lately, I do still see dogs chained in yards. It is a worrisome sight. Even a dog that will wag its tail, approach people with loose body muscles, and lower its head for head scratches in other situations can…and more than likely will become reactive to stimulus […]
Have Patience With Your Adolescent Dog
This so needs sharing adolescent dogs. Puppy adolescence is such a trying time for dog owners but it is also a very difficult and challenging time for your dog also. Think about teenage people and how tough it is on parents. I am remembering my brother coming home from school to go right up to […]
How To Walk your Leash Reactive Dog
When I ask a new client about their dog’s exercise, more often than not, the answer has to do with, ‘walking my dog in my neighborhood.’ Walking their dog on a leash – or walking their off-leash dog as I have been seeing in my neighborhood (but do not advocate for) – is just what […]
Parents, Please Teach Kids, Do Not Hug Your Family Dog
Often kids mean well with their interactions with your dog (or other dogs) but they can do things – like hugging – that can cause dogs to feel uncomfortable. A lesson for parents of a kids and a dog: please teach your children this important relationship building lesson – DO NOT HUG YOUR FAMILY DOG. […]
Why It Is Better To Avoid The Aversive In Training
Something to give you thought in your dog or bird training (or another species): If you react to your pet’s unwanted behavior in a way that is aversive to your pet whether that inflicts pain, stress or fear (or all of them), you may (or may not) change that behavior – at least in the […]