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f your dog is dealing with any kind of Aggression issues, it is a good idea to purchase them a muzzle. Your local pet store may carry a few different kinds of muzzles. The soft cloth muzzles are probably the most comfortable,...

Guidelines for safe dogpark visits and playtime.
 

Survey the “scene” in the dog park prior to entering. If you have reservations about the dogs, or intensity of play, wait. Better SAFE than Sorry.
Try to be as courteous as possible to the other dog owners. Thank them for watching their dog, picking up after it etc. The more ‘community’ you build at the park-the safer it becomes.
Don’t intervene in/punish EVERY little skirmish. However, ask the other owner ahead of time if loud, or rough play is occurring if they are ok with that, and offer to re-direct your dog’s attention if they are uncomfortable.
Bringing food or other resources (balls, Frisbees) to a dog park can be very provocative. It may elicit guarding/aggression in other dogs or your own. If your dog’s toys become a problem for the other...

Managing Your Puppy’s Behavior    Raising a puppy can be really enjoyable or really frustrating. It all depends on how you manage his environment with the amount of freedom being the number one mistake people make.Your puppy should be treated like a human toddler until the age of at least 1 1/2 years old. Puppies will act like puppies which means you can count on the following behaviors both when you are watching and when you are not. ✗    Urinating and defecating when they feel the urge, anytime anywhere✗    Chewing anything they can put in their mouths, ✗    Whining, crying and barking if they find themselves alone✗    Eating any anything they think MIGHT be edible ✗    Greet by excitedly jumping up,✗    Mouthing and...

I call it counter surfing, you might simply call it stealing. Food just seems to disappear from the kitchen counter, off the dining room table, from the baby's highchair or even from the barbecue grill. Sometimes the culprit does it right in front of you. Perhaps you've been called to the phone and the bandit cannot resist the impulse to take the waiting loaf of bread. We all want the same thing in these and so many other scenarios of opportunity; we want the family dog to please stop scavenging food!!So let's discuss some strategies to help your dog learn that just because food is in the offing doesn't mean it's free for the taking. The first place to start is with ourselves. Monitor the counters and put food away or place it where there isn't any chance for your dog to dash and dine. If your dog has had the chance to scavenge food and has been successful at it, even if it only happened one time, you can lay odds that he will continue to check that magic food spot with skill and great patience. It might seem futile to you, but your dog managed to get a huge food jackpot and that's immensely reinforcing to him so he...

No! We all say it, don’t we? But there are many trainers who advise against saying it to our dogs. Why is that? Doesn’t that mean you’re letting him get away with things? How can he learn right from wrong if you don’t tell him?
 
There are several reasons saying, “No!” to your dog is unadvisable. None of it has to do with permissiveness or it being “mean” to tell your dog “no”.
 

“No” comes with a lot of emotional baggage for us humans.
We use “no” all the time and it loses saliency.
It’s difficult to get the timing of “no” just right.
“No” does not have inherent meaning to dogs.
“No” is sometimes inadvertently reinforcing to the dog.
“No” is not instructive.

 
There are many things you can do that are much more constructive than saying “no” but first, let’s talk about the reasons it’s not a good idea.
 
“No” comes with a lot of emotional baggage for us humans.
 
Think about your state of mind when you find yourself telling your dog “no”. How do you feel? Frustrated? Angry? Irritated? Probably; it’s natural! We cannot hide this from our dogs, experts at body language that they are. This means that “no” is punishing to your dog. Depending on your dog’s temperament and how you say “no” this can just be a nagging annoyance to them that has little effect or it can be severe enough to damage your relationship with the animal.
 
In the latter case, you may see a change in behavior but the dog is likely not actually learning anything. It may appear that the dog “knows” what “no” means because he has stopped doing whatever it is that upset you. However the truth is that the dog is simply shutting down and no longer offering any behavior at all, good or bad. If the dog learns something it may only be that his owner is scary. There are dogs who, when their owners bellow “NO!” at them may cringe or perhaps even submissively urinate. Or, more commonly, the dog may simply freeze or look “sorry” or “guilty” in an attempt to appease you. This is not the relationship most of us want with our dogs!
 
At the other end of the spectrum is the dog that pretty much ignores “no” causing the owner to repeat it over and over. Most people find themselves escalating in tone and becoming more frustrated.  This is not an effective punishment, nor...

Does your dog pull on leash or not come when called? Do you wish your dog would listen more? Follow our daily plan to jump-start your dog training.
For this exercise, we use either a clicker or...

Interview by Stephanie Cross:
1.   What is your story-how did you get into training dogs?I got a dog in math grad school and fell in love with everything Dog.  The first summer that I had Spoon, I read 50 books about dogs and dog training.  I started my career as a mathematics instructor, but soon started my dog training business anyway, in 2003. I know I made the right decision, because I make a difference every day.2.  What is the secret to your success with the your company-how have you gotten to where you are today?One thing that sets us apart is that I hire really smart trainers who enjoy working with people as much as with dogs. It's great to know a lot about dogs. It's critical, however, to also be able to teach humans.The other piece that contributes to our success is 'continuous process improvement' -...

Reprinted with permission from Journal Newspapers.
 
 
Last month I introduced a method for eliminating unwanted canine behavior: Dogs Do What Works. DDWW is effective because dogs learn by consequences – rewarding behavior repeats, and unrewarding behavior disappears. Although DDWW will serve you well in most cases, dogs also learn another way: by association.
 
One of my favorite examples of association learning, also known as classical or Pavlovian conditioning, is the reaction my dogs have to coffee stands. In the car one day, I became aware of them leaning forward from the back seat and drooling expectantly on my shoulder. I was confused until I realized I had just turned into the parking lot of my favorite drive thru coffee stand, where the staff gives my dogs du jour a biscuit. Having experienced the drive thru/biscuit association enough times, my dogs were salivating in anticipation of receiving their cookies. This is the crux of classical conditioning: a neutral stimulus (in this case, the coffee stand) can come to elicit the same reaction as an inherently meaningful stimulus (in this case, food) after the former consistently predicts the latter.
 
This knowledge is crucial to making headway with an upset dog. Pretend your dog is frightened of men in baseball caps....

Reprinted with permission from Journal Newspapers.
 
Jean Donaldson wrote a fantastic dog psychology and training book entitled “The Culture Clash”; in that book, she coined a simple yet important training mantra: Dogs Do What Works. As a trainer, this is the first thing I consider whenever attempting to solve a dog behavior problem: how is this behavior working for the dog? How can I make it not work for the dog, and most importantly, how can I make another, desirable behavior work instead?
 
Lots of dog owners struggle with a pesky little canine habit nicknamed “counter surfing,” describing the dog who jumps up onto the kitchen counter to snatch sticks of butter, loaves of bread, and (gasp!) a freshly cooked steak. Luckily, the solution is fairly simple and can be derived from the Dogs Do What Works formula.
 
How it’s working for the dog basically answers itself: jumping on the counter produces fabulous snacks, much better than his daily kibble. Jackpot! So, how do you keep the behavior from working? The best and easiest strategy may be one of management. Secure all food items in sealed canisters, push items back from the edge of the counter where the dog can’t reach them, and don’t leave exposed food on the counter. After a period of losing at the...

This recipe has received four paws up from Foggy & Benson!
 
Smear peanut butter (or cream cheese, Cheese Whiz, baby food) on the narrow end of the Kong to seal the small hole. (If preferred, you can use saran wrap or press-n-seal wrap instead.)
 
Put 5-10 extra yummy bite-sized treats (such as Zuke’s mini Naturals or dried liver treats) into the Kong....