Annoying Puppy Habits
When I’m working and training Clark (my Cardigan Welsh Corgi puppy), he is amazing. Even during our group class, he makes me look like an awesome owner/trainer even though we haven’t worked on anything during the week since I’m focusing on finishing up my degree right now. I try and get him walked once a…
Guest Post: Preventing Obesity: Helping our Pets Live Longer and Healthier Lives
I am very excited to share this post by Dr. Lynn R. Honeckman! I had the pleasure of meeting her last year when she was in Texas for a conference and decided to meet up with the local trainers here in DFW. When I wanted to find a knowledgeable person to write about pet obesity, I…
Reactive Dogs Will Take Themselves Over Threshold
Unfortunately, reactive dogs will take themselves over threshold if you aren’t careful. This usually occurs because it is what the brain has been trained to do if the dog is allowed to continue to practice this behavior for a long period of time. It is also because the brain becomes addicted to the adrenaline hormones…
Introducing Your Reactive Dog to New People
Reactivity is usually due to fear and insecurities about how to behave in a certain situation. Instead of running away, the dog tries to scare the “trigger” (object or animal that causes the reaction) away. Unfortunately, the reaction that dogs resort to (barking, lunging, etc) are typically interpreted as the dog is being “dominant” or…
Dogs are Superstitious
If you’re not careful, you can train a dog to think he needs to jump before being rewarded for not jumping or a dog that thinks he needs to pull the leash before being rewarded for not pulling. When training alternative behaviors, dogs may begin to think that they need to do the undesirable behavior and then…
Trying New Behaviors in Hopes of Being Right
Dogs that are trained with positive reinforcement have a different way of thinking than dogs trained using correction based methods. This became very apparent to me when we trained Loker to “wave” his paw at us when we waved at him. Mainly, it was that dogs trained with positive reinforcement offer or try different behaviors…
Welcome to Mars
In the 21st Century, we’ve got all sorts of gadgets and odd things in our homes, we drive cars instead of walk, and we’re always in a rush to be somewhere. The world our dogs live in today is so far from natural we might as well call it Mars. We also communicate with verbal words and…
Now, Instant, Immediate, Prompt, Instantaneous or Eventually
Why are prong collars and e-collars so popular despite the obvious physical and psychological harm they do to dogs? It’s because they give instant results. Unfortunately, positive reinforcement based training takes repetition for the dog to learn and change. Despite it’s proven long term effects on behavior, it doesn’t give the results as quickly as…