There was a time early on in my dog training career when I wanted to be perfect. And I wanted a perfect dog, too. At the time, I was volunteering at a service dog organization, and was obsessed in my interactions with service dogs who were bred and born to be working dogs. They started training at 8 weeks old, were trained every single day, attended class once a week for 18 months with their puppy raisers and then had another 6 months of dedicated training by advanced trainers. Whew! That’s a lot of training… And these amazing dogs, seemingly, were perfect. They never barked in public, they never bothered anyone, and no noise, distraction, crowded mall or cramped space seemed to phase them ever. (Of course, as you might wonder, they did have the opportunity just to run and play and “be dogs” when they weren’t working, too.) But … Read More
Why You Should Invest the Extra 20 Bucks: Collars and Harnesses
Halters and collars and gentle leaders, oh my! There are so many positive training equipment options out there right now, it can make your head spin, and the selection grows each and every day. The enhanced selection that you can now find in big box pet stores and online stores alike is a very positive thing… and a positive step in the right direction towards exposing dog owners to less aversive equipment options, and thus less aversive training methods. But I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but we’re sort of in a recession. (Okay, not technically, but we all feel like we’re broke… so there.) And some of the recommended items of dog training and management equipment, like Freedom harnesses and Sense-ation harnesses, can sometimes be expensive, not to mention the amount of money that could be spent on training treats can rack up at an accelerated rate. … Read More
Is It Time to Make a Doggy Resolution?
Well, well, well, here we are… at the end of another year. Was it a year filled with music, flowers, friends and family? If your answer was a resounding yes, fantastic. If your answer was yes – but the music was on to drown out the endless barking, the flowers were continually knocked over by an expert counter-surfer, and your friends and family have been jumped on so many times this year that now they refuse to come over next year – then not so fantastic, right? Celebrating a new year marks the symbolic end of a great journey in our lives. Sure, it was only one calendar year. But the best part about celebrating a new year is the renewed hope that, even though things may not have been great in the past year, there is a chance that things can start anew… fresh… unspoiled. It’s time to put … Read More
Baby, It’s Hot Outside
So, here we are… It’s undoubtedly summer. Just peeking your head outside the house starts the sweat beads dripping down the side of your face, it’s difficult to breathe between the hours of 9am and midnight, and even the thought of going out for ice cream sounds counter-productive. But somehow, it doesn’t seem to bother Fido. And if there’s a human in the house, Fido wants it to take him for a walk. Whereas I am the biggest proponent for exercise with your dog, one thing is for sure… There are definitely times that maybe outside activity doesn’t seem like the best or healthiest option for either you or Fido. When the temperature and humidity levels reach the dangerous point, such as when Heat Advisory warnings are issued, it may be time to seek some other inside options for exercising and entertaining your dog. Here are just a few ideas: … Read More
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