FernDog Podcast: Dog Training & Behavior Tips and Advice

It sounds crazy but believe it or not you can love your dog too much. When you pile on the love and affection while neglecting your dog’s basic canine needs serious problems can arise.

Now I’m not saying your should stop loving your dog – no way. However, you need to make sure you’re not focusing too much on your own needs and wants, and forgetting that your dog has very different priorities. I see way too many people who love their dogs more than anything but are not aware that they are causing a number of behavior issues that could eventually lead to them giving up the very dog they love so much. It happens more than you think.

I’ll show you what you need to be careful of and exactly how you can create a healthy relationship with your dog that will keep you together for a long, long time.

In this episode

1:18  Setting a New Years resolution for your dog

1:53  I want your questions!

3:30  Writing my next book in 2014

4:44  The dangerous of loving your dog too much

5:54  When love goes bad (8 things to look out for)

17:15  Dog training lessons from a homeless person

18:03  Taking care of your dog’s basic canine needs

18:55  How to be a good “parent” to your dog

21:15  Why small dogs have more behavior problems

27:06  Ways to make sure you don’t love your dog to death

54:50  Training tip

Links

My latest limited edition T-shirt design

The number one question I get asked is about barking. How to stop unwanted and sometimes relentless barking.

The first thing we need to keep in mind is that dogs are going to bark – that’s part of a being a dog. However, there is a big difference from some typical canine vocalization and non stop yapping. Barking is something that can be triggered by a number of things and really fortified through repetition.

In this episode we’ll go over the common triggers of barking, what causes them and how to treat them. I’ll also go into when it’s best to treat the barking problem and when you should manage it instead.

In this episode:

1:43  Praise for the Pitbull podcast (episode 14)

4:00  New feature! Record your question and be on the show

6:00  Why fenced in yards can cause barking

8:15  You need to expect dogs to bark

9:10  The 6 major triggers of barking

10:40  The one thing that can help barking no mater what the casue

12:08  How to treat your dog barking at you

16:28  Dealing with barking at sounds

17:26  The scale of reactivity

21:11  What to do about barking out the window

24:43  Barking at guests coming in the house

29:58  How to treat dogs barking when left home alone

32:50  Dogs that bark on leash

37:50  The one thing that can greatly impact your dogs behavior long term

Links

My Separation Anxiety blog post

Free PDF

• Get my special PDF on barking - causes and treatment summary

As our dogs get older their needs change and to keep them healthy we have to make sure we keep on top of the many things that can affect their longevity. We need to be very aware of our dog’s health and “be our dog’s advocate,” as Dr. Nancy Kay, my guest on this week’s show, puts it.

When are dogs reach senior dog status it’s super important to understand that they are very different than when they were younger and we need to consider different aspects of their health to keep them healthy and happy.

This is very important to me because my dog, Hayley, is turning 13 this winter. I want to make sure I’m doing everything I can to keep her living a happy life and have her around for as long as possible.

In this episode:

3:44  Meet Dr. Kay

5:48  At what age your dog becomes a senior dog

9:28  Common ailments to expect as dogs get older

13:35  The most important thing you can do to help your dog’s mobility

18:58  How often you should take your dog to the vet for check ups

21:21  Symptoms to watch out for

23:30  How we should limit our older dog’s activity

26:03  Supplements that can help dog’s as they get older

29:40  Should we continue to vaccinate older dogs

34:00  How to know when it’s time to let your dog go

39:31  What you can find in Dr. Kay’s books

46:30  Training Tip

Links:

Speaking For Spot (Dr. Kay’s website)

Dr. Kay’s buy one, get one free book offer

Dr. Kay on Facebook

Dr. Kay’s Blog

Enter to win a FREE autographed copy of Dr. Kay's books: "Speaking for Spot" and "Your Dog's Best Health."

Just leave a comment below about the episode by Dec. 17, 2013 and I'll pick two people at random and send them a free book signed by Dr. Kay.

 

Ahhhh Pit Bulls. No dog breed turns more heads, causes more controversy, invokes m0re emotion and is more misunderstood than the Pit Bull.

If you’ve never had a real experience with a Pit, you may be one of the many people out there who don’t understand them and even fear them. While those of us who share our lives with them know the true nature of this beautiful breed.

Pit Bulls are pretty much like every other breed, yet nothing like any other dog. They are built like tanks but are loving and eager to please.

Because of the negative public perception, having a Pit Bull comes with a greater responsibility to show the world how awesome they can be. And the way to do that is to train them well.

In this episode I’ll go over how to train your Pit Bull to be a good, shining example of the breed so that you can enjoy a happy life with your dog and help change the public perception.

In this episode you’ll learn

• Common myths and the actual reality of Pit Bulls
• What you NEED to do if you have a Pit puppy
• What special training Pit Bulls need
• How to deal with a dog reactive Pit Bull
• An easy way to make everyone love your Pit Bull

Links

My Youtbue Channel

2008 study on dog aggresion by the Applied Animal Behavior Science 

My podcast with author Jim Gorant

My blog post on pulling on leash

Canine Good Citizen test requirements

My podcast on leash reactivity

Front attaching harness

The holidays are a busy time filled with lots of fun events, busy schedules and lots of people (some dressed in big red suites with strange white facial hair). And because of all the holiday hoopla we can forget to consider our dogs in all the yuletide happenings or have our dogs in the middle of it all, which may not be the best thing for them.

In this episode I invited Janine Kahn, the editor of the super popular online pet magazine Dogster, to discuss how we can not only include our dogs in on the fun but also make sure they are having a good time with it all.

There a plenty of ways to include your dog in your holiday plans while ensuring that he’s not over stressed. Too many dogs are put into situations that they are just not comfortable with causing some issues to arise. There are also a bunch of holiday hazards that can be extremely dangerous to your dog, so you need to set up your home with your dog in mind.

In this episode you’ll learn

• Ways to bring you dog into your holiday plans
• When you should leave your dog out of the festivities
• Common holiday hazards to avoid
• Some cool gift ideas for both the dog and dog lover on you shopping list

Links

Dogster

Janine’s author page on Dogster

Dogster on Facebook

Janine on Twitter

New pet products found at SuperZoo

Janine’s favorite holiday gift 

Coatt necklace 

ID Tags that don’t hang

Job openings at Dogster

Bark Box

Pet safe wrapping paper

West Paw dog bed

Poop Buddy 

Does your dog get grumpy around his food bowl? Does he growl or snap at you when you try to take things away from him? If so, you’ve got a resource guarder on your hands and unless you start counter conditioning that behavior you could end up with a bite.

Dogs guard things because they think you’re going to take it away and they can get pretty nasty if what they have is seen as valuable to them. Dogs will guard just about anything too. Food and bones are obvious choices but they will also protect tissues, toys, people and even a space.

It’s very important to identify what your dog values and then get to work about changing his feelings about you coming close to him when he has something. This is critical when children are involved and great care needs to be taken to properly manage and treat the situation before an accident happens and a child becomes the victim of a protective bite.

In this episode you’ll learn

• How to take control of  the situation
• The steps to work with a dog who guards objects
• How to make your dog want you to take things away from him
• What to do with a food aggressive dog

Let me guess, your phone is jam packed with pictures of your pooch. I knew it! . . . Mine too. The problem is that most of them are, shall we say, less than stellar.

Taking good pictures of dogs is no easy task. Dogs move around a lot and often don’t agree on what we think is a great photo opp. Try as we may to create the perfect shot that will be shared around Facebook for days, we are usually left with a collection of blurry butt shots.

There’s a lot that needs to be considered when taking pictures of animals and it can differ quite a bit from how we take shots of our human family.

To help up you get that perfect shot I invited dog photographer Sherry Stinson on to share some tips and tricks on taking better pictures of our furry best pals and make it fun too. She’s a professional photographer that donates her time and skills to animal shelters, taking picture of their dogs.

She’s worked with 27 shelters in the last 5 years. One shelter she just started taking the pictures in Jan. 2013 reports adoptions are up 10.6%, other rescues pulling their dogs is up 32% and other shelters pulling dogs out is up 87%. That just shows how important taking good pictures is for rescues and shelters.

In this episode you’ll learn

• How to make your dog enjoy getting his picture taken
• How lighting can affect your photos
• Tips for photographing black dogs
• What rescues can do to get better picture

Links

Fern’s Pit Bull T-shirts

TylerDog Photography

TylerDog on Facebook

Fern’s Facebook page

Here’s the image that Sherry talked about in the podcast:

When dog’s play nicely together there’s nothing more fun to watch, but when things go bad it can be a very difficult and dangerous situation. If you don’t understand how dogs play and how they communicate you are probably unsure and a little nervous when your dog interacts with his doggie buddies.

Once you learn some simple keys to getting dogs together and know what to look out for when dogs are playing taking your dog to play with other dogs will be a fun and positive experience for both you and your dog.

In this episode I go over some basic dog body language so you can know what dogs are saying to each other and how they are feeling, I’ll cover what makes good play and what warning signs you need to look out for.

In this episode you’ll learn

• How rough you should let your dog play
• Some behaviors that you should careful of
• How to survive a day at the dog park
• What to do if two dogs get into a fight

Links

My blog post on puppy socialization

Videos

Dog Play Styles

 

Dog Calming Signals

Dog Body Language

Most people have heard of and are familiar with service dogs, but the world of psychological service dogs is often less known. These dogs are such a value to people with mental health issues and assist them to live very normal, happier lives.

They help people suffering from post traumatic stress, panic attacks as well as illnesses such as Autism. It’s truly a wonder how these dogs empower the humans they live with and help them work around their disabilities by performing specific tasks. 

Author Susannah Charleson joins me to discuss the inner world of these dogs and the people they serve. We’ll talk about her new book, The Possibility Dogs, detailing her research in working with these dogs as well as her own experience training her own psychological service dog.

In this episode you’ll learn

• What exactly a psychological service dog is
• Why rescue dogs are often used as psychological service dogs
• Some really great stories of people and tbeir service dog
• How a dog can become a psychological service dog

Links

The Possibility Dogs by Susannah Charleson

Scent of the Missing by Susannah Charleson

Susannah’s website

Possibility Dogs.org – non profit

Susannah on Facebook

Susannah on Twitter

Americans with Disabilities Act

Many children each year are the victims of dog bites. And what makes me nuts is that so many of these bites on kids could easily be avoided if both our dogs and our kids were trained properly how to interact safely with each other.

Early socialization for our dogs is critical to ensure that they are comfortable with a variety of environments, situations and specifically with kids. We need to proactive and work on our dogs sensitivities and known triggers so that when they encounter kids who can be unpredictable they are stable and tolerant.

I discuss how to train your dog to be better with children, as well as how to train and educate the children in your life so that they can have nice, positive encounters together.

In this episode you’ll learn

• The importance of rules and structure for your dog
• Tips to make sure your dog likes being around children
• How to teach kids how to handle and pet a dog
• Why all interactions between kids and dogs are always our responsibility

Links

My blog post on Kids and Dogs – part 1

My blog post on Kids and Dogs – part 2

Make Dogs Your Life Podcast on puppy socialization

 

Here’s my video on Creating the Perfect Family Dog: