It is hard to argue that the process used should not be the one that gets the best results, yet here we are. In dog training today there is an immensely flawed philosophy that is fiercely promulgated by dog trainers and even “professional organizations” that are looked up to by the average pet owner, and many professionals in the field, today. The result is that people are brain washed before they have even sat down to think about it. They

Punishing a dog’s behavior is already a controversial topic. Not that it should be. Punishment is literally, by definition, the only way to eliminate behaviors. But what is even more controversial, and shrouded in mystery because nobody wants to talk about it, is punishing a puppy’s bad behaviors. The truth is we have a different set of rules we go by when it comes to puppies (which we are defining as dogs under 6 months of age). So I’m going

So many of the things that we do with other humans are counter productive with our dogs. While many of the basic principles are shared, we tend to use language in a way that our dogs don’t really understand and we also humanize them, applying what we THINK or what we FEEL as though it’s the same for our dogs. But it’s not!I am giving very specific examples of things that can really help propel your dog training into the

Sometimes we get dogs that are “good” most of the time but can exhibit some untoward behavior in certain contexts. For instance, the message that prompted this topic was from someone whose dog will growl/snap if someone pets them while they are on their place bed. There are several things we should be doing to both make our dog as safe as possible and get them making better choices. I include several things we can do to ensure our dog

Prong collars get an undeserved bad rap—mainly because they look scary. Sometimes they are even referred to as spike collars and there are misleading and false photos out there showing grotesque wounds on dogs’ necks, but they aren’t designed to work by poking, pricking, or God forbid, injuring your dog. They are designed to amplify the sensation of pressure, evenly all the way around the neck instead of concentrating it on the trachea and reduce interference with breathing or tracheal

A lot of people will talk like the clicker is magic. It’s not. And this is coming from someone that loves the clicker. All the clicker does is link your dog’s behavior to a reward. And that’s the thing that is magic. It’s not that it’s a clicker, per se, it’s what you do with it. You can use a clicker very ineffectively, too. Understanding what a marker is, how to use it, and what exactly your sequence should be

We spend 2-3 weeks with most dogs. We spend 2-3 hours with you. It isn’t fair to think you will be confident after just a few hours with us. You need to go out into the real world and do stuff. Seeing is believing! But we have found that there are 5 specific things that really get in the way of results carrying over to the owners themselves. Those things are: Don’t tell yourself that your dog is scared, confused,

This is such an important behavior to teach. Not only can it be a safety issue if you can’t teach your dog to stay, but it also helps your dog learn to be calmer, more relaxed, accepting, and more focused. It surprises people that the dogs we train all learn to stay yet we never even say the word ‘stay’. This is called the implied stay, and it’s beneficial in many ways. Believe it or not, it’s actually much easier

This is such a grave topic. I never like getting calls like this, but I’m so, so glad when I get the chance to have a conversation with anybody who is in a situation like this because I know how stressful and sad and alarming and scary it is. And I know how hard it is to know what to do or what to expect. Dogs and babies don’t mix! And it is so common to have issues blending the

One of the most irritating comments I see from other dog trainers are around “suppression”. That’s because when you punish or correct your dog’s behavior, that is suppression by definition. Suppression is putting a stop to something. So in reality if you stop any behavior from being displayed that is suppression. Does suppression mean that the behavior will regenerate or resurface? No. Does it mean that it won’t? No. Behavior is moving all the time! But knowing how to stop