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Mastering Side Steps in Rally: A Step-by-Step Guide to Precision Lateral Movement

Building Value for Heel Position: Engaging Games to Teach Your Dog to Find Heel

Teaching Dogs Generalization: Expanding Behaviors Beyond Contextual Cues

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Reducing Jumping Up by Teaching an Incompatible Behavior

As a pet dog trainer, one common problem for which people seek out training is jumping up.  It’s annoying when dogs jump up, and if the dog is large, it can be downright dangerous.  So, how do you train your dog not to jump up on you and your family/friends?  ...

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Pay Attention! Teaching Your Dog Eye Contact

If I could pick one behavior that is most important to teach your dog, it would be eye contact.  More importantly, it would be offered eye contact, in other words, you don’t cue it, but rather the dog does it on his own.   Eye Contact Starts Work   I use...

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Planning Ahead: Reducing Reinforcement for the Ring

The process of reducing reinforcement in preparation for entering an obedience or rally ring is something it’s easy to overlook and rush. Most dogs act very differently when their handler has treats versus when the handler does not have treats, yet many people go straight from training with treats in their pockets to leaving treats on their crate and going into the ring.

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A Simple Process for Generalizing Behaviors

If your dog can give you a reliable cute sit in the kitchen, but can’t do it in the backyard, you might need to work on generalizing behaviors!   Generalization means the dog can apply a concept in many different situations.  When you teach a dog a new behavior,...

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Just What are Reinforcement Cues Anyway?

Knowing exactly what reinforcement cues are and how they work will result in faster learning and less frustration. The clearer we can be with our dogs about what and how we're rewarding, the better it is for everyone!  If you're looking to clean up your training, read...

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Pivot Bowl Next Step: Movement!

You've spent some time teaching your dog the value of the pivot bowl and your dog understands how to stay on it.  (If you missed this blog on introducing the pivot bowl, be sure to check it out!)  Next, we'll focus on movement!   Teaching Movement on the Pivot...

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Canine Enrichment: Keep Your Dog’s Brain Happy!

Enrichment - such an important topic!  But what exactly is enrichment? Enrichment can mean a lot of things, but basically it refers to different ways to satisfy some of the needs of your dog.  By stimulating the dog mentally and physically, your dog will be less...

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Manage Your Puppy for a Happy Household

Did you recently get a new puppy, or are you planning on one soon?  Puppies are so much fun, but they are also a LOT of work.  Sometimes you wonder if you’ve brought a little velociraptor into your home as you survey the damage and destruction your innocent little...

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A Journey to a Dream Come True

Life Long Passion I fell in love with training dogs back when I was a teenager working with my large German shepherd.  Actually, the passion was ignited well before that, when I was a small kid growing up in Rochester.  Our neighborhood had lots of dogs, and I, having...

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Teach Your Dog to Find Heel Position From Anywhere!

Teaching dogs to find heel position is important for so many reasons.  It will help your heeling, setups, and finishes.  It’s important that your dog has a lot of value for being in heel position and that he or she can find heel position from many different angles....

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Teaching Lateral Fronts for Better Understanding!

The Rally Master class has lots of fun signs, including the sidestep front signs!  I like to teach my dogs to move laterally (sideways) in both heel and front as I feel it gives the dogs a better understanding of the heel and front positions.  Once a dog understands...

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Props for Fronts!

Why would you want to use props to teach front?  Because, used PROPerly, using props for fronts can make your life a lot easier!  Keep reading to find out why I love using props so much!   Easier to Fade   In my opinion, it’s easier to fade a prop than it is...

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Teaching the Moving Sit at Distance

If you play rally, obedience, or TEAM, your dog will need to understand how to do a moving sit, when the dog stops motion and sits facing you.  There are two components to this exercise: a sit out of motion and the ability to sit in place at a distance without...

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Go! Teaching a Send to a Target

There are several obedience and rally behaviors which require a send to a target.  In rally you’ll teach your dog to send to a cone, and in obedience you’ll be teaching the dog to run straight across the ring away from you.  Generally this behavior is taught to a ring...

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