Puppies are so much fun, and they are such little sponges. I LOVE working with puppies who soak up everything you teach them. Plus, they are adorable!! It’s important to start training right away with your little cutie. Puppy training isn’t a whole lot different...
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...
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...
In an ideal world, we wouldn’t have our dogs on leash when we train. Right from the beginning our dogs would learn to stay by our sides and pay attention to us. I consider myself very fortunate that I have a facility in which I can train off leash. If you never use...
Last week we discussed why dogs make mistakes, and some general guidelines on how to handle mistakes in training. This week I want to get into a little more detail on what exactly you can do to make success more likely. We listed out a few reasons that dogs...
Your dog just made a mistake in training. What do you do? How do you handle it? Knowing what to do in the moment is not always easy! It generally requires some thinking about what happened and where the dog’s understanding of what you were asking fell...
Do you want to know the secret to a relaxed down stay? The ones where the dog just lays down and snoozes while you carry on with your activities? Let me tell you… Reduce reinforcement. Get rid of the treat. No more cookies during the stay! If the dog knows...
Part Two: Adding Duration to the Station Your dog loves the station and will happily race across the room and hop on. What’s next? It’s time to add some duration! After all, the behavior is pretty useless if the dog won’t stay on the station! If...
Part One: Building the Behavior Do you ever wish that your dog would just leave you alone? Wouldn’t it be nice to eat supper in peace? Or would you like to train one dog and keep the other out of your hair? Maybe you need to think through a training problem...
I start each and every training session by asking my dog if he is ready to work. Different trainers refer to this process by different names, such as ready to work, start button behaviors, or engagement, but all this really means is that the dog is opting in to...
The Two-Cookie Game is a great way to teach your dog several important lessons. First, the dog will learn that he should reorient to you after a distraction. Second, the dog will be less likely to disconnect after the first reward if he knows another may be coming. ...
There are several fun foundation games that can help you dog's stay get off to a solid start! If your stays need work, or if you're training a young dog that doesn't know stays yet, try these games to help increase your dog's understanding of being still! Sit...
The virtual rally titling program has allowed so many teams to earn the Rally Novice title through the AKC. Many people would like to continue but are a bit intimidated by the next level. Intermediate Versus Advanced The Intermediate and Advanced signs are exactly...
