Foundations

A Comprehensive Guide to Potty Training Your New Puppy

A Comprehensive Guide to Potty Training Your New Puppy

One of the most common inquiries I receive as a dog trainer when someone brings home a new puppy is, "How do I go about potty training my puppy?" This is often followed by the question, "How long will it take for my puppy to be fully potty trained?" First, let's...

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Got a Puppy? Let’s Talk Socialization!

With the advent of puppy kindergarten classes, the topic of socialization became a hot one.  Based on the recommendations of the American Veterinary Medical Association, veterinarians started discussing socialization and encouraging their clients to attend puppy...

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5 Games to Teach Your New Puppy!

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...

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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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How To Create a Relaxed Down Stay: Reduce Reinforcement!

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...

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How Stations Can Save Your Sanity – Part Two!

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...

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How Stations Can Save Your Sanity – Part One!

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...

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Are You Ready? Opting in to Work

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...

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What is the Two-Cookie Game and How Can it Help You?

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. ...

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Get Your Stays Off to a Good Start: Foundation Games!

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...

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