Calming Exercises can help your dogs overcome aggression and fear based behavior issues. Dogs cannot learn when they are stressed. Sometimes they are showing aggression because they are stressed and too worried to learn. Vet Lili Chin made some great posters to help people learn how to calm their dogs    

There are so many ways to teach agility. There are many small behaviors to shape, from contact training to shaping speed. There is a method for every dog, and every trainer. When it comes to agility each handler needs to find a way that works for their dog. Dogs cannot see the full spectrum of colors. But they can see yellow and blue. This can be helpful when training agility.  I am teaching my Harley…   Continue

One of the most daunting aspects of obedience and rally competition is fear. “Is my dog good enough,” “am I ready.” “What if I fail?”  Most of these fears are unfounded. The long-term-diehards of the sport do not fear. They have learned that failure is part of the sport. But do you need to go to 50 trials before getting your first leg?  The answer is simple. No. There are a few ways to make…   Continue

I always wanted a German Shepherd, mostly because I think they are the most beautiful dog around but also because they are strong and noble, loyal, intelligent and protective.  In the late 1990s, I spoke to a breeder who told me a German Shepherd maybe wasn’t the best first dog because they really required a lot of work and training. So I got a German Shepherd/Labrador Retriever mix named Empress. She was the most mellow…   Continue

I wanted to share my experience with my Cane Corso Cairo. After extensively researching which breed would suit our lifestyle best we decided we wanted a CC. We understood and accepted that this dog would be a huge part of our lives and looked forward to being involved with some sort of sport and training with him. While waiting for a litter we found an add for a beautiful 5 month old that needed to…   Continue