It amazes me that there are still people who want to use a choker collar and punitive measures when training. With the wealth of research and the number of case studies the question shouldn’t be, ‘do I want to use a clicker’ when training. It should be ‘how well do I want my dog to behave?’ Clickers are not magic. All they do is capture a behavior, repeatedly, and increase the chances of that behavior…   Continue

When people ask me this question the first response is because you haven’t taught the dog to heel. Putting a choker collar on a dog and punishing it when it moves away from you doesn’t teach the dog to heel. Dragging the dog around by the leash doesn’t teach the dog to heel. First we need to address the handler – You. Do you know what heel means? Before you start teaching a dog to…   Continue

I think that everyone with a reactive dog wonders if they are part of the problem. Sometimes the answer is, yes. Other times the answer is, no.  To answer this question properly we need to explore a lot of factors. What does it mean when a dog is reactive? It means that it reacts in a way that is unacceptable in today’s urban environment. So the German Shepherd who wants to keep all dogs away…   Continue

The working breeds make amazing pets and are well adapted to urban life. They do have more needs than a house dog, but the more you invest into your working or herding breed, the more you will get back. Our course for training working dogs is designed to help you learn to handle a dog, speak its language, and learn to communicate in a way your dog understands. It is easier to train puppies, but…   Continue

People tend to have cognitive thoughts and memories. “Why didn’t I buy the red car?” “I should rent the red brick house.” Dogs have more reactive, or recall thoughts and memories. Sights, odors, textures and sounds can all contribute to reactive responses from dogs. In this article, I address anxiety, particularly separation anxiety in dogs, and how we humans create much of the reactionary issues. Most anxiety in dogs is the product of our human…   Continue