I had an interesting call today. The woman on the other line wanted an assessment done on her mastiff type breed. After a few initial questions it was clear that the dog had bitten someone. The woman wanted the assessment to take to court and prove that her dog wouldn’t bite unprovoked. This is not the purpose of an assessment. The assessment is a training tool. It is used to measure a dog’s reactions in…   Continue

“I want an obedient dog.”  I hear this statement 20 times a month. People come to me and want me to magically turn their dog into a super dog. But before I can do this I need to understand what they mean. I want an obedient dog: I want a dog who I can ignore all day but will still do what I say I want a dog that is invisible in my life until…   Continue

Your puppy is a sweet bundle of fur, full of kisses and just so cute. Three weeks later it is a destructive, aggressive monster. What happened? Two things happen when you bring a puppy home. First, you can shape the puppies behavior. You can teach it how to behave in an urban environment. You can teach it that squirrels are not prey. And, you can teach the puppy that people are to be obeyed. Second,…   Continue

Everyone who has a reactive dog wants to help them. I have met very few people who do not want to put the effort in to give their dog a better life. Even if your motives are to prevent a lawsuit your efforts will improve your lifestyle and your dog’s. There are some good programs in the London and Toronto areas. There are some good behaviorists and trainers, but there are also some bad.  Even…   Continue

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