A lot of obedience classes teach pattern training. You are asked to have your dog complete an exercise in a specific manner, repeatedly. The dog learns the routine and by the end of the obedience course your dog can do the exercise. At least, it can do it in your home, or at the dog training center. Your dog may even be the star pupil at the training center. The problem with pattern training isn’t…   Continue

When a puppy reaches 6 months, and again, 9 months, they have major changes in how they behave. Many people have the ‘perfect puppy until it reaches one of these developmental stages, then ‘all hell breaks loose.’ The problem is that the puppy is now taking all the freedom, play, and excitement you’ve allowed it to have and using it to build survival skills: hunting, fighting, running, foraging, etc..  One of the most overlooked, and…   Continue

There are many ‘world class’ agility training centers in London Ontario. We have seen many local dogs go to the Nationals. There are local judges and coaches. Not to forget mentioning MAC , Details, and Oxford. This has given us an excellent opportunity to train our dogs well. We also have skilled physiotherapists, massage therapists, and chiropractors in the area to help us keep our dogs in peak condition. But there is more to raising a…   Continue

The dog world has been offering proof that the alpha dog theory is a myth, and that doing alpha rolls and forceful, dominant corrections are nothing more than bullying the dog. The first proof came when people realized that 70-80% of all dogs on earth live wild. So, instead of putting dogs and wolves in confinement and trying to study ‘natural’ behavior, researchers go in the wild to see what real canine behavior looks like….   Continue

Frustration Tolerance (FT) is low in dogs with aggression or reactive problems. I am not discounting the fact that they may be fearful, or stressed. Yes, trigger stacking does play a major part in the problem. But, there is (almost always) a low frustration tolerance level in the dog. The problem is that most dog training methods are unaware, or ignore the problem of frustration tolerance. They dismiss its impact on anger, predator drift, and…   Continue