We had an interesting discussion a week ago. Despite the wolf dog relationship has been disproved for over 15 years the belief in the ‘dominance’ or ‘alpha’ theory is still entrenched firmly in today’s dog training world. I tried to keep emotions out of this article, and relate the research in a way that can be validated, online. Wild dogs live in families, not the ‘packs’ that we believe. These families do not have an…   Continue

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

Almost every dog training facility has a puppy socialization class. But not all of these classes are created equal. Not all classes achieve what you want them to. The problem is that everyone has a basic idea of what they want to accomplish, but the average dog owner does not know how to go from point A to point B. Objectives of Puppy Socialization To prevent aggressive or nervous behavior problems To build confidence in…   Continue