Walking Toward A Goal On any walking route, certain places are especially attractive to dogs. When dogs near those places, their excitement increases and the urge to pull is strong. You can use those places both as walking goals and training rewards. Start toward the attractive goal, such as a bush or clump of grass […]
Commercial Dog Food – Is The Recent Pet Food Recall Finally Smartening People Up?
Commercial pet food is a multi-billion-dollar industry that seems to grow in sales each year that goes by. What is happening here, are more animals being adopted or are more pet owners being sold on the idea that dogs absolutely must eat dog food in order to be healthy? Surprisingly, the answer is the latter […]
Loose-Leash Training: The Most Effective Way To Train Your Dog (Part 2)
When you put a leash on your puppy, can you go for a pleasant walk around the block, or is it more of a drag? Walks do not have to turn into a tug-of-war with your puppy. Train your little friend loose-leash skills by using these expert techniques. Polite Vs. Free Walk The reason loose-leash […]
Are Puppy Kindergarten Classes Necessary? You Be The Judge (Part 1)
It’s time you make the right decision and enroll your pup into puppy school. Take the following example from a friend of mine, Jim Bonza: “Just before my neighbor’s 100-pound, 9-month-old chocolate Labrador Retriever was about the be thrown away to the nearest animal shelter for doing what comes natural – jumping up on everyone, […]
Loose-Leash Training: The Most Effective Way To Train Your Dog (Part 1)
Dogs like to explore scents, sounds and sights, and tend to pursue those interests with enthusiasm – even when that means towing a human behind! While your pup is young and small, leash pulling might not bother you, but the habit will grow as your dog matures. If adults of your pup’s breed are large […]
Canine Hip Dysplasia (Part 1)
The growing popularity of larger breeds of dogs has brought with it a threat of a crippling disease of the hip joints known as hip dysplasia. This disease was first described in the United States back in the 1930s. Research has produced abundant information on hip dysplasia, but many questions still remain unanswered. It is […]
Leash Training 101: Try Using Food Instead Of A Clicker
Though clicker training garners results with leash training, not everyone is comfortable with it. Personally, I do not use a clicker when training my dogs. I prefer to keep the rewards mixed. A rub, praise, toy or food can be intermixed as rewards when you get the response you want. Food is great for luring […]
City Dog Housetraining (Part 3): Choosing The Appropriate Outside Potty Area
The key to training your dog to go from using the bathroom on a pile of papers in your apartment, to holding it in and using an outdoor spot, takes a little common sense and some outdoor etiquette. Going from the papers to the outside means you need to carry your puppy to the right […]
Leash Training 101: The Golden Rule
The majority of dog owners address the issue of leash training only once it becomes a problem. In the beginning, when walking their dog, they initially think it’s “cute” that a puppy pulls away the entire walk to the park because, they think, that the dog “just can’t wait to play with its ball”. But […]
Aggression – What is Territorial Aggression & Why Does It Make A Dog So Angry?
All dogs have one form of aggression or another and to some degree, it is perfectly natural. However, since our pets are domesticated then there is a certain level of calmness that we should expect from them. The most common aggression behavioral problem that dogs display is called “territorial aggression”. To sum up the definition […]
