Impulse Control

Whether you have a pup with normal puppy energy or an obstreperous teenager who has good manners lessons to catch up on, clicker training can be a magically effective and gentle way to convince a dog to calm down. No yelling, no physical punishment; just clicks and treats for any pause in the action. That said, the biggest challenge with a hyper" dog is that any praise or reward may cause her to begin bouncing off the walls again. It is nearly impossible to deliver a treat to an excitable dog while she is still in the act of being calm. By the time you get the treat to her mouth she is once again doing her Tasmanian devil act."

Wood chewing is fraught with potential veterinary emergencies, from splinters in the mouth to pieces lodged in the gastrointestinal tract and more. So even though it's natures favorite chew toy it shouldn't be your dogs.

position a mat or bed near you, and invite your dog to lie down there. You can use a food lure to encourage her to rock onto one hip and mark this posture (with the click of a clicker or a verbal marker such as the word Yes!") and a reward.üReward her with small bits of tasty treats for initially short

Most dog owners are pleased when their dogs are calm - even the owners of high-energy competition and working dogs, when those dogs are "off-duty." Some owners may go to great - sometimes misguided - lengths to achieve the coveted calm condition. Humans who understand the appropriate way to help a dog learn to be calm can make the difference between the canine companion who finds a lifelong loving home, and the one who ends up - sometimes several times in his life - gazing sadly out from the chain-link kennels of an animal shelter. Calm is a highly valued, hard-won, and sometimes transitory state in our own household. With four dogs in the Miller pack, two of them proud representatives of the herding group, calm is something we have to work at. We use the time-honored recipe of exercise, management, and training (and of course, lots of love) to help our canine family members be a peaceable pack.

It's true that dogs like Australian Shepherds, a breed commonly referred to as high drive" and thought of as "needing to work

The perfect storm, canine edition: Combine one dog who is accustomed to and prefers spending time outdoors; a spate of hot, dry weather; a lush, productive garden full of herbs and tomato plants growing in raised boxes full of expensive, loamy soil and moistened three times daily by an automatic drip system. What do you get? Holes dug in the garden and an irate husband! Our new dog, Otto, nearly made himself quite unwelcome on his second day in our home. Every time I turned around, I'd find him digging in any place we'd recently watered, including the lawn, a flowerbed in front of the house, underneath a gorgeous hydrangea bush that's already hard-pressed to survive our hot summers, and, most seriously, the vegetable beds in back. Can't you train this dog not to dig?" my husband implored. But this wasn't a training issue; I've been trained enough by Pat Miller and our other contributing trainer/writers to recognize a management situation when I see it!"

These are too-common refrains of guardians of dogs who are bouncing off the walls: "She has way too much energy!" "This dog is out of control!" "I've had enough of this crazy dog, he's a maniac!" You can love your dog to pieces, but if his behavior is unruly, it can be very hard to live with on a steady basis. One of the most common reasons dogs are released to shelters is because they are out of control. Hyperactive dogs are frequently difficult for their owners to enjoy. Surviving this situation may stressful for you, your family, guests - and the dogs themselves. The first step is to have the dog evaluated by your trusted holistic veterinarian, to determine if there is any underlying medical condition. Hyperactivity, also called "hyperkinesis," actually can be the result of a medical condition that is characterized by frantic behavior, incessant movement resulting in exhaustion, a consistent elevated heart rate, panting, loss of weight, vomiting, and increased appetite or loss of appetite. Canine compulsive disorders such as tail-chasing, self-mutilation, and other nonproductive, repetitive behaviors are usually considered forms of hyperactivity.

Also called compulsive behavior disorder, this is a mental health disorder characterized by the excessive performance of repetitive behaviors that don't serve any apparent purpose

Are dogs digging in search of invasive creatures like gophers and voles? Are they doing it because perhaps once upon a time, a bone was buried there? Are they doing it just because it’s fun, like a child digging in a sandpile? It may be all of the above.

We’ve all seen human babies sucking on pacifiers, their thumbs, or even on blankets and child experts tell us that this kind of instinctive sucking calms babies and makes them feel more secure. The same is likely true for dogs who can suffer from anxiety and stress.

Dogs are a predatory species. While cats think of themselves as predators, dogs often think of cats as prey. Still, many canines and felines live together in happy harmony. If yours don’t, here are some things to do when Fido chases Felix. Separate dog and cat when you’re not there to supervise. You need to protect your cat from injury or possible death, and you want to prevent your dog from practicing the unwanted chasing behavior. Depending on the intensity of the chasing behavior, you may want your cat behind a solid door when you’re away to ensure protection, or baby gates may be enough to give kitty safe zones to use as she chooses. When you are there to supervise, you still need to manage your dog so he doesn’t get reinforced for chasing the cat. Having something run away when you chase it is highly reinforcing to a dog with strong predatory behaviors.

An intact dog will go through a heat cycle twice a year. Comforting a dog in heat requires patience and keeping a dog that is confined indoors engaged.