Behavior

you risk "flooding" the dogs

I just talked to a potential client who is interested in bringing his 7-month-old Golden Doodle to train with us at AutumnGold. His dog, Penny, has the usual young dog issues - jumping up, a bit of nipping during play, still the occasional slip in house training, etc. Penny also raids the kitchen garbage bin, removing and shredding food wrappers, napkins, and any other paper goodies that she can find. The owner tells me that he is particularly upset about this last behavior because he is certain that Penny knows she has done wrong". He knows this because . . . wait for it . . . "Penny always looks guilty when he confronts her after the dreaded act."""

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

Competing with our Sheltie Asta at her first agility trial was an answer to our prayers. After her diagnosis, we lived with months of uncertainty about what type of life she might have. Following her lovely debut, a friend aware of Asta's condition commented on how normal" it all looked. But our path to that first agility competition was anything but "normal" because Asta has a mental illness."

The term resource-guarding" sends a chill through most canine behavior professionals. This is because they understand that the aggression a dog displays when guarding a valuable resource can lead to a serious injury to a human in any future home of that dog. And because of this

Responsible service-dog handlers aim to keep their dogs as inconspicuous as possible, and are quick to take corrective action if the dog's behavior becomes problematic. When they don't, businesses are legally allowed to ask the handler to remove the dog. While many business owners are afraid to exercise this right, not doing so has created significant problems for the disability community.

The game of leash-tug is encouraged by some agility competitors, as a reinforcer for their dogs at the end of an agility run. However, many dog owners (myself included), find it an annoying and sometimes even dangerous behavior. Here are five things you can do if you're in the latter group and would like to get your dog to stop playing leash tug:

I can't tell you how many times someone has said to me, I don't give my dog ‘people food' because I don't want him begging at the table while we're eating." If this sounds like you

apprehensive

You may have noticed that occasionally a dog comes along who seems to have a hump me" sign on his back. Particularly obvious at dog parks

Our 13-year-old Pomeranian, Scooter, loves to hump his purple stuffed bear. We find it harmless, so we don't try to stop him, though, honestly, he doesn't get that many opportunities to practice the behavior. His intimate bear-time is limited because our Corgi, Lucy, shreds stuffed animals in the blink of an eye, so Scooter only gets his bear in my training center office when Lucy isn't around, which isn't all that often. But there are many dogs whose mounting behavior is more disturbing because it embarrasses their humans, offends observers, or worse, distresses the person or other animal who is the unfortunate humpee of the moment.

specific situation.üBaby gates