Training

I first used a crate as a canine management tool in the early 1980s. I was a little skeptical of the concept (Put my dog in a box? What?")

I’ve always talked to dogs – as I’m sure you do – engaging them with the usual cues, the names of favorite things and...

looking right at them

the dog may be unaware that his owner is even talking to him!üRe-teaching down

specific situation.üBaby gates

The process of teaching a dog to tolerate hugging involves either classical conditioning (giving a puppy a positive association with something she doesn't already have an opinion of), or classical counter-conditioning (giving a dog a new association with something she already has a negative opinion of). Either way, the process is similar, but it may go slower if you are working to change an existing opinion rather than simply installing one where none previously exists.

Suddenly, thanks to COVID-19, the whole world is asking the question that’s all too familiar to savvy puppy owners: “How likely is this experience...

But he does it at home!” Usually uttered in a plaintive wail, this common dog owner complaint is often heard in dog training classes, among other places. When one of my students says this, I reassure them that I believe their dog probably does perform the behavior in question with a high degree of reliability in the comfort of his own home. The fact that he won’t do it in class is usually a generalization issue; the owner has only practiced the behavior with her dog at home. He doesn’t know he’s supposed to do it other places. According to authors Mary Burch, PhD, and Jon Bailey, PhD, in their excellent book, How Dogs Learn, “Generalization occurs when behaviors are seen in contexts other than those in which they were originally trained.” Simply stated, this means practicing with your dog in different places, at different times of the day, under different conditions, in the presence of different people, dogs, and a variety of other distractions.

Most of us have had moments of anxiety in our lives, and while it’s not fun, most of us survive those moments and get...

Vibration collars are frequently suggested as a good tool for communicating with hearing-impaired dogs. I hadn’t had much experience with them, so when I...

Stunt dog trainer/performer and author Kyra Sundance has created an entire program around teaching dogs to do tricks. Trainers can become Certified Trick Dog Instructors (CTDI), and dog owners can earn titles at five levels by having a witness sign the Trick Dog Performance Form found on Sundance's website. To achieve the various levels, you simply need your dog to perform enough tricks from Sundance's Tricks List to meet the requirements for that level: …

we start with shaping that behavior and backchain to the completed "Fetch" behavior.üGradually