Training

Flyball racing is fast and furious. Most of all, it's a great time for both dogs and people! The first time I saw Flyball

There are lots of bad and even dangerous trainers out there. Here’s how to find a qualified training and behavior professional.

Here are some of our favorite brain activities to help you and your dog survive the coronavirus shutdown.

Green Light is an easy way to add fun training to a neighborhood walk.üUse the environment as an obstacle course! If your dog is physically able

There is absolutely no evidence, not one bit, suggesting that providing comfort and security to a distressed dog causes the dogs anxiety or fear to increase. Why then, does this myth persist among dog owners and even with some trainers? Why are owners still advised to ignore their dog when he is distressed or anxious or fearful, as if providing any attention to the dog will reinforce those emotions?

Summer! It's the perfect time for dock diving. In this canine sport (also known as dock jumping), the participating dog jumps off an elevated diving platform into a portable pool and the dog with the longest jump is deemed the winner. I think dock diving is possibly the best canine sport for spectator enjoyment. And, if you decide to compete, you can easily redline the FUN meter! Besides the joy of hanging out with my dog by a cool body of water, the one thing I love about the sport is that with just a few dog and handler skills, any person and any breed of dog and size of dog can participate.

however.üMany small dogs reflexively resist being picked up

Why the words you use make a difference in your relationship with your dog – and perhaps even the success of your dog training program.

When Orbit came into one of the classes I offer for puppies and their owners, in Santa Cruz, California, he was in most ways...

The way to teach your dog to check in" with you frequently is to heavily and frequently reinforce this behavior – first

I used to show my dogs in competitive obedience. In the beginning, the opportunity to earn obedience titles and show off my dog's training appealed to me greatly. But as I evolved toward positive training methods and a more fulfilling relationship with my dogs, the military precision of the show ring lost its charm. I realized that it made no sense to have a relationship with my canine pals based on warm interaction and communication outside the ring, only to march in cold silence next to my dogs inside the ring. I stopped showing and turned my efforts toward family dog training and activities that were more fun and flexible, like agility and canine freestyle.

Great job to all of you amateur and professional dog trainers! Developing these skills in our dogs takes – first and foremost – an owner who is interacting with her dog and paying attention to what the dog says" in the conversation. That's the very foundation of a good relationship between two individuals of any species! The following are some of my favorite submissions from among the hundreds that Whole Dog Journal subscribers sent in – including one selected at random to win one of my books! We had to make a random selection; there were too many great submissions to choose "the best" one!"