House Rules & Good Manners

mark the desired behavior with the click of a clicker (or the word "Yes!") and feed him a different treat.üPractice "Leave it!" with everything your dog likes in real life: food

There's a method to keeping your dogs off the furniture if you don't want them there. I personally love a dog on my lap or under my arm when I'm sitting on the sofa. Not only do I enjoy the cuddling, I also get cold easily and love the warmth of dog bodies next to me. In our home, we keep the furniture covered with blankets for easy removal when company comes (dog hair begone!) and both dogs are taught to get off and/or stay off when asked to do so.

passing by humans and/or dogs without fussing or pulling. Don't expect this to happen without practicing and rewarding your dog for the behavior you want!üThanks to Ally Padgett and Rosi Garcia (above)

Recently, I switched the group class format at my Peaceable Paws Training Center to Levels." Instead of a progressive curriculum with new exercises introduced each week

For almost any challenging dog event there are at least five relatively easy things you can do to defuse the crisis and reduce the likelihood of a return engagement of the unwanted behavior. Action Plan" is a new column that will offer five simple solutions for one common undesirable dog behavior. Feel free to suggest your favorites!"

Training a dog to "drop it!" is extremely useful, but what about when you're dealing with a resource-guarding dog, or a dog who insists...

You may think of it simply as a convenient vessel, useful for keeping your dog's food gathered in one place, off the floor. Your dog probably has a very different perspective. For him, the bowl is likely to be a high value object of great import, especially if he's a hearty eater. In this magical dish, one or more times a day FOOD appears.

I have a 1 1/2 year old Labrador Retriever. She is very smart – and very stubborn! My husband and I have been to puppy school, obedience school and we have also worked with a personal trainer. She does the “normal” puppy things – jumping up when I come home from work and when people come to visit, etc. But one of the reasons we went to the trainer was because she seemed to be exhibiting some aggressive tendencies.

you are in for a lot more of the same."

and matching leash all get softer with time and laundering. I like the extra large D-ring for snapping the leash onto.

Theres a significant difference between professional dog trainers and many dog owners: Owners tend to react to things the dog has done that they dont like; in their minds, this reaction is what might be called training. In contrast, trainers set up situations so that their canine pupils dont have any opportunities to practice undesired behaviors, and actively teach dogs how rewarding it is to perform desirable alternative behaviors, instead.

It's fairly common for dogs to be placed for adoption with a caveat that there should be no cats