Corrections: A Major Dog Trainer Frustration
I am very careful introducing corrections to dog owners, not because the dogs at that point don’t need it, but because some people can’t be trusted to carefully implement proper corrections once I’m not there to supervise. Some people go over the top and go way beyond the homework and do things I would consider […]
A Picture Trained Dog?
Do you have a picture trained dog? How can you tell if your dog being trained appropriately? It is important to understand the answer. How can you tell if a dog is trained or getting properly trained? In practical terms, when you give your dog a command, is there a high probability your dog will […]
New Dog Gurus Same As The Old Dog Gurus
Every few years a new celebrity dog trainer guru pops up, makes a boatload of money, while at the same time doing things to dogs that many, including myself, consider to be awful. These gurus blow oxygen back onto the dying embers of bad dog methods. Unsuspecting and vulnerable dog owners, and their dogs, are […]
The Rescue Dog Training Puzzle
I’m volunteering my time to work with rescued dogs. Some dogs need special attention to help make them adoptable. I worked with such a dog this morning. After several weeks of lessons, once per week, it is becoming obvious he needs to be in a foster situation where I can give the foster volunteer specific […]
Trauma Creates Fearful Dogs
I meet a lot of fearful dogs. These range from dogs that are mildly afraid of some situations to dogs that are too dangerous to own. Most fears we are concerned about have been manufactured. It is not unusual or abnormal for a dog to be afraid of some things. There are many natural danger […]
Dog Training With Injured Dogs
One of my students has a young adult, male, Airedale mix. From a distance, he looks more like a Dalmatian, but up close you can see and feel he has much coarser coat. He has turned out to be a very good working dog, and his owner has done a great job with the training […]
The Dog Ate Your Homework And Other Confusing Stories
Why do students hire a good dog trainer, not do the required homework, and then opt for a solution that is worse for the dog than what they were doing before hiring anyone? I have puzzled on this for a long time. The dog needs help, the dog lives with the owner, the owner is […]
Dog Memory Problems, Fear And Aggression
I have worked with many dogs that never recognize certain people, regardless of how many times they have met. They will sniff and react to them on every encounter as if they were strangers. This can be quite frustrating when you live with a dog that acts as if it doesn’t recognize someone in the […]
Stoned Apes And Wolf Dogs
There is a theory that claims humans evolved from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens because of the consumption of psilocybin mushrooms. There are also several theories that claim that dogs evolved from wolves because of hanging around human garbage dumps. Garbage in, garbage out. A lot of what is called “science” these days are happy […]
Rescue Dog Mysteries
I like a good mystery movie. I would classify the Harry Potter series as from a mystery genre. At the beginning, you know something is going on and a deeper secret underlies the childhood innocence. What’s with that scar on his forehead? Only until the very end of the last book do you finally understand […]