There’s no doubt we want nothing but the best for our dogs. Sometimes what we term as “the best” for our dogs can often be translated to what allows our dogs maximum freedom, particularly at home. For example, freedom to run in a fenced yard, freedom from having to be in the crate while we’re gone, freedom to go in and outside through a doggy door whenever they want are all highly desired by pet parents. Indeed, there’s no timelier discussion as we just celebrated our country’s freedom and independence. The Importance of Freedom Lots of reasons come to mind why we set goals of freedom for our dogs. First of all, freedom equals fun, and who doesn’t want to have fun? We want to run, play and bask in the sun in our time off. What dog wouldn’t want that, too? Freedom for our dogs often means convenience for … Read More
Is It Time to Make a Doggy Resolution?
Well, well, well, here we are… at the end of another year. Was it a year filled with music, flowers, friends and family? If your answer was a resounding yes, fantastic. If your answer was yes – but the music was on to drown out the endless barking, the flowers were continually knocked over by an expert counter-surfer, and your friends and family have been jumped on so many times this year that now they refuse to come over next year – then not so fantastic, right? Celebrating a new year marks the symbolic end of a great journey in our lives. Sure, it was only one calendar year. But the best part about celebrating a new year is the renewed hope that, even though things may not have been great in the past year, there is a chance that things can start anew… fresh… unspoiled. It’s time to put … Read More
Functional Cues: Get Your Dog “Away” From You!…
…And away from your friends, your family, the pizza on the kitchen counter, the ice cream cone in your child’s hand and the unstable neighbor dog. Great effort has always been placed on training your dog to come to you. It’s even very common these days to see training classes specifically dedicated to “Training a Great Recall,” or getting your dog to come to you on cue, especially amidst distractions. And rightly so. This could be the single most important thing that you instill in your dog, and could very well be a lifesaver in an emergency situation. With all the emphasis on asking dogs to come to us, I believe that it might be arguably as important to train your dog to move away. Have you ever been bombarded by a pogo puppy immediately upon entering the house from a long day at work? Boing! Boing! Boing! Have you … Read More
Positive Interruptor… or Just Good Spin?
When I first learned about clicker-training, I must say that I had to question if clicker and positive trainers were agreeing with some of the same concepts as traditional and balanced trainers, just using more “politically correct” verbiage to make the point. Concepts like Direction vs. Discipline, No Reward Marker vs. Correction and Treat Placement vs. Luring left me wondering why we bothered to split so many terminological hairs. Having a career in marketing and sales, of course I am one to recognize and relish in some impressive spin when I hear it. Before I’m quickly run out of the positive dog training community, please let me attempt to explain myself… Having learned of – and unfortunately utilized – corrective methods in the past, it was going to take some solid proof before someone convinced me that you do not need positive punishment, or adding an aversive like a collar … Read More