by Guest Blogger, Caroline Wise WiseMamaBlog.com Most of our To Do lists are so long, we can’t imagine squeezing in another task. With a 6-month-old baby at home, I know this all too well. Unfortunately, our pets often suffer the consequences of our busy schedules. However, providing your dog with activity isn’t as difficult as you might think: include you pooch in the tasks you’re already doing. It doesn’t take any extra time, and it makes your dog feel like a valued part of the pack. Here are some ideas for how to include your canine in your daily activities. 1. Running the Stairs An exercised dog is a happy dog. One easy way to provide that exercise is to invite your dog to run up and down the stairs with you as you complete your normal housework. Every time I head to the basement to change the laundry, my … Read More
Park and Trail Tips for Walking with Your Dog
The spring and summer months and the glorious weather and sunshine that they bring are welcome relief after such a long and gloomy winter. The better weather just begs for you to get out to the local parks with your dog. But before you hit the parks and trails, just remember these tips to make your trip both enjoyable and safe. 1. Bring water for your dog. Although most parks are very dog-friendly and do provide drinking fountains (and even doggy-height drinking fountains), depending on long your outing will be, be sure to bring your own water and water receptacle for your dog. There are many portable options including collapsible bowls and water bottle/bowl kits. Dogs can become dangerously dehydrated and you don’t want to be caught without water, when needed. 2. Be aware of other dogs. Just because a dog is out in public, don’t assume that they are … Read More
Multi-Part Series: Loose Leash Walking – Part 2
Welcome back to the multi-part series on training your dog to walk on a loose leash. As mentioned in Part 1, it’s important for you to decide what your training goals are before you start training. In many situations, owners are content to put their dog on special equipment, like a no-pull harness or a head collar to minimize pulling. Some owners would like to be able to walk their dog eventually on a regular collar, without any special equipment. If you fall into the latter category, then read on! Terminology Before training begins, it’s important to review some training terminology. Positive training techniques often rely on the use of a behavior marker. A marker – usually in the form of a sound – identifies for the dog the exact moment that they did something correct, and signifies that some form of reinforcement or reward is forthcoming very soon. This … Read More
Multi-Part Series: Loose Leash Walking – Part 1
In my professional dog training opinion, loose leash walking with your dog is one of the most difficult things you might ever have to teach your dog. If there was one key to training a dog well, it’s consistency, of course. Therefore, if you live with any other people in your home (like most of us do!) and those people aren’t 100% on board with your training, this might be a challenge. Sometimes the even bigger challenge is maintaining consistency with ourselves. Remembering to do the exact same thing over and over and over again can become boring, so we humans like to mix it up sometimes. This may or may not be a good learning technique for certain dogs. Also, as we begin to see success with our dogs, we tend to become more lax in our training criteria and the learning curve in our dogs can begin to … Read More
Too Many Treats Will Definitely Make Your Dog Fat
As a positive trainer, and more specifically a clicker trainer, clients and students will say to me that they don’t want to train their dogs with treats. After some discussion including the benefits of training their dog with treats, it’s also revealed many times that they don’t want their dog to become fat. I can’t admit enough how valid of a concern this is when training your dog with treats. Any dog trainer that would contradict the concern is perhaps misinformed, or holds the secret to effortless weight loss. In that case, I’d love to talk to them! Overall though, I don’t believe there is a trainer out there who would dispute the fact that 1) more food equals more calories and 2) additional calories, without additional exercise, equals more weight. There you have it… The student is right. Guess they’d better not train their dog then. (Can you … Read More