Recently my husband Kelly and I passed up a chance to go someplace special on the spur of the moment because we would have been away all day till maybe 11 at night. We didn’t want the dogs to have to wait outside that late for their dinners and usual places in the house, and there wasn’t time to get a pet sitter or neighbor to come by.

I felt a momentary pang of regret that I couldn’t run off and have fun like “normal” people,  but really to feel balanced I need a lot of time home alone with my dogs and quiet husband. (That’s LarryDog, poster child for this website, about to get a treat for sitting.)

And I got to thinking about how having dogs has shaped the choices that I’ve made, or that Kelly and I have made, over our years together. Where we’ve lived, how we’ve traveled, even our choice to run a home-based business… all have been decisions where our dogs were part of the picture.

When we were considering adding a Rottweiler to the family last year, I said something to Kelly about how that could limit our housing choices in the future. He pointed out that we’ve always owned our homes and that we have always had pretty big yards too. With Lola’s soft brown eyes on us as we decided her future, we took her home right then and haven’t regretted it. Not even when she dug up all our carrots and ate them. Read the rest of this entry

Dogs love fun. Who can doubt it, watching a group of dogs running joyously across a field or dog park?  Today’s dog training tip is simple: play with your dogs.

There is a movement afoot to encourage us to play with our dogs. New books and DVDs are coming out, and training experts are suggesting that we lighten up and play. Great advice for most humans, I’d say, and most dogs could have told us that in the first place. In this tip, I’m talking about human-dog play, but dog-dog play is also valuable for our canine friends.

So how can you use play in training? Here are two ways: Read the rest of this entry

Dee Ganley’s Changing People, Changing Dogs: Positive Solutions for Difficult Dogs was a self-published book that Dogwise has just brought out in a new edition. Many trainers use it, particularly since it contains many clearly explained exercises that help difficult dogs.

What’s a difficult dog? I suppose it’s any dog that someone gets exasperated with, but generally the term includes dogs who don’t learn as well because they lack normal control of their actions, or because their self-confidence is diminished.

This revised edition has new exercises and photos. It’s crammed with easy-to-read and easy-to-implement strategies, techniques, exercises and games, Dee walks the reader through over fifty methods of addressing canine fear and aggression. The simple and effective exercises will have you and your dog(or your clients and their dogs) well on the way to a happy relationship. Strictly positive methods!

This book covers a lot of ground, with sections on:

• Training equipment
• Toys and chews for environmental enrichment and play
• Canine communication
• How dogs learn
• How to assess a dog for training and behavior work
• A few case studies.

What Others are Saying 

“A good third of the book is an appendix giving step by step, detailed and clearly explained instructions for numerous exercises. Two of the self-control exercises that I use with clients almost daily are the Settle: Relaxed Down on Lead, and the Find It Game”. – Carolyn Clark, M. A. Director of Centre for Applied Canine Behavior

Having had more than one difficult dog myself, I was pleased to see this emphasis. Click on the image to go to Dogwise. I looked at Amazon, but when I was there, they only had the older self-published version so I didn’t bother making a link. (By the way, if you have that one, Dogwise says this one isn’t different enough to warrant buying their version.)

A week from today will be Christmas, and there are other big holidays around now too. Will your puppy or dog have as much fun as you hope to? It’s up to you.

If you are getting a new puppy, Christmas morning isn’t a great time. Kids are excited, presents are being opened, maybe you are leaving the house for a church service or having a big chaotic brunch with other family members. This is not a scenario that leads to careful attention to the little puppy’s fitting into your family.

Later in the afternoon or the next day would be a better time to get the new puppy. Of course, if the puppy is for someone who lives alone and will be alone on the holiday, then the puppy might be just perfect. But never give a puppy as a surprise.

What about the puppies or dogs already in your family? If you will be having guests over, be sure to take the dog for a walk or otherwise give him enough exercise that he’ll be more relaxed. If chocolate candies will be out, remember that chocolate is harmful to dogs and can even kill them. If the dog is friendly and will not jump up too much, he can take part in the festivities, but someone needs to be sure he doesn’t slip out the door when it’s open.

If you will be taking your dog with you to a friend or relative’s house, be sure you have his leash and that someone in your family is the designated dog-watcher. If the dog will be staying home while you go out to party, leave him in a safe place, perhaps with a Kong stuffed with goodies to while away the time. (That link takes you to a page where I describe this versatile toy.)

Of course, all these tips are true all year round, but sometimes in the excitement of festivities, we forget them.

Happy holidays to your dogs, your other animals, and you!