Crate training is well known as a tool for housetraining dogs of all ages, but I have found that its uses go far beyond that. Our five-year-old Rottweiler Lola (shown in the photo) loves her huge crate, and seeks it out frequently… except when our feisty cat Misty has taken up residence in the crate with a “make my day” attitude. Then Lola may whine as she settles down on the floor nearby to wait her turn.

Here are some of the ways that crate training is useful: Read the rest of this entry

How many routines do you have in your life that involve your dogs? I can think of seven daily habits  at our house. My point is that dogs have a very well-developed sense of what time it is, relative to what you are going to do for them!

At our house, here are the routines. Read the rest of this entry

Someone at our local public library picks out interesting dog books! I  devoured One Dog at a Time the day I brought it home. Pen Farthing is a British Royal Marine, and his tour of duty in a remote town in Afghanistan  turned out very differently than he could have imagined.

He informally adopted one dog. Then there was another. Then a pregnant bitch, then …well, I won’t give away too much. You can read more about it at Amazon by clicking on the image, or you can look around his website nowzaddogs.com to find out what is currently happening as a result of that tour of duty. I won’t give away the story by saying what is on the site. Read the rest of this entry

Do you have experience using indoor dog potties, puppy training pads on the floor, or other methods of housetraining for indoors? I would love to hear from you at the bottom of this blog post.

I’m wrapping up the first draft of my book on potty training puppies and older dogs.  The last couple of days, I have been writing the section on housetraining puppies or dogs who will be using an indoor potty, whether just in the cold winter months or year-round. Read the rest of this entry