For a very good guide to all sorts of dog training processes and dog behavior challenges, I use and recommend Clickertraining ...that link goes to the description of this terrific ebook you download immediately, wherever you are! -- Rosana

Why do dogs do the things they do? I often wonder about that. (I wonder it about people too but we won’t go into that just now.)

So I was interested to find out that a lot of other people wonder that too. (Dogs. Still not touching the hot potato of human behavior.)

Dogwise, the topnotch online dog bookseller and publisher, has analyzed what their customers buy and noticed that dog behavior is “right up there” with dog training methods. They say that whenever a leading dog behaviorist comes out with a new book, odds are that the book will become one of their best sellers.

Somebody at Dogwise  looked at the sources these current books refer to, and compiled a list of dog behavior books that are frequently drawn on. Read the rest of this entry

When Pigs Fly! Training Success with Impossible Dogs… Control Unleashed… Learning Games… Oh Behave!… How to Run a Dog Business… These are the top sellers at Dogwise for the first half of this year. (What, this year is more than half over? How did that happen?)

When Pigs Fly! Training Success with Impossible Dogs, by Jane Killion, explains how to use clicker and Read the rest of this entry

Clicker training and agility have a lot in common — they are both lots of fun –  and Click and Play Agility, by Angelica Steinker, brings the two worlds together. But even if you don’t do agility, the book has a lot of good ideas for ways to play with your dog.

Be warned, though, that it may get you interested in doing agility with your puppy or dog. That happened to Jean Donaldson, author of The Culture Clash and other books, who said, “This book made me want to immediately start doing agility! A fabulous weaving of learning theory into the latest agility teaching technology. The games and proofing exercises are truly first-rate.”

Angelica Steinker, author of Click and Play Agility, starts the book out by saying, “If I had the opportunity to live my life as a dog, I’d be a Border Collie.” Why? She explains that “Working and learning are addictive to me.” This thorough book shows that even if she is doomed to remain a human, she did bring boundless, Border Collie-like energy to the task of writing this book. (I’ve written several books myself, and I must be one of those breeds that takes a lot of sofa breaks!)

She describes numerous games, organized in what she calls the click and play pyramid: attention, consistency, attitude and motivation, self-control, and win-win. The back book cover describes this pyramid:

The Click and Play Pyramid is made up of five layers. The bottom layer, which everything else builds on, is attention. The dog gives the handler attention and vice versa. Consistency—the next layer—is critical to the dog’s learning process. Without consistency, the dog’s learning is slowed or stopped. Consistency leads to the next layer, which is attitude and motivation. Are both you and your dog having fun? Fun can be exciting, and excitement can lead to issues with self-control. Self-control is the fourth layer. Both dog and handler’s self-control are critical to an agility team’s success. The pinnacle of the pyramid is the concept of win/win training. Ideally, in all interactions both the handler and the dog win. Use this book and the Click and Play Pyramid concepts to help you and your dog become the best agility team you can be!

People who have actually used the book are very enthusiastic about how it brings clicker training and agility training together, in ways that are great fun. It even has some charts you can use for keeping track of your progress! To read reviews of the book at Dogwise, and to get it if you decide to, click on the image of the book cover… and I promise you won’t find yourself turned into a Border Collie!

(Umm, can I really promise that?)

(Here is a link to Click and Play Agility at Amazon, but when I was there, they didn’t carry the book… just had a used copy.)

Summertime coming up! And thousands upon thousands of family dogs will pile in the car, maybe with the kids (and sometimes the cat or hamster) and head out to go camping, visit Grandma or in reverse visit the grandkids, or just to have a good time. Some dog training in advance will help everyone have more fun and be safer.

First, brush up on the good old basics: sit, stay, down, come. You may well be using them every day at home, but an interesting thing about how dogs learn is that it tends to be very location-specific. In other words, if Fluffy sits beautifully in the kitchen, she may not when outside on the patio, let alone in a completely unfamiliar situation with distractions.

So do some very simple training, on these basics, but with a twist: do it in a variety of places. Even if you live in a tiny apartment, you can probably find spots where you have never asked the dog to stay. And when you go out for walks, ask your dog to sit now and then. When you ask for the down, select locations where the dog is likely to be willing to do it, as many dogs are reluctant to lie down if they feel insecure in a particular place. With some practice, the dog will be more willing to lie down in a wider variety of places. Then when you travel with your dog, you will have more confidence.

If your dog does not come reliably — and in my experience, very few dogs really always do — then vacation is not a time to risk off-leash, unfenced roaming unless you really know the circumstances. I like extendable leashes for good walks. Check to be sure whatever leashes you plan to take are in good condition, and that the dog’s collar is sturdy and not wearing out. By the way, I am a huge fan of the Really Reliable Recall… that link explains it on my website.

Also be sure that his ID tags are legible — sometimes, after a lot of wear, they can become very hard to read. Also be sure they have the right address and phone on them… have you moved? If you want new dog tags, you can usually get them, online or locally, inexpensively and quickly. Next time we have new tags made, I am going to have my email address included! If your dog takes any meds, have enough with you, plus enough of the dog food he is used to.

Another aspect of training to consider is your dog or puppy’s potty training level. If you are still housetraining, then you will want to have cleanup supplies along. Something else that can surprise people is that if a dog or puppy is potty trained to do his business on the grass, he may be very reluctant to go potty if there is only cement and gravel at a spot where you have lunch. So before you leave, be sure he’s versatile. (And that you have some bags along. You know what for.)

Here’s a book to help you get ready for travel in many ways: The Well- Mannered Dog: From Dealing with Cats to Staying in Hotels, a Total Guide to Good Manners, by Matthew Hoffman. From dealing with cats to staying in hotels, a total guide to good manners for the owner and dog who don’t want to compete for titles, but want to hear people say, “What a well behaved dog!” Basic good manners at home, when traveling, visiting, meeting other animals, etc. Practical advice, positive training methods, fully illustrated in color.

Another useful book is The Canine Hiker’s Bible, by Doug Gelbert. It offers descriptions of over 225 parks and trails in the US and Canada – with rules for dogs in 100 of the most-visited national lands in the US; rules for state and provincial parks; rules for dogs at over 1300 beaches and 500+ beach towns on the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, Pacific Ocean and all five Great Lakes; outfitting your dog for a hike, a canine hiker’s watch list, canine hiking in the desert, canine hiking at altitude, low impact hiking with your dog, and more.

A good webpage with lots more information of travel with dogs and how to cope with the various challenges it brings is at Squidoo: http://www.squidoo.com/travel-with-the-family-pet. If you aren’t familiar with Squidoo, anyone can write pages on any topic, and so you do get a mixed bag in terms of quality. This one is very good.

Not Going Traveling with a Dog?

Then you might like to do a little armchair traveling and read Travels with Macy, which I have added to my own list of things to read. Veterinarian, writer and broadcaster Bruce Fogle flew to North America from the UK with Macy, his Golden Retriever, picked up a 25-year-old silver and red motorhome, and set off around the continent to experience the land, its people and any wonders that awaited them. Having decided to retrace the footsteps of John Steinbeck in his 1962 book “Travels with Charley”, Fogle was sure he would find the beauty of rural America spoiled and the people as unworldly as during his own childhood. But what he found surprised him. This is a wonderful travel adventure written with great joy and humor, exploring a land of overwhelming grandeur and people of extraordinary spirit – journey in the company of a very, very happy dog!