Are you training your dog something but running into problems with it? There can be a variety of reasons, and a variety of solutions for this common situation. Here I want to talk about one solution.

This came up this week, as I was emailing with a woman who recently adopted a rescue dog. The dog is wonderful in most ways but did come with some emotional baggage. For some reason, she gets frightened when her new person tells her, “Lay down.”

I suggested that she try a new phrase, one that doesn’t sound like lay or like down. Nor should it should like sit, stay, or other common training words. The word that came to my mind that she could use to teach the dog to lie down was… Read the rest of this entry

Does your dog do a long sit or a long down, where you tell the dog to sit or to go down, and then you say stay and disappear for a short while?

Our Rottweiler Lola has gotten much better at the long sit in the past couple of months. It’s been a long winter here in Colorado, and our dogs are a bit fatter and lazier for it. We walk them twice a day in practically all weather, but they haven’t chosen to spend so much time outside in the fenced yard. Nope, they have just been lounging on their beds while Kelly and I have been writing a lot on our computers.

One day, inspiration struck and I invented a game. It’s called Lola, Where’s Your Toy? Read the rest of this entry

I may be a bit late in announcing that January is National Train Your Dog Month, but here is a nice website about this project: http://www.trainyourdogmonth.com — this is sponsored by the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, a terrific organization that I belong to. Members are committed to positive, pain-free methods. Anyway, on the Train Your Dog Month site, there are interesting stories and training tips.

Here’s a story on that site about a puppy named Callie who was biting her new owners so much they couldn’t get anywhere with her, till the trainer showed them some things.

I am still neglecting this blog while the local public library district gets going, with me on the board. This blog isn’t the only thing I am neglecting right now… but I have some great ideas for later!

I don’t tend to use the phrase “Reward Training” but it’s essentially what I do!

Why Reward Train Your Dog or Puppy?

By Aidan Bindoff

All puppies and dogs need some form of training. What’s so good about Reward Training and why would we choose to Reward Train our dog or puppy?

Reward Training uses the principles of Operant Conditioning, specifically Positive Reinforcement. Positive Reinforcement is where we give a reward to increase or maintain behavior. Read the rest of this entry