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

The other day I made a short video and posted it to YouTube, a silly minute and a half on how to train your dog to wash its face.

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One of the enjoyable tidbits I picked up from watching the Train Your Dog DVD: The Positive, Gentle Method by Nicole Wilde and Laura Bourhenne was the notion of feeding my dogs a little differently. Instead of always just having the food in the same bowl in the same place, they mentioned that dogs enjoy a little variety, some mental stimulation. Read the rest of this entry

The other day, I felt like doing something new with LarryDog, so I picked up the Maran Illustrated Dog Training book (the link takes you to my review of it) and decided to teach “Cookie on Paw.”

The photo was taken a couple of days later, with Larry having mastered the trick easily… you can see the bits of dog biscuit sitting on both his front paws. I didn’t bother with a clicker for this one, since the cookies themselves were immediate rewards.

This was easy partly because he already knew “Down” and also because when we feed him, he has to sit and stay until we say “Okay!” before going to his dish. So he is very used to having to wait for food. But I was a little surprised at how quickly he picked this up.

I have to admit that he doesn’t seem to like this trick much. I got the sense that he felt it was beneath his dignity.

UPDATE: I’m not so sure there’s a dignity issue now that he is doing it with bits of cheese or hot dog! He eats them when I say okay, and then stays in position looking expectantly at me. Sure enough, he’s got me trained to usually do it again!