In one of his one-minute dog training videos, veterinarian-turned-dog-trainer Dr. Ian Dunbar offers dog walking training tips. Walking along in a busy park, with lots of children present, now and then he gives the dog he is walking a treat. So, he … Continue reading →
Update: A Third Forum is at Reddit The blog post below was written a few years ago and revised recently I just found an active forum that emphasizes the least intrusive or aversive methods. It’s at Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/ Looks like … Continue reading →
Do you massage your dog? Further down are some tips for using it with your dog training. First, here are some books on how to massage your dog. I thought it was interesting that one of the books focuses on stretching your dog … Continue reading →
When I was a child, my best friend Jeanette and I wrote dog stories together. Not long ago, she emailed me that her seven-year-old granddaughter Julia Francis had written a book about dogs. Life continues! And by special arrangement, here … Continue reading →
The other day I was chatting with a woman who has several dogs who have digestive challenges. She mostly feeds a brand called Taste of the Wild. It’s one of a number of brands that are grain-free. They cost more, … Continue reading →
It’s easy to see how dog training IS rather like driving a car. Input and output. You turn the steering wheel to the left and the car moves to the left. You tell a trained dog to sit and stay, … Continue reading →
The world is certainly full of amusing dog pictures! If I don’t get enough when I’m checking Facebook anyway, I like to pop in to Pinterest to see what’s current there. You can see my most recent dog image, whether … Continue reading →
Here’s an infographic on dog names that was offered to me and I thought it was fun. Let’s see, our dogs have been Martha, Cider, Teddy Bear, Dori, Sunbeam, LarryDog, and Lola. What names would my dogs have chosen for … Continue reading →
We’ve all been learning about life with an Elizabethan collar for dogs recently, as our Rottweiler Lola is wearing one. She had surgery a couple of weeks ago, and the vet said she will have to wear the collar for 2 … Continue reading →
A friend of mine recently sent me a link to a great list of financial help for people with dogs. I’ve written about this before, and if you don’t need to know what is available, maybe you know someone for … Continue reading →
Do you like to dress up your dog in a Halloween costume? Does he enjoy it too? If so, here are a few from Amazon.com: California Costume Collections Animal Planet Lion Dog Costume, Medium Pet Costume Apparel Dog Riders Cowboy Wear … Continue reading →
Roger Abrantes has an amusing list of 16 Things You Should Stop Doing In Order To Be Happy With Your Dog. I chuckled through it. I think my favorite one was this: 15. Stop wanting what you can’t have—be happy … Continue reading →
I recently came across an excellent webpage about adopting retired racing greyhounds. We are not contemplating another dog till our aged LarryDog crosses the Rainbow Bridge and he is still going for half-hour walks almost every morning, eating his food … Continue reading →
I’ve just been dipping into The Dog Vinci Code, by British dog trainer John Rogerson. It’s got fascinating ideas, not conventional. Here is the bit that hooked me: A visitor to [an animal shelter] walks around to have a look … Continue reading →
When you go to choose a dog, or when you observe the behavior of dogs around you, dog breeds matter. They give you clues as to the personality and behavior of the dog. Just clues, because in any group–dogs, people, … Continue reading →
The Basenji dog breed is not for everybody. Believe me, I know. I’ll get to some general Basenji information after I tell you a few stories about our Sunbeam. In the months after we got our Basenji puppy, I had … Continue reading →
Choosing dog names is a lot of fun, and something to play around with. After all, we call them out many times a day! I would never use “Killer” or “Stupid” things of that sort, because I don’t want to … Continue reading →
Dog shelters are a good-news, bad-news kind of situation. On this page I will present both, followed by a section on how to choose shelter dogs and then links to books on shelter dogs. Some of the “how to choose” … Continue reading →
Humans have been creating new dog breeds for centuries, selecting for a particular purpose or look. There can be a tremendous difference in how happy you are with a dog depending on its personality, activity level, demands on your attention, … Continue reading →
With the increasing popularity of selecting shelter dogs, this article may not be pertinent for you. But if you are choosing a puppy from the person who bred it, first you are choosing a breeder and then you are choosing … Continue reading →
Why does a website on dog training have a section on choosing a dog? Because your choice of dog will affect your dog training processes for years to come, not to mention your general happiness. (And the dog’s!) It’s well worth your … Continue reading →
Dogs and children: Consider the time-honored image of a child and his or her dog as an ever-loving companion who understands when the grown-ups don’t. But think also of the horrendous statistics that dog bites terrify and disfigure far too … Continue reading →
I once wrote an article about dogs and gardens, with tips on dogs digging in gardens. (Since this is an international website, I’d better mention that what we Americans call yards are called gardens in many other places. Americans use … Continue reading →
Here are a few tips for dealing with the problem of a dog who escapes, whether it’s from a yard or directly from a house. Fireworks bring out the desire to escape in many dogs, but of course this is … Continue reading →
Is your dog stressed by fireworks or other loud noises? In the U.S., one of the noisiest days of the year is Independence Day on the 4th of July. In Mexico, where we spend a lot of time, we and … Continue reading →
I rarely go surfing the net for dog clicker training news, because Google delivers to my email inbox a list of current news items, blogs, newsgroup postings, etc. on the topic “dog clicker training.” I also track training-dogs.com and several … Continue reading →
(If you have a Border Collie or other ball-obsessed dog, you may be laughing at this title. You can skip this section but I do have something for you in the section just below here.) Playing fetch with your dog … Continue reading →
We once had an Australian Shepherd who hated having his toenails trimmed. I mean hated. He would fight and try to escape through the whole thing. We muzzled him to get the job done… and that was before I learned … Continue reading →
Many behavior and health problems in dogs stem from them not getting enough exercise. This includes: Chewing things up around the house due to separation anxiety if nobody human is home Obesity Being hyperactive …and many more problems. How much … Continue reading →
When I came across , by Barry Eaton, in a local library, I couldn’t resist reading it, even though I have never had a deaf dog and don’t know any. The only thing I knew about training deaf dogs was … Continue reading →
The Tellington Touch is actually a variety of touches that help with dog behavior or health problems. It’s not massage really, though sometimes people think of it that way. You can have sessions for your dogs with TTouch practitioners or … Continue reading →
If you’ve ever had more than one dog at a time, chances are you’ve had at least a few multi-dog behavior challenges: squabbles, dislikes, and the rest of it. Often this is no big deal — hey, if you live … Continue reading →
1. If I am down, I will cheer up by thinking about dogs. 2. I will remember to be silly more more often. 3. I will get enough rest. … Continue reading →
One evening, we happened to catch a PBS program called Through a Dog’s Eyes. It’s the story of Jennifer Arnold and others, who have overcome an amazing number of obstacles to found and run a place outside of Atlanta called Canine … Continue reading →
How many routines do you have in your life that involve your dogs? I can think of seven daily habits at our house. My main point here is that dogs have a very well-developed sense of what time it is, … Continue reading →
Here’s a great book if you have kids and dogs, or if you have one and are considering getting the other! Since young children get bitten by their family dogs at an amazing rate — the book points out that … Continue reading →
Have you ever had this misunderstanding of what your dog is thinking? Dogs have a different sense of time from people. They live essentially in the present. We have to go to workshops or read books to learn how to … Continue reading →
If you are thinking about getting a dog, and possibly from a shelter, you may be wondering how to choose a shelter dog. We got one of our rescued dogs from the useful site, Petfinder.com, which has a logo that says … Continue reading →
I have written about Dog Star Daily before, and no doubt I will do it again. It is my favorite dog training website, so I thought it was worth another shout out. Today I am going to tell you about … Continue reading →
Thanks to a veterinarian friend of mine for giving me this article to use. She wrote it but didn’t want a link or credit. Thanks, friend, you know who you are! This is not the most cheerful reading but I … Continue reading →
Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover’s Soul is a strange name for dry dog food. But it’s good stuff. My dogs think so — of course they will gobble up all kinds of junk, too — but more importantly, I … Continue reading →
Dog lovers may not understand how some people can be afraid of dogs, but for many adults and children, it’s a very real and distressing problem. Most of us would agree that we can be frightened by a snarling guard dog, … Continue reading →
An Australian veterinarian who is an online friend of mine provided me with this article to use. . — Rosana Before You Leave There are several things you can do to prepare for a holiday with your dog that will … Continue reading →
Of all the dog breeds out there, a few are clearly ahead of the pack when it comes to their natural ability with kids. The best breeds for children are gentle, easy-going, and physically sturdy enough to take a few … Continue reading →
In the minds of many kids, dogs are warm furry cuddly companions who love to be hugged and squeezed. However, the dogs don’t see it this way. Hugs and squeezes? Not so much. Different dogs have different temperaments, and from an early age … Continue reading →
I make two New Year’s Resolutions for my dogs, and I invite you to make your own versions of these. To appreciate and cherish my dogs every single day. To do more fun things with them, and to work training into … Continue reading →
You may hear a lot about dogs’ dominance these days, depending on what television shows you favor. I’ve been working up to doing an article on dominance and how badly the concept is misused generally. Luckily, two top websites beat … Continue reading →
One evening, our Rottweiler Lola came into the house limping. She was doing her best to keep all the weight off one of her front paws. Right away, I said aloud, “Your left front paw, huh?” The soothing tone of my … Continue reading →
Every year on holidays when humans get rowdy and may use fireworks, many dogs have a hard time with the noises. More than a few get scared and run away in a panic. When Halloween is coming up, do consider whether your … Continue reading →
Do you observe your dog’s face? “Of course,” you may be thinking. “I look at it dozens of times a day.” That’s what I would have said until recently, when I read Patricia McConnell’s excellent book, . That link takes … Continue reading →
