The vast majority of modern-day trainers will teach obedience commands by “luring” the dog to do the desired behavior. Usually with edible treats, but the same can be done with a ball, squeaky, tug toy, bone, or other desirable item. For instance, to get “Sit” you raise a treat above the dog’s head; that tilts […]
So-called “purely positive” training is a huge new fad. It means you only reward your dog’s good behavior; you never correct the bad. Most purely positive trainers are what I call “treat-focused”, centering around giving the dog edible treats at the exclusion of other more readily available, natural, and fulfilling rewards like offleash play, pets, […]
In my last post I explained why what I call “Leading” is a more helpful obedience ritual to have mastered than recall (“Come”) when taking your dog offleash. Still, “Come” can be a very useful command, particularly in various emergency situations. For instance: your dog is disappearing into the woods; running toward a busy street; about […]
It’s a phenomenon that people try to sweep under the rug, laugh off, or simply pretend isn’t happening; then it gets whispered about in embarrassed tones afterward. Namely: your dog gets along just fine with other dogs, mailmen, skateboarders…then barks and lunges quite obviously at black or darker-skinned people. “My dog is racist!” is the […]
This past few weeks I’ve had several experiences involving the combination of dogs and fear. Most of those experiences have involved fearful dogs … … and some have involved fear OF dogs. Somewhat unsettlingly, a portion of that recent fear OF some dogs has been my own, not only my clients’. I’ll post […]
The New York Times recently published a fascinating article on a phenomenon called “decision fatigue”. Scientific studies repeatedly back up the fairly commonsensical idea that being forced to make decisions – in particular when the chosen options demand exerting a certain amount of self-control – is an exhausting and stressful process. Making decisions makes us […]
Over thanksgiving with lots of young’ns and furry’ns running about – the former creating messes in the kitchen, the latter lapping them up – I found myself pondering the two most thankful creatures I know: kids and dogs. Sure, neither tends to say “Thank you!” without prompting; but both kids and dogs have a unique […]
“All Dogs Must Be Kept On Leash” Most towns in the U.S. have “leash laws”, restricting the places and times that dogs and other pets can be off-leash in public areas such as parks and sidewalks. The other day I heard Cesar Millan say something about leash laws that rang so true to me it […]
I’ve heard this a lot recently: My dog pees/poos in the house just to get back at me! He knows he’s supposed to do it outside. He knows I hate it. He does it purposely, out of revenge! What a jerk! It is the easiest thing in the world to get frustrated at our dogs […]
Counterconditioning and the Flight Response Anthony Newman, Calm Energy Dog Training FIDO Lecture, 6/14/12 How many people here own fearful, or anxious dogs? This is an are extremely common issue for dogs in a city environment. Also one of my favorite issues to treat, because so many dogs can let go of their fear so quickly, if […]