Some dogs can be housetrained quite easily and seem to catch on quickly. Others may require more adherence to a housetraining training plan. That doesn’t mean either type of dog is good or bad; it just means they’re different. That’s where Housetraining 123 comes to the rescue! Love Wags A Tail has several ways to help clients with housetraining their dogs. The Housetraining 123 Webinar is economical and spells out in detail the steps to take to housetrain a dog. Any {Read More}
Managing Dog Behaviors Broward County, Fort Lauderdale
November 11, 2013 by
Some dogs have behaviors that their owners find offensive. It’s not a fault of either, but more like a clash of cultures in the animal kingdom. Take for example, one of my dogs, who happens to be a herding breed, and pictured on the home page of my website. She has several behavioral fetishes which clash with my liking. Among them, she chews holes in my sheets and pillow cases, as well as buries favorite dog toys, such as the {Read More}
Is Jerky Safe For Dogs?
November 10, 2013 by
A lot of dogs have died needlessly because of jerky treats. Treats! Dogs are dying from the treats we give them! Think about that. And it’s not just the jerky from China or just the meat jerky. I’ve run across an article of recent, The Problem With Dogs and Jerky Treats, and posted excerpts below. Though I used to boycott jerky from China, and meat jerky only, now I’m boycottting any jerky. There are plenty of other treats to use. {Read More}
Clicker Training Dogs Broward County
November 9, 2013 by
When a dog trainer sets criteria with a dog during a dog training session, and the dog performs the criteria, the trainer uses a marker word or clicker to signify that the criteria was complete. The word or sound is a bridge, which tells the dog that he was right and reinforcement is on the way. Some trainers say that the click ends the behavior. And that’s true, but there’s a but. The click ends the behavior, or the contract {Read More}
“Just Right” Dog Training Treats
November 7, 2013 by
Tonight, I worked with a client’s 5-month old pup. Jumping on people was the behavior we needed to change. I’d told her to save his evening meal for our dog training session, and she did. But when we started the session, he was not the least bit interested in his kibble. And we were getting no where fast. His motivation to jump on me was much more rewarding than the possibility of getting a piece of his same ol’ kibble. {Read More}
Use Your Cues
November 6, 2013 by
I was with a client last weekend who was about to put a head halter on her dog. He was moving off to the side, engrossed in something, and my client reached for him and began to struggle. So I said, “Use your cue. Cue him to sit.” And she did. And he did. And the head halter was put on with a slide of the strap over the muzzle, a treat, and a snap of the clasp. Then we {Read More}
Dog-Dog Aggression
November 5, 2013 by
Among my favorite types of clients to work with is one who has a dog who’s reactive to other dogs on leash. The kind of dog that makes a person want to crawl into a hole in the ground the minute the dog starts throwing his barky, growly display at the dog coming down the street or around the corner or out the door of a house he’s passing by. I know the embarrassing feeling. I’ve had a couple of {Read More}
Respect Boundaries and Advocate For Your Dogs
November 4, 2013 by
I was walking along an avenue during a busy jazz festival yesterday. The event was loud, lots of people had dogs of all sizes with them, and on the sidewalk ahead of me were two women engaged in conversation. One woman held a black Pomeranian puppy in her hands. As I approached, ahead of me, a man walked right up to the woman and stuck both of his hands on the puppy and ruffled her up. I was astonished from {Read More}
Motivational Dog Training – Criteria
November 3, 2013 by
My mentor, Jean Donaldson, taught me there are two parts to review when a dog is disinterested in training. If it’s not motivation, then it’s criteria. What is criteria in dog training? Criteria is the contract we have with the dog about the behavior he needs to perform to get the reinforcement. The level of difficulty of criteria increases as the dog matches his behavior to the current criteria we are looking for. For example, when teaching a down stay, {Read More}
Motivational Dog Training – Toys
November 2, 2013 by
Some dogs are highly motivated by toys. They’re born to play, and when you are blessed with a dog like this, you’ll have plenty of dog training time because the reward of play is always available. The flip side, however, is you have to give these dogs a lot to do, and do a lot with them, or they’ll be called destructive and uncontrollable when they use their energy for whatever makes them happy. Case in point why I offer {Read More}
Motivating Dogs
November 1, 2013 by
I have an avocado tree that has started producing fruit. For the last three years, in progression, two avocados in year one, several more in year two, and this year, a few more. I had plans for sharing these fruit, until recently, a varmint stopped my plans in its tracks. The thing got not one, but two, of my precious reserve. And they were not nearly ripe enough to get tasty after being in a paper bag for several days. {Read More}
Halloween Dogs
October 31, 2013 by
Happy Halloween from Love Wags A Tail, dog training and behavior modification in Broward county and Fort Lauderdale! I ran across this video yesterday, a superbly put together arrangement of trick dog training. This is the sort of fun you can have training dogs to do tricks. Training dogs is a process, remember, so it doesn’t happen over night, but also, so is life, so let’s not rush it. That stays true to training dogs, too, in Florida or any {Read More}
Fear of the Camera
October 30, 2013 by
It’s Halloween eve, time of zombies, gremlins, and other scary stuff. So I thought I’d expand a little more on yesterday’s post, Clicking, and the fear of cameras that some dogs develop. As I mentioned, the best way to dodge installing the fear of a camera into a dog is to avoid using the flash in his direction or pointing a camera too close to him before training him to accept it. If the camera’s aversive to him, then he’s {Read More}
Clicking
October 29, 2013 by
One of the lovely things about shaping a dog through clicker training is how, once they learn the game, they offer behaviors of all sorts. This can be fun, especially when taking photographs. I use lots of treats when I’m taking photos, and I take a lot of photos. Years ago, this was prohibited because every snap of the camera meant a fee for developing film. Digital cameras, however, changed all that, so we can click away as long as {Read More}
No-Sew Halloween Bandana For Dogs
October 28, 2013 by
Halloween is just a few days away! If you want to gussy up your dog with a little bit of Halloween, then the video below is the one to watch. Especially if you’re not into sewing, but into fast, festive, and easy dog fashions. All you’ll need are a pair of pinking shears, a ruler, and the fabric! I made this video a few years ago on how to make an inexpensive, no-sew bandana or scarf for your dog. And {Read More}
