One of the fun behaviors I work on in between formal lessons with enrolled Love Wags A Tail board-and-train dogs and pups is catch. Unless I get a dog who’s been around the block and has already learned how to catch, pet dogs and puppies who arrive for training need to learn the skill of catching. Learning to catch is a good endeavor for your pooch and a skill to share with each other for a lifetime. To start, I’d {Read More}
In The Moment With Dogs
October 8, 2018 by
Meditation is proven to be beneficial to us humans. I sometimes wonder if getting lost in a project such as gardening, writing, or decorating doesn’t give us similar benefits. Both meditation and creative focus removes the “what-ifs” and “what’s happeneds” from our mental spotlights and replaces them with in-the-moment experiences. I only have to look to my dogs to see examples of this. And puppies, especially, prove to us time and time again, that discovery of something new can create {Read More}
Dogs Play Like They Mean It
June 26, 2018 by
After our training work at Love Wags A Tail dog training, our dogs get plenty of play time, and they play like they mean it. Dogs often use skills from their deeply embeded feral software to play games. Like tossing a prey item up in the air, which our adolescent board-and-trainer, Aussiedoodle Magic demonstrates in this video. Or chasing each other, as if they were practicing chasing a prey item. Here Magic plays that game of chase with our Director {Read More}
The Hyper Pet’s LickiMat Fail
June 11, 2018 by
We bought the Hyper Pet’s LickiMat to try out on a Sheltie pup to help boost her confidence. The results of our test with the mat and our gentle pup weren’t favorable. Here are the claims of the Hyper Pet’s LickiMat Line. 1. Hyper Pet’s LickiMat Line is designed to deliver a medical free way to promote calm behavior in your pet while home alone or during stressful times, like storms. We say that dogs should not be left alone {Read More}
Teaching Dogs To Play Inside and Outside
May 20, 2018 by
On a lovely Sunday afternoon, my dogs relax. Lazy Sunday at Love Wags A Tail Dog Training from Helen Verte Schwarzmann, CTC on Vimeo. Unless you’re fine with your dogs using your house and furniture as a playground, racetrack, or trampoline, then you’ll need to teach them that the inside of the house is where either no play is allowed, or play is subdued. Subdued play can include chewing on dog toys or food toys, playing a controled game of {Read More}
Even Dogs Break The Norm
May 13, 2018 by
What makes you feel good? Do you do something a little different from the norm, but it works for you? When I played tennis as a high school student, before I knew any better, I used to do my backhand by twisting my forehand upside down. When I stroked the backhand, my thumb would face the ground. I had a mean backhand and forehand then. When I took private lessons, I was admonished for using such a technique. I was {Read More}
The Unexpected
May 4, 2018 by
Here’s something you wouldn’t expect: The Unexpected. The Unexpected is demonstrated in this video of a cute and feisty 14-week-old Golden Retriever puppy doing a little something naughty and playful. Listen to the sound this fuzz ball makes! Adult dogs are able to exert much more pressure with their muzzles full of teeth than this playful puppy. But some humans don’t respect the capabilities or the unexpected possibiities of a dog’s muzzle. Some people think “But dogs love me!” No {Read More}
What Color of Dog Is Right for You?
April 17, 2018 by
Look at all the colors! I bought this set of beautiful gel pens recently because I love the color variety and choices as much as I love the variety of dogs and puppies I board-and-train. Depending on my needs and mood, I can choose a light colored ink or a dark; a flourescent or a standard; a bold or subtle color; muted or stark. The comparisons go on and on. But if I could only pick one, I’d have to {Read More}
Weston Florida Puppy Graduates From Board-and-Train
March 31, 2018 by
Ralphie, a Golden Retriever puppy from Weston, Florida, spent 3 weeks in board-and-train through the Love Wags A Tail puppy and dog training program. Ralph got the basics of pet dog manners taught during his short stay in doggy boot camp, and now his owners only have to reinforce what is already there. Love Wags A Tail’s board-and-train makes a puppy a quick study into being a great pet. This is Ralphie showing off his new behaviors in his board-and-train {Read More}
“You Don’t Understand Dog Training”
March 14, 2018 by
A potential client, let’s call him Tom, told me that on a call interviewing another dog trainer, he asked how the man would train his dog to walk on a loose leash. The trainer told him he used a pinch collar. Tom had specifically been searching for a positive, rewards-based trainer, which is what this man stated he was. But even Tom knew that meant no pain to his dog. Humane training doesn’t include pinch, choke, or shock collars. Tom {Read More}
Ball Machines And Dogs
November 22, 2017 by
If you have a dog who is fanatic about retrieving, he may like to learn to use a ball machine. No matter if a dog would like to use a ball machine to keep a fetch game going after his owner wears out, or if the dog only learns to use a ball machine as a trick, with most dogs, it takes extensive training. Training a dog to use the ball machine requires a chain of behaviors. That means you {Read More}
Thanksgiving Puggle Graduates Top of Our Board-and-Train Class
November 21, 2017 by
We enjoyed having Semi the Puggle in the Love Wags A Tail Thanksgiving board-and-train program this 2017. He is a fabulously smart kid, and he had a lot of fun while learning all his new behaviors. He graduated with a lot under his graduation cap and played hard with the resident kids as well. Congratulations Semi! Board-and-Train is an efficient way to get a dog on track to new behaviors. Join us! To send your dog to the Love Wags {Read More}
Halloween Dog Training Fun
October 31, 2017 by
Halloween greetings from Love Wags A Tail board-and-train dog training. We are enjoying the day with some naturally orange pumpkin-peanut butter homemade Halloween cookies for the dogs, and being a little bit spooky decked out in festive dog collars, burning candles in our jack-o-lantern candle holders, and doing tricks around the pumpkin patch for those cookies. OK, it’s a one-pumpkin pumpkin patch, but it’s a big one. We have other holidays up ahead of us. If you are taking a {Read More}
Bouncy Dogs Inform Their Playmates
September 4, 2017 by
When watching dogs play chase, be mindful of the bouncy play style, which is what we’re looking for. When dogs play chase, this happy, puppy-like romping informs other dogs that “We are playing! It’s not the real thing.” If playing chase turns into flat style running where one dog is being chased hard by one or more dogs, then it’s time to call everyone back in for a cool down period, or to separate the chaser/s from the chased. Flat {Read More}
Easy Clip for Your Dog’s Tags
August 13, 2017 by
I was tired of wrestling with my dogs’ tags whenever I wanted to change their collars. In addition, when dogs come into my board-and-train dog training programs, I always put a tag on them with my local information. All this tag changing proved to be frustrating with the normal split ring that tag makers send with their tags. I looked around to find a clip that would hold the tags securely and one which I could exchange from collar to {Read More}
