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}
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}
