From the category archives:

Dog Training Tips

POWER SAPPERS: Part I – Fidgeting

September 19, 2010

Your dog is looking for a leader. A powerful figure, with quiet confidence, in whom he can put his trust and safely follow.  When you become that kind of leader in your dog’s eyes, he will listen to you, follow you and obey you. Powerful “alpha” dogs are quiet and direct.  So are powerful people.  [...]

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UNDERSTANDING YOUR DOG – NOT YOUR WOLF: The Social Group Contract

September 5, 2010

Although there is much ado made by some people about how understanding wolves helps us understand dogs – I disagree (sort of). It’s not our dog’s great-great-great-great-great…grandparents that hold the key to understanding him now.  Do YOU bear much resemblance to your ancient ancestors?  I doubt it. Neither does your dog. What IS key in [...]

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FISH & OTHER DOGS: Sometimes They Just Don’t Like Them

August 29, 2010

My husband hates fish.  I wish he liked fish.  I like fish. Don’t all normal, healthy people like fish?  Maybe if I put fish on his plate every night for dinner, fed him MORE fish, got him used to fish, surrounded him with fish…he’d learn to like fish.  He just needs more exposure to fish… [...]

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HEADWATERS OF THE DOG TRAINING DEBATE: The Myth of Aggression-Based Dominance

August 15, 2010

 Unless you’ve been under a rock for the last 20 years, you know that the dog training world is deeply divided on training philosophy and methodology.  I’ve been thinking a lot about this schism over the past couple of weeks, and I HAVE FOUND THE HEADWATERS! If I’m not mistaken, the entire rift can be traced [...]

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Many Are Chosen. FEW COME WHEN THEY ARE CALLED. Canines 3:17

August 8, 2010

You can’t argue with the Word of Dog. But I’ll give you some tips to help get your dog’s recall on the fast track to salvation. THE PROBLEM: If there is one command that gives owners grief, it is the “Come” command.  They scream, they threaten, they beg, they chase, they bribe and cajole – [...]

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DOGS 101: A Primer

August 3, 2010

1. First and foremost, dogs are animals that just happen to live with humans. We domesticated the dog, not because we wanted a companion, but because we needed their skills of hunting, killing and defense to help us humans survive and prosper. 2. Selective breeding has changed the “wrapping”, but not the contents. Domesticated dogs [...]

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TO BE LOVED or TO LEAD: What’s Your Goal?

July 18, 2010

I’m starting to notice a trend in my consultations with women coming to me for help with their dogs.  When we come to the inevitable subject of discipline, most women start to shy away.  They want better control, but they don’t want to discipline their dogs as a means of getting that control.  As I [...]

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MY DAY with a HORSE

July 11, 2010

My good friend and riding buddy called me up the other day. She wondered if I could help her with a horse behavior issue that had confounded her for weeks. Her new horse would NOT go over water on the trails near her house. She said she had tried everything, but to no avail. It [...]

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SUPER MOMS: the Job, the Kids, the Dog… Oh My!

July 4, 2010

You’re home from work, trying to get some kind of dinner on the table, the kids are running wildly around the house and suddenly you hear “Mom! The dog is jumping on me! He has by Barbie and he won’t give her back”. Before you can wash the meatloaf off your hands to get in [...]

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WHEN COLLARS TURN DEADLY

June 12, 2010

PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO EVERY DOG OWNER YOU KNOW! I’m back from my trip, and was all ready to write a clever blog about by dog adventures in sunny Spain…but tragedy intervened. Today I received a call from a dear client whose two dogs come so frequently to my kennel, that we all consider them [...]

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