Jennifer Mann 
Here at the dog school, we get this question almost daily. With variables like age, breed type and temperament it is not an easy answer! There is a definite risk of exercising your puppy too much causing health problems, yet … Read more
By Steve Duno | Illustration by Nick Craine – Courtesy of moderndogmagazine.com | Briggs, Judy’s four-year-old Labradoodle, never had an easy time around strangers. He’d bitten several and couldn’t be trusted around most people.
You have been planning for this day and are finally bringing your new puppy home. You make arrangements with your veterinarian and she gives your puppy his first checkup and stresses that you don’t dare take your puppy out of … Read more
Teaching your dog a ‘go-to” behavior ahead of time allows you to ask for that “replacement behavior” during times your dog is most likely to act out.
Meet “Crash”, a purebred Doberman who completed our 3 Week Program this summer. He had not had many experiences outside of his home, and this eventually turned into nervous habits when walking in public. There was even some history with … Read more
Many dog training organizations train in controlled environments, such as warehouses or farms. Some even come to you and train on your own street. This does not actually provide the real-world experience that effective dog training will require.
This puppy thing won’t last forever, and they won’t learn the rules without your help. By training your puppy, you can establish good habits, and fill his time with new activities. Hopefully, there will be little time left over for getting into trouble!
Reliable potty training can be frustrating if you don’t know where to start, and even worse when your puppy has already started to develop a habit, but it’s not too late! You can help your pup settle into their new home with these simple tips.
Often, people react instinctively to this behavior by happily greeting their dog or pushing it down with their hands. In either case, this sends the message that jumping up is acceptable, and so the habit only grows. By teaching an alternative behavior you can begin to take back some control, and request behaviors you prefer!
After calling your dog to you, have you ever: scolded him, taken him inside to stop barking, put him in the bath, brushed him, or taken something away? Your dog may have stopped coming when you call if it is followed by things he dislikes!
Practice makes permanent! The biggest mistake dog owners make is in thinking their dog or puppy will just grow out of it. But by allowing your dog to practice pulling, jumping, stealing or soiling in the house will only reinforce these behaviors.
Attempting to soothe your fearful dog’s anxiety with treats, or coddling is actually encouraging the unwanted behavior. Through training. we keep your dogs mind on other things long enough to replace the problem behavior with the preferable ones.
What is the single biggest complaint from dog owners? PULLING on the leash! The truth is, the more time a dog spends practicing pulling on the leash, the more they make a habit of it! In fact, the more we pull our dogs close the worse it becomes! Here’s how
If this is you and your dog then the answer is yes! For example, this leash pulling behavior will not get better with time. Some dogs are born with a generally laid-back personality and so sometimes you can get away … Read more
There are many reasons why dogs pull on the leash, but mostly it is a combination of: Excess energy – All dogs have energy but some more than others. The younger the dog, the more this is a piece of your … Read more
There is evidence that many aggressive dog behaviors are a result of fears and insecurities. Preventing aggression in our fearful anxious dogs is do-able if you know what to look for. ~Jenn On a pretty regular basis folks come in … Read more
Enter at your own risk! Every day people come into the dog school with problems they never had until they started either dog-park or daycare on a regular basis without balancing it out with other activities. We all know the … Read more
Children under the age of 12 have difficulty with their own impulses and consistency so if children are doing actual training it should be with the guidance and supervision of an adult. Adults should think of their role as coach … Read more
This is a really good question because it addresses the communication gap between a dogs language and ours! So often people come in to training with the complaint that their puppy won’t listen! Now I don’t know about you but … Read more
You do not have to use crate training to house train your puppy, but there are some things to consider. House training involves both potty training AND also getting to a point where you can rely on your dog to spend alone … Read more