There are times when you want to share your couch with your dog. After all, there’s nothing better than snuggling up with your furry friend at the end of a long day. However, there are also times when you may not want your dog on the couch—such as when guests are visiting. By teaching your dog to both get on the couch and off the couch, you can have the best of both worlds!
Many dogs are anxious about receiving husbandry care—especially if they find new experiences scary or if they have had a bad experience in the past. The good news is that by training low-stress handling at home, you can reduce or alleviate your dog’s fear about receiving veterinary and grooming care.
Walking on a leash is an important skill for puppies to learn, but it can be challenging to train puppies that are eager to explore the world around them. The key to setting up puppies for success is to use a high rate of reinforcement to keep the puppy’s attention and accelerate learning. Visual markers can be helpful reminders to the handler to offer the puppy a treat for being in the desired position.
If you have a dog, you have probably heard of clicker training. But what exactly is it? Is clicker training right for you and your dog?
As winter sets in and temperatures continue to plummet, many dogs will be spending more time indoors. Concept training, including teaching modifier cues, is a great way to keep your dog’s brain busy and help prevent winter blues!
Many pet parents and their dogs struggle when they try to apply the tools and techniques that they learned in training class to real-life situations. Dogs may offer a down-stay in the classroom, but when they are at home and the doorbell rings, chaos ensues. By incorporating games in your group training classes, you can help your students and their dogs learn under conditions that resemble real-life environments.
Regular veterinary visits are important for your dog’s health and wellness, but for many dogs these visits can be stressful. Who wouldn’t be anxious about being in a strange, uncomfortable place, in unnatural positions, and being poked, prodded, and pricked in sensitive areas by unfamiliar people? Fortunately, you can reduce your dog’s anxiety by teaching him or her to accept restraint and examination.
In preparation for the holidays, kitchens are laden with tempting treats and mouthwatering smells. For dogs that are tall or athletic enough to reach a counter, the opportunity to help themselves can be too good to pass up!
Many people think that they need to wait until their dog is an adult before getting started in dog sports, but you can begin training your dog basic behaviors before he/she is old enough to compete. In fact, dog sports teach your puppy useful skills, provide enrichment, and help work off some of that puppy energy!
Does your dog become agitated anticipating a vaccination or blood draw? By incorporating training into your injection routines, you can help alleviate his/her anxiety.
