Even if your dog is the sweetest dog in the world, there may be a situation where s/he needs to wear a muzzle. For example, in the current pandemic many veterinary offices use muzzles as a precaution when they examine dogs without their guardians present. Why not be prepared for this or any other situation requiring a muzzle by teaching your dog to wear a muzzle now?
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, interest in fostering and adopting pets has soared. However, with many dog parks closed and social distancing and quarantining orders in place, puppies may miss out on critical exposure to other pups, people, and experiences. The good news is that it is possible to provide puppies with this much-needed socialization through drop-off puppy classes!
Puppies are always learning. Their first experiences with new stimuli shape how they will respond to those stimuli later on in life. By exposing puppies to new stimuli, such as surfaces, in a way that is both fun and rewarding, you can set them up to explore the world confidently.
Teaching a dog to back up is important for many dog sports, as it is a fundamental skill. However, did you know that backing up can be a particularly useful skill in everyday life as well? Whether you want your dog to step back from an open door or away from the trash bucket or a dangerous object, teaching the back-up behavior comes in handy.
With scorching heat in many parts of the U.S., many dogs may not be able to enjoy long walks or trips to the dog park on hot days. Here’s a fun training game that boosts your dog’s creativity and allows your dog to burn some mental energy using and a popular summer staple: a beach bucket!
Have you ever observed a dog performing behaviors at a distance from his handler and wished you could teach your dog to do that? You can! Teaching your dog to work at a distance is not only a fun training exercise, but it is an essential skill for many dog sports. Watch in this video as the dog learns to “go on” (move away) from his handler on cue, and then go around an object (also on cue).
In last week’s featured video, KPA CTP Michelle Wieser and her dog Timber demonstrated how to teach a paw target. By maintaining a high rate of reinforcement, very quickly Michelle was able to teach Timber to hit the Staples Easy Button with his paw. In the second video of this series, Michelle demonstrates how to add a verbal cue to this behavior!
Training a dog to target an object with his paw is easy and fun. A paw target is a foundation behavior that has many practical applications, including closing doors, wiping paws, ringing bells, and turning appliances on and off. It’s also a prerequisite behavior for many dog sports.
Most people understand the importance of socializing puppies, and there are numerous puppy classes available. However, many classes are not true socialization classes. Instead, they focus primarily on obedience training. While obedience and manners training are important components of behavior, at the puppy stage the focus should be on ensuring that the puppy is having positive experiences with as many new people, dogs, and situations as possible. This exposure is essential for developing a confident and well-adjusted adult dog that is comfortable with all life has to offer.
Everyone knows that you can teach tricks to dogs, but did you know that cats can be trained easily, too? Since many cats live their entire lives confined indoors, clicker training can provide valuable mental and physical stimulation. Enrichment improves cats’ lives, helping to make them healthier, happier, and more responsive companions. In this video, Megan Ramirez and her cat Pavlov demonstrate one of our favorite cat tricks—spin!
