The Foundation Skills
In order to help a scared dog, and this is true whether the dog is scared and freezes up, flees or becomes aggressive, you must have an understanding of these concepts. Fortunately they don't require a degree in rocket science. Counter conditioning-by pairing something a dog feels good about, with something it doesn't feel so ...
Energy Wise
While I agree that our own energy has an affect on our dogs, I do find the focus on an owner's energy to be at times confusing or just plain useless when it comes to training dogs. In Cesar's Way owners are encouraged to imitate people like Cleopatra, John Wayne and Oprah. Huh? Now while ...
Get Over It Already!
Sunny Even though I had lived with dogs all my life, and worked in dog rescue for many years, when I got my seriously damaged dog Sunny I had not yet worked with a dog that due to lack of early socialization and/or genetic make-up, could not interact with people at all. I ...
Can you relate?
I got my first and only puppy when I was sixteen years old. She was a reddish brown fluff ball of eight weeks and I promptly was smitten. My mother did not allow dogs upstairs in our bedrooms so I moved into the basement to sleep with her. When I was not in school (and ...
It’s Not Always As It Seems
My own scared dog Sunny was rescued from a 477 hoarding site discovered after the hurricanes in 2005. The owner of the site convinced rescue groups that she ran a sanctuary for dogs. She was so convincing that close to 200 dogs were sent to her. Other supposed 'rescuers' turned out to work with dog ...
My Theory of Cooperation
I've been thinking about coming up with my own theory of why dogs do the things they do, and I've come up with one! I like it too. I figure since we'll never really know why dogs make some of the decisions they do, I'm pretty safe ranting on about it. I just ...
Cute?
This image has been zipping around the internet connected to a group of other 'cute' pet pictures. The others, kittens shredding rolls of toilet paper, cats sleeping on dogs, and the like, do have their smile appeal, but this one!? Who is taking this picture? Mom? Dad? Grandma? Sure little Cindy Lou Who ...
What’s Your Theory?
I've been reading a lot of dog training books lately and many trainers provide readers with the reasons their method of training dogs works or makes sense. More often than not it has something to do with wolves, pack behavior, prey drive, alpha animals, etc. Statements are made about what dogs want or need. Most ...
Attitudes About Training
I found a copy of one of William Koehler's training books in a local used bookstore. He was a trainer that worked in Hollywood, training dogs for films that I watched as a child. Had I known his training techniques then I probably would have cried before the dog got caught in a well or ...
