Can we teach our dogs a behavior or behaviors that are so ingrained that the dog will perform with 100 % accuracy? This is what everyone apparently wants, but where do we fall short? I am talking to one of my clients about this proposition. We are discussing recall and the ability of a dog…
This is indeed an interesting question. By adding I mean presenting a reinforcer as a consequence for behavior. By subtracting I mean removing a reinforcer as a consequence for behavior. In my view, the answer is that both modalities are of use when teaching our dogs. But today, I want to concentrate on adding a…
I was thinking about this topic on a snowy morning when I announced to John that we should go snow shooing with the dogs! We got ready and headed out the door. We were in awe of the amount of snow just outside our front door. I love outings like this, but today it was…
Have you ever traveled with your dog and really needed her to eliminate, and have found yourself doing laps around and around the hotel grounds because your dog is having such a fun time and she not ready to eliminate? Or, how about when it is raining or snowing, and your pup decides this is…
Even in the world of training, it is easy to throw around concepts with the implication that everyone else knows and agrees with the definition of said concept. But do we? When it comes to training and setting behavior goals, it is so much easier to be as specific as one can be. It really…
Most dogs have a fascination with food and any object that smells like food. They also have predilection for items by which they can exercise their powerful jaws by chewing on them. And then we have our very naughty pups that love to steal an item and show their owners how smart and cute they…
John, my husband, is looking for a “new” truck. He is looking in lots of different places just for the “right” truck at the “right” price. He actually goes and drives a couple that appear to be promising. After one of those drives, he pronounces — in between giggles, that the one he just drove…
I often get asked if it is “okay” to sleep with a dog in bed. This is one of the issues that is actually quite personal. Some people – I would say most people, love sleeping with their dogs but other folks would rather not. And sometimes the “rather nots” do not know how to…
Adding a new dog to your home could be one of the most challenging things you might have to do with your existing pup (s). But it doesn’t need to be so. If you plan ahead and follow a few simple rules, your dogs will stand a better chance of getting along and even becoming…
I am not a people psychologist. My comments then are based on my own experience as a dog behavior “pro” that gives advice to my clients as to how better understand their dogs (from an ethological perspective), as well as teaching and training their dogs. My other lens of investigation is my hands-on experience as…