Come learn how to: Differentiate dog play from poor dog-to-dog interaction Observe different styles of dog play Understand how to manage your dog when playing How to be safe at the dog park How to best intervene if your dog gets into a fight When to call a professional to help your dog with his…
Category: How Dogs Learn
Ask with Abandonment
We constantly want our dogs to do stuff for us. And that is not really a problem. One could argue that any relationship is to a greater extent built on what the individuals in the relationship do for one another. While, of course, our relationship with our dog(s) is precious, I am not saying that…
101 Negotiations
I have written in the past why the model of Dominance or the idea that dogs are pack animals in search of a “pack leader” (the owner) is not only an erroneous construct, but really bad news for all dogs. There is so much to say about this construct, but today I want to focus…
DOG T.I.P. – A Volunteer Training Program
My colleague Erica Beckwith (also a graduate of Jean Donaldson’s Academy) and I have been very busy getting ready for our pilot program for Dog T.I.P. at the Stray Hearts Animal Shelter in Taos. While the program has been designed we are marching full speed with all our presentation materials, and finalizing the weekend-long training….
INBOX
I don’t know about you, but I so much hate spam in my inbox. I dread it so much that I spend minutes every day either reporting it as “spam” or unsubscribing from all those lists that I probably did not sign up for in the first place! As I was deleting unwanted emails a…
What and When Questions Are Smart Questions When It Comes to Training
A few weeks back I wrote about the “why” questions: People love “why” questions. Perhaps because we are curious, because we think “why” questions help us understand our own dog better (which sometimes they do, of course!) but most of the time it’s because we’d much rather our dog not do something and we think…
I Can’t Believe You Did That!
While taking a break from playing with the whippet, I spot Rio peeing on the toy. The coffee cup that I am holding in my other hand prevents me from reaching towards it in an effort to stop her from continuing peeing on it because at some point during the game I am going to…
Why Questions Are Silly Questions – Mostly
At some point or another we all want to know why our dog is doing this or that behavior. Perhaps we are just curious and want to know. However, most of the time we want to know because we would rather our dog stop doing the behavior in question. Under these circumstances the “why” question…
You are it!
I am going through my AM routine. The dogs have been fed and now I am hustling a bit to get ready myself. John happens to be in town and he is going back and forth from his home office and the kitchen. The dogs, meanwhile, do what they do most mornings once they have…
You Can’t Hurry Love
I am having a conversation with John who works in the solar industry. We are discussing the fact of how safety protocols – which are abounding in his profession – are sometimes in conflict with what the client wants: less downtime and more production. As he is sharing with me this everlasting conflict, I begin…