It is early in the morning and I am still in bed. My eyes are closed, yet I can still feel a pair of eye staring at me. Then I hear a tiny whimper; and now I am pretending to be asleep. I keep my eyes closed for that effect and try hard not to…
Category: Enrichment
Is it Praise or Petting?
Have you ever wondered if your dog is truly reinforced by your petting? Do you think that your dog would find your petting to be more reinforcing than that of a stranger? And what about praise? Is it a relevant and sought-after reinforcer for dogs? The answers may surprise you… In a recent study conducted by…
Mental stimulation can double as relationship-building.
Here is the second installment of our discussion on mental stimulation. As I mentioned previously, we can go beyond food dispensing toys to give our dogs a daily dosage of mental stimulation. Some people get it right and understand the importance of a “sniff walk” for their dog. Indeed, for how we use sight to…
Why mental stimulation is so critical to your dog’s well-being.
If you are at all in the dog “circle” you have unmistakably heard about mental stimulation. What I think sometimes trainers, like myself, forget to do is to explain to people a couple of important factors about mental stimulation. First off, I would like to define mental stimulation. It is any activity that your dog…
Would you say your dog is “confident”? If so, what does this really mean?
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…
Cavaletti anyone?
The Cavaletti is a series of obstacles, normally identical obstacles, that are arranged in sequential order on after the other, and that permits the dog (or horse) to move from one obstacle to the next in a walk for beginners, and as the dog progresses to a slight trot. Using a cavaletti is not only…
Retire the food bowl
It is very wind outside, and there is dust and pollen everywhere. I decide to pass on kicking the ball for the dogs outside and instead we play one of our favorite indoor games come dinnertime. The dogs and I love this game. It is fun, quick and it sure beats eating out of a…
Frosty Paws
It feels strange writing about activities with our dogs in the snow since, at least in the Southwest high dessert, we are seeing balmy temperatures and no snow in sight. We did have an opportunity to take the dogs for a fun walk in the snow a few days ago. This walk was definitively different…
I almost lost Deuce
We are taking a nice and leisurely hike over the holidays. Deuce and Rio had made a new friend. Suddenly I see both my dogs clearly taking a scent and off goes Deuce. Poof! Gone. Out of sight. I have boasted confidently in getting Deuce back from pretty much any distraction and this – whatever…
Does your dog dig it?
I just came from visiting with a family whose dog decided to take a paw at landscaping design. The dog was thrilled with the results; the owner not so much. As I explained to them, unfortunately for us digging comes naturally to dogs. It is part of their ancient wiring that frankly as all natural…