Be a Tree! I feel very passionately about the human-dog bond and what better place to start strengthening that bond than with our children! As a dog trainer, I see clients having problems with their dogs all the time, from the simply annoying to extremely dangerous, all stemming from the human not being able to …
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Compassion 1
After a private lesson recently, a new client complimented me on my skills and compassion. The compassion part of the compliment threw me for a bit of a loop. It also made me incredibly happy and well, proud. Skills, yeah yeah, we can all get those, right? But compassion, hmmm, it got me thinking… Sometimes …
Read MoreIs your dog a “Good Citizen”? 0
The American Kennel Club has had a basic manners test for dogs called Canine Good Citizen since 1989. The CGC test is a simple 10-step test for dogs and their handlers. I can’t say I have ever been an enormous proponent of the AKC, mainly because I have always had mixed breed dogs and could …
Read MoreThe Biting Dog 0
Dog bites are no fun. I’ve been on the end of the leash holding the biter and I’ve been on the receiving end (long ago, when I didn’t know any better!) and both ends stink. In my work, I see a lot of dogs who bite and even more with the potential to bite. The …
Read MoreThe Power of Play – Go Play With Your Dog! 0
When I am working with dogs I use a lot of food rewards. I use food because food works. Food is an extremely powerful motivator because we (our dogs and ourselves) are all “food motivated.” If we did not eat, we would die. How’s that for motivation? When folks tell me their dog is not …
Read MorePit Bull Awareness Day 0
I wrote the following as a guest blog for the KING5 “Pet Dish” for National Pit Bull Awareness Day 10/27/12… http://www.king5.com/community/blogs/the-pet-dish/The-truth-about-pit-bulls-175492891.html
Read MoreYour Dog Needs a Walk! 1
This is a bit of a follow up to my last blog about leash greetings and why I do not think dogs should greet others while on leash. Some folks may read that and think, “then why bother walking him at all?” Often people who are having leash difficulty with their young or reactive dogs …
Read MoreLeash greetings – yay or nay? 0
Leashes are a problem. When I first started teaching Difficult Dog, my class for reactive dogs, the class consisted mainly of mature dogs (3 yrs and up) most of whom were truly dog aggressive. They had histories of dogfights and real bite records. Within the last 5 years the demographic for Difficult Dog has changed. …
Read MoreKelly Ripa’s Pit Bull Gaff – Don’t Be a Hater! 3
OK. So, Kelly Ripa the host of Live with Kelly and Whoever said a really stupid thing pit bulls this week. Confession: I’ve always liked Kelly Ripa. In fact, when she took over for Kathy Lee Gifford with Regis I was cheering. Really, I thought she was great. I thought finally, a funny, “real” mom. I’ll watch …
Read MorePittie Party 4
I have owned and operated a dog day care and training facility for the past 12 years and have spent a lot of time with a lot of different types of dogs (2 herding type mixes of my own included) but something new happened to me last November… I adopted a Pit-bull. I joined a …
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