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  Dog lovers know that a dog's physical appearance as far as size, hair length, hair color, ears shape, curly or flat coated, age, and so on.   Dog's are also individuals, and these internal characteristics do not show on their outsides.  These personality traits and temperaments can vary wildly from playful, wary, suspicious, defensive, resource guarding, driven, active, laid back, and so forth.   Add to the mix that some dogs have some training or real life experiences that may be useful as a dog owner or trainer creates a training plan.  Recently, one of our blogs went over  why there are so many different methods, techniques, and tools  that help a dog owner to train their dog. A professional dog trainer will look at the dog you have right now (as best they can in the time they have) to determine the right path to start down.  A dog owner who is honest with themselves can begin to assess this too.   None of these traits det...

  If you spend time working with the dog you have, you will grow to appreciate them for who they are. A professional dog trainer will be able to design a training plan that will help you maintain an incredible working relationship:) I have said before, I do not see dogs as a listing of their faults as their total personality or "the real dog".   I always see dogs as them plus their potential.   That being said, not every dog's potential is to be the idealized "bomb proof" dog who loves everything and anybody no matter what.   A dog with behavioral problems does have a very statistically high probability of dramatic improvement in some way.  If we get beyond the point expected for the team, I will gladly take that.   Sometimes and not often a dog does much better than I imagined for them.   Owners should take that kind of success, if it happens but should know not to expect more of their dog than they can deliver realistica...

  Many dog owners, who have trained their dogs, do not realize the tools for working on many dog behaviors that are problems to us are the  training commands  themselves. The ability to use these commands repetitively in different situations can help build the types of reactions that dog owners prefer from their dogs in many situations. Here are some common dog training issues and the commands (trained well) that can help your dog know what you want in certain situations: NOTE: ALL OF THESE ARE ASSUMING YOU ARE IN SIGHT AND SUPERVISING THE DOG ISSUE: MY DOG COUNTER SURFS OR BEGS AT THE DINNER TABLE  Let's go (which is an informal type of recall) or recall (come command) away from the counter to you. Also a back or go command can be used if you are in the counter area. A place and or down stay command can be used to station the dog away from the area. There are also other options that are not in the basic commands such as negative space training, or training...

  Dog parks can be a dog owning city dweller's solution to a space challenged environment so they can provide for their canines exercise needs.  Urban budgets usually do not allow for dog park supervisory staff. There is no one in most parks checking on the doggie guests coming in, whether people are cleaning up after themselves, or available to safely and knowledgeably break up an inevitable fight. Vaccination or pest control medical records are not checked before people come in. The population of individual dogs and personalities changes all the time in these parks. Not all dogs are going to get along with any strange dog that walks up to them, even if they get along with most dogs. Some dogs are reactionary around toys and strange dogs, some dogs just don't like certain other dog personalities, and some dogs are jealous of attention taken away from their owner or live in canine companion. Combine with this the changing pack order that happens, and dog wanting to naturally m...

  Puppies (and some adult or adolescent dogs) are in need of much learning and guidance. One of the most important things to do is to socialize your puppy well in the critical early weeks and months. The first thing that you want to check is that your vaccinations are up to date, and that it is safe to take puppy out to areas with other dogs and puppies. Take a moment to have a discussion with your vet about the best plan. ​ Realize that this is not just about letting puppy loose with people and dogs. There is more to socialization than that. You want to monitor within reason how they react to other people and dogs, and also to control the interactions with people and dogs so that your puppy feels safe with you. Ideally practicing training exercises is also a great way to socialize. For instance, practicing a sit before greeting a human friend or a canine friend. Secondly, do some research to find out what puppy play looks like. Talk to professionals about appropriate correcti...

For the purposes of this article, I am talking about fear (not fear [with] aggression , which has both positive and negative definitions in dog training , behaviors OR aggression behaviors) . Nor the fear that a resource is going to be taken away, and not dominant behaviors (which in my definition are not necessarily undesirable). A dog's personality or temperament, IMO, can not be described as simply "fearful", "dominant", "abused", or "aggressive". Dogs have rich lives (or should have) just as we do, and are not put into one simple box definition. They may have behaviors that fit that definition (and will have other behaviors and characteristics beyond those), but dogs (themselves) can not be IMO defined this way. There are many environmental, medical, neurological, and genetic factors that can push a dog towards fearful behaviors. It's important for owners to know that things they may do can make (one would hope inadvertently) a dog mo...

A common mistake that a lot of dog owners make, is to wait until a situation is out of control before seeking to control it.   Signals and signs are not recognized or ignored for far too long.   This can makes situations that were easy to solve and prevent in the present, instead become big behavioral problems in the future. To me being a reactive human dog owner is one that has missed opportunities to calmly and gently get potential problems under control in the past.   Because the owner has not been leading the way and allowing their dog to feel safe, the dog starts to make some decisions and actions that us, humans, won't be totally happy with.   When the opportunity to correct this has been missed in the past, it appears to force the humans into a reactive role.   To your dog this does not command respect or obedience, because the human appears unbalanced or terribly inconsistent in their rules and communication.  Remember ...

  I have had four Dobermans that came from a rescue shelter,  Doberman Rescue Unlimited . Two of them were two years old when they came here, one of them was nine or ten years old, and one of them was weeks old, Boris. Our first dog, while not from a rescue, was a three year old female Doberman that we bought from a breeder, when we were checking out her puppies. Our first dog, Jazz, did not think my husband was the center of her universe at first (for a good three months or so while we figured it out). Our second dog, Neptune, had some handling issues that took some time figuring out.  Our fourth dog, Jackie CD, did not bond with my husband for six months (he had been returned for this several times after not bonding quickly to other men). Our fifth and sixth Dobermans, Boris and Stormy, did happen to instantly feel at home.  Whether it was Jazz,  Neptune, or Jackie CD or the hundreds of dogs that come through from clients, my love for dogs ...

  Leon loved fetching as a wee young thing. We both learned about this skill together, and had a lot of fun doing it. What do I mean by your dog's "bliss"? The activity or item that eventually or immediately drives your dog to do it more or want to engage with you more. ​ This is something the dog is going to eventually be clear about. You can experiment with to find it and start the process, but ultimately you need to pay attention to whether it is truly motivating your dog OR do you just expect it would motivate your dog. How do you find your dog's bliss? Experiment with your dog.  Have fun and see what they like.  Do they chase the ball?   (I warn you this may not be immediate)  Do they like to tug on stuff with you?   Do they love to chase the flirt pole object?   Do they bring things back to you? Observe your dog in their free time, what are they drawn too.  Do they love to chase, pull, steal stuff? Notice what your dog gets yo...

  Engagement in dog training is the ability to create a relationship with your dog where you are the reward. Engagement done well will have your dog insisting on continuing the activity with their owner. In other methods of training, there are some elements of this as well, but the engagement that I am talking about is much more. Engagement in dog training is more about play with their owner or handler to create that very strong bond and work ethic. As with anything, it can have it's pluses and minuses. I really enjoy this method, because I get to play with my dog and train. The thing that motivates me in this method, is seeing my dog have fun while we are doing it. Why do I also use other methods other than Engagement and Motivational methods? One reason is this is a bit slower process than some other methods in the shorter term.   Sometimes if you really need to stop your dog from jumping on your elderly relatives, while including them in your family activities, you mig...

  Patterns, as I define them in dog training and behavior modification, are manufactured predictable events.  That is they are a sequence of steps  that become predictable with repetition and consistency.  Remember, canines do not share our human language.  We can not tell them what is coming up, but our actions to create patterns and structure can place them on more predictable ground. ​As humans we take this for granted for ourselves, but if you think about it, our every day patterns and structure lend to the feeling of safety and security for human children and adults alike.   Of course we can talk to each other should an unanticipated event comes up.   Can you imagine how scary some events are to dogs who do not have that sort of heads up?  We can make everything smooth sailing (or smoother sailing anyway) by adding a little pattern and structure to certain parts of our canine's day.  When training very young pupp...