Dog Training Blog

The woman asked if I knew a local trainer that trained at a fairly new store not far from our neighborhood. I had not heard of him, and asked why. She had said that her puppy was kicked out of class and wanted my opinion about what happened. She told me the following: The trainer said her dog...

Stop Leash Pulling - Stay Close to Home This is a simple, but often overlooked strategy when working on leash walking strategies. Dogs pull towards . . . anything that they are interested in. If you stay close to home, your dog will get used to (or even bored) with the location and will pay more...

Stop Leash Pulling Leash pulling is a big problem with dogs. To avoid frustration for you and your dog, you should start working inside with your dog on leash. Control the distractions by putting one distraction on your floor. You can use a treat, a toy, a food bowl, or have one of your dog's...

Dog Training Come When Called Troubleshooting It might be helpful to see what I do when a dog doesn't come when I call. You can see Ellie ignoring my command. Notice I do not say "Come" again, but instead use my backup plan. In this case I put her on leash and continue working.  Make sure you pay...

Small Successes Add Up If you have seen my other How to Train Your Dog To Come Videos you have already seen the importance of using helpers. This video continues with more examples of how the small details add up. Notice Roxy (the Yorkie) takes itsy bitsy steps towards me. Based on where she...

Repetition is Key Even if you provide full help, such as gently pulling the leash or tapping the ground, your dog will eventually learn. It takes literally thousdands of repetitions before your dog can learn a behavior fluently. But, you also need to be aware that each new location comes with its...

Come When Called Basics Not mentioned in the video, but very important are some simple steps to make it easier to train your dog to come when you call.  Say the cue ONCE, and make it happen. Don't repeat cues. This is often a hard thing to do, but an important strategy. Don't give a punishment or...

Shape Behaviors First You will see this in all of my videos. This is the process of molding your dog's behaviors by simply rewarding behaviors that you like. You just wait until your dog does something that you like, and 'click' and treat. You can also say, "Yes" if you don't have a clicker. Need...

 Teach Your Dog To Walk Towards You It is very useful if a dog understands then when he feels a tight leash he should walk towards the person holding the leash. Tight leashes can happen when: You go one direction and your dog goes the otherYou are going slower than your dogYou are going faster than your...

Teach Eye Contact To Your Dog Eye contact is useful when dogs are distracted outside, pull towards everything, or simply need a "reset" button when they are a bit out of control. Start working inside and Shape the behavior, or simply wait for your dog to look at you.  Say, "Yes" or 'click' if you...

_x000D_ Dog training terms - feed for position _x000D_ This is a term that I talk about frequently with my clients. It is really simple, but also very powerful. The more efficient you can be with your training, the more your dog will learn. So, any strategies that help efficiency are really useful...

How to Train a Dog Not to Pull Leash training is a constant process. There isn't one strategy that you can implement to train your dog to perfectly walk on leash. You should focus on small successes practiced consistently and eventually your dog will walk the you are looking for. But . . . this...

How to Train Your Dog to Stop Jumping on Your Guests Make sure you watch my other jumping videos to learn many strategies for this problem. This is a really simple concept that just simply needs to be executed properly. You need to remember that your dog is learning 24 hours a day whether you are...