In order to simplify training for pet owners, and to incorporate training into daily life, eliminating the need to set aside a specific time for it many trainers recommend the Nothing In Life is Free protocol (NILF)*. It has its merits, though an unfortunate name. Tagging along with the technique is a fuzzy notion of "we're in charge here and the sooner you figure that ...
One of the often misused techniques for getting new behaviors from fearful dogs is luring. And the most often used lure is food. Besides being unfair, it can backfire, big time.The unfair part of it is that dogs need to eat. It's one thing to bait a trap to catch a dog and count on the dog's hunger to be motivating enough to get them ...
It wouldn’t be the first time someone has used my discomfort with something they said or did, to turn the tables and make it my problem, but it was happening and for some reason I couldn’t let it go. One of the skills we all need to practice in this day and age of instant communication is to push ourselves away from the keyboard. Just ...
I should start this post with a disclaimer that I am not advocating against the use of the pieces equipment I am going to mention, rather that we should take a good long look at how and why we are using them. Routinely a post will make the rounds of the social media circuit about a dog who while playing with a dog, ended up ...
Sunny gets to decide where he feels most comfortable around people. One of the reasons I go on like a broken record about the importance of using reward based training methods that have been designed based on the evidence available garnered through the study of animal behavior and research is because working with fearful dogs can be so darn challenging. So challenging that ...
There are no secrets to dog training, or weight loss, despite the endless amount of spam trying to sell both. Good dog trainers who understand how to train dogs are like bad poker players grinning like fools and showing their hand with all the aces to the people sitting beside them. We want people to know how to change their dog's behavior and can't keep ...
There is so much progress that needs to be made in regard to how people "think" about animal behavior and training that it can seem overwhelming. But seven years ago I had to seek out and search for information regarding the most humane and effective ways to help dogs with fear based behavior challenges, whereas today it streams on my Facebook page and twitter account. ...
Every now and then a Cesar Millan fan will find my blog and do their darndest to convince me of the error of my ways and assessment of his. I have to give them credit for their efforts. They are right to accuse me of moderating many of their comments. I didn't always but I decided that he has gotten enough airtime without my blog ...
I recently had the unfortunate, albeit educational experience of being on a radio show with three other dog trainers. When asked if we'd ever been bitten I recounted the story of being bitten when I was a kid, another trainer spoke of his experience with sharp puppy teeth and his nose, but it was the last trainer whose response was most disturbing. This self-proclaimed dog ...
It would seem that it is too much to expect that people who decide to make a living from "working" with dogs, actually spent some time learning about them. There are plenty of jobs out there that don't require any education for someone to excel at them. If you want your lawn mowed and raked hiring a neighborhood kid with the tools is probably not ...
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