Busting The Dominance/Pack Myths
04/05/23 11:21
Many trainers, behaviorists and dog owners today are still buying into an old, outdated, and very flawed myth about dominance and pack mentality in domesticated dogs and wild wolves. In this blog post I’m going to explain the truth and bust those old myths, based on irrefutable science.
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Just "Be" With Your Dog
01/05/23 11:18
I have been doing something with my dog since reading an article on caring for dogs who are terminal (illness, old age, but their days are numbered, they're not in great health). It said to just be there for them. Sit with them, lie down with them, you don't have to do anything, just be there next to them while they nap, or relax. The point was that the dog does NEED are food, water, etc, but what they WANT is you, their family, more than the food and water and stuff. It got me to thinking...
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The Old Shirt Technique
26/02/23 13:25
OK, I've taught folks this method for dealing with anxiety when leaving a dog home alone, or traveling, or whatever, but never had need to do it myself. You know, take an old piece of clothing, leave it in their kennel or on the couch or in their dog bed, so they can smell you. Well... let me share with you an experiment I did the past two weeks.
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Haqihana Harnesses
08/02/23 20:07
I just got Luna Belle a new harness. A Haqihana 2H harness to be exact. And I got a leather line from them, also. I’ll talk about the leash in another blog post. Now, I have to say, it took me a tad bit to figure it out. Even after watching their video on how to adjust it. The video was a 1H, the second belly strap kept confusing me. But after a little bit I got it figured out. I've put it on Luna Belle a few times now. We’ve been out walking with it, both on and off leash, and I am blown away.
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Learning Never Stops, Ever!
06/02/23 06:20
As a professional I am always learning and working to understand dog language and behavior more and more. I try new techniques with Luna Belle all the time. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been trying out three new behaviors with her. In this blog post, I’ll share what I did and what I observed and how it has changed my interactions with Luna Belle. Read More…
SwiftPaws Product Review
06/12/22 17:37
SwiftPaws Home Original kit is a system to help train dogs for Fast CAT competition and/or to simply give them some exercise. I’ve had mine for about two weeks now and wanted to report on what our experience has been with it. Up front, I purchased mine, it was not given to me, I receive no endorsements from SwiftPaws, so this is a very honest review.
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Classic Kong Is More Than A Toy
01/10/22 13:56
I’m sure everyone knows what the Kong Classic toy is. If not click here. It’s a heavy duty, non-toxic toy you fill with treats, then your dog spends time using their brain and brawn together to get the treats out. It comes in six sizes to best suit your dog. But have you ever thought about using the Kong Classic as a training tool? You can!
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Products I Personally Use
17/09/22 14:14
As a professional dog trainer, and long time dog owner, I am asked about specific products and brands. Now, there’s a lot of garbage on the Internet right now about dogs. Videos and articles making false claims just so we’ll be duped into buying some over priced whatever which will fix an issue no one really has and that we really don’t need in the first place. I am a skeptic, show me the science, show me data, verified information, not advertising copy written to sound all technobabble and such. So, here we go, what I personally use with my dogs, past and present, that I feel good enough about to recommend publicly.
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Hand Signals
22/08/22 18:50
I am a firm advocate of teaching hand signals along with verbal commands from the very beginning. There are so many situations where they come in handy, and it helps to reinforce the basic command training, also. Plus, it expands the abilities of you and your dog to communicate with each other.
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Bonding With Your Dog
08/08/22 12:06
Creating a strong bond with your dog is vital to a happy, healthy life with them. There are a few things that help strengthen that bond and they are important to consider and practice throughout the entire life of your pup-pup. Let’s take a look at some of them.
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