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Dog Crates: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

<small>photo courtesy Flickr.com/oakleyoriginals</small>

photo courtesy Flickr.com/oakleyoriginals

It is my humble opinion that the dog crate is the most awesome invention to hit the world of Dog Stuff since the tennis ball.
 
They’re a great tool for keeping mischievous canines out of trouble, and for traveling. Crates make the dreaded housetraining process so much faster and easier, since dogs don’t like to soil their sleeping area.

Dogs are den animals, naturally preferring to sleep in enclosed spaces (this isn’t true of all dogs, but generally speaking). If properly introduced to his crate, a dog will come to treat it as his bedroom; a safe retreat from the stress of life with those crazy two legged members of his family. It is not uncommon for dogs to …read more

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Video: Keep Your Hyper Dog Entertained And Out Of Trouble

Want more? Check out 14 Quick and Easy Ways to Keep Your Dog Occupied

Music by Jason Shaw at Audionautix.com

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On Catching The Door Dashing Dog

<small>photo courtesy Flickr.com/defrostca</small>

photo courtesy Flickr.com/defrostca

So you’ve read this post, and you’re in the process of training your dog to wait at doors.

Great! This is all well and good, but sometimes, the committed door dasher will still get out. Someone will accidentally leave the door open, and Rover will make a break for it.

When he does:

You call him. “Rover, COME!” He ignores …read more

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How To Stop Your Dog From Bolting Out The Door

<small>photo courtesy Flickr.com/helloturkeytoe</small>

photo courtesy Flickr.com/helloturkeytoe

The Door Dasher is the dog who barges out past you when you open the front door, or who waits until your back is turned for an instant before running off shouting “free at last!” Sound familiar?

How To Prevent Door Dashing
“Come” is one of the most important commands you can teach a dog and is very useful for getting the dog back after he’s run off, but it won’t stop the problem – he’ll still be running out the door. You need to teach the dog to wait at doors.

To do that, teach Rover that he has his cues all out of whack. Because at the moment, the sound of the door knob turning means “prepare to launch.” Change it to mean “stand back and you’ll be rewarded.”

Teach the “wait” command, if you haven’t already. I use wait instead of stay for door dashing because …read more

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WAIT! (how to train it, that is)

RearCross1 085 Here’s a quick tutorial for teaching your dog to wait.

Not to be confused with the stay command, Wait is a useful command to have in addition to Stay. “Stay” means “stay in that position until I release you.” Wait means “don’t move forward.”

Tomorrow I’ll post a how-to that follows up on this, for teaching your dog to wait at the front door. (Update: Here’s the article: How to Stop Your Dog From Bolting Out The Door)

…read more

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Hey! That WAS my iPod: How to Stop Your Dog’s Destructive Chewing

Does your dog have a knack for search-and-destroy missions?
That is, does she find everything that you don’t want her to chew on, and chew on it? Check out this video for step-by-step instructions on breaking this expensive habit:

(Note: this video was designed to be watched on Youtube, so when I mention links in the sidebar, I’m talking about the Youtube sidebar. Capiche?)

Music by Jason Shaw at Audionautix.com

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Video: The Easy Way To Stop Your Dog’s Digging Problem

Does your dog have a digging problem?
Is your yard/garden starting to look like the surface of the moon? Good news: There’s actually a pretty simple solution.

You just have to realize that digging isn’t a “problem.” It’s actually a completely normal thing for a dog to do. What do you do when you’re bored? Watch TV? Read? Play games? Browse Youtube? (I’m guilty of that one)

It’s the same thing for your dog. Sparky digs because he’s bored and digging is fun. So instead of punishing the dog for this, you just have to redirect the behavior.

Check out this short video (less than two minutes long) to find out how:

Music by Jason Shaw at Audionautix.com
Photo credits:
Digging dog: Flickr.com/jkleeman
Sandbox puppy: Flickr.com/carradine65

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Video Post: How to Use Treats in Dog Training

Do you know how to effectively use food rewards when you’re training your dog? Check out 3LostDogs’ “inaugural” video tutorial to find out all the basics
you’ll need to know to get started:

Music by Jason Shaw at Audionautix.com

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Housetraining 101: 9 Steps to a Potty-Trained Pup

Note: This post is part two of a housetraining series. Check out part one, Housetraining 101: The Basics

<small>courtesy Flickr.com/amagill</small>

courtesy Flickr.com/amagill

Here it is: your simple, magic-secret-free guide to housetraining your dog. How long this process will take depends on how consistent you are with it and what experiences, or lack thereof, your dog has already had with housetraining. If you’re really good, it can take as little as a week or two. Otherwise, about 1 – 2 months.

You can’t prevent every accident in the house; expect to be cleaning up a few messes. Just keep in mind that every accident your dog has in the house sets you back in your training that much more, because it reinforces that “going” in the house is an option. …read more

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Housetraining 101: The Basics

<small>photo courtesy Flickr.com/kristenadams</small>

photo courtesy Flickr.com/kristenadams

Housetraining is not all that complex. But do a search on Google and you’ll find all kinds of sites proclaiming they have the “secret to housetraining,” or “ten potty training secrets!” All this complicates things way more than they need to be. If there is a secret to housetraining, it’s that there isn’t a secret at all.

Before we get started, there are a couple of things we need to get out of the way first:
One – Yes, you CAN housetrain your dog. It takes some commitment, but so does anything that’s worth doing, right? Take a deep breath. I believe in you.
Two – Accept that there WILL be accidents in the house. It’s not the end of the world, it doesn’t mean that you have a bad dog and it doesn’t mean that you are a bad owner.

Okay, so the anti-secret housetraining formula? …read more

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