Housetraining 101: The Basics

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

14 Quick and Easy Ways to Keep Your Dog Occupied

Boredom: The leading cause of doggie destruction in the home. When you don’t have time to entertain your dog, use some of these games and (mostly) homemade dog toy ideas and let him keep himself busy for a while. Most of these can be thrown together on a moment’s notice, but for the toys that require freezing, you might want to make them in batches that will last several days.

1. A kiddie pool filled with sand and hidden dog toys and treats.

2. Paper towel/toilet paper tubes with peanut butter smeared inside.

3. Cottage cheese containers or empty yogurt cups with about an inch of chicken broth frozen at the bottom. …read more

Mischief Managed

When I adopted my dog Merlin, I made a couple of rookie mistakes.
One: he was kind of a spur-of-the-moment decision; my life and home were not prepared to handle a six month old border collie. And two: I let him have free roam of the house and yard way before he was ready- before he understood the rules of the house.

The result?

A bunch of chewed up valuables, torn up couch cushions, dog poop in the garden, and a yard that was beginning to look like the surface of the moon. Not to mention the nasty habit he developed of lunging at visitors.

This is all kind of embarrassing to admit, because as a trainer, I was supposed to know better. Eventually I shaped up and started working with him appropriately, but the damage was done. …read more

Puppies Behaving Badly: Jumping and Biting

Jumping up and mouthing too hard: two of the most common behavior problems in dogs, especially young dogs. Fortunately the solutions are fairly simple – they just require some patience and consistency on your end.

Each of these solutions are based on the following basic process. Most behavior problems can be solved by following these three steps.

1. Dog misbehaves, so you take the Good Things away immediately the “Good Things” will vary depending on the situation. It might be attention from you, toys, or playtime.
2. Redirect the behavior by telling/showing the dog what to do instead, OR waiting until she does something good on her own.
3. The dog does what you ask, so you immediately give her the Good Things that she was after in the first place. …read more

On Getting Your Dog To Come When You Call Him

As far as basic obedience goes, “come” is a pretty easy command to teach.
You excitedly call your dog toward you, maybe tugging the leash or offering a treat. When he comes, you praise him. Eventually you attach the word “come” to it, and there ya go, you have taught the recall command. But that’s not what people have trouble with. What really frustrates dog owners is
a) getting the dog to respond no matter what, and/or
b), maintaining the command.
How many of you started out in your training with a beautiful response to the recall, only to have it deteriorate to the point where you’re lucky if the dog even flicks an ear in your direction when you call him? I’m in the process of fixing a broken recall …read more

Oh, Just Kill Me Now! Surviving Your Dog’s Teen Months

Adolescent shelter dogs have it rough. Since most shelter adopters fall into one of two categories, those wanting a sweet little puppy and those looking for a mellow adult dog, the teens are often overlooked. Most of them are there because they are teenagers. Their previous owners bought them as puppies but were not prepared to handle them once they grew out of the fluff-ball stage and into the obnoxious, gangly stage.

If you’ve adopted an adolescent dog, congratulations! The world needs more people like you.
Or, if you started out with a puppy and are ready to brave the teen months, congratulations! The world needs more people like you. …read more

6 Dog Training Motivational Hacks

I’m willing to bet that at some point in time, the words “I just don’t have time to really train my dog” have come out of your mouth.

I’m also willing to bet that time is not REALLY the reason that you can’t seem to get much training done. Because whether you’re training Sparky to be the next Skyhoundz world champion or teaching him that your arm is not, in fact, a chew toy, significant progress can be accomplished with just a couple sessions of FIFTEEN MINUTES per day (okay. Maybe a little more for Skyhoundz). Surely, even the busiest of us can do that.

Speaking from experience, I know that the real issue is almost always a simple lack of motivation. You know what you’d like your dog to do (or not do), but actually getting out and making that happen can be a challenge.

“Motivational hacks” for …read more

How to Teach Your Dog to Bark All Day – Part 2

This is the second post of a two part series. Here’s part one

Picture this: You’re hanging out on the couch, watching TV or reading a book. Fluffy is lying quietly
at your feet, chewing on a dog toy and just generally being a perfect little angel.

Then, the doorbell rings.

Your perfect angel is instantly transformed into a deafening whirlwind of “WOOWOOWOO!’s” and bushy hackles as she flies to the door to protect against the enemy at the gate. You follow, and open the door. It’s just the Fedex guy. You yell at Fluffy to shut up, but she refuses. You try to sign for the package and accept it from the delivery guy while also keeping Fluffy from launching at his throat.

I know, I know. Wow! you’re thinking. Just how can I teach my dog to do that?! It’s always useful to have a dog that barks and growls at visitors. It’s an added bonus if she doesn’t stop barking when you tell her to. After all, your judgement may not always be so great and that visitor who you thought was your grandmother might actually turn out to be a dangerous home invader intent on stuffing you into a closet and stealing your valuables. In which case, Fluffy’s insistence on yapping your guest to death would be a good thing.

Good news: this week’s lesson is even simpler than last week’s. It takes only two steps, but they are very powerful ones. …read more

How to Teach Your Dog to Bark All Day – Part 1

This is the first post of a series; this week’s post will show you how to teach Fluffy to bark constantly while she’s outside by herself, and next week’s post will discuss how to get her to bark ferociously at your visitors or the FedEx guy.

Today’s how-to is all about how you can get your dog to bark incessantly, all day long!
Because who wants a dog who does something silly like wait quietly for you to come home?
With a dog who never shuts up, you’ll…

Never get any work done with all that distracting yapping going on.

Have to turn the the TV or radio up loud to drown out the noise.

Annoy the neighbors, who might even call animal control on you! Doesn’t that sound awesome?

And the best part is, it’s really easy to teach your dog to bark all day. Dogs seem to catch on to this really quickly. Follow these simple steps and your dog will be yammering away in no time. …read more

No Need to Overreact – Growling Dogs

My border collie-ish dog Merlin and I were at a morning practice session at my agility club. We’d been working for a long time, and Merlin, getting bored, decided that he’d rather go hang out with the other dogs. He took off after the nearest dog and got in her way. “Come play with me!”

The other dog (let’s call her Sierra) did not appreciate my obnoxious pup’s invitation and gave a sharp growl. No big deal, just her way of saying “get out of my face, punk. I have …read more