Okay, kids: time for a deep dive into an actual, real-life reactivity success story. In our last article, my wife Erin Buvala told her tale of adopting a severely reactive dog. Check it out: Leave the Light On: A Real-Life Reactive Dog Adoption Story. Now, we’ll go into more practical detail on what the training… Continue Reading
Leave the Light On: A Real-Life Reactive Dog Adoption Story
Note from Jake: this is the first post on this site not written by me! Everyone, meet my wife, Erin: By Erin Buvala It was one of those summer days when, the minute you open the car door, the strength of the hot air rushing in makes your eyes hurt. My housemates and I tumbled… Continue Reading
A Beginner’s Guide to Helping Your Reactive Dog Get Better
So you want your reactive dog to calm down and stop being a completely embarrassing nightmare on walks? You’ve come to the right place. Reactivity is a BIG topic. There are many elements, many moving parts. The deluge of disorganized, sometimes contradictory, information you discover when you start looking into it can be overwhelming… Continue Reading
Why Does My Dog Bark and Lunge On Leash? (Intro to Reactivity)
Photo by Frank Pontier All you want to do is take a nice relaxing walk with your dog like a normal person. But every time your dog sees some trigger, be it a person or another dog, or perhaps a plastic bag floating on the breeze, they lose their marbles. Barking, lunging, and generally being… Continue Reading
Ask 3LD: How do I socialize my puppy during a pandemic?
“Hi Jake, Hope you are well and coping in these strange times! My wife and I bought your ‘Puppy Survival school’ and ‘Focus and Come when called’ courses, we are loving the videos and readings! We are due to pick up our Standard Poodle puppy in 6 weeks and I am just getting in touch… Continue Reading
The Right Way to Use Desensitization and Counter-Conditioning to Help a Fearful or Aggressive Dog
Photo by designerpoint When it’s done right, this method is a beautifully effective and long-lasting solution to a wide variety of fear-based behavior problems. Unlike methods that only suppress the dog’s reaction (which is really just a symptom of their fear), you’re getting inside the dog’s head and changing the way they feel about the… Continue Reading
Training a Behavior vs. Changing an Emotion: What All Dog Owners Need to Know
Photo by Lisa Fotios Yeah, I know – dog trainer advice can be confusing sometimes. I mean, I’m always going on and on about how you need to reward behavior you like, and make sure you don’t accidentally reward unwanted behavior. Whatever gets rewarded gets repeated, blah blah blah. But then in the next breath… Continue Reading
A Beginner’s Guide to Puppy Socialization
Coronavirus update: The pandemic has complicated this whole socialization thing. Click here for my thoughts on socialization in the age of social distancing. *puts on best infomercial voice* Would you like your puppy to grow up well-behaved and free of major behavior problems? Are you looking for an effective way to burn off that endless… Continue Reading
Puppy Supplies Checklist: Everything Your New Puppy Needs (and What They Don’t Need)
Here’s a handy guide to all the stuff you’ll need when your puppy comes home. This list ties in to the 3 Lost Dogs training philosophy, and it’s all meant to help you raise a happy, well-behaved puppy who stays out of trouble as much as possible. The list is divided into the Essential supplies… Continue Reading
Dog Training 101 Ep. 3: Shaping
Episode One: How to Get Started with Training Episode Two: Lure/Reward Episode Three: Shaping Shaping is the one where you wait for the dog to perform tiny steps in the right direction, and you reward those tiny steps until eventually, the dog is doing the desired thing. It’s kind of like a guessing game,… Continue Reading