Why Dogs Bark
Barking is a normal part of dog behaviour and one of many forms of vocal communication. Sometimes barking works in our favour; many dog owners are happy when their dogs bark at strangers that approach their home or to let them know that they need…
Decoding Your Dog: The Tail
One of the most common misconceptions about dog body language is that a dog that wags his tail is always friendly. This just isn’t true. Dogs wag their tails for a variety of different reasons and there are plenty of dogs that have bitten a…
The Magic Words in Dog Training
Whenever I meet with a new training client for the first time, we almost always spend the first portion of the lesson talking about their dog and the behavioural challenges that they would like to address with training. One of the most common questions that…
Dog Training: “Go to the Mat”
Teaching your dog how to go to a designated spot, like a bed or a mat, and stay there until released is one of the most useful skills that he can learn. It’s a great way to ask your dog to stay out from underfoot…
The History of Canine Dominance Theory
For many years, describing dogs as “alpha” and “dominant” have been a big part of dog training culture. Dogs that are difficult to handle or that don’t get along with other dogs or people are labeled with one or both of those adjectives as a…
Debunking the Dominance Theory in Dog Training
Dominance Theory has been used to describe and explain dog behaviour for many years, but a lot of dog professionals have started to question its validity and usefulness when applied to domestic dogs. When we take a closer look at the history and logic behind…
The Pitfalls of Using Punishment in Dog Training
There are two main schools of thought when it comes to training pet dogs: Reinforcement-Based methodologies and Aversive-Based methodologies. Training plans that are based in positive reinforcement are designed to set the dog up to make good choices, which gives trainers the opportunity to reward…
Puppy Training: The First 5 Things to Teach
There are so many things that to teach a new puppy that it can be a little overwhelming to think about it all at once. Where to even start? One thing to keep in mind is that what your dog learns first, he learns best….
You Can’t Teach An Old Dog New Tricks
There is an old saying that “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” If you have an older dog, you will be relieved to know that this just isn’t true. Older dogs are more than capable of learning new behaviours, and it’s never too…