Teaching Your Dog How to Swim
There are some dogs that are naturals around the water; they require no training and sometimes seem more comfortable with swimming than with walking on dry land. Other dogs, however, don’t have that natural instinct or desire to swim for hours, but that doesn’t mean…
Dog Training: “Leave It”
Teaching a Leave It behaviour is a great way to begin teaching your dog about self-control, especially around people, other dogs, or other items that he REALLY wants to investigate. It’s a way to teach him to ask for permission instead of just grabbing. Sometimes…
How Long Does it Take to Train a Dog?
The desire to see changes in your dog’s behaviour is completely understandable, especially if his behaviour is causing a problem! Most pet owners want to know how much work they are in for and when they can expect to see the finished results when they…
Teaching your Dog to Love his Crate
Teaching your dog how to love his crate is one of the best things that you can do for him. Crate training makes potty training easier, keeps your dog from chewing on something that he shouldn’t be while he’s learning the house rules, and can…
The Trouble with the Dog Whisperer
Cesar Millan is one of the most popular and controversial characters in modern dog training. He is a great entertainer – he is charismatic, quick witted, and appears to do amazing things with the dogs that he works with. However, he is a big proponent…
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…
10 Easy Ways to Incorporate Dog Training into your Daily Routine
When it comes to training our dogs, one of the most common concerns we have is not being able to make time to train them. While it would be great if everyone was able to spend hours a day working with their dogs, for most people,…
What to Expect from Your Adolescent Dog
Puppies are really cute, but they are A LOT of work. When they first come home, they need nearly constant supervision to make sure that they don’t potty in the house or chew on something that they shouldn’t. Luckily, it gets easier after the first…
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….
Should You Play Tug with Your Dog?
In the past, there has been some debate about whether or not we should play tug with our dogs. The thought was that high energy games like tug were dangerous and encouraged dogs to bite. It’s true that Tug is a game that can get…
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…
Decoding Your Dog: The Mouth
A dog’s mouth is just as expressive as his eyes and tail. Even though he can’t use his mouth to talk like we humans can, the way that he positions his lips, jaws, and teeth can still speak volumes. As with all other aspects of…