I’d like to begin this post with an inconvenient truth: there are some people out there who get a little too hung up on dog training commands. To illustrate this, let me share a story with you that always makes me chuckle. A few years ago I had a client with a Doberman. We were …
In this post, I actually want to talk about one small element of the heel command that I’m asked about frequently: why do we teach dogs to heel on the left-hand side? I’ve been teaching dogs to heel on the left for twenty years, and if a dog is trained on the right I get …
A pattern interrupt is a service dog task designed to help someone work their way out of a panic attack, anxiety moment, or other moment where grounding is necessary.
At our dog training company we train a lot of service dogs for people with PTSD. One thing that folks often want to know how to do is how to train a dog to wake you up from nightmares. Something like this can help with the mental health of the person with PTSD so that …
When we train service dogs for PTSD there is a service task that we’ll often train called a pattern interrupt. The pattern interrupt is designed to help people with PTSD to come out of a negative state of mind. Here is how we train the dog to do it.
If you are looking for a new service dog it’s important to know how to evaluate a potential service dog. The reality is that not all dogs can be service dogs. In fact, most dogs CAN’T be service dogs as they don’t have the correct temperament and disposition. Essentially, in a service dog candidate, we’re …
Many dog owners think that training has to be so different depending on the breed of dog. It doesn’t. The reality is that learning takes place the same way across all breeds. What is different are certain approaches, certain techniques, and other methods that fall within the same rules of learning but allow for addressing …
Do you have a hyper dog? Lots of dog owners mistakenly see a hyper dog and think that they’re looking at a happy dog. They aren’t. They’re looking at a dog with no self control. You don’t overcome a hyper dog with age. There are plenty of older hyper dogs. Training a hyper dog is …
E-collar training, done well, can be the most humane way to achieve real world results with your dog. It allows for great off leash obedience, problem solving, good manners, and more. In this video we show how to start a dog on an e-collar in a way that is communicative and not punitive. We want …
