In today’s post, I want to talk about dog problems. It’s rare to just have one. More often than not, you have many problems—but only a few that are bothering you. Owners frequently call us to say: “My dog is amazing, but he has one problem!” That problem might be something comparatively small, or it […]
Take A Rest: Understanding Recovery Time
In this post, I’d like to talk about something I call recovery time. It’s a huge concept to understand if you’re dealing with anxiety, aggression, or fear. Let’s dig deep into this. A dog’s nervous system controls its ability to process stress, Fear, anxiety, and aggression all come from a place of stress. Your dog’s […]
Fun In The Sun: How To Take Your Dog Off Leash
Summer is on its way, and that means that everyone is going to be at the park with their dog. We’re going to be camping, hiking, and fishing . It’s fun to take our dogs along too! Many people want to take their dogs on these adventures off-leash, and unfortunately most of these people shouldn’t. […]
How Should I Interact With Service Dogs?
In most of these blog posts, I give tips and talk about concepts. Today’s post is a little bit different: it’s a public service announcement about service dogs, from someone who frequently takes service dogs into public with clients. The message I want to convey boils down to this: leave dogs alone when you’re in […]
No Practice Required: How To House Train Your Puppy
In this post, I’m going to address house breaking, house training, potty training—whatever you want to call it! The other day, it occurred to me that there’s nothing to practice when you’re house training. Someone called into our Salt Lake City training center to ask me to come to their home and house train their […]
In Your Face: How To Approach A Dog
This is a PSA post. Right now I’d like to encourage you to see the world through your dog’s eyes, and to approach and treat all dogs accordingly. I have plenty of clients with dogs that are big and cute. Some of these dogs also, unfortunately, have aggression issues. Frequently the owner will be walking […]
Spring Cleaning: Structuring Motion and Silence
Right now, it’s starting to feel a little bit like spring in Utah. It seemed like winter lasted forever! We had two inches of snow down here in the valley last week, and there’s still snow on the mountains. Utah Sometimes it feels like winter ends in May and spring only lasts a month until […]
How To Use Repetition in Dog Training
In this post, I want to ask you to do something. You don’t need to do it right now, especially if you’re at school or in your office or at another public place. (In fact, if that’s the case, please save this task for later!) The next time you’re getting dressed, put your pants on […]
Dog Obedience Myths: “Selective Listening
This post might be out to burst your bubble, because in it I want to talk about selective hearing. Here’s why what I’m about to say might disappoint you: dogs don’t have selective hearing in quite the way you think they do. Selective hearing is what most people blame when they say things like: “Sometimes […]
How To Keep Dog Training Fresh
Today it’s raining at my house, which is normal for April in Utah. April showers—hopefully they bring flowers like they’re supposed to! I love summer. I love not worrying about wearing shoes. I love leaving the house in shorts and no jacket without worrying about getting cold. I hate the rain and the snow and […]
Survival of the Fittest, Weakness and Leadership
In today’s post, I want to address the topic of weakness. Now, we like to believe that we’ve evolved to a level where we don’t pick on the weak, at least as adults. As an adult, I know that . As a kid, I definitely picked on those who were weaker at times and got […]
How To Walk And Heel Responsibly
I want to talk about driving the car. A few days ago, I was working with a client who was making a small error, an error that plenty of people make and that can be fixed pretty easily. It reminded me of a story from when I was a kid. When I was sixteen years […]