Before You Adopt A Dog: Questions to ask yourself

I met with Sharon of the Canine Adoption and Rescue League (CARL) today. I wanted to discuss the possibility of offering a complementary talk for potential adopters, as well as those who have newly adopted a puppy or adult dog. Good news! She loved the idea! It's going to be a 75 minute talk over at the Adoption Center (behind the Ventura Pet Barn), held on the third Saturday of each month. I begin August 15th! I will be going over the ever important...

Dog Trainers Need to Practice Too

Even though I'm a professional certified pet dog trainer, doesn't mean I:Have the perfect dog (sorry Poncho, but hey I'm not perfect either)Know everything there is to know about dog trainingNever have to practice...UGH!You may have known from previous posts of mine, or from Poncho's posts, that we've been going to agility classes taught by our friend Margie Hanlon of the Seaside Scramblers... Margie is a real saint, I have to say, especially after...

Impulse Control and Dogs: if dogs had any, they wouldn't be dogs, would they?

Today was session number four of my dog training Manner's Class at the inquisitive canine studio. It's one of my favorite to teach, but also one of the most intense and informative. Why? Because this session starts to bring all of the previously learned elements together, along with learning all about impulse control, and how to teach your dog to have...

Dog Bully Behavior: How to help protect your dog from getting picked on

I recently wrote about this situation in my weekly doggie advice column on the Noozhawk. "Anxious in Austin" has a cocker spaniel that seemed to be terrorized by the neighbor’s "nightmare of a Pomeranian". When situations like this arise, it is important to be able to recognize appropriate dog play…Venture to any off-leash dog arena and these are the...

Dog Behavior and Discrimination: how come my dog listens to my husband but not me?

I know, nowadays the word "discrimination" can be a negative thing. As socially conscious humans we're not supposed to discriminate - at least when we're talking about certain human characteristics. But trust me, we discriminate all the time - and it's a good thing, as you'll see below. How does discrimination relate to dog training? First a general definition of discrimination: the recognition and understanding of the difference between one thing...