Search Results: Dog Training

It is Dog Bite Prevention week, and I am inspired to repeat a post I wrote last year about that topic. I don’t usually repeat blogs, but I’ve seen so much pain and suffering (and I don’t mean physical) over this issue that I am inspired to put it out into the universe once again.…

In hopes it will be helpful to others in the same situation, I thought I’d outline how I handled the introduction of lovely little Maggie into the family. Here’s some background on the actors: 1) Willie: Eight-year old BC neutered male, at one point extremely aggressive to unfamiliar dogs, relatively comfortable outside now with new…

Last week I wrote about that ever-so-controversial word, “dominance,” and how it might or might not relate to dog behavior and dog training. To refresh: In animal behavior, dominance refers only to “priority access to a limited resource,” has little to do with controlling the actions of another in any other context, is highly dependent…

Awhile ago I saw a small dog hit by a car, whose occupant drove away as if nothing had happened. The little white dog lay on his side, stunned and bleeding. It was clear when I got close that the dog’s leg was broken and he needed to get to a veterinary clinic right away.…

Perhaps you’ve seen Amy Cuddy’s viral TED talk about Presence, or read her inspiring book Presence: Bringing your Boldest Self to your Biggest Challenges? While I was re-reading the book this morning I was reminded of Ranger, a large dog I worked with years ago who was agoraphobic and refused to leave the house. The…

Did you hear about the study that taught dogs to voluntarily participate in research using MRIs ? The work was done by Gregory Berns, a PhD and physician who studies, in his words, “the neurobiological basis for individual preferences and how neurobiology places constraints on the decisions people make.” After working exclusively with humans for…

It’s not often that a photograph motivates a topic for the blog, but when friend and colleague Melissa McCue-McGrath sent me this image of her dog Captain, along with a suggestion to write a post on pica, how could I resist? In spite of the amusing photo (no, Captain didn’t really drink any booze), pica…

Because it isn’t necessarily a fun topic, I thought I’d start off with my favorite story about dog poop. Imagine being at a sit-down lunch at two-day seminar I was giving on canine behavior and training. Picture a large room, with 150 people or so, sitting at round tables covered in white table cloths, the…

One of my greatest pleasures is getting to know loyal blog readers. Bonus: Their dogs! Laura Lauteret (Laura L now) has commented often for several years, and many of us had heavy hearts when we learned that her beloved guide dog, Seamus, died of hemangiosarcoma four years ago. What a joy to meet her new…

A million years ago, my first Border Collie Drift lept up and nipped a man’s nose at the Wisconsin State Fair. Even though the man was clearly not injured, with virtually not even a red spot on his nose, I was shook up and appalled. He was furious. “Your dog attacked me!” Well, he did.…

  A reader told us he’d repeatedly read that “dogs need a job.” Such advice is not hard to find, including on the AKC site, “How to Give Your Dog Jobs.“ Our reader then asked: Do they? Really? Ah, good question. Before we all try to send our border collies to coding school and turn…

Maggie, Skip, Jim and I are just back from a lovely hour-long walk this morning. All four of us were serenaded by the songs of a newly-arrived migrating birds, including Yellow and Palm Warblers.                                              Bird photos from Wikipedia, such a great resource. Jim and I gloried in the sights of these gorgeous birds, the…

I may, (paws crossed), have a happy story to tell you about a “need-to-be-rescued dog,” but I’ll wait on that until I have more to report. (Please cross your paws; and no, we won’t be the ones taking it!) Meanwhile, I’m thinking a lot the last few days about house training a dog who has…

If you are a serious student of domestic dog behavior, you need this book. Its full title is The Domestic Dog: Its Evolution, Behavior and Interactions with People (2nd edition). It’s not inexpensive, but well worth it. ($44.69 on Amazon, but don’t hesitate to contact your local Indie store to see what they’d charge you.) …

(This is a post from a few years ago, but it is so important that I thought it was worth posting again. I’d write a new one, but, well, everything I want to say is here, so I’ve posted it again. I’d love your feedback, stories, etc., on what works (or doesn’t work), for you.)…

I first posted this article in 2011, but it seems wise to put it out in the universe again. Taking a dog to work can be wonderful, or, not so much… Friday June 26th has been designated “Take Your Dog to Work Day” by Pet Sitters International. Begun in 1999 with a goal of encouraging…

The author Clive Wynne sums up his book’s thesis in its title: Dog is Love: Why and How Your Dog Loves You. He argues, compellingly, that dogs aren’t special because of their intelligence, but because of their social bond to us, which after extensive research, he is happy to call “love”. One might say that…

No doubt there are lots of dogs out there who love the holidays. New chew toys! Pieces of ham or turkey dropped onto the floor! But I guarantee you that many dogs are not a fan of holidays, especially Christmas. Here are five reasons why: I. The Dreaded Christmas Photograph. Posing for family photographs is…

Less is More, She Says Again, and Again and …  July 2024 VIDEOS ABOUT COMMUNICATION BETWEEN PEOPLE AND DOGS Willie Learns Object Names Does your dog know the difference when you ask for a ball or a frisbee? Watch as Willie starts to put it all together. Read more here about how to teach your…

The commercial aspects of the holidays can be off-putting, but I still love the focus on family and friends. And gifting too — when it’s a thoughtful expression of love. That’s why there are at least 15 books sitting close by my desk, either already wrapped or awaiting decoration, to be sent to dear family…

Friday June 24th has been designated “Take Your Dog to Work Day.” Begun in 1999 by Pet Sitters International, they suggest that we all take our dogs to work to emphasize the human/animal bond, and indirectly encourage people to adopt homeless dogs. I wrote a blog about this issue in 2011, and because our “official…

I worked with a dog years ago, a little buff-colored foxy thing, who had been rescued from abominable conditions. She’d spent years tied up in a barn, expected to pump out puppies for a daily feeding of kibble and a bowl of nasty, green water. And yet, she sashayed into my office like she’d been…

Ignorance can be bliss. But it can also let bad things happen, and it grieves me to say that bad things might happen soon in my home state. In its wisdom, the legislature of the state of Wisconsin signed into law Act 169, which directs that dogs can be used to hunt wolves in our…

We’re happy to introduce Karen London, Ph.D. as a guest blogger for The Other End of the Leash this week!  Enjoy! If people go running by your home accompanied by their cats, geckos, ferrets, parrots, or rats, then you live in a very different neighborhood, perhaps even a different world, than I do. It’s just…

  A cosmetic surgeon once told me that he dreads Sunday night phone calls. They are, almost always, about kids who need their faces put back together after being bitten by a dog. He said it breaks his heart. It breaks my heart too, thinking of the hundreds of cases I saw where the owner…

I promised I’d write more about treating thunder phobia in dogs, beyond the earlier posting that it won’t make things worse if you try to comfort them. It’s such a serious problem for some dogs (and their humans), and everyone who has a dog who suffers from it deserves some help (or just support!). All…

I’m reposting “Take a Bow for Teaching a Play Bow” from September, 2019 (because, well, see “Meanwhile” below). But I’m glad I found it, because I would love to start a conversation along the lines of: “If you could only teach your dog one “trick,” what would it be? Of course, that brings up the…

VIDEOS ON DOG AGGRESSION AND REACTIVITY Example of “Watch” with Willie Willie loves a good game of tug as positive reinforcement for checking in with Trisha.   How to Stop an Approaching Dog in an Emergency Most of us have unfortunately been in a situation where an uncontrolled, off-leash dog is headed straight for us.…

Dogs. Babies. Adorable. Unless you’re a trainer or behaviorist, and cover your eyes while watching some of the “cute” on line videos, showing young children at risk of being bitten because the dog was radiating discomfort while the parents cooed and laughed. People like me, CAABs (Certified Applied Animal Behaviorists), Veterinary Behaviorists, and a whole…

Friend and colleague Chelse Wagner of Dog’s Best Friend and I were talking a few days ago about what life is like in the dog training world, and Chelse commented about her surprise that so few dogs were bothered by people wearing masks. She works with a lot of reactive dogs, and not only were…

What ever is a dog to make of a human smile? Or a frown for that matter? On the one hand, it seems to me to be trivial for a dog to distinguish between obviously different expressions on the face of a human. Dogs, after all, are highly visual and the preponderence of their social…

A thorough answer to this question is too complicated for any one article, but it’s a common and important one. Actually, the question I am usually asked is this: “What breed of dog should we get?” The quick answer is simple: “It’s not about the breed.” Well, but, of course it is in some ways.…

When IS it safe to let a dog off leash? I’ve been in several conversations lately with people who live in rural areas, and those who live in urban or suburban environments. What became clear was that, in their case at least, the dog owners in the country couldn’t imagine having their dogs restricted on…

I considered calling this blog “I smell dead people,” but decided that the phrase, if searched on google, might add some folks to the conversation we’d rather avoid. However, it is actually a perfect title to a great book, released tomorrow, titled What the Dog Knows: The Science and Wonder of Working Dogs. Written by…

As many of you know I recently presented a seminar on animal assisted therapy in Naples Florida. (Yes, it’ll be out as a DVD later this winter. Happy Dance!) One of the motivations for doing the seminar was the number of clients I had who wanted me to help them prepare their dog for therapy…

Oh my. An alert reader sent me an blog from Psychology Today’s website. The essay is by Lee Charles Kelly, and argues that “dog training is no longer working that well” because we start “obedience” training too soon. The quote is actually attributed to Ian Dunbar, and Kelly uses that comment, and suggestions from psychologists…

Recently I watched someone walking his dog close to my office in Black Earth. Every ten feet or so the dog tried to stop to sniff the ground, and every time she did, the man at the other end of the leash pulled her forward so that he could continue walking. Ah, the canine-primate disconnect,…

Yup, this is the time of year when the rubber hits the road, and the leaping, crotch-sniffing, poop-eating dog that you just rescued from a puppy mill is about to meet Aunt Polly, the only member of the family who is terrified of dogs. Or maybe it’s the dog you’ve had for years, and the…

If you’re feeling a tad disheartened by the news, or maybe the view in the mirror when you went to buy new pants (okay, that’s probably just my problem), I have a suggestion: Go out of your way to go to the Assistance Dogs International Conference, wherever it might be held in the years to…

How much autonomy does your dog have?  Willie’s work with sheep is  what motivates me to ask this question. As I mentioned earlier, Willie and I attended a sheepdog clinic 2 weeks ago with Patrick Shannahan, and the big take away for us was that, too often, Willie looks to me to tell him what…

My last post raised the question “when should one start training a dog,” and we’ve had a lively and interesting discussion about it in the comment section. Our conversation has raised, as good conversations often do, another issue that I think deserves attention: How do you define training? Many comments have said that we are…

Watching dogs play well together is one life’s greatest joys. One of my essential criteria when looking for a dog to replace Willie was whether he played well with Maggie. We tried two dogs out before we found Skip, neither of whom had any interest in playing with Maggie. Maggie ignored one, and hated the…

Fostering dogs from shelters, as a way to get them into a home setting while they wait for their forever family, used to be a rare occurrence. Many years ago I remember hearing about a shelter whose policies prevented workers and volunteers from taking dogs or cats home with them, even for brief periods. The…

One of the great comments on my post about the new Puppy Book reminded me that training “step by step” is not intuitive. Someone may know that there are multiple steps between a dog sitting on cue when asked in the kitchen at dinner time, versus being asked to sit when barking at the visitors…

    Pondering about what to write in this week’s post, I thought: I know! I’ll write an article about what dogs REALLY want for Christmas. Deep from within my dusty, cobwebbed brain, a thought emerged, like smoke arising from smoldering embers. Have I ever written about that in the past? Oh, she said, having…

  My first dog training class, in 1968, involved my adolescent Saint Bernard and an ex-marine instructor who hung a Basenji off a choke chain for not sitting when told. Me and my dog walked out. Years later, in the 80’s, I became interested in dog training and took a friend’s dog to classes for…

  A recent study in Current Biology by Emily Bray, et. al., Early-emerging and highly heritable sensitivity to human communication in dogs, caught my eye recently, because it brings up a variety of interesting issues to those of us interested in human-dog communication. One of those is the issue of whether dogs inherently understand a…

Dogs can find places where bones were buried 2,700 years ago, even when the bones aren’t there anymore. You might want to read that again, because it’s astounding. One of the highlights of my month was interviewing Cat Warren about this discovery, highlighted in her recent article in the New York Times, “When Cadaver Dogs…

As often happens, a study on human behavior got me wondering about how it might relate to our relationship with our dogs. The study in question asked if emotions could be conveyed through body odor. The researchers asked 12 men with pads in their arm pits to watch videos that designed to elicit fear, happiness…

A few days ago I told Jim that we needed to cut down on Tootsie’s food because she was getting pudgy. Easy and obvious, right? Dog getting fat, feed less food. Less obvious, but equally important, is that if we cut back too much on her food she might not get the level of nutrients,…