Getting a new puppy is so exciting! All the planning, waiting and preparing come to a head with the bringing home of the puppy. And, while the human family members are excited and prepared, the resident dog(s) in the family may view it differently. Depending on the individual dogs living Read more…
Little puppies are so much fun. Before 5 or 6 months puppies tend to be dependent and connected. They are like little sponges who are hungry for more information and this is a great time for learning. When I taught puppy classes people would bring their puppies to class and Read more…
Over the years as a professional dog trainer and behavior consultant there has been a constant theme of comments that I have received and continue to receive in my work focusing on conformation. I have been told things like, “He never warms up to people as quickly as he has Read more…
One thing that I feel very lucky for is that I learned how to train dogs differently than I train today. I learned to train with more traditional methods and have changed over to methods that are progressive, effective and very dog friendly. I am grateful for this because I Read more…
Today I met with a new client. I am only doing training for show dogs and thought that this was a fearful show dog. It turns out that the dog is not a show dog, but a much loved companion dog who is fearful, but that someone had told her Read more…
One big piece of From Shy to Showy is the commitment to giving the dog “choice”. Particularly in the early stages, whether you are dealing with a dog who is very fearful, shy or even just doesn’t enjoy the ring it is important for the dog to learn that they Read more…
THE LITTLE DOGS THAT COULD One of the best parts of my job is that I get to travel around the country teaching people how to train show dogs, handle their show dogs and help shy or fearful show dogs. In order to save the hosts money, I always offer Read more…
POWER STEERING WITH FOOD I like to use food as a lure to help teach dogs new behaviors. I also use food when prompting a dog to reposition a foot in the show ring. So, in the case of a show dog the food is used as a lure in Read more…
PULLING ON THE LEAD -PART ONE Last month my new puppy arrived from Australia. He is co owned by me and my good friend and lives with me and will be trained and shown by me. Jager (pronounced YAY-ger) is six months old and has won several Best Baby Puppy Read more…
STRUCTURE ISSUES CAUSED BY OUR OWN TRAINING? Huh? What did she say? I am sure you are thinking that this doesn’t make any sense, but once I explain it you may find that you have had something similar occur. Today I was having a private training session for show dog Read more…