For some clients brand new to dog training, a phrase I hear quite often is, “Well, of course he’s doing what you’re asking him to do. You’re giving him treats!”

I always find this phrase so interesting, because it very quickly indicates to me how these clients view their dog, and behavior, in general.

Specifically, whenever I hear a client say a phrase like this, the thing that is not said, but is something that I hear loud and clear is:

“I want my dog to just do WHAT I WANT, WHEN I WANT IT, and he should JUST WANT TO do it.”

One of the things I enjoy the most when walking around the neighborhood is observing the interactions of people and their dogs while out on their walks.

It’s such an interesting look into the relationships people have developed with their dogs, and the specific rules and consequences they have established and imposed on their dogs’ behavior, not too dissimilar from seeing new parents and their children interact in public.

Labels are often mental constructs of what we perceive as reality, or how we explain the reality we’re experiencing to ourselves.

And while using these labels may make us feel like we’re expressing something objectively true we’ve discovered about our reality, more often than not, using labels can often have the opposite effect, and lead us further away from understanding what’s happening right in front of our very eyes.

Imagine for a moment that you invite your significant other over to Thanksgiving dinner with your family for the first time.

If your family is anything like mine, you’ll know that every family has their own unique set of rules, expectations, customs, and rituals that compose a list of behaviors that everyone in the family deems appropriate and desirable.

Do you remember when you were a kid and had a scary dream during the middle of the night?

If so, and if you were anything like me, didn’t you immediately head straight to your parents’ room so that you could jump safely under the covers with them until you fell back asleep?

Dear Family Pupz,

This has happened a couple times now, so I need to figure out how to deal with it. I have a 1 year old Aussiedoodle, and he was fully housetrained when I got him.

We have a fair number of male and female visitors to our apartment, and he get excited but has never had any accidents.

However, EVERY TIME my sister comes over, my dog has urinated in the house pretty soon after she comes inside. He's not lifting his leg like he's marking, but actually squatting like he does when he just has to pee.

Dear Family Pupz,

One of the most frustrating things about being Roxie’s (a French Bulldog) mom is that she always runs away from me the minute I pick up her leash when it’s time to give her a walk.

It’s gotten to the point where my boyfriend and I have to go chase/hunt her down together to even have a chance of getting her harness and leash on her for a walk.

Do you remember when you took your little brother/sister, your son/daughter, or your young cousin to Disneyland for the first time?

Imagine for a moment, the sheer amount of sensory overload that their brains must have been experiencing when they excitedly walked through the park turnstiles for the first time.

“Well of course dogs don’t understand English, I’m not an idiot!”, might be exactly what you’re saying to yourself right now.

And for most of you, this might be completely obvious, but for others, whether they’re aware of it or not, the idea that our dogs don’t come out of their mother’s womb knowing the entire English language (or the language that you regularly use) is a bit foreign to them…

This body signal can be used to signal friendly intentions, stress/avoidance or warning/guarding.

One of the most common dog training requests I get from my clients is to help them with a dog that jumps. This dog might jump up on them, family members, house guests, and/or anyone and everyone that they might encounter while out on walks in the neighborhood or at a nearby park.

Have you ever wondered what your dog is thinking when he looks at you sitting on the couch? Is it possible he may be thinking “Well, are we going to do ANYTHING today?”

Like you, your dog is probably more than ready to get out of the house and enjoy the summer before it quickly passes. His problem, however, is he can't buy plane tickets, drive a car or even just go for a walk by himself.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us indoors at a level unprecedented in modern history, whether due to real unemployment levels reaching the highest level in the U.S. since 1934, or due to nearly half of all the employed U.S. workforce now working remotely from home.

This has led to a tremendous increase in the time we’ve been spending indoors with our dogs…

… In other words, dogs were happier when they earned a reward by performing a task, rather than just being freely handed a treat.

A question I often get asked is what the difference in benefits is between private dog training in comparison to group dog training classes.

Let’s explore the 2 main principles of learning:

1. By association

2. By consequence

Why teach your dog to perform a “down-stay”?

1. It's a great impulse control exercise.⁣

2. It could be an alternative to undesirable behaviors we experience. ⁣

If done properly, early positive exposure to a variety of environments will help your puppy adjust socially in a human society & build your puppy’s confidence.

The best way to “speak dog” is to train your dog by utilizing positive training methods that reward the behaviors you want and that tap into your dog’s way of learning.

For a dog, personal space is of great importance, and as such, lip licks & tongue flicks can be used as an indication of a personal space violation.