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How Do You Use Positive Reinforcement To REDUCE An Unwanted Behavior?

For many people who want to train their dog using positive reinforcement methods, the idea of rewarding your dog for behaviors you want to see persist makes absolute and total sense.

For example, you ask your dog to sit, and if he sits, you reward him with a treat in the hopes that he'll reliably sit when you ask him to do so again in the future. But for many, at least conceptually, it's harder to understand how to reward your dog for behaviors you want to see go away, like jumping, biting, and of course, barking.

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Puppy Socialization: How To Socialize Your New Puppy

Socialization is important because it will provide your puppy with the social skills needed to interact with other people and dogs confidently, while preventing your puppy from becoming fearful, shy or skiddish in the future.

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How To Make Sure Your Pup Is Ready For His/Her First Vet Visit

We’ve recently chatted with Dr. Saunders at Sploot Veterinary Care to discuss the best way to ensure that your pup is ready for his/her first vet visit, as behavioral issues related to anxiety at the vet clinic is a pretty common issue that they encounter at the clinic.

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Understanding Thresholds: The Key To Training A Reactive Dog

Imagine for a moment that you are casually walking down the street with your spouse, and all of a sudden, you catch a glimpse of your favorite celebrity (i.e. Beyoncé or Brad Pitt), and you literally CANNOT believe your eyes.

Almost immediately, you start sweating uncontrollably in your state of discombobulated excitement (“is it hot in here, or is it me?!”).

Meanwhile, your spouse, who is completely oblivious to your mini freakout, casually asks you where you would like to go for lunch.

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What is a Doggy Doula®?

One Of The Most Common Questions I Get Asked Is, “What Is A Doggy Doula®?”

Many already know that a doula is a trained professional who provides mothers with continuous physical, emotional, and informational support before, during and shortly after childbirth, so it’s common (and unsurprising) for many to think that a doggy doula™ provides support to an expecting dog, or even that a doggy doula® is a dog that provides this support for her expecting human mom!

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If We All Started Treating Dogs In A Humane And Loving Way, Would Dogs Still Be Anxious?

On another episode from the archives of The Family Pupz Podcast, we asked board-certified veterinary behaviorist, the owner and lead clinician at the Animal Behavior Clinic, and one of our favorite people, in general, Dr. Chris Pachel, to give us his take on whether he thinks dogs would still exhibit anxiety-related behaviors if all humans on Earth suddenly started treating dogs in a humane and loving way.

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What Does "Grain-Free" Dog Food Actually Mean?

With so many choices of dog food available on the market, it can feel impossible to decide which is best for your prized pooch.  But, we’re here to help you understand the world of grain-free dog food; our comprehensive guide will help you to make an informed decision on what to feed your pup.

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Are All Doodles Hypoallergenic, Or Is That A Misconception?

On the latest episode of The Family Pupz Podcast, we asked the the owner and head trainer of "The Doodle Pro™", the host of the highly-rated and popular, The Doodle Pro™ Podcast, that has most recently ranked #1 on Australia and New Zealand's charts and #3 on the genre's US, Canada, and UK's Apple charts, and generally one of the foremost experts on doodles on the planet, Corinne Gearhart, who just so happens to be allergic to dogs herself, what her opinion is on the popular belief that all doodles are “hypoallergenic”.

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Why You Don't Get "Before & After" Videos From Positive Dog Trainers

On the latest episode of The Family Pupz Podcast, we asked the owner and head trainer of Sit Pretty Behavior & Training, Vanessa Charbonneau, and Tanya, talk about why we love "Before & After" dog training videos so much as a society, why it's so hard to stand by and look at (never mind record) a dog "losing it", and why positive reinforcement dog trainers don't lose sleep over it.

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Why It's Important To Focus On The Steps, And Not The Goal In Dog Training

On the latest episode of The Family Pupz Podcast, we discussed the importance of focusing on the steps in dog training, rather than the goal, with the founder of Positive Partners Dog Training LLC, Brianne Harris, as focusing on the goal too deeply, like trying to get your dog to stop demand barking for a specific duration or by a specific date, can be counterproductive to the actual achievement of those goals.

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