Teaching Duration Skills for Dogs
The way dogs learn to understand our verbal utterances is by associating a physical behavior with a specific sound combination the human emits. For example dogs can learn quickly that when their butt hits…
Posts by Elisabeth
Small victories make me happy
A couple of years ago I read a blogpost by the very thoughtful British dog trainer Kay Laurence. Home She had a new puppy at the time and she was…
Dog runs: what do you think?
Zeldi just had a great play session with an adolescent border terrier who lives a block away from us. They had a very animated game, their playing styles were matched…
Reward strategies
On a recent walk with my puppy Zeldi we came across a woman standing around in the street playing with her phone. She was wearing a billowing long dress. Zeldi…
Fear mongering
The current political climate is disturbing and yes, frightening. People are het up with fear and hatred, leading to an atmosphere of alarmism, reactivity and violent lashing out. Whatever impulse…
A different kind of sensibility
When I am out walking my dogs I try very hard to act like a “normal” dog owner and not a trainer. But tonight I experienced something that was deeply…
Using your leash as a learning tool
Let’s be practical here. As much as you would like to shape behaviors but not force the dog by molding or yanking (an example for molding would be: putting the dog…
Impulse control game: waiting pays off !
Most of us have heard of the behavior exercise : Leave it! When the skill is learned the dog will turn away from an object he desires voluntarily because this…
Puppies: Behavior vs “Obedience”
So, here you are and you have a growing, teething puppy and you are confronted with a mountain of natural but undesirable behaviors. From jumping up and nipping and shredding…
New tricks
It is so much fun when you can put several skills together: hopping onto a step stool, turning the head and lifting the paw at the same time! Result: Circus…