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  If you have ever looked into finding a complete dog training plan for your dog, you probably found a confusing amount of information out there.  Some of one method's rules probably contradicted another's method rules. Does this mean some people are using methods and training and that don't work?  Why can some methods be so different, but still seem to get great results for the dog training team? I have put a list of dog training definitions used, and the way I have interpreted them to help you if you find yourself stuck on a term that is not familiar to you.   Please go to   this post . Just because a method is different than another, does not mean it does not work on it's own merits.  It is really about how the plan came together, the logic of the plan, if the plan has been proofed, and what the results are for individual teams.  A well crafted method or dog training plan takes into account the strengths in particular of both dog and owner....

  Patterns, as I define them in dog training and behavior modification, are manufactured predictable events.  That is they are a sequence of steps  that become predictable with repetition and consistency.  Remember, canines do not share our human language.  We can not tell them what is coming up, but our actions to create patterns and structure can place them on more predictable ground. ​As humans we take this for granted for ourselves, but if you think about it, our every day patterns and structure lend to the feeling of safety and security for human children and adults alike.   Of course we can talk to each other should an unanticipated event comes up.   Can you imagine how scary some events are to dogs who do not have that sort of heads up?  We can make everything smooth sailing (or smoother sailing anyway) by adding a little pattern and structure to certain parts of our canine's day.  When training very young pupp...

Many dog owners and dog training students quickly get stuck in one place or feel that they have reached an impassable point.  This cycle can make dog training students bored when they can't go onto something more challenging in dog training or behavioral modification of their dog.  Meanwhile, with an understanding of how to advance their training and get to their goals, those goals are probably within reach by tweaking what they are doing or finding professional dog training help to bring it forward.   How does a dog owner honestly measure their success in dog training and/or behavioral modification.  This is the topic of this blog today. First of all, training your dog is a lot more interesting if you are improving or progressing in more advanced areas.  A dog owner also needs to understand that their current dog is an individual.  Their learning speed, physical prowess, way that they learn, and motivations are all assembled differently than other dog...

  The ability to teach dog training commands that are later on reliable and ​functional depends upon how the ability to break them up into steps and then layer onto them different environments and distractions.   This is also true when you are modifying your dog's behavior or changing your dog's perception of things that might make them defensive or scared.  Many dog owners are not aware that going slower and methodically is going to give them a much better chance of reaching their dog training or behavior modification goals with their dogs. Dogs neither understand English nor read minds.   It is the dog owner's and trainer's job to break commands down into parts which can be taught well, and then advance the command by increasing things like the three Ds (duration, distance and distraction), which was discussed in  our previous blog post . Typically, dog owners will try to start a command either at the end or midway through the command.   Al...

I don't know if most of the dog owning public is aware of the levels that we pass through when teaching a dog a certain command. Here are the four levels that I usually think of: 1) Demonstrate to the dog what you want him to do .You can do this by positioning or luring your dog into position. Dogs need to be shown what to do, because they don’t naturally know the things we take for granted that older dogs have already been taught. Obviously they don't understand our verbal cues, and need to be shown what they will correspond to in the future. In the Demonstration phase, the command is verbalized in conjunction with the luring or placing the dog into correct position. 2) Teach your dog what you want him/her to do (consistency and repetition). Let them know this is not a one-time command performance. There are rewards for the correct completion of a task Be consistent. Don’t tell your dog to “sit” unless you are ready to help him/her into a sit if they don’t quite understand i...

Novice is the first non-optional level of the American Kennel Club's obedience trials. Three different judges must at least qualify a team with a score of 170 or higher in order for the participants to move onto the next levels, if they would like to. You can move onto open and utility trials after that. When people see these dogs in the ring, they think it's all about "pretty walking". It's actually about a lot more than that. Here are some exercises from the Novice trials, and their real life HEEL ON LEAD: Heel is a moving command and an exact position. The dog turns with the handler , and exhibits that their job is to move with and pay attention to the handler. Uses for this include, but are not limited to walking safely down city streets (teaches your dog to not be concerned with distractions), bringing groceries and dog from car to house, walking through unexpected distractions, taking a dog out of a situation that is about to become volatile, and just the ...

So many people do not train their dogs.   Some humans don't want to.   Some humans feel their dog is already well mannered as it is.   Some people have gone to training classes but not left with a trained dog (trained to a standard, and I will discuss that in another article).  However, living with a trained dog makes life so much easier.   I only wish people knew that once the work was put in, living with your dog is a delight NOT a chore. Here are some reasons to train your dog that benefit both members of the team: · Your dog is happier because he/she understands what you want. What are people thinking when they ask an untrained dog to sit? I know the dog is thinking “Whattttt??????” Dogs are not born with an innate ability to understand English, even if to us those words are the most common commands used. If your dog isn’t trained, he/she has no idea what you want of him/her. They will try to figure it out, and try out a few options...