Training Goals: Is your engagement and drive work really helping?
If you’ve seen any of my videos or been in my courses, you know I like my dogs to be a bit pushy. I like a lot of drive and energy. In fact, with my newest lab puppy, who lacks the drive of…oh, I don’t know…my Malinois, we’ve spent an inordinate amount of time building…
Science, Dog Training and the Power of Experience
I can’t tell you how many times I publish something and people get angry. I think it’s a function of just being on the Internet. It seems that, no matter how tolerant I try to be, there’s always that handful of people whose opinions differ from mine, that will inevitably go on the attack. Don’t…
The Big What If: Fears, Insecurities and Shifting Your Mindset
I did something colossally stupid… It was last week…it was not dog related…but it was a HUGE mistake. I sent an email to nearly 10,000 people…with a giant typo in the subject line… But that wasn’t the mistake. Typos happen. The mistake was that I sent it to a large group of people I shouldn’t…
Unfavorable Odds: My Review of the Pet Corrector
I ordered a case of Pet Correctors. There…I said it…let the freak out commence. Perhaps you don’t know what “Pet Correctors” are… We’ll get to that in a minute. But for many that do, I can feel you shaking your head at me from behind your computer screen. Now before you freak out, hear me…
Dirty Words in Dog Training: Don’t Sh*** on yourself
If you know me, you may know this story already, but my first dog Koby was a challenge. In fact, the word “challenge” is an understatement. I loved him like crazy, and hindsight being what it is, I wouldn’t have it any other way, but this dog turned my world upside down. He was a…
Bested by a 10 Year Old: A Simple Strategy to Build Confidence in Your Dog’s Tug Game
I was playing Jenga with my nephews the other day… If you don’t know what Jenga is, here is a description from their website: “Jenga is a game of physical and mental skill… Players take turns to remove a block from a tower and balance it on top, creating a taller and increasingly unstable structure…
Throw Caution to the Wind: 5 Simple Steps for Boosting Your Dog’s Motivation for Toys
She stood, fully armed. Prepared for a day of fun at the beach. In one hand, she had a chuck-it – a plastic contraption designed to launch a tennis ball to the moon without much arm strength. In the other, she had a tug toy. She figured, if her dog didn’t want to chase the…
Tough Love: Recapturing Your Motivation to Train Your Dog
“I’m too busy…” “Work was crazy this week…” “The weather is awful…” “It’s just too cold.” There are hundreds of reasons you can find why you can’t seem to find the time to train your dog. And let me tell you, I’ve uttered them all at least once. (And I’m pretty confident you have too.)…
Soccer Balls and Setbacks: Conquering Roadblocks with One Simple Strategy
So I have this dog… If you’ve been in any of my courses, inevitably you’ve heard stories of this great, impulsive behemoth of a dog…in fact, I’m certain that by the end of this post, you’ll be able to guess who I’m talking about. He’s the dog that has more drive than sense, who is…
An Exercise in Frustration: Why I never teach bite inhibition to puppies
The door flung open and behind it stood a woman dressed in sweatpants in a t-shirt. She was clearly exhausted and looked like she was in desperate in need of either a strong cup of coffee or a full glass of wine – I couldn’t tell which. A look of reprieve washed over her as…