The lack of external cues has been throwing our household for a loop. While I’m generally rather good at creating routine, none of us realized just how much the dog’s feeding routine and cues were based on external triggers. Like…
Home, Home all the time
With the many closures of non-essential businesses, businesses shifting to work from home, and school closures, many of our dogs are suddenly finding their people home, home all the time. While this might be exciting and fun at first, having…
Routine
As with the rest of the world, these past few weeks have required adjustment. We are now past the 2 week mark and with my spouse working from home for at min the next month we’ve learned somethings about our…
Boundary Skills
Place targets, body targets, waiting at doors, and loose leash walking are all versions of boundary skills. All are very valuable in helping our dogs understand and succeed in our human world of fences, leashes, gates and endless number of…
Don’t Take Good for Granted
With all of the millions of behavior choices available to our dogs in any given instance, it never ceases to amaze how frequently the behaviors they chose are ones that are pretty darn wonderful. That isn’t to discount the moments…
Falling in the Pond
Often when we look at or make plans for behavior modification with our dogs the focus is on management and gradual exposure to stressors that allow the dog to practice alternate coping skills below threshold working to change the dog’s…
Practice saying, “No.”
What phrase have I said more than any other phrase in the past week? “No, but thank you so much for asking!” Can anyone guess the question my response is answering? If you guessed, “Can I pet your dog?” You’re…
Scents of the Season
If any kind of weather is timed to remind that fall is right around the corner, the weather we’ve had here this week is it. Cooler, breezy, and full of smells the dogs are enthralled by. Often season changes prompt…
The Magic of Space & Time
Frequently, it feels, we are all so often rushing, rushing, rushing. And with that rushing, putting pressure on those around us, including our dogs, to hurry up and be who we need them to be. We give small credit to…
“Get It” vs “Find It” cues
“Get It” and “Find It” cues can be incredibly helpful for teaching dogs about when a reward is coming and how it will be delivered. Differentiating between the two types of cues, also gives your dog a wealth of information…