A lovely morning for a walk. Tom guiding on my left, Dulce spaniel and Zora walking nicely on my right. Nearing the end of the walk, final stretch of sidewalk towards home. I live on the main road through town,…
Teaching Dogs ‘The Basics’
The other day during a lesson with a long time client who has a new puppy she asked me, so when do we start teaching The Basics and how long will they take? I looked at her blankly. The Basics?…
Leashes in the House
Recently a number of folks I know have gotten puppies. And they’ve all asked my advice about house training, and keeping their pup out of trouble and such. And for all of them, as I recommend to anyone who asks…
Generalizing Skills
Zora and I have been making good progress on a number of our foundation obedience behaviors. Specifically working hard on consistency with correct front and sit at heel positions, grip on retrieve objects, position signals, and kick back stand from…
Q&A: My Dog Pulls on Leash
As a reader posed this question and it’s a common one, rather than write out a number of super long comment replies to this reader, I’m simply making a blog post out of it. The comment/question that sparked this post:…
Winterizing Leather Dog Gear
This morning I went to pick up a boarding dog’s leash that she’d been dropped off with. And immediately found myself rummaging in the hall closet. Searching for this. Snow-Proof Weatherproofing. Which is a waxy type substance for weather proofing…
Leash, Fence or High Level of Training. Those are your options.
First let’s start with the fun part of my walk this morning. It was a nice coolish day, foggy, and the fall leaves covered the ground as we walked around the lake in town. I made us all stop and…
Of corgis and collars
I love to walk. I enjoy it. It makes me happy. If I’m not in a better mood after a walk then that poor mood better have a damn good reason. Walking is an important part of my life. Mental…
My how you've grown
Today on our walk as I easily called Zora to heel off leash as an off leash dog up ahead about 30′ away stared us down, I said to my friend, “A year ago I never would have let myself…
Trail & Street Etiquette
This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. And has been weighing heavily on my mind especially as of late due to a large number of encounters with other dog owning people on our walks. It’s…