What Do Dogs Find Motivating?

This post is a follow-up to this post: My Response to a Reader. The reader’s question was this: “How you have used the principles and processes that form the foundation of clicker training, especially when your original approach using C/T doesn’t work.” Click/Treat is about way more than a click and a treat. Every dog has their…

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My Response to a Reader – What do you do when clicker training doesn’t work?

I have this survey I give my email subscribers to find out more about what they are working on with their dogs and how I can help them. If you haven’t taken it yet, go here to give me your feedback! Here’s the latest question from a subscriber: “How you have used the principles and…

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On-Leash Reactivity: Sometimes the Best Thing is to Do Nothing!

on-leash reactivity

This past week several things reminded me that doing nothing and teaching your dog to just “do nothing” is incredibly important in hyper-active and reactive dogs. Relaxation for On-Leash Reactivity The first of these reminders was watching a DVD by Chirag Patel called Aggression: From Brain to Bite. I’m over half way through and I…

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When a Kick in the Gut Isn’t Enough, I Don’t Know What Is…

I haven’t been kicked in 10 years! Those are the words I heard after I witnessed a 3 Star Parelli Horsemanship Instructor get kicked during a professional demonstration with her horse this past weekend. My nerves had become more and more tense as her demo went on. At the beginning, she had mentioned to the…

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Top 5 Loose Leash Walking Dog Training Videos

I decided to weed through many of the loose leash walking training videos you can find on youtube to list out the best. This skill is one of the hardest for both dogs and their owners. It’s hard to exercise your dog when every walk is a training session! What I usually recommend is to…

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Marking the Trigger

A couple of months ago I wrote about how I was working on Clark’s reactivity towards other dogs. It is still an issue, but I’ve decided to tackle this issue head on. He barks at other dogs on leash because he gets super aroused by them. If he was off leash, he’d go check them…

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Doggy Backpacks!

I believe that backpacks are a good way to drain extra energy out of your dog. They can also be helpful on hikes or camping trips. The use of backpacks is something I carry over with me from when I used to follow Cesar Millan’s training style. Everyone seems to have a differing opinion about…

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Doggy Chiropractor

I’ve always been a skeptic of holistic medicine. I am a very rational/logical person and got a degree in Biology after all. Fortunately, I’m very open-minded (as you all know). Before I crossed over to positive reinforcement based training, I didn’t believe in using drugs or supplements to treat behavior issues. I believed that behavior…

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