12
Aug 2018
Actually teach your dog what the word “come” means. Put a leash on, say “come” and then reel your dog in to you and reward. Rinse and repeat MANY, many times in several different situations (all with the leash on). Don’t over use it, particularly when you don’t mean it. When you use “Come” all the time, dogs stop paying attention. For example, when you are walking your dog and they are sniffing the ground, don’t say come unless you are going to do a formal recall. Use “let’s go” or something......
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19
Jan 2016
When training your puppy or dog, the tool you use should be efficient and effective. The way you use the tool should be clear, consistent, and humane. While I am not going to discuss any one specific tool, know that we use a variety of training collars when training a dog. The only tools we do not use are harnesses (of any type), or regular flat buckle collars. Of course we do have our preferences, but that is not the point of this post. When training your dog you should be using your......
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15
Jan 2016
Puppy Socialization What is puppy socialization? Recently I shared an article explaining my hate for dog parks. OK, hate might be a strong word…more like my strong dislike for dog parks. If you read the article you will understand why I dislike them so much (if you did not read it here it is http://www.kdmathews.com/-bark-blog/just-say-noto-dogparks). When people get a new puppy or dog, everyone says “oh you have to socialize them right away”. Somehow, somewhere the definition of socialization turned into taking your dog to the dog park to be around as many dogs......
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04
Jan 2016
Happy New Year! Have you thought about your New Year’s Resolutions yet? Maybe your dog needs a resolution too? Pulling on leash? Jumping on guests? Excessive barking? Begging at the table? Not listening? If this sounds a little too familiar then it might just be time to make a joint resolution with your dog. While we hope training becomes an all year thing for you and your dog, why not take this opportunity to start the year off right? We have a variety of options when it comes to training to suit......
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