Want a good activity for your dog but don’t have much time? Try K9 Nose Work. Any person can do this activity, and any dog will enjoy it!
Archive | training RSS feed for this section
A Basic Dog Walk
Just want to take a good-old fashioned dog walk around the neighborhood? Without stress??? It is really not a lot to ask.
Training Dogs to Love Their Crates
By all means train your dog to love his crate. But leave the door open more often than closed. You train your dog to love the crate by creating positive associations.
Establish a Sequence of Communication
I’ll save you right now from a trap I fell into with both my dogs by sharing what I learned in the Canine Good Citizen class I took with Logan. The topic as a whole is establishing a consistent sequence of communication to go with your consistent cues.
Stay (and Free)
Sometimes you need your dog to wait for a minute while you do something, or you need her to stop where she is until you catch up. That’s where you need “stay” –and its opposite counterpart “free.”
Down
Let’s get one thing straight from the start: “Down” means “lie down on the ground.” It is not to be confused with “four paws on the floor,” which we call “off.” Train all the humans who have regular contact with your dog to make this distinction and never to say “down” when they mean “off.”
Teaching Sit
Not only will you learn how to teach your dog to sit, you will also see that different dogs may need different approaches. This video shows three different ways to teach this basic skill.
Come When Called (Recall)
If I had to pick only one thing my dogs and I could do well together, “come when called” would be my pick. A good recall is your dog’s ticket to outdoor freedom and your key to her safety. I can’t say enough good things about this skill.
Naked Dogs!
Though we take leash walks every day, my dogs go around naked most of the time—almost always at home, and often when we are out, particularly in areas where I’m going to let them run free.
Equipment for Training Loose-Lead Walking
There are nearly as many kinds of harnesses, collars, and leashes as there are breeds of dogs. I suppose all of them have some kind of advantage, but only a few of them work really well with Dog Momma’s technique for training a dog to walk on a loose lead.
Walk on a Loose Leash
Walking on a loose lead is one of the most important skills you and your dog can cultivate. It’s your dog’s key to freedom in walks around the neighborhood just as “recall” is key to true freedom in a park or other less restrictive setting.
No Jumping! aka Four Paws on the Floor
Stopping your dog from jumping on people is a prime example of the importance of understanding how your dog thinks and of teaching Yes.
Leave It (and Take It)
I don’t generally emphasize teaching your dog what not to do. “Leave it” is an important exception.
Teach a Place
Have you ever gone into a store and admired the sweet dog hanging out on her bed? Guess what her person taught her? Targeting a place, first of all, and then “down” and “stay.” Once your dog can stay on her rug or in her crate, life is more fun for both of you, because […]
Targeting: An Essential Building Block for Many Skills
A fundamental skill your dog needs is targeting, or focusing on a particular object. Once you teach a target, you can ask the dog to follow it, pick it up, sit on it, and many other things. Targeting is thus a building block for many different skills and tricks you can teach.
Socialize Your Dog
The best thing you can do for your dog—starting as young as possible—is to socialize her to a wide variety of experiences. The goal is to teach your dog to be comfortable in all the potentially stressful situations she might encounter.
Stop Bad Behavior
There’s one good way to stop your dog from doing things you don’t want him to do: Give him something better to do instead, and reward him for doing it, as explained in our page on Teach Yes, Not No.
Training Your Dog, Kindergarten to College
No matter what you’re trying to train your dog to do (or not do), the key to success is to start slowly and work gradually. It’s like grades in school.
