. . . . . . . .

Many owners encounter problems with dogs that will not come when called while out walking, this is not only frustrating for the owner, but it can also be potentially hazardous. The following training tips can help to prevent recall problems:

#1. From an early age train the recall in a positive way: Find a good puppy class, preferably one where many fun games are practiced off-leash. For example one handler gently restrains Fido while his owner shows him a treat, the owner then runs a little distance away, holds out arms in a welcome gesture and calls Fido in a happy tone of voice. When the handler is confident that Fido is focused on his owner Fido is released and runs over to his owner, and he receives the treat, lots of positive happy verbal feedback, and petting. Keep practicing and as Fido gets good at this game, gradually increase the distance he is required to run.  If you don’t have a helper to hold Fido, then simply run backwards and encourage him to follow you, and reward with treats, praise, and petting.

Click to read more ...

Many people experience training problems with their dogs and I think this is partly due to misconceptions around motivation. Motivation is a condition of wanting something and being focused to behave in a certain way in order to attain that something. The behaviour has a purpose; a goal, the fulfilment of some need, interest, desire, preference etc.

Motivation is what spurs a dog to act. So is there some secret to motivating your dog? No, you simply train your dog using what your dog wants, likes, and needs to achieve the behaviours that you want.

Click to read more ...

Occasionally I encounter clients who are uneasy with the idea of using food for training their dog.  They somehow see it as cheating, or a bribe. Instead, they ask why it is not sufficient to use only praise and petting as rewards, and corrections when the dog gets it wrong?

Modern trainers no longer use punishment based training because it is out-of-date, unkind to the dog, and much less effective than reward based training. Traditional training is about making a dog do what you want, modern training is about motivating a dog to want to do what you want.

Click to read more ...