Behavior

The game of leash-tug is encouraged by some agility competitors, as a reinforcer for their dogs at the end of an agility run. However, many dog owners (myself included), find it an annoying and sometimes even dangerous behavior. Here are five things you can do if you're in the latter group and would like to get your dog to stop playing leash tug:

I can't tell you how many times someone has said to me, I don't give my dog ‘people food' because I don't want him begging at the table while we're eating." If this sounds like you

apprehensive

You may have noticed that occasionally a dog comes along who seems to have a hump me" sign on his back. Particularly obvious at dog parks

Our 13-year-old Pomeranian, Scooter, loves to hump his purple stuffed bear. We find it harmless, so we don't try to stop him, though, honestly, he doesn't get that many opportunities to practice the behavior. His intimate bear-time is limited because our Corgi, Lucy, shreds stuffed animals in the blink of an eye, so Scooter only gets his bear in my training center office when Lucy isn't around, which isn't all that often. But there are many dogs whose mounting behavior is more disturbing because it embarrasses their humans, offends observers, or worse, distresses the person or other animal who is the unfortunate humpee of the moment.

specific situation.üBaby gates

but thousands of owners count on them to calm their thunder-phobic dogs."

his paw) to your hand or a target stick.üTrill

After about six weeks of living with Trill, Dr. Sharp knew that the frightened, anxious dog needed something more. The training and behavior protocols were working in the sense that the dog was cooperative, but Trill still had a panicked look in her eyes much of the time. Sharp was concerned: No animal should have to live with that much fear, she thought.

One of the most irritating – and common – phone calls I receive in my capacity as a professional dog trainer is when dog owners urgently ask me to help solve their dog's behavior problem immediately – even though, as it often turns out, the problem has actually existed for years. Sometimes, it's even phrased as, If we can't get this fixed now

Recently, on the drive home from our annual vacation in Maine, our 11-year-old Brittany, Vinny, suddenly and inexplicably awoke from a sound sleep, and began to tremble, pant, pace, and obsessively lick at the sides of his travel crate. When I crawled back over the seat to find out what was wrong, I observed that Vinny's eyes were squinty

Can a highly stressful environment during pregnancy affect how puppies turn out? Imagine this: A young dog goes stray and lives on urban streets for two months, in almost constant fear. Kids chase her down a street, throwing rocks at her; she is attacked by another dog; and she struggles every day to scavenge enough to eat. At last she is apprehended by an animal control officer and brought to a shelter. Here she finally gets enough to eat, but she's still not able to relax; the shelter is full of strange smells and loud noises, her run is small, and the floor is hard. After she's been at the shelter for a few weeks, a shelter staff member realizes that she is pregnant and due very soon. The shelter puts her on the waiting list for a foster home, knowing that puppies don't do well when they grow up in shelters.