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The best in health, wellness, and positive training from America’s leading dog experts

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Training

The Right Tool at the Right Time

Few dogs behave in ways that please us all day every day – especially puppies, adolescent dogs, or newly adopted adult dogs who have little experience living closely with humans. Training" is what we usually call our formal efforts to teach dogs how to behave in ways that please us more – and most frequently

Examples of Management/Training Scenarios

and leave him alone when he has a high-value resource. If you do need to take something away from him

How To Crate-Train Your Puppy

Most puppies are crate-trained with relative ease. Remember that the crate should be just large enough for your pup to stand up, turn around,...

Ways to Combat Your Dog’s Indoor Urine-Marking

I can still remember the day, more than a decade ago, when I first realized with horror that our Scottish Terrier, Dubhy (pronounced Duffy")

Stand-Up Paddleboarding With Your Dog

A stand-up paddleboard (SUP) is similar to a surfboard, though one paddles a SUP while standing. As a former avid whitewater kayaker, when I first saw photos of people on SUPs, I thought, Why in the world would anyone want to do that?" Where was the excitement? The adrenaline?"

When to See a Vet and When to See a Trainer

or gradually becomes uncharacteristically undesirable."

How Your Dog Can Help with Physical Therapy

a Papillon in training to become a service dog, demonstrates a stretching/hand-control exercise where the client is asked to roll the ball toward the dog, and the dog rolls it back.üTim (Debi's husband) demonstrates some of the exercises that dogs can help with during animal-assisted physical therapy. In this exercise, the dog was directed to stand in place as the client maintained his balance while reached and stretching toward the dog.

5 Things To Do If Your Dog Snaps at a Guest

If you've never had to deal with that alarming moment when your beloved dog snaps at a guest in your home, you are fortunate. I hope you never do. But just in case, it's good to know that, first, you're not alone – lots of dogs have snapped at guests in their homes (or worse!). Second, it's not the end of the world; it doesn't mean you need to euthanize your dog and it doesn't mean your dog will inevitably maul someone. It is, however, an important heads-up for you. How you handle the situation can often determine if your dog's aggression toward visitors escalates or diminishes. So if it happens, here's what you need to do:

Take Your Water-Loving Dog Dock Diving!

Summer! It's the perfect time for dock diving. In this canine sport (also known as dock jumping), the participating dog jumps off an elevated diving platform into a portable pool and the dog with the longest jump is deemed the winner. I think dock diving is possibly the best canine sport for spectator enjoyment. And, if you decide to compete, you can easily redline the FUN meter! Besides the joy of hanging out with my dog by a cool body of water, the one thing I love about the sport is that with just a few dog and handler skills, any person and any breed of dog and size of dog can participate.

5 Things To Do If Your Dog Won’t Come to You

It's frustrating at best, dangerous at worst, when you can't get your dog to come to you. Indoors, he may be suspicious that you're going to do something aversive, such as treat his ear infection, or put him in his crate. Outdoors, he may also have an aversive association with coming to you, or he may just be having entirely too much fun. Whatever the cause, here are five tips for handling the crisis:

Latest Blog

The “Magic” Skunk Formula is Science, Not Magic…

Decades ago, a chemist named Paul Krebaum (may his name be honored forever) cracked the chemical code of the stinky, sulfur-containing substances called “thiols” that are in the musk that skunks spray to defend themselves. Krebaum harnessed the power of oxidation, formulating a solution that changes the odorous thiols into odorless acids. He shared the recipe with a workplace friend who had been complaining about the smell of his cat, who had been skunked. Soon, other scientists heard about the formula and it went viral!