Podcasts by Ty the Dog Guy on the Daily
Ty the Dog Guy on the Daily is a 5 day per week podcast with celebrity dog trainer Ty Brown. Ty takes your questions, teaches about dog training topics, and sometimes even goes on rants to teach you the ins and outs of dog behavior and raising puppies.
Further podcasts by Ty Brown
Podcast on the topic Kinder und Familie
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He Has One Problem from 2017-07-05T00:00
Owners frequently call us to say: “My dog is amazing, but he has one problem!” That problem might be something comparatively small, or it might be something bigger. It’s always bizarre to hear some...
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Take A Rest: Understanding Recovery Time from 2017-07-04T00:00
Let’s dig deep into this. A dog’s nervous system controls its ability to process stress. Fear, anxiety, and aggression all come from a place of stress. Your dog’s nervous system dictates how well h...
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Fun In The Sun: How To Take Your Dog Off Leash from 2017-07-03T00:00
Summer is on its way, and that means that everyone is going to be at the park with their dog. We’re going to be camping, hiking, and fishing . It’s fun to take our dogs along too! Many people wan...
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How Should I Interact With Service Dogs? from 2017-06-30T00:00
The message I want to convey boils down to this: leave dogs alone when you’re in public! When you see a dog, especially a service dog, just leave it alone. I know that’s tough for a lot of people. ...
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No Practice Required: How To House Train Your Puppy from 2017-06-29T00:00
Someone called into our Salt Lake City training center to ask me to come to their home and house train their dog. As I explained that we only train at the center, I realized that going to the house...
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In Your Face: How To Approach A Dog from 2017-06-28T00:00
I have plenty of clients with dogs that are big and cute. Some of these dogs also, unfortunately, have aggression issues. Frequently the owner will be walking their dog on the street and have to de...
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Spring Cleaning: Structuring Motion and Silence from 2017-06-27T00:00
Right now, it’s starting to feel a little bit like spring in Utah. It seemed like winter lasted forever! We had two inches of snow down here in the valley last week, and there’s still snow on the m...
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Take Off Your Pants: How To Use Repetition in Dog Training from 2017-06-26T00:00
In this post, I want to ask you to do something. You don’t need to do it right now, especially if you're at school or in your office or at another public place. (In fact, if that’s the case, please...
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Dog Obedience Myths: Selective Listening from 2017-06-23T00:00
This post might be out to burst your bubble, because in it I want to talk about selective hearing. Here’s why what I’m about to say might disappoint you: dogs don't have selective hearing in quite ...
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Singin’ In The Rain: How To Keep Training Fresh from 2017-06-22T00:00
I love summer. I love not worrying about wearing shoes. I love leaving the house in shorts and no jacket without worrying about getting cold. I hate the rain and the snow and anything falling out o...
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Survival of the Fittest: Weakness and Leadership from 2017-06-21T12:03:48
In today’s post, I want to address the topic of weakness. Now, we like to believe that we’ve evolved to a level where we don't pick on the weak, at least as adults. As an adult, I know that . As a ...
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How To Walk And Heel Responsibly from 2017-06-20T14:30:24
When I was sixteen years old, I got my driver’s license. Like plenty of other sixteen-year-olds, that meant that I started ditching school and doing other stuff. I was determined to find fun stuff ...
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Hedging Your Bets: Dog Training As Insurance from 2017-06-20T14:30:24
In this post, I want to talk about insurance. The other day, I started to think about investing in dog training kind of reminds me of the way that people . When I say “investing,” I am talking part...
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Off the Hook: How To Train With E-Collars from 2017-06-20T14:30:24
In this post, I want to address some of the challenges of the electric training collar. Those of you who know a little about my company know that we use these collars with most of our clients. We d...
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What’s The Deal With Dog Training? from 2017-06-20T14:30:24
In this post, I want to address what dog training really is. I have a very linear mindset, and I’m always trying to fit things into a logical, “A-to-B” framework. When I do reduce dog training to i...
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Dog Chewing and the Collateral Effect from 2017-05-22T07:31:34
I went over to the house and put together a big list of what I wanted them to do regularly. I wanted them to sneak up on him and correct him with the e-collar anytime they saw him chewing, to make ...
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Good Dog: How To Set Specific Expectations from 2017-04-21T00:00
In today’s post, I’d like to talk about our expectations for our dogs. We train a lot of service dogs, but this advice applies to any dog. Many people say that they want their dog to watch over the...
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Not Your Baby: How To Think About Dog Aggression from 2017-04-20T00:00
In this short post, I’d like to talk specifically to people who treat their dogs as if they’re kids. Now, I love both my dogs and my kids. Sometimes even I feel that I love my dogs as much as my ki...
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Barber Shop Blues: How To Understand Dog Communication from 2017-04-19T00:00
Right now I’m in Savannah, Georgia for my bother’s wedding. I never bring a razor with me when I travel, so I really needed to shave and my hair was getting long. Now, I’ve been shaving my head by...
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Lead On: How To Understand Dominance from 2017-04-18T00:00
In this post, I’d like to share a few of my thoughts about dominance. There is a preconception out there among dog trainers that dominance doesn’t exist, founded on the idea that dogs aren’t actual...
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That’s The Way It Is: Why Not To Compare Dogs from 2017-04-17T00:00
It’s gorgeous here in Utah—75 degrees, clear sky, no wind—and easily the nicest day we’ve had all year. Up in the Northeast, though, they have a huge storm coming in. Some places are getting upward...
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Get A Job: Training Your Dog For Work from 2017-04-14T00:00
It’s Saturday evening. I’m dirty, sore, tired—and fulfilled! That’s unusual. If you know me at all, you know that I despise manual labor. I always joke that I’m the hardest working lazy man you’ll ...
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He Won’t Grow Out Of It: How To Deal With An Aggressive Dog from 2017-04-13T00:00
I opened up my email today and saw a question from a person looking for advice. “My dog is six months old and he’s starting to get aggressive. Do you think he’ll grow out of it?” My very frank resp...
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At Ease: How To Calm Your Dog from 2017-04-12T00:00
One thing I’m fond of telling people is that calmness is a skill set. A big pet peeve of mine is when people say: “Oh, just wait until the dog gets older. He’ll calm down.” What they’re saying is t...
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Sit, Platz: Language and Commands from 2017-04-11T05:12:42
A few years ago I had a client with a Doberman. We were talking about training and commands, and I gave it a “sit” command in English. They said, “Oh no, we’re going to train the dog in German.” I’...
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Left or Right? How To Teach Your Dog To Heel from 2017-04-10T15:18:24
I’ve been teaching dogs to heel on the left for twenty years, and if a dog is trained on the right I get awkward. I always joke that you get used to putting your pants on with the same leg first ev...
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Episode #151: Exercise This: How To Stop An Aggressive or Destructive Dog from 2017-03-20T00:00
In this post, I’d like to talk about the role that exercise plays in making sure your dog is well-trained. This stems from a question that I’ve received a lot over the years, thanks to a certain do...
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Episode #150: Bullied: What To Do If Your Dog Takes Advantage Of You from 2017-03-17T00:00
Today I want to talk about dogs that take advantage of their owners. This has been on my mind because I’m working with an owner who has cancer and is physically weakened as a result. In a possible ...
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Episode #149: How To Control Dog Barking And Growling from 2017-03-16T00:00
Today, I spent some time in my backyard with my dog Chocolate Chip and a Belgian Malamute who’s staying at my house to be trained as a personal protection dog. Needless to say, there was a lot of g...
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Episode #148: Understanding the “Sandbox” from 2017-03-15T00:00
I’ve found that among dog trainers, as in any skill-based profession, there are a lot of disagreements. This arguments tend to revolve around methodology and identification of problems. Some traine...
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Episode #147: Sit, Stay: How To Teach Your Dog To Sit from 2017-03-14T07:39:18
Lately I’ve been working a lot with Sword, a protection dog in training. Protection dogs are a big investment, usually around $20,000 to $50,000. Today we were working on Sword’s sit command. He ...
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Shepherds and Terriers: How To Train Your Breed from 2017-03-01T00:00
I want to talk to for a minute your about how your dog’s breed learns. Very frequently, dog owners will ask me, “Have you ever dealt with this breed before?” Sometimes I chuckle when it’s a very co...
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A New Perspective On Dog Aggression Training from 2017-02-28T00:00
I flew back to Georgia last Thursday to buy some service and protection dogs for my clients. The trip was planned with very short notice. Now, I’m a planner who likes to plan things with as much no...
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Big Picture: Elements of Dog Behavior from 2017-02-27T14:19:12
training is just one component of your dog’s overall behavior. It might be the most important component at some times, but it isn’t always. I’ve never made an exhaustive list of every component th...
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Cuteness Overload: How To Deal With Manipulation from 2017-02-16T00:00
Today I’m going to talk about your dog playing you for a fool. It happens all the time, and there are a lot of dogs that are smart enough for it. Experts say that 90% of communication is nonverbal,...
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Smart Exposure: How To Help Dogs With Anxiety from 2017-02-15T00:00
I was truly fascinated by that. I know not everyone comes from a dog family—in fact, I didn’t come from a dog family—and that not everyone wants to be around dogs. But to meet someone who hadn’t to...
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Exception To The Rule: How To Train A Stubborn Dog from 2017-02-14T00:00
In today’s post, I want to talk about something difficult: your stubborn dog! I’ve been thinking about this topic a lot because Facebook was kind enough to show me a memory of a quote that I shared...
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Just A Habit: Real Obedience Training For Dogs from 2017-02-10T00:00
The other day I heard some barking in my backyard. I live in a very unique neighborhood. In the small block that I live on, there are about fifteen houses. Out of all those houses, my family is the...
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Big and Strong: Leadership In Dog Training from 2017-02-09T00:00
I want to talk about leadership. This is one of those concepts that a lot of people realize they need to do better, particularly in relation to their dogs. Unfortunately, some of these people end u...
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Point and Shoot: Laser Pointers from 2017-02-08T00:00
Today, I’d like to talk about a slightly unusual topic: laser pointers. Around the beginning of my business, I got a call from an owner who had three Boston terriers. They were one of the first cli...
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Show and Tell: Puppy Obedience Training from 2017-02-07T13:46:11
which complaint do I hear the most? “My dog only listens when she wants to.” Oftentimes, people think of this as an issue with their dog. They think it means their dog is stubborn, unmotivated, stu...
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Lessons From Nursery Rhymes: How To Solve Dog Training Problems from 2017-02-06T16:18:32
In today’s post, I want to talk about a nursery rhyme. An old lady who swallowed a fly, and then a spider to swallow the fly, and then a lizard to swallow the spider, and a bird to swallow the liza...
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On Edge: Dog Obedience and Children from 2017-01-25T00:00
Today, I thought I’d write a post about a news item that’s been on my mind lately. If you hadn’t heard, it was recently in the news that the Obama family’s dog bit a teenage girl in the face. The s...
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Staying Together: How to Train For the Yard from 2017-01-23T17:43:57
In today’s post, I want to give you a few tips for keeping your dog close. Many clients find themselves using these methods in the front yard, when they’re gardening, chatting with neighbors, or wo...
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The “Pure Positive” Myth: How to Use Correction Properly from 2017-01-23T17:43:57
This morning, I was out with my dog Chocolate Chip, just running around. It’s a cold winter and she’s in heat, so I’m not letting her run around the house and make a mess. During this time I like t...
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Bonus Round: More About the Collateral Effect from 2017-01-19T00:00
In today’s post, I want to talk about something that I’ve brushed on before and want to explain in more depth. It’s called the “collateral effect.” The “collateral effect” is a term that I use freq...
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Teeth and (Cock)tails: Choosing Canine Friends from 2017-01-18T00:00
Today, I’m at home doing some work and trying to get up the nerve to take my dog for a walk in the rain. I hope the weather is better where you are! I thought that while I was waiting around inside...
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Airport Blues: Leadership In Action from 2017-01-17T00:00
Yesterday I had to go to the airport to pick up a dog, and it reminded me of my last time there. At the Salt Lake city Airport, if you’ll be gone for a few days and need to park, you insert your cr...
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Knowing Yourself, Growing Yourself: Leadership in Training from 2017-01-16T15:22:01
In today’s post, I’d like to address the topic of about training as it relates to your dog. My dad is an awesome guy. For my whole life, he’s been in sales: sales training, leadership training, an...
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Survival of the Meanest: When Dogs Aren’t Nice from 2017-01-13T00:00
Don’t get me wrong: I love dogs! However, they can sometimes be real jerks. What we don’t often realize is that we often think this because we’re looking at them from our own perspective.
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Act Up, Act Out: Is My Dog Spiteful? from 2017-01-12T00:00
Spite is one of the most human emotions. When something happens that we don’t like, we often like to punish other people because of this feeling. Here’s an example: if someone does something their ...
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FAQ: Basics of Puppy Training from 2017-01-11T00:00
I personally like the plastic mold, but some of this decision depends on budget and the size of the dog. If your budget is tight and you can only afford one crate, I would get one of the big wire o...
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Unconditionally Loved: Giving Attention Wisely from 2017-01-10T13:28:26
My last post was about the proverb “you pet what you get,” and that got me thinking more and more about the affection we give our dogs—enough that I wanted to dedicate another podcast to it. Unfort...
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Pet and Regret: The Downsides of Affection from 2017-01-09T16:42:21
I want to talk today about an old saying that we have in dog training, which I probably heard for the first time about twenty years ago: “You get what you pet.” What’s that mean? Well, deep withi...
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Touring the Core: On the Go from 2017-01-06T00:00
For my last few posts, I’ve been describing some of the “core behaviors” that are crucial to solid training. These three obedience behaviors can help us manage or solve any dog-related problem we m...
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Touring the Core: Stay Put! from 2017-01-05T13:56:42
In my last post, I discussed the concept of core behaviors: three behaviors which, done well, allow you to manage nearly everything. We’ve already discussed coming when called, so if you missed tha...
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Touring the Core: Total Recall from 2016-12-30T13:45:19
In today’s post, I want to talk about a very important subject in dog training: core behaviors. I’ve found over the years that there are three of these “core” behaviors. If a dog does these behavi...
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A Shared Universe: Some Words on Engagement from 2016-12-29T13:05:01
Today is a blustery, freezing cold day here in Salt Lake City, and I’m out on a trail where I frequently take my dogs off-leash. While there, I came across two Golden Retrievers that belong to a cl...
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Cheaters Sometimes Prosper: How Repetition Works from 2016-12-28T00:00
In today’s post, I want to talk about cheating. This topic came to my mind when I was with a client earlier today. We’re training a service dog for her teenage daughter, and right now we’re working...
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Genius At Heart: Different Kinds of Intelligence from 2016-12-27T00:00
I want to talk to you about Einstein, and about a quote of his that I’m probably paraphrasing and not doing justice. It’s unclear whether he actually said this, to begin with, but it’s a great quot...
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On Your Own: Understanding “Learned Helplessness” from 2016-12-26T00:00
To start off, I know I haven’t been quite as “daily” as usual lately. There’s a reason for that, and I’ve made it the subject of this post! For the past week or so, my office manager has been on ...
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Taking The Cut: Why Sacrifices Matter from 2016-12-23T00:00
Frequently, I chat with owners who are just beginning to think about getting their dog trained. One of the most common complaints is that their dog is chewing and peeing on the floor, but the owner...
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Logos Over Pathos: Separating Emotion From Training from 2016-12-22T13:47:27
In today’s post, I want to address the problems that arise when we do things for ourselves rather than for our dogs. Without intending to offend anyone, I’d like to tell you about a conversation. ...
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The Inconvenient Truth About Protection from 2016-12-20T16:12:34
In this post, I’m going to tell you something that will possibly make you angry. It tends to have that effect on people, whether I say it like a jerk or as sweetly as I can. I think that people rea...
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Deck the Halls: Managing Your Dog During the Holidays from 2016-12-19T15:57:48
Today, I want to write a little about getting your dog ready for Christmas. In my house, we’ve got the Christmas tree, stockings hung by the chimney with care, and all sorts of other Christmas gear...
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Episode #112: Embracing Joy from 2016-12-12T00:00
Today I’m on the beach at Turtle Bay in Oahu, Hawaii, staying at a resort while I’m working with a client. I woke up at five o’clock and walked down to the beach to have a morning swim. Those who k...
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Lost in Translation: Getting Through to Your New Dog from 2016-12-09T00:00
Right now I’m in Hawaii working with a client, and I wanted to write a post about what I call the translation period. This is something that’s on my mind today because I’m working with a client her...
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Context Is Key: Understanding Repetition from 2016-12-08T00:00
Today I want to talk about something I call a “contextual repetition.” I’ve been thinking about a challenge that some of our clients have, and recently came up with that term to refer to it. A lo...
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Under the Weather: How Little Things Add Up from 2016-12-07T13:45:04
In today’s blog post, I want to talk about being sick. This past week was Thanksgiving, and on Tuesday we flew out to visit my family in California. It’s a short flight, only about two hours, but I...
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Stuff, Stuff, Stuff: Filling Our Dogs’ Lives from 2016-11-28T00:00
Before I begin this post, I’d like to offer the disclaimer that I sincerely hope to not offend anyone. What I’m about to write is simply an observation I’ve made in my work. Over the years I’ve ...
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Let It Snow: Winter Stimulation for Your Dog from 2016-11-25T00:00
As I write this, it’s cloudy and windy and chilly outside, and that means that soon we’ll start getting a certain type of call from some of our clients. Oftentimes, we train a dog in the spring o...
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“Holding It In”: Basics of House Training from 2016-11-24T00:00
In today’s post, I’d like to address a big mistake that some people make when they’re house training. One big error I see people make is giving their dog too many opportunities to go to the bath...
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A Perfect Match: Why Service Dogs Sometimes Fail from 2016-11-23T00:00
Today I want to write a little about service dog failures.This is something that not many people like to talk about it, and I honestly don’t either. Failure isn’t fun to think about or dwell on—but...
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Where’s The Magic?: Why Consistency Matters from 2016-11-22T11:21:50
Would you believe me if I told you that your dog lies to you? What if I told you that he lies to your trainer? In the beginning stages of our training program, owners frequently say things like: ...
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Don’t Turn Away: Addressing Some Big Issues from 2016-11-21T11:45:21
In this post, I’m going to be talking specifically about jumping and biting. I’ve spoken about this a few days ago in another post, but I want to address it head-on here. I just got off the phon...
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Getting Along: A Demystification of Dominance from 2016-11-18T09:56:17
With this post, I want to talk about myths surrounding the topic of dominance. Over the years, I’ve heard a lot of truisms like “You can’t let your dog on the couch,” “You have to eat before you...
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A Comedy Of Errors: What Anti-Aversive Trainers Get Wrong from 2016-11-17T00:00
In this post, I’d like to tell you about the lie of positive reinforcement. That felt kind of silly and overdramatic to write, but it’s an important topic. Dog training, like any industry, gets ver...
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Pavlov’s Bell: Changing Associations from 2016-11-16T00:00
I want to talk about Pavlov. Many people remember hearing about Pavlov in school, and some of you even studied him in depth. If you don't know who he is, go do a quick Google search and find out so...
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Chew On This: Solving A Common Problem from 2016-11-15T00:00
In this post, I want to address dog chewing. This issue is a big deal! I just got out of a session with a nine-month old dog who’s doing an absolutely stellar job in training. He’s trained off-leas...
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A Perfect Match: What To Look For In the Shelter from 2016-11-14T15:00:01
Today I want to have a conversation about selecting shelter dogs, a topic about which many people have questions. Recently I spoke with someone who wanted to rescue a dog from the shelter and train...
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Your Last Dog: A Case Against Unfair Comparisons from 2016-11-11T00:00
Your last dog is not your current dog. It might be a dog that you had to give away, or passed away from old age, or a great companion who died too early from cancer. But it isn’t your current dog. ...
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Creating Harmony: How We Prevent Dog Fights from 2016-11-10T00:00
In this post, I want to tackle the somewhat controversial topic of dog fights. This subject came up recently because I was chatting with a client about our daycares. We run a daycare, and it’s a li...
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What Braces Taught Me About Dog Training from 2016-11-09T06:52:09
My daughter is ten and a half—and she needs braces. As we’ve gone to the dentist over the years, it’s starting to look like all of our other kids will need them too. When I think back to having bra...
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Worth The Risk?: Dealing With Child Aggression from 2016-11-08T11:10:27
With today’s post, I want to talk about child aggression in dogs. This is a very tough topic. Dog aggression is one of my favorite things to work on, and I’ve developed some processes and technique...
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Taking It Slow: How To Use The Crate Well from 2016-11-07T12:31:22
In today’s post, I want to talk about crate training. The crate is very important for the majority of dogs, and its level of importance is often related to other factors like age and maturity. In...
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Eye On The Prize: Setting Good Expectations from 2016-11-04T12:50:04
In today’s post, I’d like to tackle a topic that comes up a lot among my clients: developing realistic expectations for our dogs. On one end of the spectrum of expectations is the dog owner that ...
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Getting Around: What Does Socialization Really Mean? from 2016-11-03T00:00
In today’s post, I want to speak a little more about socialization. I’ve written about how almost every dog trainer hates dog parks, but I want to get a little deeper and help people understand wha...
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It’s All In The Execution: Sticking To Your Plans from 2016-11-02T10:13:03
Today I want to talk to you about execution. No, I’m not taking about executing your dog—even though some of you might be looking at your dog’s behavior problems and wondering if that’s an option...
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The Problem With Husbands from 2016-11-01T13:55:01
Husbands are the bane of my existence. Now, I realize that I happen to be a husband. Is this a post about self-loathing? No! See, I’m a good type of husband. But I always joke with other dog traine...
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It’s All Greek To Me: Why Language Matters from 2016-11-01T13:55:01
With this post, I want to talk about languages. I speak Spanish very, very well. It’s one of the things I’m most proud of. If I talk to someone on the phone, oftentimes they think that I’m a native...
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One and Only: My Most Useful Principle from 2016-10-25T00:00
Someone asked me an interesting question recently, and I wanted to share it with you. The question was this: “You have over 20 years of experience working with dogs, so you’ve seen a lot of things....
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Under Control: Using Checks and Balances from 2016-10-24T00:00
“Checks and balances” is a term that we use frequently in the United States to describe politics. We often use it to describe the three different branches of government: legislative, judicial, and ...
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Drawing the Line: How to Balance Training and Life from 2016-10-21T00:00
In this post, I’d like to speak to you about how to create a healthy relationship between training time and “real life.” I find myself talking about this a lot because many of our clients struggle ...
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Understanding “Stubbornness” from 2016-10-20T04:46:45
In this post, I want to talk about stubborn dogs. Here’s the thing: even if you think you have a stubborn dog, I doubt it. You might, because they do exist. But I highly doubt that you have one. ...
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Unusual Methods: Working Through Fear from 2016-10-19T12:20:58
With this post I want to talk about overcoming fear, perhaps in a manner that you aren’t familiar with. While I have written about this subject in the past, I want to cover some new ground. Today...
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Walking the Walk: Minimizing Distractions, Maximizing Obedience from 2016-10-18T00:00
A question I get frequently is “How aloud I walk my dog?” I know that sounds silly, but all people are really wondering is whether they should let their dog sniff around and wander or keep their do...
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What’s The Deal With E-Collars? from 2016-10-17T11:39:58
Today’s post covers a topic that’s become controversial in recent years: electric training collars. These tools, sometimes referred to as shock collars or remote collars, are often accompanied by a...
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Pressure’s On: How To Use Rewards Responsibly from 2016-10-14T00:00
In today’s blog post, I want to talk to you about pressure. you’ll hear many dog trainers, including myself, talk about something called “pressure and release.” This is essentially a training str...
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Pills for Pups: Medication and Behavior from 2016-10-13T00:00
Today I want to talk about drugs. Not in the Nancy Reagan, 1970s, “Just say no!” way, but in relation to dogs. It seems that every year, more and more dogs are getting on drugs to hopefully modif...
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Walk In The Park: Giving Your Dogs What They Really Need from 2016-10-12T00:00
In today’s post, I want to talk about a potential problem that people run into because they misunderstand their dog’s needs. If you poll dog trainers, you generally won’t get the same answer from ...
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Pushing Through: Staying On Top of Training from 2016-10-11T00:00
Today I want to talk to you about pain—because I’m in it! Here’s a little context. Earlier this year, in the spring, I realized I needed to get to the gym. When I was a teenage, I really enjoyed l...
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As Seen On TV: Why Maintenance Matters from 2016-10-10T00:00
In today’s post, I want to talk about maintenance. Quite often, I hear people saying things like: “I just want my dog to be like that service dog that I saw,” or “I want my dog to look like that do...
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How To Have the Perfect Dog from 2016-10-07T00:00
Well, I hate to ruin things right away—but the perfect dog doesn't exist. That’s a tough thing for me to admit, because when it comes down to it I like to provide my clients with everything they wa...
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Doing the Math: Formulas For Changing Behavior from 2016-10-06T00:00
In this post, I want to talk about mathematics—specifically, addition and subtraction. I like to give formulas to my clients and break them down into easily-digestible, bite-sized chunks. When it c...
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Embrace the Mess: Training For the Real World from 2016-10-05T00:00
In this post, I’m going to tell you about a few of my family’s imperfections. Right now, it’s Saturday morning in our house. I’m about to head off to meet a client and the kids have all gone off wi...
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Nudge By Nudge: How Problems Get Bigger from 2016-10-04T00:00
Today I want to talk about booking travel and how that relates to your dog. I’ve been booking some travel lately and have some other travel coming up. A month or two ago I went to New York for work...
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Busting the Aggression Myth: Why Some Dogs Act Out from 2016-10-03T00:00
In today’s post, I want to talk to you about dog aggression. Specifically, I want to address one of the questions I receive a lot. This is a topic that makes a lot of people frustrated, and come to...
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Day In, Day Out: Coping Effectively With Stress from 2016-09-30T00:00
I want to spit some science at you today. A lot of you out there know me as an esteemed, renowned scientist—and if that’s the case, I don’t know who you’re watching! I’m not a scientist at all. B...
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Don’t Be A Dirtbag: How Habits Shape Behavior from 2016-09-29T00:00
This post’s topic is a bit unusual. I want to talk about how I used to be a big dirtbag. Okay, maybe I wasn’t that huge of a dirtbag, but it definitely used to be a part of my personality. (Some pe...
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Calm Over Crazy: Crafting A Good Mindset from 2016-09-28T00:00
Today I want to write a little about ways that we can create mindset. We talk about mindset a lot because it’s the first step to achieving the correct behavior. When your mindset is right, behaving...
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Stay Put: Conquering Anxiety from 2016-09-27T00:00
In this post, I’d like to introduce you to a technique I’ve been doing with certain dogs who have anxiety problems. Anxiety issues are huge for many dogs. Sometimes they’re big and the dog is terr...
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In Praise of “Boring” Training from 2016-09-26T00:00
In this post, I’d like to share some of my thoughts about how boring dog training is. Now, I don’t mean what you’re probably thinking! Training is my profession, and it’s also been my passion sin...
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Context, Context: Prepared For Anything from 2016-09-23T00:00
Today I want to write a little bit about context, an important element of training that a lot of owners simply don’t consider at all. Let me illustrate this concept with a very easy example: a do...
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It’s All Greek To Me: Does Language Matter? from 2016-09-22T00:00
Today I want to dispel two of the main myths I see related to dog training commands, both of which are related to the language that we use. The first myth I see all the time is that some commands...
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On Guard: Understanding Protection Dogs from 2016-09-21T00:00
Today’s article is going to break a few hearts. Every time I talk about the topic I’m about the delve into I feel awful, because I’m destroying someone’s idea about their dog. But I think that it’s...
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The Real World: A Word On Management from 2016-09-20T00:00
In this post, I want to offer some words of caution about the concept of management, a term that is often used by dog trainers. All this means is setting up an environment where your dog can have s...
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A Guide To Crate Training from 2016-09-19T00:00
In this post, I’d like to talk a little about crate training benchmarks. Any time that clients are crate training their dog, they always ask me when they don't need to continue using it any more. ...
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Flood Out The Fear: Attacking The Roots of Stress from 2016-09-16T00:00
Flooding. No, I’m not speaking about what’s been happening in Louisiana and Texas lately—I’m talking about a psychological term for something that happens when you deal with a lot of stress. If y...
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Fight Or Flight: Using Counter-Conditioning from 2016-09-15T10:34:39
In this post, I’d like to speak about a little-known dog training strategy: counter-conditioning. I was working with a client today whose dog has a lot of fear-based issues. We always start tacklin...
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Perfect Fit: Choosing the Right Dog for You from 2016-09-15T09:08:44
In this post, I’d like to talk a little about how to choose a dog. This is a question I get a lot, especially since we do plenty of service dog training. People hear that labs are good service dogs...
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Got Headaches? Using Focus To Transform Your Dog from 2016-09-15T09:08:40
In a previous post I spoke a bit about my family vacation in Flathead Lake, Montana. We stayed in a beautiful house with a little dock and an orchard. This morning I sat on the dock being very quie...
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Keeping The Fire: Passion and Play from 2016-09-11T19:08:10
This past week, I was out on a morning walk while on vacation in Flathead Lake in Montana, which is an absolutely stunning area. On morning walks you can see deer and birds diving into the water to...
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Play Hard: Creating a Healthy Outlet from 2016-09-09T00:00
I want to talk about playing with your dog, a topic that I encountered several times just this week. Earlier today, I had a conversation with a client who’s getting a very good working dog from a M...
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Understanding Systems, Part Two: Bathroom Manners from 2016-09-08T00:00
My last post on this topic had to do with the general idea of the “system” and the four essential elements of puppy training. (If you didn’t catch that post, then go back and read it first.) As tim...
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Dogs At Work: Giving Your Dog A Job from 2016-09-07T00:00
Recently it’s become very popular for owners to put their dogs to work. I’m all in favor of this and believe it’s a wonderful way to help focus your dog, but it’s also something that has been great...
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Meet and Greet: Hitting the Trails Responsibly from 2016-09-06T05:27:51
In this post I want to talk about how to have your dog greet other dogs and people, whether they’re on- or off-leash. This is a question that I hear a lot from clients here in Utah, who like to go ...
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Be Better Balanced: When Fast Is Good from 2016-09-06T05:03:38
In this post, I’d like to talk about the speed with which you train your dog. This morning I was working with a client whose dog is learning some service dog work in public. The dog is young—only a...
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Understanding Systems, Part One: Puppy Love from 2016-09-06T05:03:38
In upcoming weeks, I’m going to devote a handful of posts to a topic that’s very important to me: systems. What I’m talking about when I use the word “system” is any process that we go through to ...
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Above And Beyond: The Benefits of Extra Training from 2016-09-06T05:03:38
Today I want to talk about a topic that’s a little personal: choosing to do more than you need to do when you’re training your dog. My first dog’s name was Heidi, and it took me years of begging ...
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Good to Go: A Sensible Approach to Training Tools from 2016-09-06T05:03:38
In my work, I frequently field questions like: “When can I stop using the dog crate?” or “At what point do I not need to use the leash?” or “Can I stop using this e-collar yet?” I understand the th...
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Understanding Support Animals from 2016-09-06T05:03:38
It’s come to my attention in recent years that very few people really comprehend the differences between service dogs, therapy dogs, and emotional support dogs. I have other videos and materials on...
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It’s Up To You: A Message About Responsibility from 2016-09-06T05:03:38
Today I want to give you some harsh words about a phenomenon that I see a lot. In fact, two separate examples of this issue had already surfaced by ten o’clock this morning! Here’s what I want to...
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Nosing Around: Tips for Engaging the Injured Dog from 2016-08-26T00:00
Today I’d like to address a difficult question that I’ve had many times over the years: high-energy dogs who have been injured and need to be off their feet for an extended period of time. Someti...
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Four-Letter-Word: Making the Most of Stress from 2016-08-25T00:00
Have you ever thought about how pressure and stress can benefit your dog? As humans, we tend to label “stress” a four-letter-word. But if you really think about it, there is no such thing as grow...
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The Bracelet Story: Rewarding Good Behavior from 2016-08-24T00:00
In front of me right now I have four cheap, simple bracelets, and I want to tell you the story of how I received them. When I was at work today—and very busy—a young woman walked in, came over to t...
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Tending the Tinderbox: How Small Habits Prevent Big Problems from 2016-08-23T10:08:03
In my community there’s a hillside covered in dead, brown grass. There are a few shades of green on the hill, but they’re only there because of the community’s efforts to water this dead hill. I li...
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Making the Cut: Intelligence Versus. Drive from 2016-08-22T00:00
Today I want to make a distinction between intelligence and drive. These are two very different concepts, but they are often confused with each other to a certain degree. People often have incorrec...
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New Tricks: Encouraging Your Dog’s Proactivity from 2016-08-19T00:00
Today I’d like to share a phrase that I use quite a lot with my clients: “The more proactive your dog is in fixing their mistake, the sooner they won’t make that mistake.” Let me bring in an examp...
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Living In The Present: The Key To Association Training from 2016-08-18T00:00
In this post, I’d like to write a little about the present tense verb. No, I’m not talking about English class! What I would like to speak about is a misconception I have noticed among dog owners...
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Five’s A Crowd: How Friends Influence Your Dog from 2016-08-17T00:00
Today I want to write a little about the sum of your friends. There’s a statement on this topic that I’ve heard many times over the years, almost always from motivational speakers and others of tha...
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It Doesn’t “Just Happen”: Solving Problems Early from 2016-08-16T00:00
Tomorrow, I’m going to the dentist for a root canal. I’ve never had one before. I feel lucky that, in my entire life, I’ve only had one cavity. All those years ago, when I was eighteen, I got the c...
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On the Loose: Handling Freedom And Supervision from 2016-08-15T00:00
Today I want to talk about freedom for your dog. This is an idea that often presents me with something of an idealogical conundrum, but I’m going to take the plunge because I think that the way we ...
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What Do I Do Now?: Asking The Right Questions from 2016-08-12T00:00
Albert Einstein said a lot of intelligent things, but one of his statements has always particularly stuck out to me. In fact, it’s one of my favorite quotes from anyone, and I think of it frequentl...
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A Second Perspective on the Spaying and Neutering Question from 2016-08-11T00:00
My dog Chocolate Chip is currently in heat. Go ahead, gasp in horror! I’m used to it, because I take quite a bit criticism for this. There are a lot of people out there who say that you absolutely ...
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Swimming Through Stress: How Correction Changes Your Dog’s Perspective from 2016-08-10T13:36:14
Today I was down at my community lake, which brought to my mind the many times I’ve worked with dogs in the water. I have had lots of clients in the so-called “Sun Belt”—areas such as California, T...
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Mind Over Matter: Why Consistency Trumps Talent from 2016-08-10T13:04:59
Today, I want to talk about how good you need to be at training in order to train your dog. A lot of people call me to ask whether they can actually train their dog. I always tell them that over th...
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Changing Contexts: Understanding Perspective from 2016-08-10T13:04:59
In this article, I’d like to talk a bit about context—in other words, how how dogs perceive information. At our company, we do a lot of boot camps. In these camps, both local people from here in ...
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Puppy Problems: Minimizing Aggression and Anxiety from 2016-08-10T13:04:59
Today I’d like to speak about the impact of taking a puppy away from its mother and litter mates too early. I recently spoke with an owner who had done this, having brought her puppy home at about ...
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Rules, Rules, Rules: Handling New information from 2016-08-10T13:04:59
In this post, I want to talk about breaking the dog training rules. That sounds controversial, but I’m really just referring to the habit of clinging to the first “rule” you hear about a dog traini...
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Calling the Shots: Managing Kids and Pets from 2016-08-10T13:04:59
Today I’d like to talk to you about a troubling sentiment that I hear quite a lot from new dog owners. It came to mind because of a conversation that I recently had with a client. This individual w...
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Crossing the Finish Line: The Power of Small Changes from 2016-08-10T13:04:59
I currently have my arm in a sling. You may not think that has anything to do with dog training, but I can usually get a training lesson out of almost every major life event! Here’s what happened:...
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How Proactive Correction Can Fix Mistakes from 2016-08-10T13:04:59
Today I want to talk about teaching your dog to fix mistakes. This idea came to me during a men’s group at church, where we were talking about the difference between acting and being acted upon. In...
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Train Your Small Dog from 2016-08-10T13:04:59
Recently, I’ve been helping a little girl named Luna through our boot camp. As I was working with Luna, I realized that 80% of the dogs we work with are medium or large dogs, and only about twenty...
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Building Baselines: A New Solution To Aggression from 2016-08-10T13:04:59
Right now I’m working a lot with a dog named Barney. Barney came to us, for training in Salt Lake City, all the way from Virginia. It’s a long journey—across the country—but Barney needs serious wo...
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Changing Behavior One Step At A Time from 2016-08-10T13:04:59
Today I’d like to talk about something I call “bite-sized chunks.” This is a concept I use tot show clients how to bring about complex behavior changes in their dogs. Now, a complex task for a do...
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Crate Training To Promote Relaxation from 2016-08-10T13:04:59
Recently I’ve been thinking about the difference between simply relaxing and actually shutting down your brain. This topic has been on my mind because of a conversation I had with a client about gi...
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All In the Family: Managing the Multi-Dog Household from 2016-08-10T13:04:59
Today, I’ve been hanging out with two of my dogs as well as a few of my clients’ dogs. Watching all of them together got me thinking about multi-dog households. Many of my clients struggle with h...
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Path to Results, Part 3: Practicing Consistency from 2016-07-22T00:00
In the past few posts I’ve been discussing tools, techniques, and consistency, which I believe are the only three things standing between you and the results that you want for your dog. I’ve writte...
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Focusing On the Peripheral: How To Address Problem Areas Indirectly from 2016-07-21T16:47:58
I recently took my daughter to equestrian speech therapy. Now, I was initially skeptical about how a horse could help her speak better. But here’s how the half-hour session works: they had her bru...
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Path To Results, Part 2: Examining Your Technique from 2016-07-21T16:47:55
Today I want to give you some more information about tools, technique, and consistency, which I’ve said before are the only things standing between you and the results you want to have with your do...
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Path to Results, Part 1: Understanding Tools from 2016-07-21T16:47:55
Today, I want to tell you about the three things that are standing in between you and the results you want from your training efforts. There are a million mistakes we can make, but there are only t...
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How Duration Work Can Make A Happy, Healthy Dog from 2016-07-21T16:47:55
In this post, I’d like to talk about the power of duration work, by which I simply mean doing something for an extended period of time. It’s highly uncommon for a dog not to know how to sit. Many a...
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Time To Unwind: Teaching Your Dog To Relax from 2016-07-21T16:47:55
Since I was about fourteen, I’ve been constantly working. I started working for a dog trainer when I was fourteen. Later, I had plenty of other jobs until I was able to make training my full-time p...
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Taming the Toy Monster: How To Redirect Your Dog’s Energy from 2016-07-14T14:55:11
The other day while I was hanging out with my dogs in the living room, I noticed an important difference between my house and many of the other dog-owning houses I go into. As far as toys for the d...
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Don’t Treat the Symptoms: Getting To The Root of Your Dog’s Behavior from 2016-07-14T14:55:11
When I talk to an owner about their dog’s behavior problems, the conversation often sounds like we’re discussing icebergs. See, when you first glimpse an iceberg, it’s 90% under the surface. What y...
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Profile Without Profiling: What Breeds Really Mean from 2016-07-14T14:55:11
A while ago I made a post about dog breeds, and today I’d like to come at this subject from a different angle. Another thing that’s important to understand about breeding is that, even though many ...
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Working Selection: What Your Dog’s Breed Really Means from 2016-07-14T14:55:11
Dog owners commonly come to me saying things like, “I got this Labrador”—or Pyrenees, or any other breed—“and the breed book tells me it’s going to be exactly like this.” Or, “After I got my German...
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Brain Over Brawn: How Mental Exercise Can Shape Your Dog’s Behavior from 2016-07-14T14:55:11
Through the years, I’ve found that dog owners and trainers alike frequently misunderstand the concept of exercise. Quite often owners come to me for the first time and say things like; “We don’t un...
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Kids vs. Dogs: Understanding Reason and Correction from 2016-07-14T14:55:11
In this post, I'd like to tackle a different sort of topic: the difference between the way I raise my kids and the way I train my dogs. A while ago, I was speaking to a trainer who opposes the us...
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Cultivating Focus: Tips for Developing Your Dog's Spatial Awareness from 2016-07-14T14:55:11
I've talked about the relationship between focus and adrenaline in the past. Today I want to talk a little bit more specifically about focus, and explain how to help your dog overcome a lack of it....
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Focus On Focus: How Concentration Can Beat Adrenaline from 2016-07-14T14:55:11
Today I’d like to talk a little bit about adrenaline. I’m not going to give an explanation of what adrenaline is on a chemical level—this isn’t a science talk! Instead, I’d like to share a bit abou...
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Balancing the Equation: Tips For Managing Your Dog’s Misbehavior from 2016-07-14T14:55:11
Believe it or not, your dog understands equations. Not on a human level, of course, but there is still an element of comprehension in their minds. Let me illustrate this using an example. If I h...
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Set For Success: Giving Your Puppy A Healthy Foundation from 2016-07-14T14:55:11
Recently, I’ve been thinking about a trend that I see among many puppy owners. I frequently talk to puppy owners who want to make sure that their dogs never bite anyone or misbehave in any way. In ...
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Is Correction Training Humane? from 2016-07-14T14:55:11
For the past decade, there has been a non-adversive movement in dog training that rejects correction in favor of positive reinforcement. Unfortunately, this trend is sponsored more by public relati...
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Breaking In the Backyard: Tips For Taking Your Dog Outdoors from 2016-07-14T14:55:11
Spending more time outside in the beautiful Utah spring has reminded me that many owners envision their backyard as their dog’s domain. Over the years I’ve noticed that, of the hundreds of clients ...
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Start the Day Off Right: Making Sense of the Collateral Effect from 2016-07-14T14:55:11
One idea that I often come back to is the “collateral effect.” This concept doesn’t just apply to your dog—it also applies to you. Imagine that you begin every day by drinking a smoothie and medita...
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Structure Away Anxiety: How Focused Motion and Stillness Can Transform Your Dog from 2016-06-23T15:53:03
Today I’d like to talk about two concepts that I call “structured motion” and “structured stillness.” Although this concept is one that I frequently utilize in training of anxious dogs, it’s one th...
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