Teaching Reactive DOGS A New Habit: Part I “Open Bar”
Read part II here: Teaching Reactive Dogs A New Habit, Part II: “Look At That!” Do any of these statements describe your dog? Your dog over-reacts to exciting stimuli, especially another dog walking by. He barks and lunges at passing skateboards, bikes, or other dogs, like he wants to attack them! Molly barks at people […]
Teaching Reactive Dogs A New Habit, Part II: “Look At That!” for reactivity
What is Reactivity? “Reactivity” in dogs describes a dog reacting quickly and intensively to stimuli that don’t warrant such a strong response. It’s a problem behavior that can be prevented and treated with a few simple exercises. Dogs that respond quickly to certain stimuli are often trained as hearing alert dogs; these dogs don’t miss […]
A Reactive Dog has a Behavior Problem
Pain, Fear, Anxiety, and Stress in our pet dogs are all issues that we must address. But this is only a prerequisite to training. Training is how we actually change a reactive dog’s behavior. I’ve been seeing a lot of advertising on social media about ways to eliminate reactive behaviors in dogs that don’t involve […]
Fearful Dogs
When working with shy or fearful dogs, remember: Dogs respond well to having the choice to interact or not. “Approaching” dogs is a misnomer: dogs should always be invited to approach us, particularly shy ones. Don’t pet or handle a dog who doesn’t want to be petted or handled unless it’s an emergency. When a […]
Tail-wagging Enrichment for Your Dog
Dogs just want to have fun! Fun for dogs can come in the form of a short session with a chewbone or a chase after a squirrel in the back yard, or about a million other activities. Activities can provide enrichment, increasing dogs’ quality of life. How do we know their quality of life is […]
SniffSpot
When your own backyard isn’t quite cutting it, or when you don’t have a private back yard of your own Rent our Sniffspot: a safe, private dog park Get a safe, private dog park experience Enjoy all the fun and exercise of exploring a new location with your pup, without the distraction and challenge of […]
Who’s a “Good Dog”? – Foundation Skills
What is a “good dog”? People tend to categorize dogs as “good dogs” when they are confident, friendly, and relaxed. Working dogs and performance dogs need these qualities so fear and anxiety don’t distract them from their jobs. People tend to expect family pets to be safe and reliable around children, which requires a relaxed, […]
Stop Leash Reactivity Before it Begins
A single event can cause “leash reactivity” to become an ongoing problem for dogs and their parents. When people first bring a new dog home, they may not have the skills they need to walk a dog safely and successfully on a leash. They also may be a little worried about this new dog getting […]
Connections
A big part of training your dog (or cat, parrot, goat, fish. . . ) is creating connections between stimuli. Stimuli are the individual components of the A-B-C sequence, Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence. You’ve most likely heard of this before. Antecedents Antecedents include everything in the environment in which a behavior occurs. Stuff that interests your learner, movements […]
Behavior Analysis: Why Does My Dog Do That?
Behavior analysis involves considering what the behavior is doing for the dog. Simply put, the dog is performing the behavior because of the results that behavior brings. He achieves a goal, solves a problem, or gets something he wants, by doing this particular behavior. When we understand this, we can give the dog something else […]