Russell and Ivy. Congratulation to both of you! On the left it is Ivy as little pup coming home from a shelter in Shreveport. On the right side Ivy has grown into a beautiful attentive dog. I want to take this opportunity to thanks all of you that participated and all the beautiful comments on the site. If you did not win this time … we have another contest starting in a few days wit...

The APDT (Association of Pet Dog Trainers) has declared January “Dog Training Month”. I think this is awesome. So many dogs each year are abandoned in shelters because their owners were not able to cope with their behavior or did not realize the money and energy needed to raise a healthy, well balanced dog. In the spirit of January Dog Training Month, I will be giving away a $100.00 g...

Dog Training Success – It is all about communication! If you are frustrated with your dog’s behaviors watched the video below You see it might not be your dog’s fault and it is not yours either. We are two different species living under the same roof. But canines and humans have different rules about greeting, foods, behaviour and a different language as well. No wonder we ar...

Turid Rugaas, a norvwegian trainer has done an amazing work in bringing canine communication to dog training and to the general public. This is an extract from her book “ On talking terms with dogs” ” Think about the average day with your dog. You get up in the morning with a little tiny bit of morning sour and tell the dog off with a little annoyance in your voice. He turns his ...

Moves and Expressions that Say a Lot When You Know How to Interpret Them Sonia was not quite a year old Yellow Lab. When she saw the German Shepherd cross on the other side of the trail, she wanted to play and rushed over, to the other dog to play. She was  not listening to her screaming mom calling her to come back. One look and a deep growl from the Shepherd was all it took for Sonia to stop ...

Children and dogs can have a wonderful relationship.Yet when children get bitten by a dog is most often by the family dog. A dog will never bite out of the blue. There will always be a warning. Some dogs might be more tolerant than others but they will all give a warning. As you now know the dog will give calming signals to express his/her discomfort and might even growl a bit as a warning. Teach...

Exercise will keep your both healthy and fit and …. will keep your dog out of trouble Out on our morning walk, Timba and I were passing by our neighbors property. I was surprise that Jake did not rush to the fence as usual and barked his head off. Even though he has gotten to know us a little bit he was still making a fuss when we went by. Carlos and Maria were at the gate of their garden an...

Learning New Things will Keep Your Dog Stimulated and … out of Trouble I always thought that people that teach tricks to their dogs are just show off. May be some are. But  learning new things and experiencing new situations keep your dog stimulated. It does not have to be complicated tricks, it can be a new sport such as agility or tracking, games anything that make your dog thing and you ...

This is something you will hear a lot from trainers and training materials. Behind those terms I found  lies a lot of misconceptions. The dog world is a lot more complex that we think and definitely not black and white. The image of alpha role and pack leader as we describe it and think it  is not always true. If hierarchy prevents physical fights in dog packs, the alpha dog notion is not that s...