Whether you have or deal with naughty dogs who need lots of guidance or you just want to learn new fun ways to play and interact with your dog, training tricks may be exactly what you want. Interestingly tricks can be useful in many ways. For instance, even if your dog is about as smart as a stone, if he can beg or wave or shake hands on cue your friends will think he’s practically Einstein. If your clients or friends are lacking one-on-one time with their Fido, training tricks can serve as a quick way for them to play

After painting the house to complement Dante’s photogenic coloration, I decided to go the next step and get him a really cool scratching post. He never used scratching posts in his last home, but this one he just can’t resist. He immediately jumps on it and tries it out. This is now his favorite spot in my office. Now he can hang out in my office in a comfortable spot. How did I know that this $150.00 purchase would be worth the money. Well, first, I knew for sure that he liked perching on objects. In his bathroom, he’d hangout

Wonder what happened to the Bengal cats I adopted? (See original article here). Well, I was planning to adopt both of them out to different homes since they had a history of perhaps stressing each other out enough of to cause urine marking in the house. I did adopt Oliver out to the perfect couple. He loves living his new home because his new humans love to play with him and pet him. I had also planned to adopt Dante out. With one Jack Russell to keep me fully occupied, frequent client animals to work with in my home (some

First, the Trainers It’s a sunny morning in Folsom and something odd is happening at the Folsom Zoo. Zookeepers and staff are waving their arms, flailing their legs, and balancing in weird positions. No, they’re not there to entertain the animals. They’re playing the training game. The game where two people collude to train a third person to perform behavior unknown to her. The only clues they can give are to click and treat whenever she performs a behavior close to what they want. It’s a game where they get to experience the confusion that animals feel when humans are

Free-shaping, meaning capturing a behavior you like by clicking to mark the correct behavior and following with a reward and then systematically rewarding behaviors closer and closer to your goal behavior, is always a good exercise whether you’re a beginner or have been doing it for many years.

Question: I love watching your videos. What treats do you use in your veterinary practice? They seem pretty irresistible. They also look like they are something that allows them to nibble off small pieces at a time. We have trouble finding something the fearful or anxious dogs will eat. Thanks! Lily from Grand Rapids, Michigan Answer: I use a variety of semi-moist treats such as Pup-Peroni and Natural Balance Food Roll which can be cut into variable-sized pieces and nibbled off in little bits at a time. The ability for dogs to nibble small pieces comes in handy for keeping