Isn’t it just the worst when you are walking down the street or at a friend’s house and a large dog jumps up at you out of nowhere? Maybe he’s being friendly. Still, it can be quite alarming and even unsafe. Small dogs might get away with jumping on strangers, but all dogs should learn…
Heel is an intermediate skill that is necessary to teach in order to walk nicely on a leash. It is one of the seven skills that dogs should know. I was pretty nervous about teaching Heel to Ezra. It seemed pretty hard, but it’s actually not so bad. I recommend teaching your dog how to…
Before signing up for puppy class, I was using Google and YouTube as dog training resources. I remember googling “how to teach a dog to sit” and getting results that seemed impossible to do. One of the suggestions was to say the word “sit!” right before your dog’s butt touches the ground. This would make…
Ezra is the third dog I’ve owned in my life and the first dog I’ve attempted any dog training. I expected to quit training after he hit a certain level of obedience or maturity. I thought the only point of training was to have a quiet, calm, and well-behaved dog. Ezra is not a show…
Most people think house training is just about getting your dog house broken, not destroying the house, and getting into a routine. They think that eventually the dog will pick up on their behaviors and respond a specific way. In this way, the dog is “trained.” For example, if you run everyday with your dog,…
I love the leave it command. It’s not a solution to prevent your dog from ever approaching or eating something he shouldn’t, but it stops it from happening immediately. It gives you an opportunity to redirect your dog and remove him from distracting people, animals, or food. I use it all the time when we…
I remember when I was preparing to bring Ezra home. I was so confident he’d be easy to house break. Sure, I knew I’d be exhausted and it wasn’t going to be easy as pie. But it wouldn’t be hard, right? Just a month and the worst is behind me. I was incredibly wrong. Maybe…