Spring might be the season of rebirth and growth, but for dog guardians like myself, it’s notably the season of muddy dogs. Today I am talking with certified professional groomer, Amy Atkinson, getting all the answers needed to keep the mess at bay during mud season!

I couldn’t possible say that shelter dogs are better than dogs obtained from a responsible breeder, but I can say that my shelter dogs have been exactly the dogs I needed, when I needed them the most.

Let’s say you’ve decided to give positive reinforcement training a try.
You load your pocket with cookies, you decide what behavior you’re going to reward, and you get to work. But…. it doesn’t work. Your dog doesn’t learn what you’re trying to teach, and the whole training plan falls apart.

Choosing the right equipment to use when taking your reactive dog out on a walk can be the difference between calm…and chaos.

Fear of strangers is not a “black and white” problem, and therefore, we cannot expect a copy and paste training plan when it comes to addressing this behavior.

It’s not uncommon for the vet to take your dog “to the back” in order to complete an examination or treatment. But is this really the best option for your dog?

Leash pulling is a common complaint of many dog owners, and as a result, something many folks will offer advice and opinions about. However, not all advice is equal, and some suggestions when it comes to leash pulling can be damaging and even dangerous for your dog.

You’ve laid all the foundation and put in all of the training work. Is your dog ready for a nail trim free of stress, fear, and anxiety? Let’s find out.

Now that we have a dog who is comfortable with the nail clippers, we need to get them comfy having their paws and nails handled in order to trim them. Today on the blog, we’re going to go over how to introduce restraint in a way that your dog is comfortable with.

Often, a dog who is nervous about having their nails trimmed is going to flee as soon as the clippers come out of the cupboard, which is really setting things off on the wrong paw. Before we can even consider trimming our dog’s nails, we need to make sure they are comfortable with the nail clippers.

The first step to your dog’s cooperative nail care journey is to teach them that they call the shots (stay with me here.) If we want nail care to truly be “cooperative,” we need to teach our dogs a way of saying “I’m read, you can start.” We can do just that using a “start button” behavior.

Does the thought of trimming your dog’s nails make you shudder? You’re not alone. It’s not uncommon for dogs to be worried about having their paws handled and their nails trimmed. But what if there was a different approach we could take to our dog’s nail trims so it didn’t have to be such a miserable process?

I think most of us are aware that walking our dogs provides a lot of physical and mental benefits to both us and the dog. However, sometimes walking our dog is not enjoyable, which makes it hard to motivate ourselves to embark on one.

I think that it’s safe to say, we all want our dog’s to be happy and healthy. But do we really know what a dog’s normal, healthy needs are, and what they consist of? Let’s explore this topic further.

When we bring a new dog into our home, we have a picture in our mind of what this dog, and our relationship with them is going to look like. Sometimes that picture comes to life, and other times, a new picture is painted.

Teaching our dog to respond to a verbal cue is something we’ve all (likely) done, but do we really know HOW to train a new cue?

Leash pulling is one of the top complaints I get as a dog trainer. Why do our dogs pull on the leash, and how can we make it stop?

Cooperative care is when we teach our animals to be willing participants in their husbandry and health care. This is something that is best introduced early, before a problem arises, as a preventative measure.