Who has time for daily dog training? Between work, keeping up with your home, volunteer work, school, raising kids, and everything else that you do, there just isn’t much free time to do training. Right? Wrong. You just need to squeeze short training sessions into your every day activities. Here’s how. Top Dog Training Tips […]
Looking Back: 5 Reasons to Chart Your Dog Training Progress
I didn’t think I’d survive Honey’s puppyhood. It was like living with a fuzzy little land shark. Honey was sooooooo mouthy. She had to put those sharp little razor teeth on everything–my hair, my ears, my hands, my sweater, my bodacious tatas. I swear I spent the first two months of Honey’s life with us […]
7 Reasons to Hire a Dog Trainer in a DIY World
The Webster household is into DIY. We rewired our house in Philadelphia without it becoming a home perm project. Our yard is filled with homemade agility equipment. I even cut my own hair for years. So why would we work with a professional dog trainer? Why not just rely on the dozens of books on […]
What Motivates Your Dog?
Rewarding Your Dog You can train a dog without treats. But you can’t train a dog without knowing what makes her willing to do what you ask. Honey is easy. A morsel of turkey hot dog, a piece of cheese, or even a sliver of apple are a terrific reward for walking by my […]
Honey in Training – It’s Better and Wurst
So she’s not doing handstands. And backflips? Forget it. But Honey is making great progress on our training goals. What are our training goals? To ride comfortably in a cart pulled by our bicycle. To be confident with the movement she’d find on a sailboat (more on that later). Our trainer, Russ, suggested we work […]
Gee, I Didn’t Know They Were Mine: Rear Paw Awareness
You Don’t Pay a Trainer for the Clicker; You Pay Him for the Brain A smart dog trainer is an idea person. I’m not bad with the basics. I’ve taught Honey to walk nicely on leash, wait for me at crosswalks, come when I call her, and lie down nicely on the rug while I’m […]
Why You Should Take Your Dog to the Mall
Honey Wants to Be an Underwear Model On Saturday, Honey will walk by Victoria’s Secret in the mall. And I know just what she’ll be thinking: “I’d be a cuter model in the store window than that stupid stuffed thing.” And she’d be right. But we don’t take Honey to the Pet Expo at our […]
Blog the Change for Animals – Help from the Library
While checking out the “Not New But Worth a View” display at my public library this week, I saw a good friend. Edie Jarolim’s Am I Boring My Dog looked back at me from the shelf. Over a year ago, I suggested my library acquire the entertaining and informative guide for their collection. It had […]
No Shame in Asking for Help – Honey Meets a Trainer
Yesterday, when I mentioned to my friend Diana that I had scheduled an appointment with a dog trainer for help working with Honey, she said with shock on her face, “What’s wrong with her?” And when I reported her appalled reaction to another friend, Glenda replied, “Is she ok?” Honey is A-Ok Honey is a […]
Taking a Doggy Ride in Stride
Day 10,941: Honey still hates the Doggy Ride bicycle cart. Actually, I’m exaggerating. It’s only day 10,939. Still I hope that some day we’ll see Honey doing this. However, it’s not as though Honey has never ridden in the cart. She’s just not relaxed or happy there. And she doesn’t go in willingly. I […]