Questions about crate training rank high among many dog owners, particularly if they are new dog owners. The internet is certainly filled with conflicting advice and often strong opinions, adding to the anxiety and confusion.  Crates can be wonderful and very effective TOOLS in certain situations, but will…

Even the best behaved or docile dogs may occasionally decide to fight with each other, for various reasons. Preventing dog fights by having full control over your dog at all times is the preferred action, but life tends to throw you a curveball once in a while. Facing…

“My dog is pulling me during walks.” This is likely the most common problem behavior people report about their dogs. Books and the internet are full of advice—some good, some not so good. Much money is made selling ‘easy fix’ devices and equipment like head halters and harnesses….

Have you ever watched a dog owner trying to repeatedly recall his/her dog without success? Has this ever happened to you? If the answer is yes and yes, like it is for most of us, you may want to read on. Recall is arguably the most important command…

Dogs outsmart their owners on a regular basis, which in turn will more often than not result in unwanted behavior. Why is that? For beginners, human and canine nature is very different, even though many dog owners tend to ignore this fact by projecting their own feelings and…

Ranking high in the top ten of unwanted canine behavior is destructive chewing on things that matter to their owners. That’s right; humans define what is not appropriate to chew on. The dog however, views the world through his own canine lenses and has not the slightest clue…

Food ‘aggression’ is an easily identified, unwanted canine behavior, but it is really just one of several features of resource guarding, a host of behaviors driven by canine survival instinct. Resource guarding dogs control access to food, objects, people, or places, and sometimes more than one of the…

One of the most common problem behaviors we encounter is the family dog displaying signs of ‘aggression’, i.e. growling, snapping, nipping and sometimes biting, most commonly other people visiting the family home, and less commonly some members of the family itself. Dog bites are serious business, and are…

Dog whining is guaranteed to upset the apple cart of even the most patient dog owner. Dogs are social creatures, and whining is an effective way of communicating to each other and to humans that they either want something, or something is wrong. Puppies learn quickly that their…

Your neighbor’s German shepherd died at the age of 13 last year and the entire neighborhood was sad as everyone loved the dog. She was well behaved, great with other animals and children, rarely barked and was greeting everyone enthusiastically while out on the street. In fact, no…