Once upon a time, seeing-eye (guide) dogs were almost the only type of assistance dog around. Over the last few decades, the field has widened considerably. Today, dogs help the hearing impaired, the blind, wheelchair bound and bedridden. Others simply provide a new kind of therapy for prisoners, burn victims, the clinically depressed or merely…
It’s no accident that some breeds are more commonly found as working dogs. Retrievers, Shepherds and a few others tend to have the physical characteristics, intelligence and temperament needed to perform the complex behaviors even they need several years to master. Specialized training for service, assistance or even therapy dogs begins before birth and continues…
Dogs, like humans, show a wide range of tolerance for others. Some are immediately friendly with every new dog, cat or lizard. Others are forever hostile to even the opposite sex of their own breed. Considering dogs are by nature territorial the diversity is odd, but there it is. Naturally, animal lovers like to have…
The term ‘purebred’ is relative. No breed has been so isolated that it’s never mated with another. But taken over the last hundred years or so, there are populations of Golden Retriever, German Shepherds and many others that have bred only with their own kind. As with any inbreeding program, the results tend to produce…
Teaching your pet tricks is easiest when you work with their nature, not against it. Most dogs are eager to please and respond enthusiastically to rewards. Teaching tricks is often as much a matter of simply using those rewards to direct or build on a spontaneous behavior as it is teaching an entirely foreign one.…
Dogs have a significant capacity for training their trainers. Apart from making us wave our hands and bark odd words, we regularly fetch treats and run after tennis balls. Not useful to us, but the dog enjoys it. To put things back the way they’re meant to be, assert your alpha status. One of the…
Dogs can learn an amazing variety of behaviors, but few so fundamentally important as the ‘sit’. Beyond the basic need to establish that the human of the pair is the alpha (leader), it has a number of practical benefits. When a dog sits he’s more attentive, making it easier to follow further commands. His eyes…
‘Nature to be commanded, must be obeyed’ said Francis Bacon. Nowhere more true than dog training. Dogs have a natural tendency to seek and adhere to a hierarchy with an alpha (leader) at the top on down to an omega at the bottom. ‘Down’ is one effective technique for enforcing your alpha status. It also…
Dogs aren’t really stubborn. But they often don’t clearly know what’s wanted. Make it clear by quickly establishing alpha (dominant leader) status. Be willing to exercise the patience and modest, firm force to get the desired behavior. This can be particularly challenging when training a ‘come’. Dogs naturally want to explore the environment. They sniff…
A dog’s jaw muscles are among his strongest. An average-sized Golden Retriever can untie the knot in a rawhide bone (or just chew it off) in minutes. If only they’d stick to those! The tendency to chew will vary from one breed – and one individual – to another. But most dogs will chew on…
