Behavior/Training Articles
Teach your new puppy to sit, stay, and come, and keep your rude away from the dinner table and off the counters. This is the place to learn all about training your puppy and teaching old dogs new tricks.

Behavior/Training Articles
  • Socializing Early for the Benefit of Mental Health
    A well socialized dog is typically comfortable, confident and mentally stable. The more you do for your dog when she is young, the better. With patience, consistency, and good techniques, you can achieve very positive results with most dogs in a reasonable amount of time.

  • Teaching Your Dog to Play Frisbee
    Teaching your dog to play Frisbee is fun and rewarding. It is a great way to spend quality time with your dog and you both get plenty of fresh air and exercise. Some dogs take to Frisbee instantly, and others take some coaxing and time to get the hang of it; but almost any dog can learn to love it!

  • Teaching a Recall Command
    A recall is a command requiring your dog to stop in his tracks, look towards you, then come running immediately. This is probably the most important command you’ll ever teach your dog, because it might just save his life. It is best that you start teaching this command to your new puppy as soon as possible.

  • Stopping Food Aggression
    Food aggression, a subcategory of Canine Possession Aggression (CPA) is defined as territorial behavior regarding foodstuffs in the form of growling, snarling, snapping, or aggressive posturing. This type of behavior can be avoided with proper training of puppies, and should be immediately addressed in dogs already exhibiting aggressive behavior.

  • Stop Counter Surfing
    There are three ways to stop undesirable behavior in a dog. You can punish the dog by adding an unpleasant consequence, you can help the behavior stop on its own by removing the motivator, and you can train the dog to perform an alternate or incompatible action in place of the undesirable behavior.

  • Sit, Down, and Stay
    Teaching your dog to sit, lie down, and stay is vital to the training of your pet. As you train your dog to perform different behaviors, you will find that a thorough understanding of, and reaction without hesitation to sit, down, and stay commands are absolutely prerequisite.

  • Reversing Bad Behavior
    Is your dog driving you to distraction? Are his behavior problems embarrassing, frustrating, or just plain destructive? No matter what undesirable behavior your dog is performing, there are a number of training techniques, issues to consider, and perspectives to ponder that may help so you can stop pulling out your hair.

  • Teaching Place
    The Place command is a target exercise that cues your dog to go to a specific location, lay down, and stay, this is called a Down Stay. Once your dog has this behavior down, you can use it to keep him from pestering guests, begging at the dinner table, and being underfoot while you perform tasks like feeding or changing a baby.

  • Nipping
    Nipping is a behavior that is completely normal among dogs, especially puppies, and has a lot to do with a puppy’s learning process. The purpose of this article is to discuss nipping, not biting. Nipping is a form of communication, interaction, exploration, and play; whereas biting is a form of aggression.

  • NILIF (Nothing In Life Is Free) Training
    Nothing in Life Is Free is a training method based on the principle that all attention and rewards received by your dog should only be offered on the owner’s terms. NILIF means that the dog must work to receive affection, play, sustenance, and treats.

  • Jumping Up
    One of the most common and frustrating behavior issues in dogs is the problem of jumping-up. At best it’s annoying and leads to dirty paw prints on your clothes; but it can also result in injuries and even legal issues. Don’t worry though, with consistency and patience you can teach your dog the manners he’s missing.

  • Humping, The Embarrassing Dog Enigma
    Mounting, also referred to as humping, is a misunderstood, and therefore often embarrassing dog behavior. We have all experienced that awkward moment when a dog decides to mount another dog or hump a person’s leg in public. This behavior is usually met with chuckles, the occasional lewd comment, and conjecture as to what the action implies.

  • Dog Training Commandments
    There are many schools of thought when it comes to training your dog. However, these Commandments of Dog Training are basic, general, and widely accepted tips that correspond with just about any training program. If you stick to these commandments, you will be well on your way to a beautifully trained pooch.

  • Dinnertime Manners
    Are you sick of your dog begging by the dinner table every night? Does your dog steal food, whimper when you refuse to share, or try to put his nose or paws on the table? He needs to learn some self control! In order to do this, your dog must first have a complete understanding of, and respond without hesitation to sit, down, and stay.

  • Digging--How to Deal
    Does your dog insist on tearing up your meticulously manicured yard? This kind of behavior seems difficult to halt, because it tends to happen when you aren’t around. Digging is a self rewarding behavior. You must recognize the cause of your dog’s digging, and then take the necessary steps to make digging no longer rewarding for your dog.

  • Crate Training: How & Why
    There are several accepted methods of house training your new dog. However, if you’re looking for not just a housebreaking method, but are also interested in adapting your dog to a safe and confined environment for various safety and comfort reasons, crate training is for you.

  • Commands Every Dog Should Know
    Training your dog to understand this list of simple commands will produce a better-behaved pooch. Proper training results in a better relationship between dog and owner. It also provides your dog with the security of knowing his place in the order of things and what is expected of him.

  • 10 House Training Tips
    House training your new puppy is no easy task. However, this process can be made faster and easier with these 10 simple tips for house training your puppy.

  • 1, 2, 3 for a Balanced dog
    Is your dog out of control? Does he jump on company, surf your counters, run laps around the house, and destroy everything in sight? While there’s no magic fix for dogs who act out, there is a three-step process that will make a vast difference in your pup’s behavior.