I first heard this oft-quoted saying from a dear friend and fellow dog lover and trainer and writer, Bill Tarrant. Turns out it was originally written by Sir Walter Scott and goes as follows: “I have sometimes thought of the final cause of dogs having such short lives and I am quite satisfied that...
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“Nice leather sofa you got there…would be a shame if something happened to it.” Their eyes carry the intensity of a protection racket courier picking up the weekly envelope of cash. We have rituals at our house. The day starts with the making of the oatmeal, which includes adding blueberries to the mix. Frozen...
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There are practical things to consider when scheduling a rattlesnake aversion training session. A common question I hear is, “Why does the training take so long?” In our highly scheduled and demanding world in which people have jobs and appointments to get to, scratching this essential dog training session off the list is more...
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Today Morning Perimeter Report Good morning, Big Yellow Dog here reporting for perimeter duty. Both the girl dog and I were ready at dawn, but the humans lingered in their sleeping chamber. I suspect they may have been feigning sleep in an attempt to stall the important work of property patrol. I can not...
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Drake, our yellow Lab, took a flyer yesterday. I had him out for pigeons the morning before. We were set up under a flight path of feral pigeons flying into a food source. I managed to scrape down a few for Drake and Scout to retrieve. He woke up the next morning figuring that...
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Recently we talked about rope, the primary and simplest tool a dog trainer needs. In this week’s blog we will explore the second essential training tool: your voice. It’s the one thing we all use to communicate, and yet we underestimate its power and potential peril when used to train our dogs. Since we...
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Anyone and everyone who has a dog is a dog trainer, whether you see yourself that way or not. As a dog trainer, your most important tool is your voice. It’s also the tool least likely to be used effectively or even recognized as a tool by most folks engaged in trying to communicate...
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A dog and a man walk into a bar. Both take seats side by side at the counter and the man begins a long one-sided conversation with the dog. He explores the meaning of life, the burdens of a mortal existence, and how lucky the dog is that he’s just a simple dog, uncluttered...
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