By Nicole Larocco-Skeehan, CPDT-KA The only thing predictable when bringing home a new dog is that everyone in the house, dog included, will be under a lot of stress that first day. There’s often discussion of buyer’s remorse when it comes to a car or a home. There are expectations, things that go wrong, dreams … Continue reading When the Rescue Comes Home
By Dawn Heiderscheidt, BS, MOT, OTR/L My biggest fear is my dog running away and not coming back. He has a HUGE prey drive and tends to hyper focus on distractions, meaning I’m pretty sure he will run after something, only to realize miles later he has no idea where he is or how he … Continue reading Teaching an Emergency Recall before the Emergency
A positive marker is like a “pin” for behaviors we would like our dogs to repeat, but it relies on us as handlers sticking to a reward system, or contract, most often using a food reward and/or praise for reinforcement. When we ask our dogs to do something, we use this tool to let them know they’ve done the right thing in response.
Body language is a great way to communicate with your dog because the language is universal across species. When your dog wants something, they learn to sit to ask for it.
And while Debbie had her heart set on a girl, the breeder asked her how she felt about a boy–the momma’s boy with a sweet soul they named Franklin. “We went and he really was adorable,” Debbie said. “I didn’t get a small girl. I got the biggest boy. He’s a great boy. He gets exuberant, that’s what happened.”