Sometimes people who are introduced to my ItsYerChoice game wonder what the difference is between educating our dogs they can make good choices, compared to using the traditional “leave it”. It’s such a common question that a couple of years ago I did a short video with the answer. I decided the video should be on my blog to be easily accessible to everyone who has the question.
This might be a strange blog topic from someone whose life has been devoted to being an expert dog trainer. As we all know, there's a lot that goes into being a "dog trainer" ... years of education, continual professional development and learning, years of [...]
I'm often asked about where my dogs sleep at night. The short answer is "anywhere they want" which might be a surprising response. Of course, it does not start that way. We can't bring a new puppy or rescue dog into our home and have them sleep anywhere they want as that is not safe and does not create confidence or security for our new family member! So, I thought I'd give the long answer by way of a blog.
Well, I'll have to say that this is a blog post I was not planning on doing, but thanks to Pinterest, here we are! It's a look at the crates I have built into my home, so they are part of the furniture. It happens that in our Agility Nation membership program, I did a segment showing the built in dog crates and how they work, and a video clip is in this post for you.
Learn a game to grow ItsYerChoice in daily life. It's especially useful if you find your dog staring at your pocket or the toy in your hand, or any "cookie" that you may have out. It will help make you aware of your responses to your dogs responses.
We all love our dogs, therefore it is difficult not to indulge them occasionally. However, I have often said, "dogs are far better at shaping people, than people are at shaping dogs!" Learn a game to to change your dog's unwanted behaviour around the house, and replace frustration with fun! This game is going to make you aware of your responses, and how you can use what your dog finds reinforcing for the benefit of both of you.
Understanding the Reinforcement Zone is one of the KEYS for success in dog sport. Our dogs having value for RZ is going to be a reinforcer in it's own right for the competition ring! Your dog being by your side because he wants to be there is going to exponentially increase your joy and performance in the sport as a team.
One of the most frequent questions we see as dog trainers is "how do I stop my dog pulling on the leash?", and it's not just in the usual dog training channels you will see this. It's everywhere on the internet. It's heard at the dog park, the vet, on the street, heck, it might also be the topic of dinner party conversations. Stopping your dog from pulling on leash starts with understanding your dog's Reinforcement Zone (RZ)! When you know RZ, you can help your dog love loose leash walking.
Trimming toenails is always a HOT topic for all of us who live with dogs and want the best for them. But what if you dog HATES having his nails cut? What if he is terrified? What if attempting to do so is a danger to him and to you? This is something I've experienced first hand. Learn how to help your dog put his fear of nail trimming behind and how to lessen the trauma for both of you.
I know that many of you would have read the title of this blog post and done a double take .... and could well be thinking "that Susan Garrett has gone a bit cray cray, she has spent years telling us that agility and dog [...]
We get a lot of questions about dogs who misbehave …. dogs who counter surf, raid the garbage, destroy the flower beds, run away when called. You might know a dog like this, or it could even be your dog. One thing we all know [...]
I've recently travelled back home from this year's FCI Agility World Championships held in Finland. Being on a plane always gives me time to think... and my thoughts turned to what leads to agility success. Agility success can be at any level of the sport, [...]
