Owning an aggressive dog can be a life-changing experience. A dog owner can quickly go from being the central hub for their entire family at Thanksgiving to never having anyone enter their home because they fear what their dog might do. Oftentimes, when a dog exhibits aggression, dog owners start to think euthanasia might be their only option after training technique after training technique fails. Before making this difficult and painful choice, it is important to gather information from a professional dog behavior consultant (we are quite different from dog trainers!) about your dog's behavior.

If you're a dog owner, you know that there are a lot of different services out there purporting to help with your furry friend. But how do you know which one is right for you and your dog? In this blog post, we'll be discussing the difference between dog training and dog behavior consulting, and outlining when you might need each service.

Anyone who has ever owned a dog knows that they are capable of exhibiting a wide range of emotions, from happiness and excitement to fear and aggression. Unfortunately, even the best-behaved dog may exhibit aggression under certain circumstances. If your dog is exhibiting aggressive behavior, it is important to take steps to manage the aggression in order to keep both your dog and those around him safe. The best-laid training plans start with the management of the dog’s undesirable behaviors to prevent further reinforcement. In this blog post, we'll discuss three strategies for managing aggressive behavior in dogs: using training equipment like muzzles, rearranging the environment for success, and preventing your dog from practicing undesirable behaviors.

It's that time of year again - the leaves are changing color, the air is getting crisp, and Halloween is just around the corner. For many of us, Halloween is a fun and festive time. But for our dogs, it can be a very stressful holiday with the constant stream of strangers coming to your door to the spooky noises (and movements!) of Halloween decorations. If your dog is anxious about strangers knocking on the door or the novelty that Halloween brings, here are a few steps you can take to help them feel more at ease.

Often when dog owners come in for training, they immediately expect us trainers and behavior consultants to judge them.

They will say things like:

"My dog sleeps on the bed. I know he isn't 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 to, but..."

"Sometimes I give my dog a treat just to give them a treat. I don't make them do anything to earn it. I know I am not 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 to, but..."

Spring is almost here - which means it is time from spring cleaning! While completing my spring cleaning this year, i noticed that I do something that probably most normal people don’t do: I arrange my furniture and spaces in a way to prevent dog fights and disagreements in my home.

You may be thinking to yourself, “What? How could your furniture arrangement cause dog fights?” There are many reasons this could occur like spatial resource guarding in dogs in the household, dogs bumping into each other by mistake due to limited space, or even dogs becoming conditioned to get overexcited or frustrated in a certain space.

Building confidence in our dogs is overlooked. We believe that all dogs will be friendly, sociable, and happy-go-lucky. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Dogs of this nature are hard to come by these days. The odds are usually stack against us when we first get our puppy.

Need a step-by-step process to get your dog to wear their harness comfortably? If your dog is growling, fleeing, or biting when you attempt to put on their harness, using positive reinforcement-based husbandry training could be the answer to your problems. Follow the steps in this article to help your dog love their harness!

Introducing a new animal into your family is always an exciting (though sometimes, stressful) process. When Googling “adopting a new dog”, you will find a wide range of suggestions from the science-based to personal opinion. This can make the process of introducing a new dog into your home smoothly seem challenging and taxing. However, it definitely doesn’t have to feel this way.

We have finally reached the end of our Teamwork for Trainers series about the takeaway for pet professionals from the Ferrazzi’s book, “Leading Without Authority” (2020). The final chapters of the book included several gems about overcoming negativity within team settings, which is something all pet professionals will experience at some point in their careers; whether this is with students or other professionals. Gossip, negative remarks, and bringing down others is something everyone will fail victims to dishing out and receiving at some point throughout their career.

As we near the end of this blog series, as I was reading in Ferrazzi’s book, “Leading Without Authority” (2020) we are following for this series, I wondered when we would reach the topic of positive reinforcement. Any experienced animal trainers know how important reinforcing desired behavior is, but they also know about the positive effects on psychology in both animals and humans. And finally, that chapter has come!

Photo Credit: https://puppyhero.com/breed/nova-scotia-duck-tolling-retriever

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, wearing face masks has become a way of protection from the virus. However, some dogs might have difficulty adjusting to this change. This can cause some dogs to bark, growl, or hide when they see a person in a mask.

So, why are masks scary to dogs and what can you do about it?

Life, however, doesn’t just give us people we agree with, and sometimes there will be a good reason for us to need to peacefully collaborate with people whose ethical stances are different from our own. Even in professional debates and conversations at conferences, there is a chance for each person to input their opinion into the conversation for review by the group.

The American Kennel Club announced their newest virtual title program called Virtual Home Manners today. This new title program fills a gap in their programs for dogs unable to attend in-person classes, either due to Covid-19 protocols, age, or health complications.

In today's world, we are used to instant gratification. We can have items shipped to us from across the world in mere days, we can download a new game in less than an hour, and we can have a fully cooked meal given to us through a drive-thru window within minutes.

However, there is nothing like living with an animal (especially a young animal) to teach you patience.

As professional animal trainers, trust is a colossal part of our job whether we are aware of it or not. We need the trust of the animal so, we can function as a team with the animal and we aren’t injured. However, we also need the trust of the human-side of the equation. The animal’s owner must trust in our opinion, expertise, and ability to provide the results they are asking for in a humane and effective way.

Just like humans, dogs have different preferences. Not all dog treats, toys, or experiences hold the same value for every dog. So, try out a wide variety and if it increases your target behavior, it is a reinforcer for your dog. Here is a big list of possible reinforcers your dog might find, well, reinforcing! Remember to add new reinforcers safely and double-check with your vet before changing your dog's diet.

The dog’s owner, vet, vet behaviorist, doggie daycare, pet sitter, and anyone else interacting with the animal on a semi-usual basis is on our broader team. We must consider if what they are doing is working for us or against us and how we can extend what Ferrazzi describes as “care, concern, commitment, and camaraderie” to everyone on our broader team to accomplish our common goal; a happy, healthy animal the owner can live with (Ferrazzi, 2020).

With my training students, I have found many come to classes or private sessions after attempting to follow step-by-step guides, DVDs, or YouTube videos on how to train a dog.

They are often frustrated that the dog in these books or videos isn't like *their* dog. That dog is already well-trained, a different breed, more focused, or just simply *better* in some way than their own dog…

One of the most common questions I get as a professional dog trainer from students with puppies is about aggression and biting. We unfortunately have even had people email us inquiring about signing up for classes to have them reply back that they rehomed the puppy before class even started because the puppy was "aggressive".

True aggression in puppies is extremely rare. I have only seen one to two cases of true aggression in a puppy under four months of age in all my years of working with dogs.

So, what are puppy owners actually seeing then?