Canine Nation

For some people, a new dog is no big deal.  You just bring it home and that's it.  To others, it can be a wonderful adventure full of fun and learning and activities for both the human and the dog.  My friends Angela and Michael were looking forward with some excitement to getting their new puppy, whom they have named Castle.   Angela has been deep in learning about the latest training methods and behavioural science so she can teach young Castle all kinds of things.  The puppy's breeder, Natalie Vivian, is also a friend and one of the best breeders of Belgian Shepherds I know about.  Natalie uses proven science to give all of her new puppies the best training from almost the day they are born so they are prepared to meet a big new world with no fear and lots of joy.  How great that these two found each other and how lucky for Castle to have such a great start in life!

Humans like the affection of dogs. We find it reinforcing when they come to us for petting and attention. Once they find something that annoys us, they can be masters at using it to get us to do things in order get them to stop doing it. It’s cause and effect, consequences dictating behaviour. And they know it. As Jean Donaldson put it in her book Culture Clash, “Dogs do what works.” So who is training who in this relationship? The answer is probably both you and the dog. The good news is that it's probably best that way!

When it comes to dog training, Positive Training and training based on rewards are hot topics these days. There are some in the dog world who think training with rewards means you never say “no” to your dog. Is it possible to be a Positive Trainer and still stop problem behaviours in your dog? The answer is YES!

The terms we use to describe when we talk about dogs and dog behaviour matters. Sometimes generalizing too much can do more harm than good. While clever terms can get you to agreement on some level, they may also keep us from understanding what each other is REALLY talking about.

My wife and I love having our two Belgian Shepherds in our lives. We have occasionally had three dogs for short periods. You would think that adding a third dog would add about 30 percent more work, fun, and chaos into our lives. Unfortunately, it’s not quite that simple. I talked with dog trainer Amanda Brothers about how she manages her crew of 6 rescue dogs.

Dogs have been with us for centuries. Today, millions of dogs live in the homes of humans. But what exactly is the dog getting out of the deal? In fact, a better question is what should the dog be getting out of the deal? This article looks at what our dogs give us and what we might owe them in return.

To look at most of our dogs, it’s hard to think of them as “stressed out” as they snooze happily in that patch of sunlight, yet all dogs experience stress, some more and some less — and it’s how they learn to cope with it that is most important.

Did you realize that play is an important part of dogs’ development and overall health throughout their lives? When it comes to our canine friends, it seems that old saying “All work and no play…” is just as true as it is for humans.

From March 12, 2011 - It seems these days that too much is made of pack models and hierarchies for dogs. Do you need to be the "Alpha"? Science would answer that with a resounding NO! Good training is not about being a pack leader or gaining respect. It is about being a good teacher and communicator and helping your dog succeed in your world.

It never ceases to amaze me each time a dog trainer tells me how good they are by showing me how long their dog will "Stay." In essence, they are showing me what a good dog they have by demonstrating how long the dog will refrain from doing something. Is that really a skill or is the fear of being reprimanded if they DO try to act? It could be either or it might even be a bit of both. Defining our dogs by what they don't do seems backward to me. Shouldn't we be proud of what they WILL do if asked? This article explores some of the psychology behind non-behaviour and shows that it's not always a good thing!

Alpha Dominance is one of the most persistent lies in all of what we know about dogs. It’s amazing to me how a culture like ours, so rooted in science and technology, can hang on relentlessly to myths and half-truths but no basis at all in fact. With all the talk of “pack leadership” and “calm assertive energy” these days, I would suggest that we need to look at the facts about the social dynamics of dogs and treat them as they really are: members of our households who are very much our dependents.

What do you do when everything you thought you knew about dogs and how to train them fails? Confrontation after confrontation with our dog Vince pushed us closer and closer to what might have been a devastating end to our relationship with this special dog. Everything we had learned about dog training to that point told us that we had to "show him who's boss" and be the "Alpha" leader of the household. Vince met our aggression at each new level. It was when we couldn't push this escalation any further that we made some discoveries that would change the way we lived and worked with our dogs forever. What if we could communicate with dogs? It turns out that we can! And it's more amazing and more fun that we could ever have dreamed.