welcome to the HotDogs blog!
Information on Dogs and Training
The Fifth Quadrant
Ouch! You grit your teeth, steel your resolve and turn your back…again, as your 35 kg, over exuberant young dog bites your elbows, grabs your jacket, bounces off your shoulders and generally uses you as a punch bag/trampoline… Your ears are ringing and there is a...
Do You Know EXACTLY What You’re Clicking for?
If you're a clicker trainer you know that having clear criteria is a must. However this is one area that I see causing grief time after time - even with experienced trainers! If the goal of clicker training is to provide clarity and clear feedback, we need to...
10 HABITS OF SUCCESSFUL TRAINERS
Ever wondered why some people seem to always have beautifully behaved, well balanced dogs? Doesn’t seem to matter what breed they get, or the sex of the dog, or if they do sports training or not; their dogs are always great. Have you ever wondered how they do it? Is...
8 POSITIVE ALTERNATIVES TO ‘OMG! NO!!!’
Every dog will do it. Sooner or later, he’ll do something unexpected and unwanted that makes you yell. It happens to everyone. Invariably we feel bad, and now have a dog who thinks we’re unpredictable and bonkers. Luckily, there are some very effective ways to handle...
I MADE THIS MISTAKE SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO…
Now, as you probably know, I’m a dyed in the wool reinforcement trainer. I concentrate on building behaviour I like and managing, preventing and redirecting what I don’t. I seem to be pretty successful at this because my dogs tend to grow into well mannered, happy,...
Garbage in: Garbage out…
Aaargghh!!! I let rip with a fluent stream of Anglo-Saxon expletives just as my long-suffering husband walked through the door. “Problem?” he enquired, casting a wary eye on me (steaming!) and the dogs feigning sleep in their beds. “This $&*%ing thing won’t let me...
Do You Know What Your Dog is Learning Right Now?
In life (and shopping) we are led to believe that we get what we pay for – we expect that the more we pay, the better the product or service. In regards to Dog Trainers, that may or may not be the case! However, it is VERY true when applied to the actual act of...
Training vs Parenting: Are They Really so Different?
Someone made a comment to me the other day that led me to ponder on this: does the way we think about our relationships with our dogs change the way we interact with them? It seems like a no brainer but I believe it’s worth exploring further. I think it affects us in...
Got a High Octane Canine? Here’s How to Install the OFF Switch
OMG. She’s done it again. You turned your back for 5 seconds and now the trash is all over the kitchen. You didn’t realise she could get in that cupboard! …Or the garden has been re-landscaped. …Or the washing has now been sorted into ‘mud’ and ‘shreds’. Bugger....
Does Your Dog See Monsters Everywhere? Here’s Why…
We all know that kids can go through a stage where they are scared of ‘things that go bump in the night’ and other imagined horrors. It’s part of growing up and being human. So, when our dogs seem to be scared of ‘silly things,’ it’s easy to pass it off as “Oh, he’s...