ARTICLESOur Dog Blog

Dog Training Is Fun In February we discussed how to teach your dog to hand target (to touch your hand with their nose), and this month we’re focusing on how to transfer that behavior to objects – like fixed targets, target sticks, or the balls used in the canine sport of Treibball!  Object targeting can...

Teaching a dog to leave it – to not eat a piece of food or other object that they’re interested in – is a critical skill for the safety of your dog. How often have your seen those chicken bones on the sidewalk during a walk? Or dropped a piece of food that may be...

A good recall is a wonderful skill for a dog to have. Not only does it allow us to call our dogs away from dangerous or unwanted interactions, it makes us feel good when our dogs come when called. It is a very fancy skill but one that usually takes more time to train than...

Who doesn’t love dog tricks?? Does your dog know sit? Probably. For most of you when you ask your dog to sit, your dog will likely put their bottom on the ground, often directly in front of you. It’s an excellent start. What about when there’s a distraction, for instance if your dog sees another...

Who doesn’t love dog tricks?? Tricks! Shake, touch, roll over, spin, dance – they’re all fun to teach and fun to show off to friends and family. Tricks also can be a wonderful complement to your dog’s basic manners skills. For example, teaching your dog to catch a ball in the air is a great...

Who doesn’t love dog tricks?? Tricks! Shake, touch, roll over, spin, dance – they’re all fun to teach and fun to show off to friends and family. Tricks also can be a wonderful complement to your dog’s basic manners skills. For example, teaching your dog to catch a ball in the air is a great...

Hand targeting (asking your dog to touch your hand with their nose) is a fun trick to teach your dog, but it’s also a useful foundation behavior. For example, hand targeting can be a great tool to help increase your dog’s reliability when you’re working on coming when called, and also for getting your dog’s...