Our Blog

We’re always thinking dog-and now and then we commit our thoughts to this blog

We hope you find these posts helpful and occasionally amusing!

Training Basics – How Animals Learn by Doug Duncan, MA, CTC, CPDT-KA, CBCC-KA

Dogs are always learning. Dogs learn from their environment and from the results of their interactions with it. The environment includes everything around them. We are a part of their environment, just as cats, cars, other dogs, sounds, smells and tastes are. Like all animals, dogs zero in on the things in their environment that […]

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Why do dogs jump?

For many dogs, jumping up on their people is a favorite pastime. Whether your dog excitedly jumps up on you when you get home (like mine!) or jumps to greet new people out on walks, jumping up on humans can become a behavior that is hard to prevent. It is preventable, but it can take […]

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What is a Puppy?

Last month we looked at the question – What is a dog? This month we’re going to tackle – What is a puppy? Just as with us humans, a toddler isn’t a miniature adult, and a puppy isn’t a miniature dog. Their bodies are different than adult bodies and their behavior is different than adult […]

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What is a dog?

What is a dog? This is one of those questions we trainers think about a lot. We know some things that dogs aren’t – they aren’t wolves, they aren’t a toddler, and they don’t have programmable software. They are often part of our family and our daily lives, but why do they do what they […]

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Behavior of the Month: Play! Part I

For the next two months we’re going to discuss play. We all know it when we see it- dogs are romping and we’re smiling! But what’s really happening there? Why do dogs play and does it serve a purpose? And, importantly for us folks who train dogs, can we use play to help us to […]

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Doggy Business Play Group Series!

Over the next few months we’re going to be writing a series of blogs that focus on the Doggy Business play groups – what they are and how they work. Our play groups were designed by Doug Duncan, MA, CTC, CPDT-KA, CBCC-KA, to provide safe access to three key activities – play, socialization, and training. We’ll discuss […]

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September Behavior of the Month – Sit and Down

For September, we thought we’d get back to some basics – teaching sit and down. Does your dog already 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. Excellent!  What about when there’s a […]

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August Behavior of the Month – Trainer’s Choice

  This month, we’re focusing a little more on the Play Group series (check out our newsletter to learn more), but will be getting back to some new Behavior of the Month material next month. For August, we’ll let the trainers in each play group choose what they want to work on with each of […]

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