At my training center, AutumnGold, it is not unusual to enroll students who live with and train more than one dog. A common question that these clients have is how to arrange their training sessions to allow them to train one dog while the other dog "waits his or her turn". In most of these cases, the student laments … Continue reading Doggie See, Doggie Do?
canine behavior
Do You Know What I Can See?
Chippy, our Toller, is a terrible food thief. (Of course, the use of the word terrible is one of perspective. Given his impressive success rate, Chippy would argue that he is actually a very good food thief). Chip has become so proficient at his food thievery that our dog friends all know to "keep eyes … Continue reading Do You Know What I Can See?
With a Little Help from My Friends
There is a large body of research showing that dogs are quite capable of noticing and responding to human communication cues such as body language, tone of voice, and various forms of pointing. Dogs also will initiate eye contact with people and respond to human gaze. We are well matched in this respect because humans, of course, use eye contact to communicate … Continue reading With a Little Help from My Friends
Only Have Eyes for You
Eye contact is one of the first things that I teach to my own dogs and is a basic behavior that we teach to all of our students at my training school, AutumnGold. In our training classes, we introduce eye contact very early because it is easy to teach and provides rapid and positive results to owners who are … Continue reading Only Have Eyes for You
How Many Barks does a Nuisance Dog Make?
According to a paper that I read recently, nuisance barking is identified as a major, worldwide behavior problem that affects 1 in 3 dogs, is a frequent cause of neighbor disputes, and is a common cause of relinquishment of dogs by their owners to shelters and rescue groups (1). Hmmm.... Nuisance barking. So, once again, … Continue reading How Many Barks does a Nuisance Dog Make?
Go Ask Alice
We have a new puppy in the house. Alice is her name. She's cute. Really cute. Of course, it is possible that I am a bit biased.......(nah.....she really is adorable, even now at 4 months....). During the first few weeks that Ally was with our family, we could not go walking at our local park without … Continue reading Go Ask Alice
Fear Itself
Last year, on the drive home from our annual vacation in Bar Harbor, Maine, our 11-year-old Brittany, Vinny suddenly and inexplicable awoke from a sound sleep and began to tremble, pant, pace, and obsessively lick at the sides of his travel crate. When I crawled back over the seat to find out what was wrong, Vinny’s … Continue reading Fear Itself
Death Throes of the Guilty Look
I just talked to a potential client who is interested in bringing his 7-month-old Golden Doodle to train with us at AutumnGold. His dog, Penny, has the usual young dog issues - jumping up, a bit of nipping during play, still the occasional slip in house training, etc. Penny also raids the kitchen garbage bin, removing and shredding food wrappers, napkins, and … Continue reading Death Throes of the Guilty Look
Our Best Friends’ Friends
Our Golden, Cooper has a friend named Pete. Cooper and Pete groom each other, take naps together on a favorite bed, and play their own special version of "wolf and caribou" around the dining room table. When Coop goes on walks, he likes to have Pete come along with us. And oh yeah, Pete is our cat. Many folks who live with dogs … Continue reading Our Best Friends’ Friends
Talking Turkey
I grew up with a story-book grandmother. She was my mother’s mom, “Nana” to my sister and me. As required of all perfect grandmothers, Nana was a great cook and regularly expressed her love through sumptuous meals and comfort foods. Although she did not actually reside “over the valley and through the woods”, her home … Continue reading Talking Turkey
You Barkin’ At Me?
I have a ring tone on my mobile phone that I really like. It barks. Five barks (bark-bark-bark-bark-bark) for each ring. It is a real dog's voice, not a person fake-barking in that annoying way that certain people feel compelled to do when they see a dog. (Really, what is that about anyway?). Earlier this week, my phone started barking while I was … Continue reading You Barkin’ At Me?
Lend a Helping Paw
Dogs are highly social beings who express their social nature in a variety of ways. They desire companionship with others and readily integrate into our human families and lives. Most of our dogs love to play and to learn new things and enjoy spending time together going for walks, a ride in the car or simply hanging out for a cuddle on the couch. Given the choice, most dogs … Continue reading Lend a Helping Paw
I Yawn for Your Love
Vinny, my Brittany, yawns a lot. He yawns first thing in the morning when he rises, in the evening when he is tired, and many times in between. We notice this because Vinny emits an adorable little squeaky sound whenever he launches a particularly wide and emotive yawn. We also know that Vinny seems to be highly susceptible … Continue reading I Yawn for Your Love
Hey, Teacher! Leave Those Dogs Alone!
It is a fairly common practice among dog trainers who teach group classes to "borrow" one of their student's dogs to demonstrate a training technique or learning concept. Opinions of this practice vary. Proponents say that it helps owners to observe their own dog being handled by an instructor or responding to someone else, while opponents argue … Continue reading Hey, Teacher! Leave Those Dogs Alone!
Its All Rock-and-Roll to Me
When training my dogs, I always have music playing. And, truth-be-told, my personal tastes gravitate neither to easy-listening nor to high-brow classical music. Rather, I am a rock n' roll gal, all the way home. On a given day, my dogs and I may be training agility to The Who, retrieving to Stevie Ray Vaughan, and practicing tricks to Ray Lamontagne. On days that my feminist freak … Continue reading Its All Rock-and-Roll to Me
The Science Dog 