The online world of dog training advice is a massive mess of broken links, inactive websites and amateur dog trainers hawking their wares. Small dog training, big dog training, all dog training. Anyone can hang their shingle and claim to be the world’s greatest dog trainer. So how does one distinguish between the good dog training advice and the bad? Read the rest of this entry

Small Dog Training Advice:

Everyone gives their dog people food from time to time. Bookmark the ASPCA’s don’t feed list on your computer or smart phone so it’s handy when you need it. Or print a copy & hang it on your refrigerator.

There’s more to small dog training than sit, stay, fetch and puppy potty training.
Today’s topic is categorized under Dog Health Problems.

My 4-1/2 pound pomeranian, Angel, loved avocados. She got two or three bites every time I cut one and there were never any signs of toxicity to her. In fact, she didn’t have any dog health problems at all. So you can imagine my surprise when someone told me I was poisoning her! Now that I’ve researched the subject, I will continue to feed my dogs a bite of avocado from time to time, but NEVER on a daily basis in their dog food. Here’s why: Read the rest of this entry

A person could spend hours and hours sifting through the thousands of dog training videos online. The vast majority of them are sales pitches that offer no real positive dog training advice at all.

We’ve done you a favor by suffering through a massive number of lame videos so you don’t have to in order to find these few good ones. They each offer a slightly different aspect of Read the rest of this entry

I enjoy seeing videos that show the fun side of obedience training for dogs and wanted to share this one with you.

It’s great to see such happy dogs having fun with obedience training. I’d say this is positive dog training at it’s best. What do you think? Have you ever seen one of these freestyle routines in person? Do you think your dog could enjoy this? Read the rest of this entry

You may have heard that obedience training for dogs of some specific breeds can be more difficult because of their high intelligence. This is why Read the rest of this entry

Is small dog house training really easier if you sit down a lot? I vote yes.

It’s natural for puppies to relieve themselves right where they are when the urge strikes. If crated, or otherwise contained, they instinctively prefer to go as far away from their food and water as possible. It’s us who wants them to learn a new “trick”. So isn’t it only fair that we do everything possible in the first couple of weeks to ensure their success? Read the rest of this entry

Does positive dog training mean no discipline? Discipline is good. Punishment is not. Do you know the difference?

Punishment was king for many decades and not only in dog training. In more recent years, society has struggled to progress beyond such unnecessary cruelty and has made great strides, but not without creating some confusion about what the difference is between the discipline and punishment.

Positive dog training comes in two flavors Read the rest of this entry

Hey there, Superhero dog owner. I’m so glad you stopped by! Let’s talk about obedience training for small dogs. This is a great time to get address some questions I’ve been asked about obedience training for dogs.

Q: Why bother with obedience training?: Read the rest of this entry

Most people use the terms “dog potty training” and “dog house training” and even “house breaking” interchangeably. And usually it’s women rather than men who say they’re potty training their dog. House training is the most essential requirement of owning a dog, yet it’s often one of the most difficult for people because they won’t make the necessary time commitment to consistently stick with it until the job is complete.

Training a dog to go “potty on command” isn’t exactly the same thing, but it can easily be taught at the same time. If done correctly, Read the rest of this entry