Kd Canine Training, LLC

I love this article and have not used the term "obedience" for years. Obedience implies that our dogs have to "obey' us. I prefer to teach and then ask our dogs for a behavior & then reward them when they comply. Even then - thought should be given as to why we ask our dogs for some behaviors & why our dogs might not comply at that moment. I have seen people asking their dogs to sit when outside on a cold, snowy sidewalk - why.? Would they want to sit down on that surface...? My tag line is "Training your dog and you as a Team." I love to use games when working with dogs - making it fun. One of the points the author makes is: "A focus on obedience neglects things dogs need (like chew toys) and it turns the dog walk into a heeling exercise in which dogs don’t get the chance to sniff, when we know smell is so important to dogs. " We think of our dogs as extended family members - shouldn't that relationship attempt to bring happiness to all parties involved?

Nice tips for those of you with adolescent dogs!

Very interesting. Has anybody tried this with their cat(s)?

Great article discussing how teaching our dogs has evolved into more humane, science based, and relationship focused methods. So many good highlights, one of them - the most important thing we need to do for our dogs is advocate, which is also based in a renewed appreciation of science. Instead of correcting your dog for whining, for example, stop for a moment and think about why that’s happening? What do they want? Can you give that to them, or give them an opportunity to earn the thing they want, and learn good behavior at the same time?

A wonderful trainer is opening her group classes back up. Check below for more information.

Many of my clients ask me about the purpose of targeting and clicker training. Many times I have mentioned how the elephants at The Elephant Sanctuary are trained using these methods and tools. Here is a wonderful video of Billie offering her leg to have the chain removed from her leg. . Having animals choose to participate and interact in the training is so powerful and strengthens the bond we have with https://video.search.yahoo.com//play;_ylt=AwrDQ2rmgzRf7xUA

This is such a great video. Janet told me years ago that working with a shy dog was like working with horses. Horses can be afraid of stepping on a tarp or of a plastic bag blowing across the grass. She has trained this horse using a clicker and treats. She does not use the pressure that some use - even some of those natural horsemanship trainers. Watch how her horse chooses to do these activities. The power of choice is such an amazing thing we should give the animals in our lives.

One of my favorite things to teach clients is to have their dogs relax on a mat, and then later to go to their mat. Well, I had to put this into practice with my kittens. They were driving me crazy with jumping on the counters. So, first I set the environment up so that they could be successful. I moved one of their cat trees to the edge of my kitchen so that they could see what was going on. I started by rewarding them with treats for being on their cat tree (for dogs think ...- mat). Then I would be working in the kitchen. At first I was stopping frequently to reward them for staying on their tree. We have worked up to longer durations and having me randomly reinforcing them staying in their spot. We are both happy, I can have food on the counter without them jumping up, and they are getting treats for staying on their cat tree. Win-win. Training is always a process. A lot of work at first, but always pays off in the long run. Thanks to my feline models, Monkey and Dora and my canine models Lulu and Kona. See more

New study showing the effectiveness of using positive reinforcement training vs. the use of an electronic collar. I would like to point out, that just giving treats does not make one a force free trainer. Some trainers espouse to be positive reinforcement trainers, but when they don't have success in teaching a cue, they still resort to old compulsive methods or aversive tools and methods. I believe in setting the dogs up to succeed, and then rewarding that behavior.