Author Archives: astoffel

4 Reasons Every Dog Should Have a Dog License

Getting your dog licensed every year is the law, but there is a lot of confusion around it. We’ve gathered all of the information that you need to know to make sure we’re all doing our part to be responsible dog owners in our community. So let’s discuss the four reasons why you should get your dog licensed annually. 1. It proves that your dog is properly vaccinated. You must show up-to-date vaccinations in orderContinue reading “4 Reasons Every Dog Should Have a Dog License”

There’s nothing wrong with you or your dog

A lot of times I hear from people that their dog isn’t social, so there must be something wrong with them, right? They didn’t socialize them young enough, they didn’t train enough, they didn’t try hard enough, they didn’t… The list could go on and on and on. Just because your dog isn’t social doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with either of you. Dogs that don’t like other dogs are perfectly normal. We live inContinue reading “There’s nothing wrong with you or your dog”

More than a kitchen dog

Dogs are incredibly smart, and once we show them how to do something (and we practice and reward and practice and reward and…), they will be able to reliably perform that command. In that situation that you practiced in. You see, dogs aren’t great at generalizing information. This means that what they learn in one place (ie the kitchen) doesn’t transfer over well if you ask them to perform that same command in another placeContinue reading “More than a kitchen dog”

Recall drills – using the e-collar for clarity

Recall. It could save your dog’s life someday, so practice it! We practice inside in low distraction-environments first to make sure the dog really understands what we’re asking of them. Here, Willow is practicing recall while we’re out of sight using the e-collar to help her. We use the pressure of the e-collar essentially as a game of hot-or-cold. As she gets closer, the stimulus from the e-collar lessens. If she gets farther away, theContinue reading “Recall drills – using the e-collar for clarity”

Confidence building with puppies

So much of puppy training is about setting up a really nice foundation. That means building confidence, teaching them how to move with you, trying new things, and exposing them to the world around us. Daisy was pretty nervous with trying new things, so we took her to a park with lots of structures to explore, lots of smells to distract her, and lots of opportunities to make mistakes and try again. We used luresContinue reading “Confidence building with puppies”

Does your dog love other dogs too much?

Willow absolutely adores other dogs. The problem with that is, not all dogs adore her. She has a lot of energy and doesn’t know how to read their signals when they’ve had enough of her, and that’s led to other dogs correcting her. We don’t want that! So we haven’t introduced her to Copper yet in the traditional sense. It’s not because I’m worried (I think they would actually love playing together). It’s because IContinue reading “Does your dog love other dogs too much?”

Working on patience

Theo is all about escaping discomfort. If he hears a loud noise, he tries to run away. If he’s feeling needy, he pushes into your arm for attention. If he’s in the crate, he wants out. If he’s out of the crate, he wants in. He needs to not only understand that he can’t escape everything (it’s not a safe option!), but that I will keep him safe and help him through everything that isContinue reading “Working on patience”