"Most dogs are not born leaders and they do not want to be in charge of anything, so they look to you to give them the structure they need," says Andrew Horan, owner of Citizen K9

What You’re Really Saying to Your Dog

We know a dog’s hearing is much better than ours, but are they really hearing what we think they are? Many dog owners — and trainers, for that matter — think that using soft, soothing tones will help a dog better understand us.  Actually, it doesn’t. 

All dogs need training. They aren’t born with the boundaries we’d like them to have when it comes to being obedient in public, meeting new people, or greeting other dogs. They can be taught these things through a process called socialization. By following some specific steps, you can begin to prevent feelings of anxiety or aggression in your dog, and head off the resulting nuisance behaviors such as leash pulling and jumping up.

As a working pet parent, you may have considered enrolling your pup in doggy day care. Or maybe you just suspect your dog could use some more playtime and socialization. In either case, a puppy day care facility may work out well. We went to pet experts around the country to round up the key points a potential dog day care customer should consider. 

Puppy potty training (or even training an adult dog you’ve rescued) is rarely easy peasy. If you’ve been trying for weeks yet still never know what might be waiting for you when you wake up in the morning, it may be time for a fresh approach—or several!

More than 6,000 American postal workers were attacked by dogs in 2015, an increase from more than 5,000 the previous year. Here, we explore why dogs are so often alarmed by these benevolent daily visitors and what their families can do to curb their behavior.

Do you like taking your dog to the great outdoors?  Check out this article for some good tips to keep you and your dog safe.  

Does your dog jump on EVERYONE!  In this article I explain how this is actually a primal urge thousands of years in the making.  There are lots of great tips on how to eliminate this nuisance behavior all together.

Having your dog bark excessively while you are away can cause a lot of strain on the relationship with your neighbors, not too mention potentially getting you evicted.  In order to correct this nuisance behavior you must first understand why your dog is acting out this way, and then put measures in place to fix it.  So before you strap a bark collar on or ship the dog off to your parents house, check out this article from Dog ID with input from yours truly!  - Andrew

 

Visiting the dog park is a positive experience for a lot of dogs and their owners. However, it can also be stressful or even dangerous when dog owners aren’t paying attention to their dogs or aren’t picking up on their dogs’ signals.