One of the clients whose dog I trained recently asked me to pet sit. I thought it'd be nice to thank her with a couple photos:




Aren't they cute? The Golden's name is Pete and the Yorkie is Bridgette. Doesn't her little face look like a heart? Wish Pete hadn't come out so blurry, but he looked real goofy in all the other pics.

Now for a little doggie education/rant from your friendly trainer... ;)


Look what good dogs Sadie and Winston are being! When we sit down to dinner, this is where they know to go. Technically, they aren't supposed to be off the carpet, but Winston has a knack for testing...see his paws just over the boundary? Mmmhmmm. If your dogs drive you nuts at dinner, you can train them to stay behind a certain boundary and they can practice being good dogs. It takes a little effort the first few days, but after that, it is so worth it. One of my favorite sayings to clients is "You get what you re-inforce." If you reward the dog for staying where you want him, that's what he'll do. Simple, no? Well, it is for the dogs. :) Unfortunately, people get caught up in the idea of how the dog should do it "because he respects me." {insert eye roll here}.

Dogs have no morals. They don't know right from wrong. "But s/he KNOWS s/he did something wrong! S/he "looks guilty" when I get home!" This is one of the most common things I hear. Or, "s/he peed on my carpet/chewed up my pillow to get back at me". This is called anthropomorphism:

an·thro·po·mor·phism (nthr-p-môrfzm)
n. The attribution of human motivation, characteristics, or behavior to nonhuman organisms,animals or inanimate objects.

If the dog "looks guilty" when you come home, (a.)s/he is responding to your body language(dogs can pick up on the tiniest changes in our body language that we aren't even aware of. This makes them amazing, don't you think?), or (b.)there is a history of the owner getting angry when they come home, and their homecoming is now a source of stress for the dog. In other words, the dog relates their human's homecoming to having been punished/yelled at in the past, and his "guilty" look is more of a "calming signal". (To read more about this go to Turid Rugaas' site). I can give my dogs "the look" and they'll respond by looking guilty even if they haven't done anything. I promise you-your dog is not up all night scheming ways to get back at you or take over your household.

Unfortunately, there is a very popular t.v. show that is teaching people how to "dominate" their dogs. I find it very presumptious. I didn't get a dog to control him. I got a dog (or four :0) to be my companion. Yes, you must be a good leader, and teach your dog what behaviors are acceptable, but one needn't do it in a scary or painful way. A lot of kindness and a few treats go a long way!!!

{rant over} :)

Meeting some friends from CKMB for dinner and a crop tomorrow!!! Gotta get packing-hope you have a great weekend!