For new puppies learning about the kennel for the first time, you’ll want to make it a fun place to be. You can elicit a puppy’s natural curiosity by putting delicious things inside the kennel and allowing them to enter on their own terms. Try these easy games to deepen your puppy’s positive association with the kennel.
It is important to know that, like your child (it is your fur baby, after all!), your dog should always be secured—and, preferably, contained—when your vehicle is in motion. That is to say, those simple, open dog car seats, cargo hammocks, booster seats, or seatbelt harnesses are not enough. The Center for Pet Safety does not recommend these as solutions for keeping you and your dog safe. Please consider the difference it could make to prevent your dog from distracting you as the driver and becoming projectile in a crash, and products that could actually save your dog’s life.
Check out our favorite products for physical and mental enrichment!
Get your puppy started off on the right track with proper potty training habits.
The clicker is the scalpel of training tools. It is often used as a conditioned or secondary reinforcer, which predicts a primary reward. The clicker captures a moment in time, such as a correct behavior or action, which helps a dog identify a specific criteria.
Here's a few tips and tricks you can begin practicing with your dog to achieve a good reliable recall.
A place command is about teaching your dog to remain on a boundary or a specific area, such as their bed. The dog must stay within their boundary no matter what is happening around them and until they are told otherwise. If you have a dog that jumps on your guest, barks at the doorbell, or hovers around you while you cook or eat, perhaps teaching them a place command is probably one of the best things you can teach your dog. The first thing you want to teach your dog is to get on and off the bed by luring them on and off with a treat. Each time you do so, apply your cue “place” as you are luring them on as soon as all 4 paws are on the place bed, drop their reward onto their place. When you are ready to release them, say your release word “free”.
Polite greetings and front door manners are behaviors we commonly work on in our Day Training and Board and Train programs. This practice requires set ups and many repetitions with different people in order for new incompatible skills to be learned.
A conditioned relaxation protocol can be monumental in your training journey. When done correctly, a mat exercise is designed to facilitate a state of genuine calmness which can help all dogs, but is especially helpful for dogs who are fearful, anxious, hyper vigilant, or over aroused. While training this can be quite tedious (and can sometimes take weeks to months), it is SO worth it to watch your dog’s baseline in everyday life shift to become more tranquil and well-balanced.
A conditioned relaxation protocol can be monumental in your training journey. When done correctly, a mat exercise is designed to facilitate a state of genuine calmness which can help all dogs, but is especially helpful for dogs who are fearful, anxious, hyper vigilant, or over aroused. While training this can be quite tedious (and can sometimes take weeks to months), it is SO worth it to watch your dog’s baseline in everyday life shift to become more tranquil and well-balanced.
A common theme with sibling housemates is something known as Littermate Syndrome, which is a term used to describe behavioral issues that can develop when 2 puppies are raised together. Littermate Syndrome, or Littermate Dependency, can make it difficult for the puppies to form bonds with you or other people, hinders their coping abilities, and reduces their independence and confidence.
The modern dog owner spends a lot of time thinking about their dog’s social skills. While exercising doggie social skills can be important, it is more important that instead your dog practices maintaining composure when near other dogs. This is especially crucial during the walk, as allowing your dog to meet other dogs during this time will interfere with achieving good leash skills. The tension that pulling on leash creates can trigger a dog’s opposition reflex, resulting in barrier frustration; not an ideal scenario for a proper and appropriate interaction! Also, not all dogs enjoy being approached by other dogs. Even if both dogs are usually very sociable, it doesn’t always translate to instances when they are leashed. Always work towards neutrality by social distancing and limiting on leash encounters as much as possible. 🐾⭐️
To teach your dog a down, you will need a piece of high value food to guide them into position. You can either lure them from a “sit” to a “down” position or simply lure them from a standing position into a “down” position. Put your treat to their nose and guide the treat straight down to their paws from nose to toes. Once you see that their belly hits the ground, use your marker word“yes-!”and reward them with a treat. Once your dog is following your lure more consistently, you can apply the word “down” before you begin to lure, and begin to pair your release word at the end. If your dog gives up or you see that your dog is getting frustrated, go ahead and reward them halfway for a few times. Try to lure them further each time. When your dog successfully goes down all the way, give your dog a few treats in a row (jackpot). Tips: Down and OFF are two different words. The "OFF" command is used to tell a dog to get its paws off of something. It may be the kitchen counter, your bed, the living room couch, or anything else you don't want your dog on.
Good crate training provides a number of benefits to dogs and their owners. A kennel can help teach a puppy bladder and bowel control, can offer them a sense of security, and can teach emotional regulation. A kennel is a highly effective management system which prevents destructive and hyper vigilant behavior. Save yourself the headache and start kennel training as early as possible!
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.