"He pees in the house every time we leave. I know why he's doing it. He's angry with us and wants to punish us for leaving him alone. I know he knows it's wrong too, because he looks guilty when we come home." (Looking for Finn? Don't … [Read more...]
The Evolution of Darwin
(I am taking a break this month from talking about getting a new dog. Instead, I’m going to use this time to talk about my personal journey with my dog, Darwin, in the hopes that it will be beneficial to others as well.) I’ve been … [Read more...]
Reading Your Dog – Episode 2
It's been awhile since I posted Episode 1 in this series. I thought this time I'd focus on interactions between dogs and kids. Test Yourself Rate the scenarios below as red light (need to intervene right away), yellow light (might be … [Read more...]
A Changed Dog: Musings on the importance of enrichment in dogs
My dog, Darwin, is one of the most laid back dogs I’ve ever known. With the exception of tracking (he is mostly beagle), he doesn’t generally get excited about anything. That includes food, toys and people or other dogs. He appears to … [Read more...]
Do e-collars speed learning in dogs?
Have you ever considered using an electronic collar (aka e-collar or shock collar) to train your dog? Perhaps you advocate against their use or feel they can be helpful in certain situations. The use of e-collars (one form of positive … [Read more...]
A Brief Primer on Punishment and Reinforcement
Would you like to improve your understanding of your dogs' behavior? What about the behavior of your family, friends and co-workers? If you really want to understand behavior (and training) then it is absolutely critical that you … [Read more...]
Review: Dogs: Their Secret Lives (TV series)
If you’re like me, you drink up as much quality programming on dog behavior as you can find. I recently learned of a new show in the UK called “Dogs: Their Secret Lives”. The show is hosted by Mark Evans who used to be the chief … [Read more...]
How do we make our dogs happy?
What does it take to make your dog happy? For one thing, lots of free treats, right? Maybe not. A recent study by Swedish researchers looked at how dogs react to getting “free”, unpredictable rewards versus working to earn predictable … [Read more...]
Do Dogs Experience Jealousy?
Does your dog get upset when you pay attention to someone else? Have you ever talked about your dog being jealous or wondered what’s going on in his head? A recent study on jealousy in dogs may offer some answers. The study was conducted … [Read more...]
English is a Foreign Language
"Quiero hacer lo que tú quieres, pero no entiendo lo que estás diciendo." Do you understand what you just read? Perhaps you're able to recognize it as Spanish and pick up a few basic words, but not enough to really get the gist of the … [Read more...]