I started my professional dog career as a shelter volunteer, then as a shelter staff member. For many years, my mantra has always been to rescue dogs. All of the dogs I’ve had as an adult have been rescued from one source or another as … [Read more...]
A family day trip to Lake Champlain
One of the things I love about living where we do is that there are so many interesting places to visit within a few hours’ drive. Back in early August, we decided to make a day trip to Burlington, VT via a ferry ride across Lake … [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...]
Smart Dog Welcomes Our New Intern
Starting in September, Smart Dog Training and Behavior is welcoming a new training and behavior intern, Melanie Dean. Melanie is a Psychology student at the University at Albany. I had the pleasure of having her in my Learning class this … [Read more...]
Adirondack Adventures with Dogs – Adirondack Extreme
Looking for dog-friendly activities in the Adirondacks? If you have friends or family members on the more adventurous side, Adirondack Extreme (caution: website has audio effects) is a great dog-friendly option. It is a high ropes … [Read more...]
Reading Your Dog – Episode 1
How many times have you looked at your dog and wondered what's going on in her head? My husband frequently asks me if I think our dog is happy. This can sometimes be a difficult question to answer, but training yourself to read subtle … [Read more...]