Take your dog to the vet! It is just as important for dogs to go to the doctor as it is for us. Dogs require yearly check-ups just like we do. They need up keep on worming, rabies, distemper, and several other vaccines. Bringing your dog for a yearly check-up will help maintain the health of your dog and prevent your dog from getting seriously ill. If you have a dog that is prone to health problems from the type of breed that he is, it is especially important to maintain rout

Quote of the week! Have you ever wanted to just have a dog to be a best friend, someone that always listens and never judges? I think almost all of us have! Well in order to achieve that, we first have to teach our dogs how to behave so that we can have that best friend. I don't think any of us have met someone for the first time and just said "hey, your my new best friend". You have conversations, you discover what your likes and dislikes are and you create a relationship. B

Daily Tip! Does your dog dominate over you? Often dog owners do not recognize that their dog is dominating over them. The dog's wish is the owner's command. Ex: It's bed time and your dog jumps on the bed to go to sleep. He decides he wants to lay between you and your partner. You decide that's not what you want and try to move him. As you are trying to move him, he growls at you. You decide you aren't going to move him because you don't want to bother him anymore. Your dog j

Daily Tip! Finding the root of your dog's behavioral issues. Have you ever heard the saying "when mom's not happy, nobody is happy"? When mom is upset, stressed, angry etc. the children and husband tend to feed off the same vibe. When mom is happy, everyone else is as well. When it comes to dogs, it's very similar to this. Just like children, dogs need stability in order to behave accordingly. When a dog is in a household and there is nothing but chaos and no structure, this

Daily Tip Always be Consistent One of the biggest mess ups when training a dog, is not having consistency. This could be not using the same command or correcting the dog only sometimes when he does something wrong. This only causes confusion for him and he will not know what you are wanting him to do. Ex. When training your dog to stay off of the furniture, make sure every family member in your household are using the same command. If one person is saying down, while the ot

Daily Tip Always be Rewarding When Your Dog Follows Through When you are training for a job, you wouldn't take to well to someone yelling at you or hitting you for not doing the task you were given correctly would you? Probably not. Dogs are the same way. They are very sensitive to the vibes we put off. They can read our every emotion. When dogs are learning new commands, they are trying to figure out what is right and wrong. Rewarding your dog for completing the command buil

Daily Tip When to Use Treats in Training. Treats are like any other tool used for training. Not every training tool works on every dog. We have to figure out what method works best for each dog that comes in to training. Some dogs are hyper, excited, up beat, just full of energy. Typically we do not like to use treats or food for this type of dog. Reason being is because the drive to work is already in place. It's a matter of finding what will calm him down so he will be mo

Day 9 of How to Ruin Your Dog. Does love for your dog actually get in the way of his well-being? Have you ever heard of the saying "Tough Love". Sometimes we have to have tough love when it comes to the well-being of our dogs. We hear so many times, "I don't know if I can be away from my dog for that long" or "I don't know if my dog can handle being away from me for that long". Having to much love can do more harm for your dog, than good. Think of it as sending your child to

Day 8 of How to Ruin Your Dog. Is your voice always in a soft tone? When we were kids and our parents would correct us, they always changed the tone in their voice. Their tone would be deep and strong versus soft and sweet. When we correct our dogs, we have to do the same thing with them. Dogs understand tones and body language better than they do english. Using the right (stern) tone while getting on to your dog will reinforce the correction you are giving. Using the wrong (

Daily dog training tip #5. Are you his best friend or his leader first? When you have a new boss, you immediately do not become friends first. This is because the boss has to set rules and boundaries before he can build any further relationship with you. This is to ensure you will respect him and his role as leader. Dogs are the same way. When you bring a new dog into your home, we need to immediately establish rules and boundaries. Doing this, your new dog will know you are