3 Puppies and their girls after Puppy Class.
Bite Inhibition and Socialization.
Preventing bad bite inhibition and poor socialization are the most urgent priorities when it comes to your new puppy.  These things need to be worked on before your puppy is 18weeks old.  Unfortunately, many owners don’t consider or think about training until the puppy is 5 or 6 months old.  This is actually a poor time to start training as the puppy is no longer a puppy, but an adolescent.  That’s right a teenager! The good news is that dog …

Hundreds of thousands of dogs have been turned into animal shelters because their owners didn’t know how to deal with behavior problems and couldn’t find a reliable resource to help them.  We, at the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, think it is long overdue to dedicate a month where we can bring awareness to the importance of socialization and training, and most of all, to inform the public that training your dog can be simple and fun! The APDT has selected January as the perfect month because, as we all …

Each time I start the training process with a new client, whether it be a new, nippy puppy or a destructive, bored dog, I always recommend a slew of chew/ interactive toys.  One of my main goals is to turn the dog into a chew- toy- fanatic.  A chew- toy-aholic, if you will.
I have written before how incredibly important mental stimulation is for your dog.  See USE YOUR BRAIN.  Not only that, but chewing is a very natural doggie behavior, whether we humans like it or not.  We must give …

Holiday times can be joyful or a source of stress for all of us, and that goes for your dogs, too!
With some advanced planning and a little training, you can make things more festive and fun for Fido and less stressful for you!
The Association of Pet Dog Trainers offers these helpful tips:
Things to Keep in Mind Throughout the Holiday Seasons

Dogs can be very sensitive to changes in their environment and routines. When family members take time off from work and school, house guests come to stay, or other visitors roll …

“You enter into a certain amount of madness when you marry a person with pets”

~Nora Ephron

Don’t miss these tips from Stephanie Bennett, Our Superstar Trainer and Blogger.

Over Half the Nation’s Pets are Now Overweight!
“Pudgy pooches and fat cats are now the norm.” states Dr. Ernie Ward, founder and President of the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (APOP). “This is the first generation of pets that will not live as long as their parents. Even worse, the majority of today’s overweight pets will endure painful and expensive medical conditions – all of which can be avoided.”
To raise awareness about the dangers of pet obesity, APOP (PetObesityPrevention.com) held its third annual National Pet Obesity Awareness Day on Wednesday, …

Pedigree is promoting an international holiday for Dogs.  Dogs Rule Day is Saturday, October 10th, 2009.

“If anyone deserves their own holiday, it’s dogs.  So let’s celebrate our best friends and recognize their contribution to the quality of life on earth.  All we have to do is give our own dogs a little extra love, share our stories and pictures with friends, and do a little something extra to make the world a better place for dogs.”
Click HERE to visit the official website and for 101 ways to celebrate with your …

This story has been all over the news, but I particularly liked this article I found on Livescience.com:
By Jeanna Bryner, Senior Writer
The canine IQ test results are in: Even the average dog has the mental abilities of a 2-year-old child.
The finding is based on a language development test, revealing average dogs can learn 165 words (similar to a 2-year-old child), including signals and gestures, and dogs in the top 20 percent in intelligence can learn 250 words.
And the smartest?
Border collies, poodles, and German shepherds, in that order, says Stanley Coren, …

United Animal Nations, a national non-profit animal protection group,  launched its “My Dog is Cool” Campaign to prevent dogs and other animals from dying in hot cars during warm-weather months.
Every year, dogs die after being locked inside cars while their owners leave them to shop or run errands, often for “just a few minutes.” These tragedies occur with alarming frequency, yet the animals’ deaths are completely preventable.
“People mean well by taking their dogs or other animals along with them while they work, visit, shop or run errands, but warm weather …