Puppies and Shelter Dogs: Two Sides of the Same Coin

I am a dog trainer and I lead a double life. Of sorts. Behaviorally speaking.

The 2 Most Common Mistakes Dog Owners Make (and How to Fix Them)

There are a couple of mistakes that dog owners frequently make which are simple to fix and have the potential to dramatically improve a dog's behavior.

Dominance and Dogs: Who is the Boss?

Dogs often act as connectors in society.

Help Every Puppy Get the Education They Deserve

Please, please, PLEASE help us make sure every new puppy gets the education they desperately need and deserve this holiday season. 

Getting a Puppy Over the Holidays

The holidays can be a wonderful time to add a puppy or dog to your family, but the holidays also present plenty of challenges.

New Free Course – Six Simple Steps to Solve Your Dog's Behavior Problems

We've just published a new FREE course on Dunbar Academy called Six Simple Steps to Solve Your Dog's Behavior Problems
Ian Dunbar

Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make me a Match...

Nicole Wilde  |  Sun, 07/15/2007 - 09:50

I recently visited a client who was very concerned about her new puppy, and rightly so. The nine-week-old corgi was an adorable bundle of energy that belonged in a working environment, not a pet home. She was born to be a ranch dog; or perhaps, living in a city environment, an agility dog. What she was not ever going to be was the docile, cuddly fur-child the woman had longed to snuggle with and coo over. It just wasn’t who this rambunctious herding breed pup was.

Within mere seconds of my stepping over the kitchen gate, the puppy launched herself at my pants legs, pulling at them with a surprising amount of tenacity and strength. When verbally reprimanded, she would growl and back off for a split second, then go right back to what she had been doing. When the woman tried to cuddle her, her “sweet baby” squirmed, vocalized, and sank her teeth into the woman’s hand. She showed me a number of tiny scabs that made her look like a human pincushion.

 

Bringing Home Bella

Cindy Bruckart  |  Sun, 07/08/2007 - 20:24

I recently had the great fortune to be a part of an exciting moment in a client’s life. I traveled with them to pick up their brand new puppy and was there to supervise the first meeting between the pup and the client’s resident dog. Nothing could be more exciting!

I get a lot of calls about how to choose a second dog, how to prepare for it and how to handle the introductions. Many people want to spend a lot of time talking about the dog they’re planning to add to their family. They are often surprised to find that I am far more interested in talking, at length, about the dog they already have.

 

Off Leash Dogs

Trish King  |  Fri, 07/06/2007 - 11:48

Not too long ago, I was asked to be a guest speaker on dogs for a horse riders' organization.  I was peppered with questions about dog behavior and dog body language.   It was amazing to me how little some of the horse lovers knew about dogs, even though many of them had dogs.  I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, as many dog lovers don't know much about their animals.  At any rate, one of the questions was why do dog owners want to have their dogs off leash?  When you think about it, that's a very interesting question.  I know I love to walk my off leash dogs, but why? 

 

In Search of the Truth

Dr. Nicholas H....  |  Thu, 07/05/2007 - 13:12

Canine behavioral problems are believed by some authorities to be associated with hypothyroidism (low thyroid levels). For example, in a study involving 1500 dogs with behavior problems, 62% of them had low or low-normal thyroid function. While the mechanism by which low thyroid levels contribute to aggression is not entirely clear, it has been suggested that hypothyroidism leads to low or unstable levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin, a brain chemical associated with mood, attention, emotion and sleep. Another possible mechanism could be that the stress hormone cortisol is increased in hypothyroid animals, mimicking a stress-like state.

 

Dog Community

Cindy Bruckart  |  Wed, 07/04/2007 - 23:00

I have been so busy with puppy classes, adolescent classes and working privately with dog owners with more specific doggy issues that I've had very little time to write about it all.

I have a feeling that there is something important in this. I am overwhelmed, and I think sometimes spoiled, by the respect and inclusion of dogs in this part of the country. Dogs are literally everywhere in Portland, Oregon! We have dog beaches, a pub that allows dogs, a restaurant that has a separate doggy menu, tons of dog parks, over fifty dog daycares, dog friendly housing and hotels, all kinds of dog-related events and very few dog-free sidewalks.

 

Parking Lot Puppies

Sue Pearson  |  Tue, 07/03/2007 - 20:20

Not long ago, as I walked through the parking lot of a major discount store, a large crowd had gathered around the back end of a tired looking van. “Free Puppies,” was hastily scrawled on a brown cardboard sign, and taped to the outside of the vehicle. Inside there were seven, maybe eight, active balls of fur. Some were eager for attention, their noses pushing to the front of the pack, while others lingered in the back of the truck, uncertain and reluctant. Odds were good that some individuals and families, who had come looking for a new appliance, would instead leave the parking lot with a new puppy. Despite the sign, puppies always come with a financial and emotional price tag.

 

Dog/People Training Ha Noi, North Vietnam, Entry: July 1, 2007, Malibu, California

K9guru  |  Mon, 07/02/2007 - 07:52

Yes, I am back in L.A., but just for a short time. I am looking forward very much to my new Mission. So, I just read Nicole's Blog and wanted to share one of my loose dog stories because it happens all too often and it is one of my "pet peeves". Keep in mind I have MANY loose dog stories, this is just one.

So, I was driving westbound on San Vicente Blvd in Brentwood. The Brentwood country club is on my left, very nice homes on my right, and I am getting close to the 26th Street intersection when I see up ahead of me a little Schipperke darting back and forth through traffic while sporting a very nice royal blue full-leg cast on his front right leg......... YAP ............ OK, bear with me here.

 

Dog on the Loose! Part Deux

Nicole Wilde  |  Fri, 06/29/2007 - 17:13

Ironically, this morning, just days after posting my blog about what to do in an emergency “dog on the loose” situation, I encountered one. On my way to see a new dog training client, just around the corner from the woman’s home, a Viszla ran across the road in front of my Jeep. I saw the dog in plenty of time not to hit her, but I kept an eye on her as she ran onto a nearby lawn and began to sniff the grass. She was wearing a bright blue collar with ID tags. With a sigh of acknowledgment that I was surely going to be late for my appointment, I pulled over, figuring I could at least phone the owner and hold on to the dog until the owner could claim her.

 

Who Needs An Apple A Day To Keep The Doctor Away?

Dr. Nicholas H....  |  Thu, 06/28/2007 - 19:13

Pets are good company but did you know they're also good medicine? Talk to them and play with them as often as you can and you'll unleash their therapeutic effects.

Pets may actually help us live longer because of the positive impact they have on our health. A study of dog owners in Pretoria suggests that petting and talking to a dog reduces blood pressure and increases the release of feel-good chemicals.

Scientists in Australia report that pet owners have lower blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides than their petless peers.

According to one New York-based study, pets cause a 15 percent drop in blood pressure in people with high blood pressure, and dog owners visit their doctor less often and are less likely to require heart medication. Hospitalized patients who receive visits from a trained service dog have been shown to have increased self-esteem and experience less depression than those who do not receive visits.

 

Truly Amazing!

Chirag Patel  |  Thu, 06/28/2007 - 09:44

Recently seeing a nine week old Rottweiler puppy searching a living room for and indicating the presence of bomb material, seeing a group of pet owners attending a ‘nose work’ class I was assisting, and attending a few seminars and workshops lately on working dogs got me thinking…

Pet dogs, cancer detection dogs, assistance dogs, police dogs, pets as therapy dogs and these are just a few roles that dogs fulfill in society today!

The New Scientist Magazine (UK) wrote some time ago, “Dogs do as well as state-of-the-art screening tests at sniffing out people with lung or breast cancer. The research raises the possibility that trained dogs could detect cancers even earlier and might some day supplement or even replace mammograms and CT scans in the laboratory.”

 

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