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.

All Puppies Deserve a FIRST Chance — an EDUCATION!

Owners and their new puppies are still getting the short end of the stick.

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

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. 

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.
Ian Dunbar
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Which Type of Dog?

Dr. Ian Dunbar  |  Mon, 11/19/2007 - 11:54

There are many considerations when choosing a puppy, including which breed or type, and the optimal age of acquisition. Obviously, you want to choose a dog that is best suited to you and your lifestyle. Rather than listing my preferences, I will discuss some of the more important guidelines.

 
Training:  Which Type of Dog

Your Education About Puppy Education

Dr. Ian Dunbar  |  Mon, 11/19/2007 - 11:51

Sadly, the majority of puppies fail to live long enough to enjoy their second birthday. They suffer from the terminal illness of being unwanted — failing to live up to the expectation of the Lassie–Benji–Eddie dream. Instead they develop a number of extremely common and utterly predictable behavior, training, and temperament problems and are surrendered to animal shelters to play lotto with their lives. Many people blame irresponsible ownership for this tragic situation. I would simply cite lack of know-how. Most prospective puppy owners are simply unaware of the problems that lie ahead and unfortunately, they have little idea how to prevent or resolve them. Ironically, the demise of many dogs stems from novice owners following misleading, erroneous, and in some cases downright bad advice from out-of-date training books.

 
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Ch 1: Before You Get Your Puppy

Dr. Ian Dunbar  |  Mon, 11/19/2007 - 11:43

Congratulations on beginning your search for a puppy. Please take your time making your decision. Your puppy’s quality of life as an adult dog pretty much depends on his socialization and training during his first few weeks in your home.

 
Training:  Your Education about Puppy Education

1.03 - Problem? What Problem

Living with dogs is all about relationships. When owners enjoy their dog’s behavior and company, the relationship blossoms. When pets misbehave, the relationship sours Unfortunately, dog behavior, temperament and training problems are extremely common and utterly predictable. Temperament problems make a dog a challenge to live with. And behavior and training problems are the #1 terminal illness for pet dogs. Behavior, temperament and training problems are the most common reason for people to surrender or abandon their dogs.

 
iWoofs Seas:  Behavior Problems

1.02 - Happy Birthday Puppy Training!

On January 26th, Off-leash Puppy Classes celebrated their 25th Birthday. The world’s very first off-leash puppy socialization and training class for pet dogs was started on 26th January 1982. Just 25 years ago, dog trainers only taught adult dogs repetitive on-leash obedience drills. Puppy Classes emphasized the importance of teaching bite inhibition, early socialization, temperament training, and simple solutions for common and predictable behavior problems, as well as basic household manners.

 
iWoofs Seas:  Season 1

1.01 - Pet Dog Training

Over the past 30 years or so, pet dog training has evolved as a specialized field of dog training. Pet dog training is one of the most complicated, challenging, sometimes frustrating, yet most thoroughly rewarding of endeavors. Pet dog training differs markedly from teaching competition dogs or working dogs, and from training animals for public shows. In all other fields of training, the syllabus is finite, and the handler knows both the rules and questions before the examination.

 
iWoofs Seas:  Your Education about Puppy Education

Pit Bulls Are Still Being Profiled

Drayton Michaels  |  Thu, 10/18/2007 - 12:21

Perhaps one day all people will look at a pit bull and say, “hey there goes a real good dog”. Despite overwhelming evidence as to how good the majority of Pit Bulls are, pit bulls are still being profiled. Consider a recent story in a Virginia Beach paper about Jeff Haymen, a 22-year-old man who is deaf. His hearing dog is a Pit Bull named Marley. Jeff and Marley attended the Tidewater K9 Academy for training and have been doing great.
 

 

“But She Knows What She’s Supposed To Do….!”

Valerie Pollard  |  Mon, 10/15/2007 - 10:52

“No, you don’t understand. I have done *everything*, my dog knows what she is supposed to do but she’s mad at me so she’s going to the bathroom in the house. I take her outside for half an hour and she just stands there and as soon as we come back in the house, she goes on the carpet!

 

Designer Genes?

Dr. Nicholas H....  |  Thu, 10/04/2007 - 06:57

This week I was visited by CBS News who wanted to learn more about our clinic and ongoing studies involving dogs with compulsive disorders. In the center-piece interview, senior correspondent Richard Schlesinger asked me questions about behavior problems we see and quizzed me about animal emotions. Mr. Schlesinger is a dedicated dog owner so there was no tongue-in-cheek going on here – he just wanted me to explain the evidence to viewers. Then we got on to the main subject - where we were at with our genetic research on canine obsessive-compulsive disorder (ocd).

 

Passing Judgment

Trish King  |  Sat, 09/29/2007 - 17:05

There must be something about this field that makes people super judgmental. I think it has to be the passion animal welfare engenders in us – the animals cannot take care of themselves, so they’re like children. And we’re like animal moms – fiercely protective of our young. Or maybe animal lovers have burned out on people, and thus are overwhelmingly attached to animals of one sort or another. Whatever the reason, it does seem that we have a tendency to leap to the worst conclusions about our fellows humans.

This is constantly happening in a shelter environment, where both staff members and volunteers become quite cynical about those bringing animals in. Everyone who works in a shelter has heard people say they’re leaving their animals behind because they’re “moving,” or they have developed “allergies.” After awhile, you distrust everyone who gives one of those reasons – or many others – for surrenders.

 

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