Quick Tip: Superfood – What You Should and Should not be Feeding Your Dog

For many dogs, the most important aspect about the food you feed your dog is whether or not you use it in training. If your dog has behavior problems, you can, and should, use their regular food to

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. I am the Director of SIRIUS Puppy Training, a San Francisco Bay Area puppy training school. Our mission is to teach new...

Dog Owner Education: Factual Learning Online; Hands-On Practice in Training Class

Many years ago, one of my Japanese students conducted a survey of off-leash puppy classes in the SF Bay Area. A basic index that she scored was the percentage of time that puppies were off-leash,...

Quick Tip: The Gift of Gab – Maximize the Effectiveness of Your Training by Talking to your Dog!

Your voice is one of the most useful tools you have in dog training. Sadly, it's also one of the most underutilized. Many dog owners don't understand how much they can communicate by using their

Education Used to Be Expensive; Now, it’s Affordable for All — Anytime, Anywhere

Back in the day, when we used to buy books and DVDs and travel to dog training seminars, workshops and conferences, furthering our education could be pricey. A three-day seminar or five-day conference...

All Puppies Deserve a FIRST Chance — an EDUCATION!

Owners and their new puppies are still getting the short end of the stick. Dog problems are invariably blamed on “irresponsible dog owners” BUT they are simply at a loss for what to do, and, no...
Ian Dunbar

Let's Talk Quadrants!

Dr. Ian Dunbar  |  Wed, 12/18/2019 - 14:01

(This post is in reply to a question that caught my fancy on the Top Dog Academy Facebook page, which is available exclusively to members ot the Top Dog Academy on www.dunbaracademy.com)

Hello help me out. 4 quadrants please: Dogs barking - Bark collar activated, but turns off if dog continues to bark. How is that perceived by the dog. Can't be negative reinforcement as you're not taking something away to decrease the behaviour as the behaviour is still happening. If you are taking that unpleasantness away then the fact that the dog is still barking, surely reinforces the barking???

A really...

 

Puppies vs. Adult Dogs and Breeders vs. Shelters/Rescues

Dr. Ian Dunbar  |  Thu, 10/31/2019 - 13:08

I am often asked, (actually, “criticized” and “chastised” might be more accurate terms): 1. Why most of my seminars, articles, books and DVDs focus on puppy raising and training rather than adult dog training? and 2. Why I promote (which I don’t) buying pure-bred puppies from breeders instead of adopting adult mixed-breeds from shelters?

1. Why Puppies? Basically, because every adult dog was once a puppy. More specifically, every adolescent/adult dog with difficult-to-resolve behavior, temperament, or training problem was once a puppy that was literally begging for an education to learn how to...

 

Litter Longevity Index

Dr. Ian Dunbar  |  Tue, 10/22/2019 - 15:27

Breeding for Longevity

Initially, dogs were domesticated and bred as working dogs, for hunting, herding, draft and protection. Later they were bred for competition in their working abilities, plus conformation, obedience, agility, etc. In the past century or so, many of these dogs were invited into our homes as companion dogs.

When breeders selectively breed for work, show or competition, they significantly “cull” the litter by selecting the best puppies (by physical or behavioral phenotype) and offering the rest for sale as pet dogs. In fact, for a long time in the dog world, the term...

 

Eugenics or Dysgenics

Dr. Ian Dunbar  |  Mon, 10/21/2019 - 14:13

Natural Selection is nature's fail-safe method to maintain eugenics (good genes and fine offspring). All dogs are different; individual variation is an inherent characteristic of sexual reproduction. Different dogs fair differently in different situations: those dogs best suited to the immediate environment (the genetically fittest) do well; the less fit do less well; and the unfit usually die. In the wild, the process of natural selection promotes the survival of the fittest and the elimination of nature's mistakes.

Additionally, nature has a wonderful way to promote good breeding —...

 

Dominance and Dogs: Who is the Boss?

Kelly Gorman Dunbar  |  Wed, 09/18/2019 - 12:17

Dogs often act as connectors in society. Upon sharing your life with a dog, you may find yourself talking to more people when you’re out and about at the dog park, cafes, etc, or you may even discover that your dog has helped you make new friends. This is one of the awesome benefits of life with dog. On the other hand, you’ll also be constantly flooded with advice on dog behavior and training from nearly everybody and anybody. This can be annoying at best and downright confusing, too. 

 

I am not quite sure why dog lovers feel the need to share their armchair wisdom with the world,...

 

Puppies and Shelter Dogs: Two Sides of the Same Coin

Kelly Gorman Dunbar  |  Fri, 08/23/2019 - 18:34

I am a dog trainer and I lead a double life. Of sorts. Behaviorally speaking. I am the Director of SIRIUS Puppy Training, a San Francisco Bay Area puppy training school. Our mission is to teach new puppy owners how to best communicate with and manage their brand new puppy in order to prevent common and predictable behavior problems from becoming lifelong annoying or even dangerous habits. Let me rephrase that… In puppy school we don’t actually address behavior problems so much as we address normal puppy behaviors that people perceive as problems. We teach owners how to get their pup to do...

 

Enjoy The Ride

Kelly Gorman Dunbar  |  Thu, 08/15/2019 - 16:35

I recently did some foundation puppy raising and training with a lovely little dog I’ll call Bob. (His name has been changed to protect the pup and his people’s privacy.) It’s joyful and gratifying work. I truly love raising puppies, they are so malleable and unencumbered with previous, often competing habits and ideas. Starting a young pup off on the right paw is by far the most efficient way to produce a trained, well mannered adult dog. Even better, puppies are never too young to start learning! Certainly not by the time they arrive in their new home sometime between 7 and 12 weeks of age....

 

All Puppies Deserve a FIRST Chance — an EDUCATION!

Dr. Ian Dunbar  |  Fri, 08/02/2019 - 13:04

Owners and their new puppies are still getting the short end of the stick. Dog problems are invariably blamed on “irresponsible dog owners” BUT they are simply at a loss for what to do, and, no one is telling them. Consequently, their puppies develop predictable and preventable, relationship-destroying, behavior, temperament and training problems and sadly, many are surrendered to shelters in search of a “second chance”.

DunbarAcademy.com has recently embarked on a new program to educate new puppy owners, so that all puppies get a first chance — an education that they so rightly deserve and so...

 
Tags:  puppy training

Quick Tip: The Keys to the Kingdom – How to Use Life Rewards to Motivate Your Dog

James Lu Dunbar  |  Fri, 08/02/2019 - 13:03

Teaching your dog what you want them to do is just the first step in training. The second step is motivating your dog to WANT to do what you want them to do, and this actually represents the vast majority of the time and energy that it takes to train a dog, 

The key to motivation is harnessing the activities that your dog enjoys, and using them as rewards in training. As your dog's owner, you have control over their access to most of their favorite activities, and if you manage that access carefully you can teach your dog that the best way for them to do the things they want to do is by

 

Dog Owner Education: Factual Learning Online; Hands-On Practice in Training Class

Dr. Ian Dunbar  |  Fri, 07/26/2019 - 11:04

Many years ago, one of my Japanese students conducted a survey of off-leash puppy classes in the SF Bay Area. A basic index that she scored was the percentage of time that puppies were off-leash, being trained by their owners, interacting (socializing) with other people, or playing with other puppies as opposed to the percentage of time that puppies were on-leash, while owners sat in chairs listening and watching the instructor lecture, or demonstrate. The results were quite shocking. In all of the classes surveyed, puppies spent 50–75% of the time on-leash! Neither an efficient nor an...

 

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