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Dog Trainer

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Ask the Dog Trainer

Add a Tasty Spark to Your Puppy or Dog Training Routine

Raising a puppy or training a dog just got a lot more fun!

Word is getting out that we welcomed a new puppy dog into our fold. It is happy news! Theoretically, she’s my daughter’s dog, but the middle-of-the-night potty trips have fallen to me–what a surprise. It’s ok–it helps me bond with my new puppy clients! Hootenanny-Anny for short–entered our home as a foster puppy. Her adoption fell through over the Christmas holiday and it felt like a sign. Yes, I have written numerous articles cautioning against holiday puppies but here she is, our holiday puppy. She walked into our lives like she’d intended to be here from the start.  While the responsibilities of dog ownership are often limited when you’re a kid, the concept of “the kid’s dog” is still a good one. My childhood dog, gifted to me at age 5…

Sarah Hodgson

6:09 pm on Monday, January 16, 2012

I'm gaga for lick sticks. I'm excited about using them in my "Reality Bites" lecture- this Saturday at 10AM. It's open to the public...if you're free! Check out the link in the article for directions...and call ahead: there already 40+ signed up to attend. Love dogs, people and a good crowd!   more ›

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Ask the Dog Trainer

Training and Taming your Dog’s Natural “Prey Drive”

What do a chipmunk, a tree, and ball have in common?

On Monday, my kids learned a little bit about the predatory instincts of cats. Gus, our newly adopted cat, captured a baby chipmunk. Gus did what cats do, leisurely tormenting the terrified rodent until Lindsay intervened. Stunned and missing some fur but otherwise unharmed, Chippy the chipmunk was installed in a cardboard box for a period of rodent rehab. A few days of bananas, grapes and unsalted cashews, Chippy was good to go. We returned him to his little woodpile home. And then – kitty karma. Several days after the chipmunk incident, Gus was chased up a tree by a neighbor’s dog. For 8 hours, our confident hunter clung to a tree branch, crying piteously, until Roman came home and performed a daring and heroic rescue. Combine all this …

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