AKC GoodDog! Helpline Trainer Hilarie Erb has added several adult dogs to her home, in addition to puppies. She is pictured with her Greyhound, Fire, who is a retired racer that she adopted as an adult, and her Wire-haired Pointing Griffon, Mike, who joined her family as a puppy. Hilarie tell us the benefits of choosing an […]

Then a hero, clad in a life jacket, appears, rips open the car door and --- licks the driver all over his face as the crowd goes wild. Meet Radar the Weather Dog, star of Tray’s Wild Weather Camp – a fun show with a very serious message – teaching children how to be safe […]

AKC GoodDog! Helpline Trainer Milena Barreto has taught her Standard Poodle, Phoebe, dozens of tricks. They use their repertoire of tricks to entertain on their therapy dog team visits. Spinning is an easy trick to teach your dog. First get his attention, using a treat. Holding the treat in your hand, hold it above his […]

AKC GoodDog! Helpline trainer Milena Barreto has taught her Standard Poodle, Phoebe, dozens of tricks. They use their repertoire of tricks to entertain when they make their therapy dog visits. This is a good trick to teach your dog when she is tired and ready to rest. She needs to know the DOWN cue before […]

Does your dog know how to stay? Does he have a release word? If not, he should! A release word is a word that tells your dog he is allowed to move, following the "stay" command. "Stay" needs to have a defined beginning and end, otherwise your dog will learn he can move anytime he […]

One day in April of 2010, I was walking past a cemetery with my Standard Rat Terrier, Lucky, when a puppy came from behind a house across the street and began following us. Despite my efforts to shoo her off, she followed us for about three blocks. When she nearly got hit by a car, […]

Photos by Katherine Martucci I adopted Chance from Ani-Care Animal Shelter in Ontario, OR, in December 2012. He was a 10-month-old Flat-Coated Retriever mix named "Zip" and had already been in  five different homes in that short span of life. He was more of a cuddly teddy bear than a zippy boy so I decided […]

Milo's owner, Megan Yaroll of Ridgefield, WA, has taught him dozens of tricks, using a target stick and clicker. Above, he demonstrates pushing a grocery cart and he can even put the groceries in the cart! Milo puts his tricks to good use. Megan is an elementary school teacher so Milo often goes to school […]

When people start training their dogs, "sit" is usually where they start. It’s an easy basic.  I've taught lots of dogs to sit! Then I got a retired racing greyhound.None of the usual methods worked; his back legs were pillars of unbending granite. No amount of luring or tricks would get him to fold those […]

Beowolfe CD BN RAE2 owned by Michael Gilbert of Springfield, OH Michael saved Beowolfe from an animal shelter just three days before he was scheduled to be put to sleep.  “But I can honestly say Beowolfe has saved my life a thousand times and given me a new lease on life,” he said. Michael trained […]