Bulldogs are known for their dedicated demeanor and adorably wrinkled appearance. Unlike other breeds, they require a few special considerations when it comes to exercise, training, and grooming. For tips on navigating your Bulldog's first year and beyond, we've turned to Brenda Fontanos, AKC Bulldog breeder and owner of Font A Nose Bulldog in Lebanon, […]

Reactive dogs often overreact to certain things or situations. But, reactivity is often confused with aggression. Here's how to tell the difference.

The old chart above was used by Sam Gosling PhD to demonstrate science’s early reluctance to look at animal personality or dog personality as a serious pursuit. If they were reluctant to research personality they were doubly resistant to study how animals play. There are now numerous books and publications that talk about animal play. […]

I was watching a TSA instructor working with a student and his canine. The dog was searching passengers waiting in a moving queue through those retractable stanchions. The handler had to approach each passenger as a potential target and continue to search in this scenario for up to 20 minutes. The student was a little […]

Since the inception of dog registries and the shift from dogs as functional livestock, divisions have occurred. I will not add to the debate that will never end, but will expand on the differences in finding dogs for detection roles in law enforcement. You can train many dogs to perform tasks both simple and complex. […]

When thinking of ego, we are not strictly defining the term as understood in Freudian psychology. The more common usage would be “the opinion that you have about yourself.” More importantly how you view yourself and how you think others might view you. In animal training the Ego needs to be checked at the door. […]

You need to make sure in every session that you work with the dog, that your goals for that session do not exceed the dog’s motivation and preparedness. Good to review the article posted in January. Here are Steve Martin’s tenets of what makes an “expert” trainer: 1. Commits to using the most positive, least […]

I was watching a TSA instructor working with a student and his canine. The dog was searching passengers waiting in a moving queue through those retractable stanchions. The handler had to approach each passenger as a potential target and continue to search in this scenario for up to 20 minutes. The student was a little […]

The detection dog capable of working undistracted from its task in any environment is a very rare dog. European vendors selling dogs to the United States government, with many years of experience, often have an acceptance rate under 50%. In a government supported breeding program for detection dogs, the acceptance rate was under 20% for […]

I have said it before here on this blog and it is often said in the dog training community that “The only thing two dog trainers can agree upon is what a third dog trainer is doing wrong”. That paradox makes agreement to methodology always under scrutiny and debate. There is only one way to […]