Perfect Companion K9

Why should I train my dog? Why can't I just let her run in the park? Training is very important because it is the common language that both the dog and human can understand. Just like learning a new language in school, the more we practice, the better we will become. Similarly, the more we spend time training our dogs, the better we will understand each other. Training should be very fun, it is something the dog should really look forward to. By making it a lot of fun to list

Several clients have asked me to show them what l do to train my own dog to walk on a loose leash next to me during our regular walk. I basically just communicate with my dog via my body, my words, and ecollar tap. I keep my leash very loose so there is basically no tension. By not clouding the communication with leash/collar pressure, my dog learns to pay close attention to and respect the sensation from her ecollar. In turn, my dog gets to feel the contrast between tension

This is Anja. She has a very intense ball drive. She will do anything for her ball and will run through fire to get it. When she sees her ball, nothing in the world matters. When we play ball, which is her favorite game in the world, l always use the opportunity to exercise her impulse control. I think of it like teaching her the meaning of the stop sign. I need her to learn how to take a moment to pause when she is very excited so she does not just get in high drive and fly

Exercise is not just important because it can tire out your dog; structured play and exercise with your dog can build engagement and deepen your relationship as well. Engagement is about teaching your dog to look to you for what he wants and that includes when your dog wants to play. Teaching engagement can be lots of fun for everyone. In my case, whenever l go to the beach l always play some fun games with Anja so she gets into the habit of anticipating a fun game with me in

I want to use a very simply example to talk about something that is often missed in dog-human relationship, which is respect. Respect and engagement go hand in hand--you cannot look up to someone you do not respect, and you cannot respect someone you never pay much attention to. In this videos, 8-year-old Canissa was eating her favorite Fish n Chips in public with 1-year-old Spot in a down/stay by her side. Although Canissa was a tiny child sitting all by herself in front of

My idea of making this video comes from being told by many people when I first got Spot that I should never let her off leash because she was so anxious she could never be trusted... Many did not even believe that it was possible for her to ever have a normal life on leash, never mind off leash freedom. I believe often what we expect from our dogs is bounded by our own limited vision. We hold our dogs back because we fail to comprehend how far a dog can go with proper trainin

To me, balanced training is about not limiting oneself to only one approach but knowing how to use a variety of tools and techniques to help different dogs with different problems effectively. Balanced training is not about political agenda or ideology, but about keeping an open mind and not handicapping oneself with an "... only" or "... free" approach because there is no one-size-fits-all. Balanced training is not an exclusion of positive training; instead, it is an inclusi

Teaching a dog to wait at threshold (doors, entrance, stair...) is very important. Not only can it save a dog's life in extreme cases, it can also benefit all dogs by teaching them how to stay tuned in to their owners, control their impulse, and stay calm even when they are in an excitable situation. In this short clip, I just arrived at a beach and the dogs were obviously excited and looking forward to play. As you can see, after I have opened all the doors they stayed insid

Using a training collar (remote collar, prong collar...etc) is like learning how to drive in a driving instructor's car which comes with 2 sets of steering wheels, gas pedals and brakes. In the beginning the student needs a lot of guidance and feedback and the extra wheel and gas and brake offer the student instant feedback whenever he makes a mistake. This is not possible if it was a normal car and the instructor is only giving the student verbal instruction. Same with using

Heard this today, "My dog knows lots of tricks but wont listen when I need him to!!" from someone whose dog loves to chew furniture and bark non-stop. This is what I think. Your dog is always watching you whether you know it or not; your dog does not only pay attention to you when you are training him. Therefore, we need to be mindful of the message we send to our dog and to keep the message consistent. The message I am talking about is not just verbal commands such as come,

Having a large breed is a big responsibility. Please train your dog, it is not an option. You should at least train your dog so he/she can walk on leash calmly when passing another dog, human, bicycle, skateboard...etc. If you cannot control your dogs on leash you should not let them off leash, it is very simple. A large powerful breed can cause serious damage when he/she is out of control. Many such breeds are not for beginners with zero training experience. These dogs are c

This is how they look when I am walking my pack. Once your dogs understand the concept of leash pressure they should follow your lead without conflict. #balancedtraining #engagement #exercise #focus #implusecontrol #offleash #packstructure #reactivity #remotecollartraining #training