teaching your dog impulse control is an important life skill that can help keep them safe and curb unwanted behaviors like darting out of doorways or jumping on people. the longer and more frequently a dog is allowed to practice a behavior, the more time it can take for them to break the habit. i can’t tell you the number of times i’ve been on a dog walk and have seen a dog come barreling out of their house in …

does your dog jump all over you when you’re trying to put down the food bowl? emotional self-control, also known as impulse control, is something most dogs need to be taught. for example, a dog pulls on the leash because they simply can’t wait for you to keep up. if you teach your dog self-control, they will be more pleasant to live with. there are a few key elements to teaching your dog self-control. show your dog that by giving …

there are many factors that go into choosing the right obedience training classes for you and your puppy. most training schools are happy to allow you to attend and observe a class or two to be sure the style of instruction fits with your beliefs (leave you pup at home for this.) if you don’t feel comfortable at a particular training school, your dog won’t either, and you’ll be setting your dog up to fail. the schools’ trainers should be …

socializing your puppy is the key to ensuring you’ll have a happy, confident, and well-adjusted dog. during your puppy’s first three months of life, he will experience a socialization period that will permanently shape his future personality and how he will react to his environment as an adult dog. gentle handling by the breeder in the first several weeks of your puppy’s life is helpful in the development of a friendly, confident dog. as early as 3 weeks of age, …

imagine you’ve dropped a chicken bone on the ground at dinner time? the last thing you want is for your dog to go running toward perceived treats and scarfing them down. but, how do you teach your dog to leave things be? the goal of teaching your dog to ignore dropped items is developing automatic behavior. in other words, rather than taking an item from the ground, your dog should leave it be without being asked. ideally, your dog should …