July 10 Canine Circus to Benefit Columbia Family
A July 10 canine circus, silent auction, face painting and several children’s events will benefit the family of Columbia man, severely injured May 17. The benefit will aid Shawn McCoy and his family. He was the victim of a severe collision on US Highway 63 in Columbia when a tractor-trailer crossed the median into the […]
How to train in the heat
Try the shade with ‘sit’ and ‘down’ exercises. Those help the dog learn to pay attention and stay on task without either of you having to exert much in the sun and heat of the day.
Dogs visit Ellis Library as stress relief
Rudy holds his ‘office hour’ at Ellis Library last week. He and several other dogs whose owners train with us took their dogs to Ellis Library on the Mizzou campus this past week as stress relievers for student prepping for final exams. Here is a sample of pictures from the week.
Win your dog’s attention with attention – great pay-off
Everyone wants her/his dog to pay attention. Here is a short video on how to earn that attention and another on the fun and joy one can have from that earning. The first [https://youtu.be/O12W4l0tSJQ ] shows how much attention the handler must pay to the dog. The second [https://youtu.be/1yg8x-Rewr8] shows the payoff from that effort.
Can this UK therapy dog read?
Huff Post news editor Hilary Hanson says ‘no’ – see the physical body cues the handler gives, she says in this cute article. This is an interesting story about the ‘reading to rover’ work of this dog. The handler says his dog’s response to the cue cards stimulates the children to read their lessons. Story […]
Ten steps in training
Here is a brief list of ways to train your dog. The list corresponds closely to the approach we have found effective in our training school. The basic concepts — be consistent with the language and physical signals you use, be persistent recognizing that it may take repetitions for your dog to learn what you […]
‘Leave it’ – highly useful lesson
At this holiday season there surely are lots of things in the house one wants to have the dog leave alone. Curbing a dog’s counter surfing is a common goal. One can teach the ‘Leave it’ command as a follow-on to the ‘Stay’ exercise. This is one of the lessons in our beginning courses. You can […]
Classes prepare your dog for the CGC & therapy tests
In our basic classes we prepare dogs for the American Kennel Club’s Canine Good Citizen test. Examining the dog’s teeth is one of the test steps in the exam. This step also tests the dog’s understanding of the ‘stay’ command — sit and remain in place. Use the ‘Contact Us’ tab to ask questions or discuss […]
Examining a dog’s mouth is an important part of early training.
The exercise has many purposes. The exam is part of the American Kennel Club’s Canine Good Citizenship test. It is the beginning of dental hygiene. It is a control exercise over one of the dog’s tools — his mouth. It proofs the sit/stay command.
Canine service with a capital S
Here is a remarkable story of a service dog in North Carolina helping inside a surgery suite because of the dog’s ability to alert the medical team of an approaching allergy crisis for the dog’s 7-year-old patient.