This post is a follow-up to a previous article, “Pets, Medications and Pills – Oh My!”  which teaches how to train dogs and cats to accept oral medications.  When we found out that Jane, our African Grey Parrot, would need to take liquid medications by mouth for the rest of her life, we knew we […] The post Medication for a Parrot: Cooperative Care appeared first on The Mannerly Dog ..read more

OMG!  My cat/dog has a medical issue and needs to take medicine daily!  What to do? I’ve never given him medications and pills.  Teach Your Pet About Medications and Pills Now! There are so many things that your pet needs to learn!  You begin as soon as you bring your new pet home; in fact, […] The post Pets, Medications and Pills – Oh My! appeared first on The Mannerly Dog ..read more

Are you the exemplary busy pet owner? Between work, family, and home care, it seems weekdays only allow time for feeding your dog and letting her out for potty breaks.    We all fall into that category at times.  (Thank goodness for weekends!)  Mealtime training is the answer to building the behaviors you and your dog […] The post Mealtime Training appeared first on The Mannerly Dog ..read more

Association in Pavlov’s Lab The tinkling of a bell was a neutral stimulus to the dogs in Ivan Pavlov’s lab.  It was just background noise with no meaning, no different from the sounds of carriages passing on the street or human voices discussing next steps in the research.  The dogs had no association with the sound of a bell. The lab team was studying salivation in dogs.  The researchers noticed that the dogs began to salivate at times when there was no obvious sign of a meal being prepared.  Being scientists, they controlled what was happening and carefully observed their ..read more

A happy dog races after a ball when you throw it, brings it back to you and places it in your hand with a smile in anticipation of another throw – was retrieving one of your dreams when you fell in love with your furry buddy?  Problems with Retrieving I sometimes hear people say, “My dog will chase a toy when I throw it, but he won’t bring it back.” Or, “My dog will bring a ball close to me, but he won’t let go of it!”  Some dogs just look at Dad when a ball is thrown, as if to say, “I guess you don’t want that one anymore?”  Start some of these games with your dog to help him b ..read more

“Lucy! You’ve Got Some Training to Do!” My husband’s mom adopted Lucy, the Shih-Tzu, about a month ago. Lucy tugged on Nedah’s heartstrings and motivated her to use her brain power to make sure Lucy’s new life would be wonderful. I interviewed Nedah so she could share her experience with adopting an adult rescue dog from a rescue organization. I thought people might like to hear what the process was like for one recent adopter. This picture shows Lucy, the rescue dog, just a few days before publication. She is surrounded by her toys. She still looks a little concerned, but is standing and look ..read more

What would it take for your dog to escape your backyard fence? How about a baby gate? It’s not the physical barrier that’s keeping him in. What keeps him in is his choice to stay where you put him, rather than conquer that barrier to gain access to the wonderful world beyond. Why do dogs stay behind fences and baby gates? You’ve heard of dogs who “can’t be kept inside a fence”.  You may have seen a dog scale a fence.  Plenty of dogs can easily jump over a shorter fence.  Some dogs repeatedly dig under fences, and others climb like cats.  Sometimes I hear from people who jus ..read more

Your pet gets to exercise his or her brain.  In the process, you can develop a simple paw target into a useful behavior and/or a parlor trick! Positive Reinforcement Builds the Paw Target Behavior Use the mantra, “Reinforce the behavior you want.” Practicing your positive reinforcement skills helps make this is a good training exercise for you as a trainer, as well as for your pet.  Click as the paw hits the target; as the result of that click (and the behavior that made it happen) your pet gets a treat. Give the treat over the target to make efficient use of the power of Association ..read more

My sister read an article about the inspiration that can come from having a dog.  Then she asked me some questions about training methods that came up for her while reading.  Even though I’m about to pick apart one aspect of the article, it’s a good story about a guy and his dog and well worth reading. It’s in the March-April, 2024 issue of the Reader’s Digest. Al takes a close look at the article.Association is a Training Method A police officer in the K9 division got his first dog and was carefully following instructions to teach the dog that HE was the source of everything good.&n ..read more

Since it’s April Fool’s Day, let’s fool your dog by playing pretend games to prepare for real experiences!  You never know when your dog will be asked to wear a cone to prevent licking a wound or surgery incision, or to allow a skin problem to heal.  It’s only fair to help him learn to cooperate with this necessary treatment!  Grab a clicker and a bunch of training treats and let’s get started. Don’t mind Albert – He volunteered to put the cone on, no matter what his expression seems to say! You’ll see him doing so in the videos below. Your dog will appreciate an introduction to ..read more