I like to think of force-free dog training as a movement. Or a revolution, when I'm extra fired up. The science behind changing animal behavior without the use of pain or fear has been around for decades, but only recently has the culture of dog ownership shifted to make room for this rich scientific method. After all, modern dog training was born during WWII when dogs were recruited to serve in the military and trained to perform using only their patriotism as motivation. Today, you still see remnants of this contagious storyline in authoritarian dog training methods based in notions of ..read more

For a first-person account of seeing a dog through separation anxiety training, click on Bruce's photo below to see my guest blog post for Malena DeMartini ..read more

What would it take for me to get you to do something? Well, you’re thinking, it would depend on what that something is. OK, let’s say I wanted you to: Drink a glass of tomato juice Run 3 miles in flip flops Clean out the garage Give up coffee for a month Lose 10 pounds Play Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 (on an actual cello) Swim the English channel Those happen to be in the order I would rank those behaviors, from easiest to hardest. You'd probably rank those behaviors differently. Go ahead, rank them in your mind. Now consider what somebody would have to give you in order for you t ..read more

Separation Anxiety and the Fear of Flying It's so hard for us humans to understand how a dog could be afraid of being alone. I mean, it makes no sense. It defies all logic. Some of us—busy parents especially—crave being alone. [Will everybody please just disappear for an hour or so?] Yet approximately 17% of dogs show signs of separation anxiety. Here's the deal: it's like being afraid of flying. Which DOES make sense, right?!  Nope. You are 19 times safer in a plane than in a car. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, about 3% of adults have so-called aviophobia and 17% of ..read more

It's a long game, right? Maybe you thought this dog was going to be like your last one. Happy-go-lucky, go-with-the-flow, low-maintenance. Your training goals were going to be simple: pee outside and don't jump on guests. Instead, your training goals are very complex and emotional, and center around helping him navigate and feel comfortable in a world that doesn't seem built for him. A few weeks after we adopted Bruce, my brother Brian visited us from out of town. My tall, bearded, ball-cap-wearing brother. To my shock and dismay, and to my brother's alarm, Bruce charged hi ..read more

I got a call the other day from a woman whose "I love everybody" Irish Setter Fergus had bitten her 2-year-old daughter Olivia in the face. (Spoiler alert: everybody’s fine.) Fergus and Olivia had been hanging out in the play room, so the caller didn’t know exactly how it all unfolded. But she describes Olivia as very much in love with the dog, prone to grabbing his face and squeezing out of sheer enthusiasm and affection. (C) CAN STOCK PHOTO / COLECANSTOCK Luckily, Fergus didn't hurt Olivia beyond a few scrapes, and her mom was now wisely keeping them separated unless she could closely super ..read more

Transitions are hard for some dogs. Over the years we've made a lot of progress with Bruce's fear of unfamiliar men, and these days you'd never know he used to have raging separation anxiety. But we're in the middle of a move, have been packing for weeks, and it's showing on our sensitive boy. We first noticed something was different two weeks ago when he chewed up the emergency brake handle while waiting for us in the car—his go-to stress behavior from years ago. A few days later, alone in the house, he scratched up several doors trying to open them—another stress behavior relic.  Then t ..read more

Isn't it just a source of joy watching dogs doing things they're passionate about - things they were literally born to do, from an evolutionary standpoint? From play wrestling to frisbee chasing to digging deep holes, you're probably thinking: yes, as long as it's not in my living room or in the middle of grandma's heirloom peonies. Bless their furry little hearts, dogs have adapted to life with us by curtailing many of their instincts, as nonsensical as our rules may seem. But when they have opportunities to really bust a move like Bruce and Griffin are doing here, you can almost hear their h ..read more

Have you been following the latest Dog Whisperer hoopla and are not sure what to believe? After all, isn't it just a matter of opinion? Isn't it unfair to persecute someone for a difference of methodology? Isn't there room here for all of us? Treats are fine for casual training purposes, but don't Red Zone dogs really need a tough-love approach? Here's why dog trainers everywhere are so upset. PHOTO CREDIT: 88/365 BY SARAH BUCKLEY. LICENSED UNDER CC BY 2.0. Consider for a moment that there are some among us who believe in witchcraft. Also a matter of opinion, perhaps. But let's say someone ma ..read more