Reward placement is a key part of dog training, yet it is often overlooked. The placement of your dog’s reward during and after a behavior makes a difference as to the dog’s understanding of the behavior you are trying to teach. If you are rewarding a stationary exercise, like a stay in the sit position,…
Many dog sports, like agility, dock jumping, dog disc, and obedience, require that a dog be confident in order to be successful. Sports that have the dogs work independently rely on confident performances, sometimes far away from the handler. Dogs that display this kind of confidence while working must know their jobs and must also…
There are many different dogs related sports. Dog Agility, Treibball, Flyball, UpDog,Dock Jumping, Canine Disc, etc. WHY: Each offers a different but fun way to engage with your dog, have fun and keep your dog fit! WHAT: Dog Agility is very popular, with several venues offering slightly different versions of this sport in the US…
We are often asked for advice about children and dogs. While it seems like a great combination, young children are not always ready for the commitment and work that having a puppy/dog involves (daily walks, play, training, feeding, picking up poop, cleaning-up when they are sick, etc.- for maybe 15 years!). Older children will eventually…
This holiday season make sure your dogs are safe from all the ‘dangers’ that surround them. Open Fires: Use a fire guard to protect them. Christmas Trees: We strongly suggest gating the tree away from dogs unless you are with them in the room, and no low handing ornaments (which look like toys) or lights….
Many people like to share their food with their dogs and with Thanksgiving approaching we all need a reminder about what foods are OK for dogs and what aren’t (and of course this list is not exhaustive but just the general items seen on many tables at this holiday): Turkey: Lean white turkey meat…
Dogs are intelligent and love to learn new things (even older dogs). While good manners are important, trick training with your dog promotes bonding, reduces anxiety, increases self confidence and focus. Some tricks even provide health benefits by engaging muscle groups eg tricks such as a standing paw shake or sit pretty engage the dogs…
Dogs were breed to work and they have been doing this successfully for thousands of years. Even wild dogs work for a living, such as scavenging for food. Dogs like to be busy, interact socially and solve problems. Today, most dogs are kept as our companions, are sometimes left alone for long hours, eat food…
Puppies need lots of socialization- by this we mean dog/dog; dog/human; dog/other animals & lots of other safe and fun experiences for a puppy. Some veterinarians caution about exposing the puppy to the world before all of the puppies vaccinations are complete but many experts in animal behavior advise that there is a small window…
Having impulse control (IC) is not always associated with dogs and certainly not with young puppies. Many dogs end up in rescue between 6 months to 2 years, during adolescence, because they lack IC and their owners simply cannot deal with the consequences of this lack of control. At Happy Urban Dog we start training…
