Overcoming Your Dog’s Distractions

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distractionsYour dog may perform actions like Sit, Down, or Shake at home or at your training school, but does his ability to do those things go out the window when you’re outside?

Distractions come in many forms. They are most difficult to overcome when they occur in clusters. Rarely is your dog faced with one distraction at a time.

In this article from our Newsletter Archives, read about the dozens of distractions your dog faces when you are out in public.

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Related Classes at Your Dog’s Friend

If your dog could use some practice working with distractions, we have several classes that are helpful.

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Positive Training Without Food

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Photo by speshulted on Flickr

Photo by speshulted on Flickr

Positive training naysayers will say things like:

  • “The dog only does what it’s told because it wants the treat.”
  • “If you don’t have treats on you, the dog won’t work.”
  • “The dog doesn’t respect you; it just wants food.”
  • “What happens if you don’t have treats on you?”

The good news is that while positive training works extremely well with treats (and even later if you don’t have treats on your person), it can also work well with other things your dog finds reinforcing. In this article from our Newsletter Archives, read more about other ways you can tell your dog, “GOOD JOB!”

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Congratulations to YDF Agility Student, Kerfuffle!

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Congrats, Kerfuffle!

Congrats, Kerfuffle!

Congratulations to YDF student, Kerfuffle the Cockapoo, on his recent agility titles! In July, Kerfuffle earned his CL1-F (Fun Games, Level 1) title at the CPE (Canine Performance Events) agility trial in Frederick, Maryland. This past weekend, Kerfuffle earned his CL1-S (Standard, Level 1) title at the CPE agility trial in Knoxville, Maryland.

His mom reports that he is getting better and better at each trial (and she aspires to be the best handler she can be for him!). Kerfuffle has attended several classes at Your Dog’s Friend, most recently Canine Good Citizen Prep and Agility.

Upper photo by Key4prints.

Bottom photo by Herefordogs.

Cesar Millan & Dominance

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Photo by puck90 on Flickr

Photo by puck90 on Flickr

Those of you who watch Cesar Millan’s television show are familiar with the concept of dominance. Fifteen years ago, most dogs were trained using this concept, which led to training based on force and submission. As Dr. Sophia Yin, DVM, MS explains on her website: Traditional training techniques are based on the idea that we must become the dominant leader and rule our pets the way a wolf would rule a pack. That is, they assume most misbehavior in dogs is due to the dog trying to be dominant and then they employ techniques that they think a wolf (since dogs are seen as having a social structure similar to wolves) would perform in a wolf pack. Since then, however, research on both canine learning and the social structure of wolves has led to new, scientifically-based methods of dog training that differ from those used by The Dog Whisperer and other traditional trainers[…]

Read the rest in our Newsletter Archives

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