I started my professional dog career as a shelter volunteer, then as a shelter staff member. For many years, my mantra has always been to rescue dogs. All of the dogs I’ve had as an adult have been rescued from one source or another as adults (or in one case, at five months). For many… Continue reading To Breed or Not to Breed?
My dog, Darwin, is one of the most laid back dogs I’ve ever known. With the exception of tracking (he is mostly beagle), he doesn’t generally get excited about anything. That includes food, toys and people or other dogs. He appears to like all of these things and will eat, play and greet others when… Continue reading A Changed Dog: Musings on the importance of enrichment in dogs
Would you like to improve your understanding of your dogs’ behavior? What about the behavior of your family, friends and co-workers? If you really want to understand behavior (and training) then it is absolutely critical that you understand the basics of learning. You have probably heard the terms “punishment” and “reinforcement” many times, both in… Continue reading A Brief Primer on Punishment and Reinforcement
If you’re like me, you drink up as much quality programming on dog behavior as you can find. I recently learned of a new show in the UK called “Dogs: Their Secret Lives”. The show is hosted by Mark Evans who used to be the chief veterinary advisor for the RSPCA. The show also features… Continue reading Review: Dogs: Their Secret Lives (TV series)
How many times have you looked at your dog and wondered what’s going on in her head? My husband frequently asks me if I think our dog is happy. This can sometimes be a difficult question to answer, but training yourself to read subtle signs in your dog can go a long way toward understanding… Continue reading Reading Your Dog – Episode 1
“Quiero hacer lo que tú quieres, pero no entiendo lo que estás diciendo.” Do you understand what you just read? Perhaps you’re able to recognize it as Spanish and pick up a few basic words, but not enough to really get the gist of the message. Maybe you know Spanish well enough to have a general… Continue reading English is a Foreign Language
Welcome to the Smart Dog blog! I have been thinking of writing a blog for some time now. Initially, it was just a simple marketing idea – a platform for getting the word out about the business and demonstrating my dog behavior knowledge. However, the idea in my head quickly grew to become much more… Continue reading The Smart Dog Blog – A Preview of What’s to Come
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