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Many people mistake their dogs' exhaustion for calmness. They're not the same. Most dog owners think they know what a calm dog looks like, but they usually picture a tired or inactive dog. Just because your dog is doing nothing doesn't mean they're calm. Real calmness is different, and when owners learn to recognize it, behavior problems often improve more quickly.  I have a very calm dog. She's been calm since I first got her. She's a therapy dog. She's a 6-year-old mini Aus

This is a very important topic, and I get a lot of calls about this. Most owners think their dog is stubborn, ignoring them, or choosing not to listen, but in many cases, the dog is not being disobedient; it is confused. After years of dog training , I have learned that many behavior problems are really communication problems.  Keep in mind also that dogs don't use their ears as well as they use their eyes, and they don't use their eyes as well as they use their nose. If I wa

On day one, most people focus on the cute parts of bringing home a puppy, like cuddling, playing, and taking lots of photos for Instagram and their friends. What if, starting on day one, we focused on the habits that prevent behavior issues from forming and your puppy having serious behavior issues later in life?  1) Always use a house line on your puppy from day one.  I recommend a slip lead, and the reason for this is because you want to control your puppy’s space. You don'

Dog training is not just about teaching commands; it's about helping owners understand their dogs and giving families tools that actually work in everyday life. I wanna start with that because it sums up about 90% of what I see in real life as a dog trainer. Most people don't come to dog trainers because their dog can't sit. They call us in desperation because life with their dog feels hard. People are desperate to get this fixed. Walks are stressful. Guests coming into the h

Potty training is a problem for many people. I have found that people either get it or don't, and it's not an issue with the dog. It's not the dog's fault. It's an owner issue.  People call me to discuss puppy training, and their entire focus is on potty training. This happens a lot, and it's been happening ever since I've owned Top Gun Dog Training .  The goal of this article is to shift the new puppy owner's focus to the bigger picture of raising a puppy, beyond potty train

Many people underestimate the level of responsibility needed to raise a puppy. So go back and listen to that first episode of What's Needed to own a new puppy. And today we're going to talk about the truths and the myths of raising a puppy. The Truths: 1: Raising a young puppy is a part-time job.  For some people, it's a full-time job. You have to be on top of that puppy all the time. They're going to potty 10-12 times a day. They need a tremendous amount of sleep. They need

Building structure with your new puppy is one of the best things you can do to create a happy, healthy, and obedient puppy. There are many reasons we want to build a structure, and several ways to do so.  Why you should build structure in your puppy's routine Structure creates calmness in the puppy. When you have a structure where they know what they're going to do next, they're not stressed out overthinking what's going to happen next. They are not concerned about when they

After training a couple of thousand puppies and using this technique on my own puppy, Dixie, when I got her at 10 weeks old, the very first thing I taught her was go to your bed and stay .  I have a video on my phone of May 5, 2020, at seven o'clock at night, where I'm showing people how I trained Dixie to go to her bed and stay the very first day that I got her. My clients are amazed at this video and how well Dixie picked it up, and how easily I taught it to her the first d

Puppy socialization is the most important thing to teach your puppy from ages 8 to 16 weeks. Some experts say from 4 to 12 weeks. The breeder will usually start socializing the puppy from 4-8 weeks by exposing it to a variety of different people, animals, sights, and sounds. And then when the owner takes the puppy at eight weeks, they continue until 12 weeks or even 16 weeks. When we start socializing our puppy, we need to consider vaccinations. Your veterinarian will provide

A lot of people get these two confused. They don't even know there's a difference at all, and they don't know that there's many different...

Puppy behavior modification entails modifying the puppy’s behavior to decrease unwanted behaviors. Unlike obedience training, which...

Dog owners typically accept that their canines will have more needs and require more daily interaction than more independent, hands-off...

I've trained a lot of puppies recently who have had fear, anxiety, and stress at eight or 10 or 12 weeks old, and I've also worked with a...

One way puppies can explore the world and learn about things is with their mouth. They pick up everything from the ground and bite stuff...

Your puppy must learn its name as soon as you bring them home. This should be one of the first things you teach them, along with potty...

One thing to remember about young puppies is that they have small bladders, small colons, and a speedy metabolism. They also have no...

In this article, I will share several ways to teach your puppy to make good decisions. This is the opposite of constantly directing your...

There is no debating that an Australian Shepherd is a wonderful, adorable, loyal dogs, however they aren't for everyone. Just like for...

Dogs and cats are not naturally inclined to fight one another; that idea is only a myth. Both animals can tolerate each other, and even...

When I see many new puppy owners start a puppy training program, I hear them doing this a lot to their puppies: Dixie, sit, Dixie, sit,...