Tag Archives: clicker training

Isaiah’s Five Month “Chair Pic” and an Update :)

Posted on May 12, 2014 by D. Smith

As promised, here is the 5 month old Isaiah “chair picture!” Hard to believe how fast this boy is growing!

Isaiah’s “chair pic” of May 2014

He’s doing well with his training too! I have him in a group class so he can learn while being around other dogs in a class situation. Even us trainers like to have our dogs experience what we recommend for our own students and clients! 🙂 When training puppies, you want them to have good experiences in as many different places, around as many different dogs and people as possible. It’s all a vital part of socializing them. Just because they’re good with the dogs at your house or around your friends or families dogs, does not translate to them doing well with other dogs that they might meet out in public. They need to practice meeting new dogs on a regular basis in lots of various places. It’s more about the act of meeting the new dogs (and people) than it is the actual dogs (or people) themselves.

Isaiah is currently in an Intermediate level group class and doing great! Plus, I just started him in a dance class (yes, I said dance class….) yesterday! Can’t wait to see how THAT goes! ha ha! We’re doing it for fun and for the simple experience of it all. Even dogs like to have fun and dance sometimes!

If you’ve ever taken a dance class with your dog, leave me a comment about your experience! I’d love to hear all about it!

I told ya…. you never know what these boys will do next! 🙂

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Posted in Dog Training, Dog Training the Positive Way, Great Dane Adventures, Uncategorized and tagged clicker training, dancing with your dog, dog training, doggy dancing, Great Dane puppies, Great Danes, positive dog training, positive reinforcement dog training. Bookmark the permalink.

January is National Train Your Dog Month!

Posted on January 10, 2014 by D. Smith

So, did you know that January is National Train Your Dog Month? Well, it is! Yay! As a dog trainer, I love that we have our own month, so to speak. Training is such an important aspect of owning a dog and often it gets neglected. So anything that helps get awareness out there is a huge bonus!

The sad fact is that many puppies are given as gifts at Christmas and by February many are being dumped in shelters all across the United States. Why? Largely because of a lack of knowledge on how to train the puppy.

Potty training can be challenging enough when you do know how, but imagine what it’s like for those that have no clue! Then add to the fact that there are so many out there teaching methods that do more damage than good. It’s a sad situation for many.

Having a National Train Your Dog Month will, hopefully, help get the word out to people who are struggling right now with that Christmas present puppy, and maybe save a few from being dumped at a local shelter.

So, how do you choose a trainer? Which method do you go with? Should you do a private class or is a group class better? All great questions! Questions I’ll be answering over the next few days, so check back here at Praising Paws! You know the saying…. Praise will get you everywhere! 🙂

To Begin With…

Posted on February 7, 2013 by D. Smith

I’m a firm believer in using Positive Reinforcement Training methods. However, way back when (as they say), I originally learned to train in what is now considered to be the old fashioned way, or traditional method, where the dog learned to “obey” or else it faced some sort of punishment – usually a jerk on a choke chain or pinch collar. Basically, you “asked” the dog to do something, such as heel, and when it tried to explore or do anything other than walk right at your side, you would give a quick jerk of the choke chain or pinch collar to let them know they’d made a “wrong choice”. It didn’t matter that the dog had zero idea what “heel” meant in the first place. The idea was that the dog would eventually figure out how to not get it’s neck jerked or pinched by doing what you wanted.

Thankfully, people have since learned that there are much better ways to train dogs. Dogs naturally want to please us and will, provided we use a little bit of our intelligence and figure out the best way to teach them what it is we’re wanting them to learn in the first place. A dog that is motivated to learn will enjoy the process so much more and therefore be much more reliable. Plus, it’s just a lot more fun for even us humans when everyone, including the dog, is having a good time. 🙂

I, and my dogs, are so very grateful to be using the updated Positive Reinforcement Training methods these days and no longer using tired old methods that don’t work as well and certainly do not lend to anyone’s enjoyment.

I hope you enjoy the time you spend here with me and all my furries! Please be patient as I work to get this blog to where I want it to be. I’m still not totally sure about the theme, never mind everything else there is to work on with one! But hang out…. it could be fun 🙂