Dog Training Resources

So, I went through Canine Body Language: A Photographic Guide by Brenda Aloff a second time. Much of the info I already knew, but here are a handful of things that struck me while thinking about Lilly and Ginko’s use of their bodies to communicate. …

Either I need to transition my dog clothes over to brown, or I need a better stain-fighting formula to get the dog dirt out. Seriously, all of my dog jeans (… yes, I have jeans designated for dog activities) have a brown tinge to the thighs from Lilly putting her feet on me when I ask her to BEG (a calming strategy to get her to focus on me). I’ve tried all the usual over-the-counter stuff that’s supposed to get the stains out, but there is still a pall that looms on some of my clothes. …

While putting together our evacuation plan, I needed to look up some phone numbers of local shelters. As I clicked around, I realized that one of them uses old-fashioned, dominance-based, often inhumane strategies to train shelter dogs. Apparently, they offer classes in this method to community members. They even claim that issues like fear, aggression, and such are quickly and easily solved using these methods. I FELT SICK. I’ve always known that all shelters, humane societies, rescue groups, or whatever are NOT created equal, but this came as a tremendous shock to me. …