Best Friends Training for Pet Dogs

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Best Friends Training for Pet Dogs Private dog training instruction in your home - pet dogs only including puppy training, behaviour pr
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I've heard Border Collies and Australian Shepherds compared to Lambhorginis - Great to own, but requiring a great driver...
22/08/2024

I've heard Border Collies and Australian Shepherds compared to Lambhorginis - Great to own, but requiring a great driver. A mix of both breeds, Dexter has another thing in common with the Lambo - he goes from zero to sixty super-fast when he sees dogs, kids, bikes or joggers on a walk. But he's a quick study, and I hope to have video of progress for you soon!

The paperback version is now available for my new book, Best Friends: How to Make It Easy to Love Living With Your Pet D...
19/08/2024

The paperback version is now available for my new book, Best Friends: How to Make It Easy to Love Living With Your Pet Dog.

Some of you expressed that you'd rather have a physical book, and honestly, I'm the same way. Getting the paperback out and available happened faster than I expected, so if real pages are your preference too, I invite you to click this link to order from Amazon.ca!

https://a.co/d/2JFEnFf

At roughly 7 years old, Kaito has the joie-de-vivre of a puppy, but gets so overstimulated by the sight of other dogs th...
15/08/2024

At roughly 7 years old, Kaito has the joie-de-vivre of a puppy, but gets so overstimulated by the sight of other dogs that, being over 70 pounds, he's a lot to manage on a walk. The team at Mississauga Animal Services and I are helping him relax some, to help him find a new home.

In case you might know someone who would love him, there's more about him here: https://www.petfinder.com/dog/kaito-call-to-book-an-appointment-70170644/on/mississauga/city-of-mississauga-animal-services-on180/

I'm excited to announce the publication of my book, Best Friends: How to Make It Easy to Love Living With Your Pet Dog, ...
30/07/2024

I'm excited to announce the publication of my book, Best Friends: How to Make It Easy to Love Living With Your Pet Dog, available now as an e-book exclusively on my website at https://bestfriendstraining.ca/eBook

Best Friends offers not just step-by-step training instructions for the essentials, but a model for thinking and approaching training that will help you improvise when training other skills or solving problems.

Hope you enjoy, and thanks for telling your friends!

Food is a great tool in training and behaviour therapy, but occasionally you get a dog who just doesn't care, even worki...
14/07/2024

Food is a great tool in training and behaviour therapy, but occasionally you get a dog who just doesn't care, even working hungry, about treats in the context you need them too. Fortunately for me and the staff at Mississauga Animal Services shelter, Betty here can build some pretty positive associations using just praise, touch and play. Highly reactive to other dogs when we started, Betty is making lots of progress.

In case you know someone who could be Betty's future family, here's the skinny on her: https://www.petfinder.com/dog/betty-call-to-book-an-appointment-70170441/on/mississauga/city-of-mississauga-animal-services-on180/

One of the hardest things about my job is resisting the urge to reach out and pet adorable dudes with adorable little fa...
12/07/2024

One of the hardest things about my job is resisting the urge to reach out and pet adorable dudes with adorable little faces like this. But itty-bitty Wedge is very afraid of a lot of things he has to experience everyday life. Even with his owner, getting him into a harness or attaching a leash has so far been too traumatic. He's lucky to have a patient owner willing to take time and change his mind about things that seem scary without rushing him. I have to be just as patient waiting for the day Wedge is ready for contact with me.

Spice's very aroused response to seeing people and dogs on her walk got to be too much to handle for her people, but luc...
10/07/2024

Spice's very aroused response to seeing people and dogs on her walk got to be too much to handle for her people, but lucky for her Spice had made good friends with a neighbour who has offered to give her a home instead. That neighbour is a past client of mine, so we're working together to help Spice accept that others use the road too. After two sessions she's already showing really good progress, allowing people to walk by without a fuss. Her tolerance of dogs on the street will take a little more time, but we're on the way.

When you've got a big, strong dog, there's such a thing as "too friendly." Even with his happy do**us face on, nobody wa...
25/06/2024

When you've got a big, strong dog, there's such a thing as "too friendly." Even with his happy do**us face on, nobody wants Levi leaping up on them, or darting across the sidewalk to offer a love wrestle as they walk by.

Owners' instinctive reaction to this behaviour is to start barking commands like Sit or Down, or making the bad-dog "ah-ah!" sound. All of this, for most dogs, simply fuels their excitement even more.

Levi is learning to say hi only when invited, and how to do it politely.

The struggle many suburban dog owners face is the conflict of their dog's compulsive social urges and fearfulness. Archi...
15/06/2024

The struggle many suburban dog owners face is the conflict of their dog's compulsive social urges and fearfulness. Archie, for example, really wants to get close to people he sees on a walk but, afraid of them, must chase them away as she approaches by barking and lunging.

Owners sometimes need help teaching their dogs that people are trustworthy - and the people they meet need instruction on how to behave in a manner the dog will find trustworthy.

Once I showed Archie I could be trusted, you can see he accepted me as a walking companion, and it only took a few minutes. Next, we help him generalize that trust.

Sophie's been teaching her family all about puppies. Spoiled in the past by their well-behaved dogs adopted as adults, h...
13/06/2024

Sophie's been teaching her family all about puppies. Spoiled in the past by their well-behaved dogs adopted as adults, her people needed some guidance on dealing with all the mouthing, chewing, jumping, and general havoc that puppies are all so good at.

Here she is pretending that's all just a myth.

Maximus is so busy in the meeting room at Mississauga Animal Services that it's hard to get a pic of him holding still. ...
11/06/2024

Maximus is so busy in the meeting room at Mississauga Animal Services that it's hard to get a pic of him holding still. He's a sweet and playful guy, and we're helping him get past his concerns about people getting too close to his food dish.

In case you know someone who might be his ideal owner, you can show them more about Maximus here:

https://www.petfinder.com/dog/maximus-71729001/on/mississauga/city-of-mississauga-animal-services-on180/?referrer_id=aabf9a15-f696-4dae-9cfe-8cf6b21946f2&utm_source=api&utm_medium=partnership&utm_content=aabf9a15-f696-4dae-9cfe-8cf6b21946f2

We got an extension! Schedule your first Best Friends training appointment in the month of June and you'll receive a vou...
11/06/2024

We got an extension! Schedule your first Best Friends training appointment in the month of June and you'll receive a voucher for $10 off your next in-store purchase at Ren's Pets if you're a Ren's Rewards Member. It's free to join.

Thanks in advance for telling your friends!

Hey, would you like an update on Thane? Well, first of all, his name is now Bentley, and he and his Chow Chow housemate ...
04/06/2024

Hey, would you like an update on Thane? Well, first of all, his name is now Bentley, and he and his Chow Chow housemate Scrappy are now buddies! They play well, and always hang out close to one another. Bentley's getting better and better at staying calm on walks and is happily welcoming the many visitors who come to his house. Looks like home-hopping is a thing of the past for him!

After 11 months at Mississauga Animal Services, TT is the shelter's longest-tenured current resident. She's very sweet, ...
02/06/2024

After 11 months at Mississauga Animal Services, TT is the shelter's longest-tenured current resident. She's very sweet, but if she was going to find a home, we needed to find a new approach to helping her accept new people into her "inner circle."

We've made great progress, and TT is much quicker to get to know people, learning to walk nicely on a leash, move away from things she's asked not to touch, and coping better with surprises.

Here's more about TT in case you might know her perfect match: https://www.petfinder.com/dog/tt-see-by-appointment-only-65657642/on/mississauga/city-of-mississauga-animal-services-on180/

After a brain aneurism and multiple strokes, Bruce has adopted Paisley to be his companion and comfort. Unable to move v...
31/05/2024

After a brain aneurism and multiple strokes, Bruce has adopted Paisley to be his companion and comfort. Unable to move very fast, Bruce needed help teaching Paisley to walk at his cautious pace, without pulling him on his now-unstable legs. While the halter she's wearing provides light-touch control in case of surprises, Paisley is showing wonderful sensitivity to Bruce's need, and is becoming patient about the tempo of their walks.

Turns out they really were made for each other!

Thane is on his fourth home in just a few weeks, mostly because he had trouble getting along with other dogs in his adop...
29/04/2024

Thane is on his fourth home in just a few weeks, mostly because he had trouble getting along with other dogs in his adoptive homes. His new family are determined to help him, starting with getting along with their Chow Chow, Scrappy. Thane and Scrappy had a rocky start, but they're already making progress!

Happy to be friends with Ren's! Schedule your first Best Friends training appointment for June 2 or sooner and you'll re...
20/04/2024

Happy to be friends with Ren's! Schedule your first Best Friends training appointment for June 2 or sooner and you'll receive a voucher for $10 off your next in-store purchase at Ren's Pets if you're a Ren's Rewards Member. It's free to join.

Thanks in advance for telling your friends!

Poor Sirius had a really tough time accepting any unfamiliar people coming near him, which would make it hard for potent...
16/04/2024

Poor Sirius had a really tough time accepting any unfamiliar people coming near him, which would make it hard for potential adopters to consider him at Mississauga Animal Services. I've been working with the wonderful staff there to help him and he's much more welcoming and relaxed. I'm happy to see he's available for adoption.

A really great evolution in dog-owner trends is returning to allowing dogs to sniff and explore on their walks, instead ...
09/03/2024

A really great evolution in dog-owner trends is returning to allowing dogs to sniff and explore on their walks, instead of exclusively marching along and focusing on the human holding the leash. Gracie finds it calming, and that means her human finds the walk more pleasant and less stressful.

07/03/2024

As promised a few weeks ago, here's an update on Indy's progress. Watch as she chooses to explore the ground instead of barking at dogs (off-camera to the left, you'll see them eventually) on the walking path up ahead, and how her handler rewards her for showing casual interest and disengaging without getting aroused. Great progress!

Indy is calm near dogs in the park at https://youtu.be/s4yBc40vYOI

How gratifying when a family you worked with for a previous puppy calls you again for their next puppy! Better still, wh...
24/01/2024

How gratifying when a family you worked with for a previous puppy calls you again for their next puppy! Better still, when you get there and the adult dog you knew as a baby is now such a well-mannered, delightful pet.
I worked with Bode's family in the first summer of COVID, meeting exclusively outdoors. When they adopted Penny, whom you see here, they called me just two days after they brought her home, hoping, as they said, to have her turn out as wonderful as Bode did. She's off to a great start!

Super-cute little Finnley would prefer it if you didn't get too close to his people, or any food you might have dropped ...
22/01/2024

Super-cute little Finnley would prefer it if you didn't get too close to his people, or any food you might have dropped on the floor. The two pieces of solving resource guarding are changing how the dog feels about the proximity of someone to the thing/person he's guarding, and changing what the dog does about the proximity of someone to the thing/person he's guarding. Working on one without the other is an incomplete job.

I'm meeting more and more dogs who start out every walk already so excited that anything they see can set them to barkin...
20/01/2024

I'm meeting more and more dogs who start out every walk already so excited that anything they see can set them to barking and lunging. The customary approach of trying to teach obedience skills and train the dog to white-knuckle its way through a stay or watch me despite being madly aroused is backwards. I'm helping people like Indy's family address the arousal itself. Here's a picture showing her tense body language in our first visit. Watch this space for the update.

We expect our dogs to be love-sponges and to crave our cuddles and petting. It's hard to resist putting your face right ...
18/01/2024

We expect our dogs to be love-sponges and to crave our cuddles and petting. It's hard to resist putting your face right up to an adorable face like Milo's to ask for a kiss. But not every dog feels the same way, or wants physical affection all the time, and some may view our expressions of affection as invasion of their safe space. A combination of social handling exercises and learning to invite instead of invade goes a long way to improving the relationship.

Stormy really, really, really wants you to throw her chew stick for her. When you look at that face, you can see how har...
05/01/2024

Stormy really, really, really wants you to throw her chew stick for her. When you look at that face, you can see how hard it is to say no. But when she gets wound up - at this or other things - she has trouble winding down again. We're working on it together.

Gentle giant Rocky just moved in with his new family right before Christmas. Adopters of adult re-homed dogs often find ...
03/01/2024

Gentle giant Rocky just moved in with his new family right before Christmas. Adopters of adult re-homed dogs often find there's an adjustment time where they're not seeing the same personality they will after the dog settles in, and Rocky's served up a couple of surprises his people have wisely opted to address proactively. Between their quick action and his settling-in time, I bet they're all headed towards a good life together.

A big accomplishment for Onyx when I came to the door and he calmly greeted me on all fours. His favourite person's been...
17/12/2023

A big accomplishment for Onyx when I came to the door and he calmly greeted me on all fours. His favourite person's been practising, and it shows!

Routine is really, really valuable in teaching your puppy how to occupy himself when you're not interacting. Cosmo has s...
15/12/2023

Routine is really, really valuable in teaching your puppy how to occupy himself when you're not interacting. Cosmo has some great routines established that just have to be extended so they apply no matter who in the family is present.

Paul would like to announce that life is good. No problems here!
13/12/2023

Paul would like to announce that life is good. No problems here!

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When we started working together four sessions ago in late September, Orville was very reactive to the sight of dogs on his walk, even at a distance. With practice doing my low-arousal walk exercises, he's learned to choose to relax and "stand down" instead. In the beginning of this video, he's aware of the approaching dog but choosing a calming ground-sniff. When they get pretty close, watch Orville choose again to disengage and calm himself by exploring the ground.

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About Andrew

Andrew Perkins has been working professionally with dogs since 1991. A founding member of the Canadian Association of Professional Pet Dog Trainers, he served on its board of directors and as the publishing editor of FORUM, the association's national newsletter, for 11 years, and now serves as "director at large."

Best Friends Obedience offers private instruction in your home for basic training as well as behaviour problems such as house-soiling, puppy biting, resource guarding, stealing, early-stage aggression, inter-family relationship and other issues. Problem-solving is dealt with in a dog-friendly, motivational manner intended to enhance the owner-dog relationship.