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

Little Peanut is a nosy girl who gets into everything she can find. She wants to know what's on every coffee and end tab...
15/12/2024

Little Peanut is a nosy girl who gets into everything she can find. She wants to know what's on every coffee and end table, in every bag and behind every obstacle. It's important for safety management and for training that we puppy-proof a home and manage a dog's access to her environment while she's developing good habits of occupying herself while not being entertained by people.

It concerns me that I'm getting a rising number of cases of what's often called "global fear," where a young dog is afra...
12/12/2024

It concerns me that I'm getting a rising number of cases of what's often called "global fear," where a young dog is afraid of, well, everything. Sweet Madden here isn't as affected as some, and you can see he's cautiously interested in me, but he does struggle to cope with everyday events and sounds, and with leaving the security of his home, even for a potty run.

I'm generally resistant to Christmas decor before December first, but Paisley is so proud of her jingle-bell collar, I h...
12/11/2024

I'm generally resistant to Christmas decor before December first, but Paisley is so proud of her jingle-bell collar, I had to share. Apparently she asks first thing each morning to put it on, and struts around proudly as soon as she's wearing it!

(in case you wonder, like I did: the bells are very quiet and only jingle softly when she does a big shake, so they aren't constantly accosting her sensitive hearing)

10/11/2024

As promised, a video of Dexter’s progress coping with the sight of other dogs on his walk. He’s doing great!

Separation Anxiety is a term that gets thrown around pretty loosely. I hear from people using the phrase for a range of ...
08/11/2024

Separation Anxiety is a term that gets thrown around pretty loosely. I hear from people using the phrase for a range of behaviour from a dog who is just happy to see them come home to one who follows them from room to room, barks a minute when left behind, or complains briefly about crate time. Dogs are supposed to prefer to be with us. But Separation Anxiety is akin to a panic disorder, where the dog can't cope with being alone or apart from someone, and suffers real distress. Joey here needs help managing alone time, and success will come from carefully managing his experiences alone to change his feelings.

Lovey has made lots of progress. Suffering from global fear, you might remember she wouldn't leave her crate when I firs...
06/11/2024

Lovey has made lots of progress. Suffering from global fear, you might remember she wouldn't leave her crate when I first visited. She's able to explore outside a bit now, and cuddled up to me to accept petting. Thought you'd like to see her looking braver.

11/10/2024

I got great news today! Old man Kaito, whom I've been working with at Mississauga Animal Services mostly for reactivity around other dogs, found his forever home where he can be pampered by a nice retired man with time to give him. Here's a bit of our last session together, where Kaito showed us how much calmer he can be around other dogs.

Kaito has a positive social interaction at https://youtu.be/cyEUKPbczWI

Kali has been learning to lie patiently on her bed in the foyer while her people answer the door, instead of rushing the...
04/10/2024

Kali has been learning to lie patiently on her bed in the foyer while her people answer the door, instead of rushing the door and barking and jumping on the visitors. The secret - it should be a fun game she loves to play, not a burden she has to struggle to bear.

Kaito found a safe place to survey his environment while we worked at the dog park with his shelter team from Mississaug...
02/10/2024

Kaito found a safe place to survey his environment while we worked at the dog park with his shelter team from Mississauga Animal Services.

A dog who is already uncomfortable or antsy about brushing, nail trimming or other grooming necessities can get downrigh...
30/09/2024

A dog who is already uncomfortable or antsy about brushing, nail trimming or other grooming necessities can get downright testy about it after something painful happens like a snagged mat or clipped quick. Gaining back trust is usually slow, so starting right away, before nails become long again or coats need another brush-out, is important. Nice guy Max, who's on that path now, can tell you all about it.

There's a whole lotta floof and cuddle in a great big puppy like Winston, who's already a giant at only 18 weeks. But hi...
24/09/2024

There's a whole lotta floof and cuddle in a great big puppy like Winston, who's already a giant at only 18 weeks. But his size makes it even more important that he starts off life with good productive routines that teach him manners and self-control.

I got an extra treat when I learned on our first visit that his breeder is my longtime friend Naomi Kane of Lewenhart.

Fear is appropriate and necessary for most animals' survival. When we make an animal into a pet, whether by "taming" a w...
26/08/2024

Fear is appropriate and necessary for most animals' survival. When we make an animal into a pet, whether by "taming" a wild one or genetically engineering one through history from a wild ancestor, we kind of have to undo that nature so it can live in our world. For the most part we've done that genetically with dogs, but without vigilance in breeding and raising (or occasionally even in spite of it), sometimes too much fearfulness for easy adaptation seeps back to the surface.

This is Lovey, who is trying to adapt to apartment life in a population-dense neighbourhood with lots of noise. Helping her cope is going to require some patience and carefully planned exercises, so it's a good thing she got picked by a loving, understanding new dog mom.

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.

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As promised, a video of Dexter’s progress coping with the sight of other dogs on his walk. He’s doing great!

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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.