The Clever Dog Dog Training

12/12/2024

Wacky Wednesday!

04/12/2024

Wacky Wednesday after Thanksgiving

22/11/2024

Joe was a little late for our dog training session this afternoon because he got stuck at work. He didn't have time to put his treat bag together before we started the training. "No problem," I told him, "Gotcha covered. I've got a full bag of pork chop treats that I just cooked and cut."

We started the walk (with his dog Joy) on this cold afternoon, and Joe asked if I could hand him some pork chop treats. I said, "Here they are, but just be aware they are cold! I had them in the freezer all night," and I gave him a handful of the frozen pork.

As soon as he held them, without missing a beat, he said, "Ahhh... Chopsicles."

21/11/2024

Happy Wacky Wednesday! (wait... is it Thursday already?)

05/11/2024

Cooking 5 pounds of pork chops treats for the rest of the week. These pork chops are 2" thick!

01/11/2024

- Here is the link to my October Newsletter Note.

My newsletter notes get posted to the blog on my website.

If you don't get my newsletter you can read my note here about working with breeder dogs that have come out of puppy mills.

I’m working with several dogs now who were rescued from puppy mills. These are not puppies, but rather dogs who were born in a puppy mill, and forced to be breeder dogs. Their lives and living conditions were terrible. They lived in cages in a barn, and probably never stepped outside of that barn....

30/10/2024

It's Wacky Wednesday!!! Happy Hallowe'enie!!!

29/10/2024

Its Meet the Dog Monday!!! And today's dog is an Appenzeller named Checkers. Checkers is very over exuberant in certain situations, and he did not like his feet being touched, making it difficult to trim his nails. So we started with a scratch board, which seemed to be easy for him. But it really only worked for the front feet, and I wanted him to be able to relax and have his nails dremeled. I like the dremel more than clippers because you can gradually take the nail down, and there's less chance of cutting the nail too short and hurting the dog.
My plan was to have Checkers to want his human parents, Audrey and Steve, to handle his feet, then to be able to touch the dremel (turned off) to his nails, and then finally buzz the nails down to their desired length. We reinforced these actions with a marker word (yes) followed by a treat.
It was a process, but we made it fun for Checkers, and as you can see, his friend Caper is watching from the gate. She wants hers done next!

25/10/2024

Wacky Wednesday (on a Friday – sorry, I missed it).

23/10/2024

Science of dog aging

22/10/2024

Meet the Dog Monday

I got a call to help with Daisy, a Maltese Yorkie mix, who was rescued from a puppy mill, where she’d been a breeder dog. Breeder dogs in puppy mills often live their lives in small crates in a barn, and never see the outside world. Daisy would run away from her new adopted humans (Cathy and Scott). She was fearful of everything, would not take treats or let anyone get close, and would totally shut down if a leash was put on her.

Fortunately, Cathy and Scott have another dog named Jazzie, whom Daisy can follow, be comfortable with, and learn from. While Daisy observed from a distance, we practiced sits and downs with Jazzie. Daisy watched… and and started to sit when Jazzie sat! We told her “Yes!” and tossed a treat to her when she copied Jazzie’s behaviors. She started to enjoy that game.

Cathy and Scott work so hard to help Daisy adjust to her new life. Every week, Daisy becomes more comfortable with the training, and with wearing the leash. We started in the back yard, and made it a point to have good things happen every time the leash was on. She’s also starting to potty out in the yard more. She’s begun sniffing and exploring outside, she's starting to play with toys, and generally learning how to have fun and be a dog.

20/10/2024

Today Reggie got a bath and a mani-pedi. Wait, I guess it's called a doggi-pedi for dogs. I had to take the old nail grippers off of his toenails (they were super glued on), dremel the nails, and attach new nail grippers. He was so patient about letting me do the whole procedure.

I got the nail grippers because Reg was having trouble getting up on the hardwood floors and had actually fallen a few times. I tried a bunch of different products, but found Dr. McHenry's Dog Toe Treads to work best.

17/10/2024

Late Night Chilly Walk! It's 41 degrees, and Reggie and I did a nice long walk (almost a mile) down to the park, through the park along the creek, and back home.
He's doing pretty well for 14!

10/10/2024

It's Wacky Wednesday!!!

08/10/2024

For our Meet the Dog Monday, I just wanted to feature my Reggie, who is 14 years old now. He's retired from performing, has trouble sitting and lying down, moves slowly, and has nail grippers on his toes so he doesn't slip on the hardwood floors. But he still goes to Monday group classes at The Academy of Dog Training with me to be my demo dog.

If there's a behavior that involves sitting or lying down, I use his stunt double, Athena the Dobermann, and tell everybody she looks just like him when she's wearing a coat.

He still enjoys getting out, having a job, and demanding treats from any other trainer who walks by (like a troll on a bridge). He's a character and everyone loves him.

Reggie!

04/10/2024

- John is a wonderful dog trainer!

He takes time with explaining the whys of training and is genuinely kind and engaging.

I’ve been trying to put together a specific title with my dog for a couple years, and a few weeks with John got it done!

- Susan Murtha