Hendo Dogs

06/08/2025

Would you like to teach your dog some tricks? It's enriching for your dog, fun for you, and enhances training skills for both of you. But really, all training is "tricks" if you make it fun.

I used to teach popular Tricks classes in Raleigh and Durham. My old Rat Terrier, Jeepers, learned a great many, and he loved performing. The more the dog learns, the easier it is to teach subsequent tricks. With my friend and co-trainer, Jackie.

03/05/2025

My article on animal welfare and training for calm was published on the PPG's "Pets and Their People" site today. Check it out!

calm: not showing or feeling nervousness, anger, or other strong emotions. 

02/16/2025

Station training with 4-month old Pepper! Last week we free-shaped "go to mat" with marker training (we are using the verbal marker "YUP!"). Today we transferred that to a different "station"-- her new platform bed. She had been reluctant to get on the "scary thing", but now it's her Place!

Pepper loves the Training Game. She learned a hand target and "Down" quickly and with joy because she never gets a "NO" or "Eh-Eh!" as she tests out the rules of the game. If she was briefly confused, I simply made it clearer for her so she could succeed. It took only a few reps before I could add the cue "Place" and now she leaps on and is reluctant to leave!
Next, we can train Stay easily, with no frustration.

Her owners Jim and Gerda are doing a great job helping her become a confident, curious, happy companion! Coming up: Loose-lead Sniffy Walks and Urban Cafe Dog!

I love my job, and my clients, and their pets!

01/08/2025

Flashback to my beautiful Banu (Turkish Kangal Dog) in 2018. I put up her raccoon because she was starting to gut it. Sad girl. But I gave it back later and let her destroy it.
This is why I buy old toys at yard sales and Goodwill...

01/07/2025

"“When you see an animal’s eyes light up, when you see an animal that comes zooming out to do its clicker work [i.e. training]—and it’s an octopus or a shellfish—it’s remarkable, really. We just set them up and let them show us.” ~Karen Pryor

It's a sad day for animal trainers. Karen Pryor, 1932-2024, was a legend her entire amazing long life. What changes she made to animal training, including dog training! She wrote THE book: "Don't Shoot the Dog."
I will miss her, we all will. But her books, the Karen Pryor Academy, Clicker Expo, and the many thousands of us who learned from her--carry on her legacy.

With profound sadness and immense gratitude, we honor the life and legacy of Karen Pryor, a true pioneer in the fields of animal behavior and positive reinforcement training. Karen’s groundbreaking work revolutionized how we communicate with animals—and each other—leaving an indelible mark on ...

01/06/2025

Double-dog TUG!
Just takes a few minutes, and everybody's happy. [turn on the sound if you wanna)

01/04/2025

How's your Recall/Come cue? [turn Sound ON]
Walking with my dogs on the greenway after a rain. No people or dogs in sight, so a good time to practice recalls with "critter distractions". Good boys! When they didn't immediately respond, I ducked down in a squat (hence the sudden change in camera angle)--that always "concerns" them and they come running. Works indoors and out, and it's fun!

I recommend *always* carrying good food rewards when you walk your dogs, on-leash or off, so you can reinforce recalls and voluntary eye-contact "check-ins". It pays off, for them and for you!

12/18/2024

Got a new puppy or dog to ring in the new year?
Let me help you set yourselves up for success! It's important to help your new fur baby settle in with a minimum of stress and fuss. House training, crate training, food and toy choices, intro to other pets, proper fear-free socialization, all the things.... and I welcome kids to be involved in training their new buddy too!

11/14/2024

Try making these "laughing dog" sounds, and see how your dog reacts!

I have for 20+ years been exciting my dogs with these panting sounds. I learned it by mimicking the sounds and mouth shapes that my dogs make when they're engaged in play, or asking for play. It never fails to excite my dogs.

It usually works even with clients/friends' dogs as well! They prick their ears and tilt their heads (what's that you say, human?), and with my playful "doggie" body language, they soon respond with play bows and wide grins!
For fearful dogs, I try quieter versions of "dog laughter and then I play it by ear--by watching their ears!

Dogs make laughing sounds when they are playing. These same sounds, whether recorded or imitated by a human being, can be used to calm a dog or invite it to play.