The pandemic has moved the world online. Although there have been some downsides to this, we have been thrilled with what it has enabled us to do at Dogma. On top of navigating all the uncertainty, keeping the business afloat and supporting our team and clients, we have managed to move all of our programs online. This was a complete and fast restructuring – a story that is a post on its own. For now, I want to focus on virtual dog training and why this is one outcome of the pandemic...

The New Year is a time of new beginnings and planning for a great year ahead. Many people set out a list of resolutions to make the next year the best it can be. Considering that dogs bring so much into our lives including happiness, unconditional love, and loyalty, we should include them in our promises to improve our lives in the upcoming year. I’ve outlined some ideas below on resolutions we can make with our dogs to enhance our bonds, ensure we enjoy our time with them, and help us...

Learn how to better manage your dog and its environment to prevent reactive responses

“I don’t think the training is working. My dog still reacts at every dog we see!”

This is actually a common thing for us to hear in our classes and we understand how frustrating it can be for a student. However, it has nothing to do with the actual training and everything with how we are setting our dogs up to fail. Prevention and management is the key to any training program, but it is...

The debate on crate training (or kennel training) will probably continue to rage until the end of time. The reality is that each person needs to make the decision based on what’s right for them and their new puppy.

It is true that when it’s done properly there are advantages to kennel training your puppy, not the least of which is keeping him out of things he shouldn’t get into, like the garbage.

Crate training will also help with potty training, keep him calmer, curb...

Good dogs are not born, they are made, so you’ve got some work to do. Training a dog is not easy and it takes commitment. You made the choice to adopt your dog and now it is your responsibility to help it become a good canine citizen and ensure it has a proper emotional and physical well-being. Below are a few items that will help you both to be successful:

1. Be prepared: Collect everything your new dog will need (food, dishes, toys, grooming tools, leashes, collars, etc.). Create an...

There are many important skills that are important to being effective in your training with your dog. These include your handling skills, controlling your own body language, understanding your dog’s body language and many other essential traits/skills. However, when you are first starting training, or even if you have been training for some time, this post will cover what we consider to be essential to gaining success in training your dog.

Patience

It can be a frustrating and...

At dogma, our approach to training is reward based. You may have heard this referred to as positive reinforcement training. The basic concept is that dogs learn primarily through association. So this means that if you reward them for a behaviour, they will perform this behaviour more.  Rewards can be anything and everything that your dog perceives as a positive. This includes food, toys, walks, getting to go through a door, your attention and affection, the opportunity to play with...

One of the biggest obstacles all dog owners have in common is training their pets. It can feel like an intimidating, mentally trying battle, but it’s well worth the effort.

Training a puppy gives you a chance to mold her manners and behaviour in the best possible way to fit into our human world. However, training an adult dog is another thing altogether.

You may have adopted an adult dog, or you’ve found that your dog has fallen into some bad habits. Regardless of the situation,...

Sometimes it feels like an evil magic wand was waved over your puppy changing him or her from a loving well behaved little pup into a completely unruly dog! Welcome to the teenage stage!

Adolescence usually starts around 7 months of age and extends to about 18 months of age. This is when your dog’s brain moves into a new stage of development and hormone levels increase because they progressing into sexually maturity. During this time they’re becoming more independent and...