Summer is a wonderful time of year! The days are longer, the weather is warmer, and you get to spend more time outdoors. However, things get busier, we can get distracted and there are new hazards for our dogs. With a few extra precautions and a bit of training, you can ensure your canine family members stay safe and stress-free during the Summer months!

Hot Weather: One of the biggest safety risks to our pets during the Summer is that warmer temperatures. Exposure to heat for too long...

If you struggle with your dog reacting too often out on walks or find each venture outside too stressful, you are being reactive vs proactive with your training. We must understand how to set our dog up for success and become proactive in our training! This not only allows your dog to progress through the program faster, but also makes it much more enjoyable for yourself and your dog!

Go to the Right Environment

As we discussed, you need to go to a space that sets your dog up for success....

We have discussed how to make our dogs calmly accept handling and to enjoy it, but what about how we handle them? Let’s face it: we can be jerks when we have our dogs on leash through yanking or keeping constant tension on the leash, and we can be very reactive as well! We often begin to anticipate that our dogs will react in certain situations, so we begin to react. This may be through pulling up on the leash, we may raise our shoulders with tension, we may begin breathing...

Unleash your dog’s spirit. This has been a tagline of dogma’s for over 15 years and was inspired by my dear friend and mentor, Jennifer Buchanan. She shared it with me as we were discussing my work years ago and it instantly clicked. It summed up perfectly what my goals were in training dogs and developing our relationship with them. I was reflecting on this shortly after we said goodbye to our dog, Deja. She spent 16 wonderful years at my side and as I thought back on our time...

Hello, my name is Megan, and yes, I hug my dog.

It may seem like a silly statement, but we are at a time when people do not want to admit this and don’t dare post a picture of themselves in an embrace with their dog. And if they do, they will likely be attacked and ridiculed for doing so.

Before I write too much more, I must start with two disclaimers. First off, I had no idea this was going to be such a hot topic this month. I presented this subject at an ...

Our dogs are family. We include them in our activities, celebrate their birthdays and love spending time with them over the holidays. The Christmas season is about surrounding yourself with loved ones and making memories. It is easy to get caught up in the commercialism and go overboard on gifts. Although I know all dogs love getting some extra treats and toys, I am sure their gift list would include more than just that! This holiday season, give the gift of yourself to your dog. The below...

Training a dog is a responsibility, not a choice. But what is a trained dog? How do we define success? Success can mean different things for many different people. The goals we have set for our dog may be unfair or unrealistic. When starting any training program it is important that you have fair expectations for your dog. This is what will make your training successful and allow you to obtain the best results. By expecting too much, you risk causing unnecessary stress and confusion for your...

tWhat made you first want a dog? Was it the memories of a faithful companion that you could confide in as a child? Was it the vision of a loyal friend who was always at your side? Did you picture enjoying life together and having fun? I think it is safe to say that companionship is the reason why most people add a dog to the family these days.

So, how does this vision fit in when we decide we should train our dog? And what is training exactly? What are we looking for when we set out to train...