Dog Behavior
Introducing a New Dog to Your Pack
As you may know, earlier this year, I added a new puppy to my household! It’s very exciting to get a new dog and integrate them into your existing group. Some dogs are wonderful at greeting their new canine siblings right from the get go. Others, need some time to warm up. So, how do…
Read MoreMeeting Your Dog’s Needs
The best way to live in harmony with our dogs is to try and meet their needs. All dogs are individuals but some needs are universal. Let’s dive into their general needs and how we as owners can meet them. Physical: Dogs need physical exercise daily. Unfortunately, most of us could never run or walk…
Read MoreCreating a Training Plan
Let’s talk about how trainers come up with a behavior modification training plan. There can be many moving parts involved in a good training plan. Luckily, professional organizations like the CCPDT, APDT and IAABC have created a road map called the Humane Hierarchy. Below is an infographic showing the hierarchy and its steps. Humane Hierarchy…
Read MoreHow to Change Unwanted Behaviors
A lot of people come to dog training classes or private lessons to help learn how to stop unwanted behavior. I wanted to write this blog to help you understand how we address behavior change, specifically for unwanted behaviors. There are four ways to address unwanted behaviors that I will go over for you in…
Read MoreSocial Learning
Today I want to discuss a topic I’ve been thinking about a lot since being home on quarantine. Social learning, which means learning that happens through modeling or imitating behavior observed by another person or, in this case, dog. Social learning started to be studied after the original pieces of learning theory (classical conditioning: learning…
Read MoreVirtual Training Services
I hope this blog post finds you safe and well! I wanted to introduce my new virtual training services to you today. Things are uncertain here in the Lehigh Valley but training your dog doesn’t have to be! I am now offering several options for online training to help you get started today. The first…
Read MoreHow Dogs Learn 101
Let’s start our dog training journey from the beginning by talking about how our dogs learn. Studies in canine behavior started in the late 1800’s, moved to the early 1900’s with Pavlov’s dogs and continued on to B.F. Skinner in the 1950’s. Since then dog trainers have been using these principles of Learning Theory to…
Read More