Resources

HAND FEEDING

Hand feeding is a great way to teach your dog how to balance his emotions. If he’s a weary dog, it will help him to positively associate your hands with food. If he’s an excitable dog gnawing on your fingertips, it will help him learn that your hands are the keepers of food, not chew toys! Implementing at least some hand feeding will likely help get you through your big challenge.

THE MOST USEFUL SKILL

By a mile, one of the most useful skills to teach your dog is the PLACE command. An exercise that involves showing your dog how to place herself onto an object like a cot, a mat, or even into a crate. With time, the exercise becomes useful in every way. It can become a therapeutic-like exercise that teaches high levels of patience. That and as long as your dog is in place, you can juggle other “life” things knowing no shenanigans will happen!

FOOD IS CURRENCY

Try avoiding your usual food routine of placing food in a bowl and setting the bowl down for your dog to eat. Instead train your dog for his food. Think about it as if your dog’s job is earning food by learning new skills or routines you teach. Food becomes payment for performance. It can really help fast track the learning process. This, and it is a great way to get a lot of training done in a short time.

WALKING AND THE LEASH

Make walking your dog inside normal. Tour the house together. Do chores together. It’s how you migrate through the house, it’s how you talk, and it turns into a reliable communication tool. It becomes an extension of your hand. When leash walking looks good inside, you would be shocked at how much better your outdoor walk gets.