December 16th, 2011
By Eric Letendre
Okay, some days I am a complete bonehead.
This week it happened twice.
BONEHEAD MISTAKE #1: Earlier this week I told you about the big, mean Rotti I had pinned to the ground using training techniques I learned in my younger years.
I never finished the story.
BONEHEAD MISTAKE #2: I forgot to add the link to yesterday’s post for the great resource I mentioned at the end of my email (thanks Kay)! Keep Reading…
December 12th, 2011
By Eric Letendre
Last night I picked up a book that I read about ten years ago. The author is one of my favorites, he’s the kind of rare writer that will have you laughing your head off on one page and on the next have a tough guy like me almost in tears.
The author’s name: James Herriot. His real name was James Alfred Wright, and he wrote about his experiences as a country vet in England. Keep Reading…
November 4th, 2011
By Eric Letendre
Cold weather is not to far off. Now is the time to teach your dog to “Get busy” on command. This video will help:
P.S. Most surveys rank housetraining as one of the top ten dog behavior problems. If you’re having housetraining problems with your dog check out the Housetraining Handbook.
November 3rd, 2011
By Eric Letendre
Power is still out.
No heat, no hot water, no power but…
…it’s all good because I am at my sister’s house and it is warm and we have internet access which allows me to write this to you.
Anyway, yesterday my sister wanted to know why her dog, Vera, rolled in anything stinky she could find.
She said that every time she went outside, she would find anything that stunk and roll all over it. She was
disgusted and tired of giving her a bath. I explained to her that rolling in smelly stuff is a throw back from her hunting days. Dogs and wolves would roll in anything that smells to mask their scent.
This made hunting easier, they could sneak up on tonight’s dinner without being detected and WHAM – raccoon tartare.
She thanked me for the lesson in canine behavior but was more interested in learning how to stop it.
I informed her that stopping a behavior is simple, all she had to do was apply a negative consequence to whatever behavior she wanted to stop and she had to catch her dog in the act.
I added that there are many ways to apply a negative consquence to a behavior. Negative consequences can be anything her dog does not like. We talked for a few more minutes and she said that her dog hated being sprayed by the hose.
Okay, I said. Now all you have to do is give your dog a verbal command like “NO” and spray away.
Here is the crucial part, I added. “You have to catch your dog in the act. Even a few seconds late will
confuse your dog and it won’t work.”
“That’s all there is to it?” she asked.
I replied, “Changing behavior is all about consequences. If you want a behavior to occur more often like sit, down, come, heel, reinforce it with something your dog likes. If you want to stop a behavior, apply some type of negative consequence.”
I also told her that negative consequences do not have to harm the dog. You can use sound, water, your voice, even breath spray.
On the Dog Training Inner Circle, we discuss and show many different ways to reinforce and stop behaviors.
Every dog is a little different and that is why we have over 80 videos and articles to help any kind of dog. We also have a forum where you can ask me questions. I get over 300 emails a day and can’t answer them all – sorry, but that is why we have the forum.
Check out the Dog Training Inner Circle today!
All the best,
Eric
November 2nd, 2011
By Eric Letendre
This is what happened.
Saturday it started snowing. Not the light fluffy stuff, we’re talking about the heavy wet snow that makes it impossible to shovel.
Here in Western MA, the leaves are still on the trees. The wet, heavy snow landed on the trees and they started to fall.
This all happened faster than a dog can raise his leg.
Power went out. No heat, no electricity, no internet.
Nothing, except…
…the sound of trees falling and smashing into the ground.
One fell on the house and 15 in the driveway.
Rach and I were stuck in the house for about 50 hours.
This little episode gave me a great perspective on dog behavior.
You see, I truly believe that a lot of dogs develop behavior problems because they are under-exercised and BORED.
After spending two straight days in the house, I was starting to get a little crabby.
But…
…it really gave me some insight as to how some dogs feel.
In my book, “The Amazing Dog Training Man,” I discuss what I call your dog’s P.O.V.
Your dog’s Point Of View is looking at the world through your dog’s eyes.
When you learn to effectively do this, you can solve any dog behavior problem.
Now is the best time to learn about your dog’s P.O.V. on the Dog Training Inner Circle because understanding this one thing it really is the SECRET to solving any dog problem.
Get all the Dog Training Inner Circle details
here:
All the best,
Eric
Eric Letendre is a professional dog trainer from the United States. For more than 20 years, he has been developing dog training "hacks" that have worked for dog owners all over the world. Eric operates from a home office or a laptop while traveling and draws on his experience and passion for dog training to show others how to develop a dog that is truly “Man’s Best Friend”.
Eric is the author of numerous reports, the E-Book “101 Ways to Hack Your Dog’s Behavior,” “The Amazing Dog Training Man Book,” and produced and stars in his DVD “Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer.”
