Phil brought the cake!

Celebrate your dog's big day with a cake from Three Dog Bakery San Clemente.

Pets Rule at SeaWorld San Diego!

The Pet's Rule show at SeaWord is a "don't miss" attraction.   Next time you go be sure to catch it.  The pets are trained using the same positive reinforcement methods they use to train the whales and dolphins.  Positive Reinforcement rules!

Upcoming Classes in January

I have several new classes starting soon.  My very next one is a Puppy Class this Thursday, January 14 at 8pm.  I have another Puppy Class Tuesday, January 19 at 7pm.  I've also scheduled an Intermediate class to start Thursday, January 21 at 6pm. 
Here are more available times:
Puppy Class Friday, January 22 at 1pm
Beginner Class Saturday, January 23 at 4pm
Beginner Class Wednesday, January 27 at 5pm
Intermediate Class Friday, January 29 at 11am
Advanced Class Saturday, January 30 at 1pm

There are more times available, call (949) 443 5336 for information.

As seen on MSNBC: Shelter dogs make great pets!

Check out this great video about a marine mammal trainer that also trains shelter dogs. This trainer uses the same techniques he uses to train dolphins for shows to train dogs to make them more adoptable. Any of those tricks look familiar?

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Make Positive Training Work for You

Here are some steps to take for successful positive training.
I do positive reinforcement training in my classes. It isn't the only way to train, but I do know that it works the best for the most dogs. These are just a few tips to make positive training work for you.

1. Create an environment where your dog can make fewer mistakes. For example put your shoes away, place the garbage in a safe place, and keep a dog that is not housebroken off of carpeted floors.
2. Supervise your dog fully so you can not only prevent mistakes but also catch your doing something right like making eye contact, or playing with its own toys or lying calmly in its crate. Often we spend so much time interacting with our dogs when they are misbehaving, that they learn those behaviors are the best way to get our attention (even if it’s bad attention) and continue to do them.
3. Ignore bad behavior or at least don’t inadvertently reinforce it. If your dog is doing attention seeking behaviors like jumping or barking at you, it is best to ignore those behaviors. A dog won’t waste its energy doing something that doesn’t get it anything.
4. Provide consequences to your dog’s behavior. This is how your dog learns what to do. Behaviors that are rewarded will be repeated. That doesn’t just mean behaviors you are training but everything your dog does to get what it wants. For example the first time your dog pulls something off the countertop that behavior has been rewarded and is highly likely to be repeated. If your dog can provide its own good consequences, it is less likely to look to you for rewards. Your dog may blow you off instead of trying to meet your impossibly high expectations.
5. Establish which things motivate your dog to use as rewards, then, control your dog’s access to those things. The two most obvious examples are food and your attention but toys, walks and even sniffing can be considered motivators for which you can and should control dog’s access.
6. Keep your training sessions short and successful. It takes several repetitions for your dog to learn something, but those repetitions don’t have to be all in one session.
7. Train new behaviors initially in a minimally distracting location, then practice in as many different locations as you can. Keep in mind that in early stages of training, whenever you change locations, you may need to lower your expectations until your dog clearly understands your instructions apply no matter what your surroundings are.
8. Be very clear and consistent with your cues and your expectations. It is fine to have high expectations just keep in mind you need to take baby steps to reach them.
9. Don’t only tell your dog what not to do; you must also provide an appropriate alternative behavior, especially for compulsive behaviors like chewing. You can tell a dog not to chew on a chair leg, but unless you provide an acceptable chew thing, the dog will probably just move on to the table leg and so on.
10. Until your dog is doing something perfectly, you are still training that behavior. Training is a lifelong process.