Helpful Hazel Shuts the Door: Teaching An Old Dog Trainer New Tricks
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Why Socialization Is Like A Video Game
With a name like Level Up Dog Training, you knew we’d start making nerdy video game references eventually, right? But we’re also talking about puppy training! Specifically, we’re going to talk about how a puppy’s critical socialization period works like a video game and why that matters to you, New Puppy Parent. Why Socialization Is
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101 Things: Thinking Outside of the Box
So You Want To Learn About Shaping If you ask a dog training group how to get started with shaping as a training method, you can nearly guarantee that one of the first comments will be a suggestion to play 101 Things To Do With A Box. There’s a pretty good chance that a similar
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The Future Is Bright: Level Up’s Newest Addition
I have been keeping a secret. And like all the best secrets, this one has four legs! On paper, my limit is three dogs. I have been planning to add the third dog in 2017 for several years. I knew what temperament I wanted in the puppy, but I just couldn’t find the right match
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Why “Perfect” Service Dog Puppies Can Be A Red Flag
People who are training their own service dogs are under an extraordinary amount of pressure from day one. In addition to the baseline difficulties caused by our disabilities, we have also taken responsibility for the two-year process of painstakingly transforming a tiny infant mammal of another species (who doesn’t understand English and thinks cat poop
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Adolescent Dogs Are Like Teenage Humans
In the dog training community, the common wisdom about adolescent dogs goes something like this: “Adolescent dogs are like teenagers. You wake up one day and your sweet, obedient puppy is suddenly pulling an attitude with you and ‘giving you the paw’. They’ve shredded half the house, they don’t listen to your commands and they’re
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Foster Dog Marketing, Part 1: Adoption Events
I took a one-year sabbatical from dog training in 2014 to volunteer with a rescue group. I spent a lot of time at adoption events that year. In addition to the one or two events a week hosted by the rescue group, I was also taking my foster dog du jour out on the town
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The Dunning-Kruger Valley: Why Inexperienced Trainers Escalate
The Trajectory of Dog Training Over the past hundred years, dog training has experienced a renaissance. As we have learned more about dog behavior and tested applications of learning theory, the needle has slowly swung away from dominance-minded, correction-focused dog training methods and toward well-planned positive training. We have moved from ear-pinching to clicker
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5 New Years Resolution Tips From A Dog Trainer
Want your New Year’s resolutions to stick? Just think like a dog trainer! 1. Start small. Most people set very ambitious New Year’s resolutions — run a marathon, learn a new language, start a business or live debt-free. While these are great goals, they’re also overwhelming! Instead of looking at the whole end goal, try breaking it
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Improvisation in Dog Training: Lucas’s Service Dog Tuck
One of the most undervalued must-haves in a dog trainer is the ability to improvise effectively. Almost anyone can follow a recipe to get a basic behavior. If it’s a good recipe, even a novice dog trainer will be successful a reasonable amount of the time. But what really separates the wheat from the chaff is what
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