Positively | Victoria Stilwell | Forum

If you're feeding raw, the dogs are eating meat AND bone, just as they would do in the wild. The bone serves as the hard chewing the dogs need to keep their teeth healthy. Although I do not feed raw myself, most of the people I know who have say that their dogs' teeth are cleaner on a raw diet than ...

Very similar, but not the same. Both headcollars, made by two different companies. Some will also say that you can use the halti to pull the dog's mouth closed when you're walking if he/she has a tendency to pick things up off the ground. If you're looking for a headcollar to deal with pulling, Gent...

One thing that has worked for me, is that as I call his name, I walk in the opposite direction (away from him, not towards him.) That has usually been enough to get him to follow me instead of whatever he has been distracted by.

Hi, Mocha's Mom! My trainer suggested that we might want to try the Anxiety Wrap with Rusty, but I've seen a lot of improvement in just a few days so I'm going to wait. She had good things to say about it, though.

One technique my trainer suggested for use with my scaredy dog is this - when you come across an object in the street that makes him stop and bark, make fun of it. I have my dog on an extendable lead, so he can stay behind while I walk up to the object. Then I'll do something silly like knock on it ...

I just wanted to come in and say thank you to all of you who have offered advice here on the forums. Rusty and I had our first appointment today with a trainer I found on the APDT website, and all I can say is WOW! Although she told me that her first lessons are usually 3 hours (regular lessons are ...

It might also help if you keep track of when they DO poo for the next several days. Chances are you will find a pattern.

My 2 YO JRT/Shiba mix, Rusty, can be a bit of a scaredy dog. Recently, he's been balking at walking up our side of the street when it's dark out. (Best I can tell, it is the motion-sensor light on the house 2 doors up that spooks him. He will walk there fine when it is daylight out.) Any coaxing on ...

I don't know about that - the belly band appears to sit right behind the front legs, which could cause chafing. Of course, if you will only have it on for walks, that shouldn't be a major issue, but if you intend to leave it on all day (or all the time) that's another story. Personally, I use the Co...

I don't know where you are located, but are there any day care situations in a boarding kennel facility? I know here in the states we have quite a few kennels that offer daycare as well. I actually bring my Rusty to the local Petsmart, which has a PetsHotel. They have what they call "day camp,&...

Mattie, the situation isn't exactly a rescue situation. This is the local animal control/humane society. By law, they are required to take all comers, as well as picking up strays, rescuing dogs from abusive situations, etc. It would be great if there were true rescue organizations - those who can l...

This isn't really a question - although I will gladly receive any feedback - it's more a sharing of some observations that I hope might help someone else. Rusty and I have recently moved into our own home from a rental. I was noticing that he has been more stressed/reactive than he was before. While...

Fundog - the reason that the evaluators do that type of testing is plain and simple - they don't want to be liable for a dog that bites its owner (or someone else) because it is guarding its food. They know - like you've admitted - that people are stupid and stubborn. They insist on doing things tha...

Petsmart would be better to use part of their pet hotel to have the classes be a bit more isolated from the rest of the store, but see back at the promotion comment. The new Petsmart in our area - the one that has a PetsHotel - DOES use an enclosed room in that area for the training. True, a lot of...

I had a lhasa that would forget his housetraining when he was fed something he was allergic too, so I don't think it's necessarily a huge leap to think a certain type of food could be connected to the dog needing to go out at night. And since the first ingredient in many (perhaps most) canned foods ...