An Easy Pill to Swallow: Training Dogs to Take Pills the Easy Way

from "How To Live With A Calculating Cat"
This entry is part 1 of 4 in the series An Easy Pill to Swallow

There’s a fabulous cartoon series on how to get a cat to swallow a pill, in which the feckless humans tried to plead with the cat,  ratchet the defiant jaws open, disguise the pill in delicious food, etc., all without success.* I have to give the dogs pills occasionally, and… Continue reading

Bitework doesn’t reduce bite inhibition — how annoying!

Have you ever tried to train against a taboo? There are some who oppose all forms of trained protection sport and protection work, citing variously that the training is inherently abusive (it’s not), or that the dogs dislike it (obviously untrue!).  Occasionally a protester will suggest that biting a person… Continue reading

Forget Fifth Graders… Is Your Dog Smarter Than A Crab?

Is your dog smarter than a hermit crab?

I recently had someone tell me, “Clicker training works for your dogs, but my dog is too stupid to learn. She can’t even figure out how to walk down the stairs; there’s no way she could learn to do tricks. She’s just dumb.” Think your dog isn’t bright enough to… Continue reading