dog training.

Ben Westhoff Each week, Ben Westhoff shares the ups and downs of owning Pippi, the Dalmatian mix he and his wife, Anna, adopted as a puppy in late 2009. Last night, in the midst of the most brutal rainstorm of the season so far, Anna took Pippi out to do her business. They were out only for a minute or two, but in between going No. 1 and getting drenched to the bone, Pippi sniffed something on the ground and promptly began devouring it. Anna wrenched the item from her mouth, but then she picked up something else and successfully wolfed it down. Whether these were bits of some old pizza, bagel or shoelace, we'll never know. If you have a dog, you've surely experienced situations where your ...

Andrew MacKinnon, Flickr Meet Mary Burch, American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen director and Paw Nation's expert columnist addressing your questions on animal behavior. Dr. Burch has more than 25 years of experience working with dogs, and she is one of fewer than 50 Certified Applied Animal Behaviorists based in the United States. She is the author of 10 books, including the new official book on the AKC Canine Good Citizen Program, "Citizen Canine: 10 Essential Skills Every Well-Mannered Dog Should Know." Q: Why do my two dogs stand face to face and just bark at each other? It's like these two little ones are having a bark off. What are they thinking? A: If you can hear me over the ...

Ben Westhoff Each week, Ben Westhoff shares the ups and downs of owning Pippi, the dalmatian mix he and his wife, Anna, adopted as a puppy in late 2009. The reasons dogs jump on people is simple -- they want to be face to face with us. It makes sense; heck, if my head naturally sat 18 inches off the ground I would get tired of it, too. But it's also not something you want your dog to do. Even if you don't mind her jumping up on you, it sets a bad precedent for other people. Not everyone is a dog lover, and even those who are can be put off by a 50-pound wiggle worm getting up in their business. We wrote last year about a woman whom Pippi annoyed after jumping up on her collarbone. You ...

Angela Lloyd and Westminster Best in Show winner Hickory. Credit: Larry Kay It's not just the Westminster Best in Show 2011 winner, who thrives under praise. Paw Nation interviewed more than two dozen Westminster Dog Show handlers, owners and officials and found that every one we spoke with uses positive reinforcement dog training, in which praise is emphasized and bad behavior is mostly ignored. The biggest name in the dog world right now, Scottish deerhound Hickory, is busy taking in the adoration and good wishes of not just the fans at the Westminster Dog Show but animal lovers all over the world. Fortunately, she's had good training for all the attention from the likes of Martha ...

Best friends Hollie and Rudi. Kristen Seymour Meet Mary Burch, American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen director and Paw Nation's expert columnist addressing your questions on animal behavior. Dr. Burch has more than 25 years of experience working with dogs, and she is one of fewer than 50 Certified Applied Animal Behaviorists based in the United States. She is the author of 10 books, including the new official book on the AKC Canine Good Citizen Program, "Citizen Canine: 10 Essential Skills Every Well-Mannered Dog Should Know." I have two dogs. Hollie is 1.5 years and Rudi is 3.5 yrs. Although Hollie is generally self-assured, when we try to leave the house with just Rudi, Hollie barks ...

January is National Train Your Dog Month, a campaign started last year by the Association of Pet Dog Trainers to promote the importance and benefits of positive, gentle training methods. Even if your dog isn't ready for an agility championship competition, you can still teach him a few tricks this month by using his favorite reward -- treats! To help get you started, our friends at Zootoo rounded up their top picks for training treats that will get your pooch to sit, stay and roll over for more. Freshpet For a top-quality training treat with an A-plus ingredient list, try Dognation Treats, part of the line of products from Freshpet. Entirely preservative free, Dognation's formula ...