The only thing better than watching a dog do a happy dance is watching a recently rescued shelter dog doing a happy dance. This is our new addition, Miss Emilie. I adopted her from a shelter a month ago, and here is a comparison of her shelter photo and her photo now. When she arrived, she was still drying up from the litter of puppies she’d been nursing. God only knows where those puppies are now. Miss Emilie was exhausted {Read More}
Dogs Air Caching
April 27, 2017 By
Take a look at this one-second video. What do you think is happening? In an instant, it looks as if Emilie the Dobermann is done with her toy and pushing it off the dog couch. She looks a little sassy, doesn’t she? But that’s looking through the human-centric lens. What is really happening is a misfire in Emilie’s innate behavior. That behavior is caching, or burying, usually food, to dig up at a later date when hungry. When Dobermann Emilie {Read More}
Impulse Control Training
April 25, 2017 By
I love my board-and-train clients. Everyone of them brings a unique personality, special interests, and challenges to their training program. I see similiarities within breeds and differences from dog-to-dog. I’ve yet to meet a Labrador Retriever, for example, who would turn her back on a ball or interesting toy. What’s interesting in a toy depends on them! Then there are dogs whose interest in toys is dilute. With that said, the training games I use to help each dog learn {Read More}
Egg Hunt For Dogs
April 16, 2017 By
They aren’t eggs, but accroding to both our residet and board-and-train dogs, they are better. They are pieces of homemade tuna fudge and a few Charlee Bear crackers (dog equivalent to oyster crackers) that were placed around a portion of the Outsmarting Dogs’ grounds for a Sunday afternoon springtime egg hunt. The dogs had fun using their noses to find the goodies and because they are non-food aggressive, and are dog-dog friendly, the game was a big success. We love {Read More}
Charging a Marker – Clicker Training
April 1, 2017 By
A marker, in dog training, is communication to your dog at the instant your dog offers the behavior you wanted. By using a marker, you are telling the dog, “Yes! Right there! That’s the behavior I want!” So it’s a very specific moment, an instant in a chain of action that we want to communicate to the dog, “You’re getting a food reward for THAT.” Markers, therefore, and not used for broad type behaviors like calling a dog. No. They {Read More}
Two Training Questions Every Dog Asks
March 23, 2017 By
When training a dog using motivation and reinforcement what two one-word questions do you think your dog will be thinking? I’ll give you a clue. They start with W. Why and What. If your dog were to talk, those would easily be his two one-word questions to you whenever you go to train. And the answers are the trainers responsibility and so is the success of a dog training session. So be sure you know the answers before you partner {Read More}
Come When Called
March 9, 2017 By
The majority of dogs who come through the Outsmarting Dogs’ board-and-train program need a recall behavior installed into their behavior repertoire. The owners of these pups often tell me how their dogs take off for fun and games when they’re called instead of obeying the cue and coming when called. Playing the chase-me game is great fun and very rewarding for the dog, but most owners are not amused when the game is out of context. We’re living in a {Read More}
Driving With Dogs In The Car
February 25, 2017 By
If you are driving with your dog, it’s important that your dog doesn’t interfere with your concentration. Use either a seat belt for your dog,or if your dog is small enough, use a crate. When your dog’s in a crate, he can have a water bucket, so if thirsty, can get a drink. Keeping water available for your dog is important. And so is distraction-free driving. Deputy Dave Passmore in this news report and video from KSL in Utah was {Read More}
Puppy Grooming Training
February 18, 2017 By
When a puppy is going to face a lifetime of grooming, it’s good to get started with safe and tasty grooming experiences as soon as possible. This is Cameron, our 13-week-old Cockapoo board-and-train client who’s in our puppy training program for Housetraining Plus. The plus part includes being in our puppy STAR program, which is an AKC designation and a good precursor to the Canine Good Citizen, which besides being a therapy dog, is another of Cameron’s goals. He’s got {Read More}
Cockapoo Puppy with Zoomies
February 6, 2017 By
Cockapoo Puppy Cameron's Zoomies from Helen Verte Schwarzmann, CTC on Vimeo. Outsmarting Dogs 12-week-old puppy client, Cameron, has the zoomies around his 10-year-old Poodle friend, Sammie. Cameron is getting a lot of time socializing with other dogs, people, and the great big world. We love our board-and-trains. outsmartingdogs.com Helen Verte Schwarzmann Contact me Certified in Training and Counseling Certified Pet Dog Trainer-Knowledge Assessed Certified Trick Dog Instructor AKC Canine Good Citizen/CGC and STAR Puppy Trainer and Evaluator Your Board-and-Train Dog {Read More}
