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Ten things your dog wants For christmas

12/12/2024

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A big part of pet ownership is figuring out what IS important to spend money on for your pet, and what is NOT important to spend money on. Rarely is this more evident than at Christmas time. The pet stores are all full of Christmas chew bones and stuffed toys to go in your dog's new stocking... but is he going to enjoy his gifts? 

No companies sponsored this blog (yet?), but I want to pass along some experience I've gained after twenty years of working with tens of thousands of dogs.

Forget all the marketing and fancy packaging. Here are ten things that dogs ACTUALLY want at Christmas: 
Picture$15.99 at www.chewy.com
1.  KONG Bamboo Feeder Ball
You really can't go wrong with the KONG brand. Their toys are incredibly well-designed and well-made, and they also donate a lot to local dog charities. Most dog owners are familiar with the little round pyramid rubber toys, but this feeder ball is the one that's most popular around my house. I put dogs' full meal inside the ball and they get to do what comes most naturally to dogs - kick the ball and sniff to find all the food that comes out. It's also dishwasher safe.


Picture$6.49 at Hollywood Feed
2.  Beef Knuckle Bone
​It may not look appetizing to humans, but to dogs it's 
irresistable! Beef knuckle bones are cooked but safe from splintering. They are very long-lasting and even small dogs love gnawing on bones the size of their head. Be sure you're getting beef knuckle bones; pork bones, chicken bones, shin bones, rib bones, kneecaps, etc. are likely to splinter and are more dangerous. 

Picture$6.29-$24.49 at www.happyhowies.com
3. Happy Howie's Meat Rolls
These have been the dog trainer's secret go-to treat for years, but they're not sold in many stores, so most dog owners have never heard of them. Personally, literally every dog I've offered Happy Howie's to LOVES them and I can't say that about any other treat. They're grain free and come in three different varieties so they're good for dogs with allergies too. Pro tip: buy a large roll, invest 15 minutes to dice the whole thing and bag it in a freezer bag, and then store it in the freezer, grabbing a handful or two whenever you need it.


Picture$18-$68 at www.boldleaddesigns.com
4. Leather Leash
Professional trainers collect leashes, and if you ask any of us we probably have at least half a dozen that we like. But the go-to leash for everyday use is almost always a high-quality leather (or vegan leather) leash. A good leather leash will last through several dogs' lifetimes. Most importantly, though, leather is easy to grip and hold. The quality of leather and brahma leashes at Bold Lead Designs is the best in the industry. I recommend no thicker than 1/2" even for large dogs, as thinner leather leashes are easier to grip. Get leather conditioner too to help it soften up faster. 


Picture4-pack $24.99-$37.18 at Amazon
5. Benebone Chews
Dogs love variety in their chews, and Benebone delivers that plus a great taste and texture for chewing. They may look and feel like other chews on the market, but there's something special about Benebones that dogs love. Be sure to rotate chews for your dog so that they seem special and new every time you give him one. 


PictureBoar Bristle Brush, Shedding Blade, and Undercoat Rake.
6. The Right Brush for Your Dog's Coat
​It can be difficult to figure out what brush is best for your dog, but here's one clue: it's probably not a slicker brush. If you can, take your dog to the pet store and try out a few different brushes to figure out what works best. If your dog is a heavy shedder with short hair, try a round shedding blade. If your dog has long hair that sheds or tangles, try an undercoat rake. If your dog has a very smooth short coat, try a boar bristle brush. 

Picture$49.99-$119.99 at Amazon
7. Calming Dog Bed
Usually in dog products, the word "calming" is a gimmick. But in this case, "calming" is unusually accurate. If your dog likes curling up in a cozy blanket, she'll love this bed. Sizes run from 23" to 45" long, but it does seem to be designed mainly with small dogs in mind. 

Picture$69.95-$274.95 at Amazon
8. Orthopedic Dog Bed
If the Calming Dog Bed is designed for small dogs, the Orthopedic Dog Bed is designed for the large dogs. This is perfect for older dogs who might be starting to get stiff joints and need a supportive place to lay. The PetFusion bed also features a waterproof liner and cool fabric for the dogs who love the cold weather. My 60-pound collie used this bed every day for his last six years, and in the end it still showed barely any wear. 


PictureFind on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts
9. Dog Training Podcasts
​Anybody can call themselves a Dog Trainer, and anybody can produce a dog training podcast. These are my favorite ones to listen to on my way to and from lessons:
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  • Madcap Radio
  • Drinking From the Toilet
  • The Bitey End of the Dog
  • Shaped By Dog​

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10. Dog Training Lessons
When training is done right, there's nothing that makes a dog happier, healthier, and more joyful to be around. Training not only teaches dogs a vocabulary of behaviors that make life with humans easier, but it enhances the relationship you have with your dog as well. While you're here on my website, please check out the training that I offer as well as the other blog posts. If you're interested in training but looking for something I don't offer, please read this blog to learn how to identify a reputable trainer for you and your dog:

www.alabamadogacademy.com/training-blog/may-11th-2022


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Don’t teach leave it

1/22/2024

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Most dog owners - even ones who have never trained their own dogs - have in mind a list of behaviors that they think all dogs should know. Sit, lay down, stay, and come when called are usually at the top of that list. Leave It is another core behavior that many trainers teach; it seems important, especially for the service dogs that I train, but it’s one that I almost never teach. And for good reason.

Dogs are inherently curious, and enjoy investigating everything, by touching it or grabbing it in their mouthes. But the human world is covered in things that are dangerous for dogs to touch or mouthe, or that are simply valuable to us. Leave It is often seen as a solution: trainers tell you that you should be able to say Leave It and your dog will stop doing whatever it is he was about to do.

But here’s the trouble with Leave It: it doesn’t tell the dog what *to* do. “Don’t touch that” doesn’t give the dog information about what you want him to do. And it doesn’t give you a specific behavior to reward when he does successfully Leave It. 
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​This is the essence of training: We give the dog a cue. He then does the one specific behavior that cue is asking him to do. When we see him do the behavior, we can reward him with a treat, or even just with petting and praise
Cue -> Behavior -> Consequence
Say “Sit” - the dog puts his tushie on the ground - we tell him “good boy” 

You and your dog will be most successful with training when you follow this formula, as you and the dog both communicate clearly about what you want and what he can do to make you happy. But if we apply this formula to Leave It:

Say “Leave It” - the dog *stops* - is that good enough?

​​Leave It expects the absence of a behavior. And the absence of a behavior can’t easily be rewarded.

And here’s another thing:

Let’s say you’ve trained Leave It and your dog knows what to do when you say Leave It. He knows that if he does the right behavior he will get a reward: attention from you, praise, petting, maybe even a treat. Well, dogs are smart and can figure out that if they want a reward, all they have to do is make you say Leave It. And how do they make you say Leave It? By doing the thing you don’t want them to do in the first place.
If he wants more “good boys,” he will jump on the counter again to make you say Leave It. 

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Jump on counter -> “Leave It” ->
​get off counter and get attention
Who’s training who?
What’s the alternative? Don’t reward when he obeys your Leave It cue? Guess how long he’ll continue obeying your Leave It cue if you stop praising him for doing so?
Instead of training Leave It, there are a couple of better options:

  • Redirect away from behaviors you don’t want the dog to do, and toward behaviors that are better options. For example, if he’s jumping on the counter, instead of saying “no” or “leave it,” call your dog over to you and reward him when he comes to you. This solves the immediate problem of the dog on the counter, but you’re not done yet: now give him something else to do so that he stops thinking about the counter. You can take him outside, give him a chew bone, put him in the crate or on a tether, etc. Then praise him again when he chooses to do that good behavior. ​
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This little guy has learned to stay on his bed in the play room, so that he doesn’t chew the kids’ toys!
  • ​Train Incompatable Behaviors: think ahead to behaviors you want your dog to do that will make it difficult for him to go after a distraction. I like to teach dogs to do a down-stay when I’m in the kitchen, so that I don’t have to worry about them jumping on the counter. I encourage and reward service dogs in public to walk very close to me so that distractions are farther away and less tempting. Eventually the incompatable behaviors become second-nature and the dogs will forget about trying to get the distractions.
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Click here for a demonstration of using the treat as a cue for eye contact!
  • ​​​Use the distraction as a cue for eye contact: This is my favorite way of handling distractions but it does take the most training ahead of time. To start, show your dog a treat in your hand but don’t let him steal it out of your hand. Hold the treat and don’t say anything, just be still and wait and eventually he should look at you in the eyes. As soon as he does, hand him the treat out of your hand and praise him. He will learn that ignoring the treat and looking at you is the best way to get the treat. With practice, dogs can learn to give you eye contact whenever all sorts of distractions are around, which is especially important for service dogs in public! ​

Leave It can work for some dogs in some situations. But if you’ve been frustrated about your dog not obeying when you say “Leave It,” maybe it’s time to look at other training options. 

As always, feel free to contact Elizabeth at any of Alabama Dog Academy’s social media platforms, or click the Contact button below!  
Contact Alabama Dog Academy
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Harper, the canine Advocate

8/8/2023

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​Imagine you’re a child, and a grownup has done something very bad to you. You’re hurt, you’re confused, you’re scared. Then you’re taken to an office where you know you’re going to have to bring up the awful memories again. The grownups at the office are all nice, but you still don’t want to be there.
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Harper brings a tissue.
​Then all of a sudden you look down and see a little fuzzy grey dog trot into the room and light up when she sees you. She jumps up on the couch and licks your hand as you scratch her ears. While you’re waiting for your appointment, she picks a book for you to read. You sniffle as you start thinking about the bad things again and she brings you a tissue.

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Vacation, or boot camp?

5/25/2022

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Click here to see more information about my Board and Train programs
​​Board and Train: Hand your misbehaving dog off to a trainer for a few weeks, and get him back all trained!

In the last year or two, the number of inquiries trainers get about doing Board and Train have skyrocketed. Board and Train is certainly not a new idea; service dogs and police dogs have been trained this way since their inception nearly a hundred years ago. 
​But for a lot of dog owners, it’s difficult to think about your dog being away from you for any period of time. Board and Train is definitely worth it for certain dogs, to improve their quality of life and the quality of their families’ lives; but is it right for YOUR dog?

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Is that a good dog trainer?

5/11/2022

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No doubt you’ve seen drama on social media about disreputable dog trainers. These posts beg the question: How do you find a good dog trainer? How do you know that the trainer has your and your dogs’ best interests in mind and will give you the best training advice?

The fact is, dog training is a completely unregulated business. Literally anyone can print out business cards and make an Instagram page and call themselves a professional dog trainer. There is no required licensing, certifications, or accreditations; there are stricter requirements for dog boarding kennels and breeders than there are for dog trainers. The industry is completely dependent on the “Buyer Beware” philosophy.

Here are some traits that are important in a good dog trainer:
Experience.
Whenever I hear of a trainer, the first thing I do is go to their website. It’s very easy, and sometimes even free, to make a website, so a trainer who doesn’t have a website is probably not experienced enough to be considered. 

The first page I look for on a website is the About the Trainer page. Keep in mind when you need help with your dog, you hire a trainer, so you need to know who that trainer is. Many websites don’t have any information about the trainer, and in those cases I generally would not do business with the company. ​
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Off leash dogs: Good Idea/Bad Idea?

1/11/2022

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If you know me, you probably know by now that my favorite thing to do with my own dogs is to go on a walk. I love the fresh air, sunshine, and exercise; and I love watching my dogs explore the world in their own ways. My dogs walk on leashes, but how tempting it is to unclip the leash and let them run like I know they want to; or to teach them to heel off-leash at my side while we walk down the street. Dog trainers love control, and there’s no better way to feel in control than to train a dog off leash.

So what’s the problem with off leash dog training? ​
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My favorite walking buddy, Keegan.

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my food or yours?

11/18/2019

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Turkey, carrots, peas, sweet potatoes, rice, blueberries, cranberries. Sounds like a great start to Thanksgiving dinner!

Would you believe that this is dog food?

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I Can't Feed my dog People Food!

As a trainer who encourages using treats to train dogs, I often hear that dog owners think they shouldn’t feed “people food” to their dogs. Let’s talk about some of the common misconceptions:

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whose reality is this?

10/16/2019

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Every few years...

...a new reality show about dog training pops up on TV. Personally, I have a love/hate relationship with these shows. On one hand, watching a show about training helps people think more about working with their own dogs; but on the other hand, training can look very different on TV than it is in real life, and people end up with unrealistic expectations of what it’s like to train their dog.
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After watching at least one episode of probably every dog training reality show that’s been aired, here are a few take-aways I hope you keep in mind as you’re watching these shows:

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school's In For Summer!

3/18/2019

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For kids and teachers, the end of the year is quickly approaching! Soon enough they will get out of school and a much-needed summer break from learning.

But for me, the school year is just beginning! It’s time for Continuing Education!


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What do fish have to do with dogs?

1/8/2019

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PictureMy tank setup
For me, this New Year brings… a new pet!
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I recently bought myself a fish tank for a new little betta fish!

As it happens, getting an actual FISH is more complicated than it seems.
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    Elizabeth Morgan specializes in training service dogs as the trainer and owner of Alabama Dog Academy.

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