The Remarkable Bond Between Humans and Dogs

"Dogs Decoded" is a must-see documentary that will have you seeing dogs in a totally new way after you watch it. The film investigates new discoveries in genetics that shed light on the origin of dogs.  The research proves one thing that dog lovers have instinctively known all along—that dogs have an incredible ability to read and respond to human emotions, and the interaction between dog and human results in the release of oxytocin—a hormone related to the bonding between mother and baby—in both the human AND the dog, which tends to lower the blood pressure and reduces stress.  Research indicates that owning a dog just might extend your life.

You can purchase the physical DVD here:

Training Your Dog to Listen to You

Why Won't My Dog Listen To Me?

This is a common question that most first-time Dog owners ask me. Before I answer your question, let me ask you a few instead:

• Do you use cookies, collars, head halters or clickers to make your Dog listen to your commands?

• Do you have to raise your voice every time you want your Dog to listen to you?

• Does your Dog always come or sit on command - anytime and anywhere you want him to?

If your answers are mostly in the negative, its time you seriously reconsider your role as a sincere Dog trainer and an ideal pet parent.

Learn how to bond with your Dog with this free mini course.

Get Your Dog To Listen To You

Before you begin any training, you must first establish yourself as the "ALPHA dog" of your family. Your Dog must know that you’re the leader of the pack and it is YOU who is in charge.

Here is a list of simple DO's and DONT's that you must follow if you want to be the Alpha:

• Always go out or come in through the door first - remember you are the leader;

• Always eat first - give your Dog something to eat only after you've finished your meal;

• Don’t circle around your Dog when he is lying on the floor - make your Dog move out of your way instead;

• Don't let your Dog set the rules - pay attention to him when you think fit and not whenever he demands;

• Don’t permit your Dog to sleep with you in your bed - demarcate his sleeping area clearly.

Once you successfully established yourself as the Alpha, training your Dog and making him listen will be a lot easier than you can imagine. Remember, if your Dog does not learn to "listen", all your training efforts will be in vain!

Does your Dog know his name? Does your Dog look at you whenever you call him by his name? This is the first and the most critical step involved in Dog Training. If your Dog doesn't respond to his name, you cannot have his attention for teaching him any other commands.

To make sure that your Dog recognizes his name, take a treat in your hand and hold it away from your body. Call your Dog's name. He is most likely to look at the treat in your hand. Continue calling his name untill he turns and looks at your eyes. Give him the treat immediately. Repeat this exercise by holding the treat in the other hand. Once you're sure that your Dog has learnt to recognize his name, just call his name and reward him for looking at you by petting or with a hug.

You must understand that Dogs respond far better to positive reinforcement than they do to coercion or force.

Learn how to train your Dog better with this free mini course.

Copyright (c) 2009 TrainPetDog.com

Rico the Rescue Dog

My dad's wife Sharon is amazingly devoted to dog rescue, and she regularly volunteers to try and adopt out dogs who need to find their forever homes.  Inevitably she runs into a doggie that keeps trying week after week to get noticed but then just never catches the eye of any potential new owners.  That's when she gives my dad a look, and he knows that another member of the family will soon be joining their household; I believe the count is now up to nine!  Even though all nine are little dogs about the size of Rico—a Chi-weenie—still... there are NINE of them.  They get pampered with home-made dog food, and you should hear the riot those doggies throw during mealtime!

This little guy named Rico ended up being my favorite, even though our relationship started out with him biting my ankle and drawing a little bit of blood. That's when I first got to my dad's house for a visit, and the first time I had ever met this batch of dogs.  My first thought after that bite was that I would really need to stay away from THAT little guy.  But as Sharon told me about the stories behind all her dogs—some had been abused, some neglected, one had been lost in Katrina—I realized that even "scary" little Rico was really just scared himself.  I stayed really calm, quiet, and patient when I was near Rico, and it didn't take him long to trust me and warm up to me.  In fact, he got quite affectionate with me, often sitting sweetly on my lap like in this photo.

The little barkers next door...

Egads.  I love my neighbor.  It's not that at all.  They have recently gotten two new little dogs who are adorable in pictures only.  In real life they won't leave anything that moves alone without barking incessantly.  This includes us whenever we go outside!  And you would think that maybe they would bark up a little storm when they first see you, and then forget about it, right?  No way!  They come right up to our fence and rabidly bark, bark, bark so loud that we can't even converse to each other on that side of the house.

It's not just us; the neighbors across the street experience it also whenever they set foot out their door.  I would love to find a way to give them a hint on how to train these dogs not to do that.  The doggies are actually really cute if they would just SHUT UP!!!  (Sorry about that.)  We have been using a side door and simply avoiding the entire side of the house that we share with that neighbor, but we would love to take back our yard.  It IS possible to train these little doggies to stop barking like crazy, right?!

Right!  Read below to see how to get a free mini-dog training course that can help with problems like this:

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My pup Yogi

Meet Yogi, my sweet little boy!  We named him that not after Yogi the Bear, but because he seemed so serenely peaceful even as a puppy that we thought he was somewhat yogi-like, as in meditative guru type of dog.  I thought it was odd, because he was still a little pup when we got him, but he had been neglected—left alone outside all day tied to a tree—so I thought maybe that had made him a more serious puppy.  But soon after he first came to us, he started showing his goofy, playful side. It was nice to see that there was still a playful pup inside!

Technically we rescued him, but Yogi has done his share of rescuing.  When I was going through deep grief over the loss of a loved one, Yogi was so comforting to me.  He is a great hugger.  He seemed to know when I needed his warm closeness; he would gently come to my side whenever I cried or felt overwhelming sadness.  It was always a much-needed thread of compassion that Yogi eagerly provided, like a wise old soul.

He is the life of the party when we go to the dog park.  Even my goat Iggy likes hanging out with Yogi.  Our cat Pepsi loves Yogi as long as he demonstrates the proper respect due to her since she is the elder pet.  Pepsi still hasn't forgotten the dog we had before Yogi, our beloved Golden Retriever Carmen; in that relationship, Pepsi was the young one, and it is a completely different dynamic than the way it is with Yogi.  I'll have to talk about Carmen in another post, and then of course I would need to talk about Bamboo and Star who both came before all dogs in my life; they were the first two dogs I ever owned.

Ah, the beautiful, loving dogs I've known and loved...