Bully Sticks

Getting your dog to heal

Here’s a quick and easy way to teach your dog to “Heal”. Don’t forget to give your pooch plenty of praise and a nice healthy all natural dog treat when he gets it right.

Teaching your dog about stairs…

Going up and down stairs with an excited dog can be a very dangerous situation. Your dog needs to know the rules when it comes to stairs.

• Never let your dog go first - The Alpha Dog (human) always goes first on stairs and through doorways. If your dog goes first, he will be under the mistaken impression that he is the Leader.
• It’s easy for a dog to pull you down or up the stairs, causing injury
• Never let your dog run up or down the stairs

Watch this short video to learn how to approach stairs with your dog and of course remember to reward him with an all natural dog treat when he gets it right.

Positive “Dog” training?

There’s something “weird” about the dog in this video but I think it proves that by using all natural dog treats, you can train any “dog” to do tricks.

I hope Kizzy motivates you to train your pup… after all, we have a reputation to protect…

David Letterman’s Stupid Pet Tricks

Watch this video and see the power of positive training in action. The second dog is completely focused on his handler and feels secure. His handler uses her voice along with some all natural dog treats to keep his attention. The first dog is frightened and easily distracted by the music and audience.

If you take the time to be “top dog” in your dogs eyes, he/she will be much happier, feel more secure and will be a joy to be around.

Super Intelligent Dogs

My dog, Bonkers is not the brightest of animals… in reality, he’s as dumb as toast. But, I love him anyway.

Like humans, dogs come in a variety of gray matter. Some breeds tend to produce smarter dogs than others, and even within the breeds themselves, some lineages seem to produce smarter dogs.

There have been lots of studies on the intelligence of dogs with differing conclusions. My guess is that the reason it’s so difficult to determine the intelligence of dogs is that each individual dog is unique. It could also be that some dogs are smart enough not to “perform” for the researchers.  Other dogs will only “perform” on cue for dog bones.
I’ve seen a lot of smart dogs and a lot of performing dogs but the dog in this video, Skidboot seems to be way smarter then the average dog. You can almost see him thinking as he waits for the proper word.

I also think it’s interesting that in the beginning his owner was considering getting rid of him because he got into so much mischief. Smart dogs, like smart kids, do tend to find their way into trouble when they get bored.

If learning to “Come” when called is the first thing you need to teach your dog, then it would logically follow that learning to “Stay” would be the second.

I like to break this command into two sections, the Stay as in the stay where you are, and the AAATTT, as in freeze buster… don’t move a muscle. Both are equally important.

The Stay command takes patience and repetition to perfect and you need to take your dog’s attention span into consideration.

• Place your dog on the floor directly in front of you….make sure you have his attention.
• Hold your hand up in the stop position and say sternly…”staaaay”.
• Take a step backwards… If your pet moves, place him in the same spot and repeat the command
• Once you can take several steps backwards without your pet moving, use the “come” command and give him a treat.
• Increase the distance daily until you can leave the room without your puppy moving off the spot.

The AAATTT command is similar to the growl that momma dog gives her pups to keep them in line. It should sound like a growl and will get your pups immediate attention. Use it to set boundaries and to keep you dog from harm. A dog trained to respond to this command can be saved from running into oncoming traffic or eating something dangerous. Once you have your dogs attention then you can use the “Come” or “Stay” commands.
Using a combination of praise, attention, all natural dog treats and voice tone is an excellent way to communicate your requests to your pet.