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Hard Dogs Versus Soft Dogs

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This Article was originally published in Dog World Magazine Below is my "unedited" version.    More information soft dogs is available in the book  Rescue Your Dog from Fear   Hard Dogs Versus Soft Dogs Arwin was a very reserved dog.  Under Rick's guidance she began her herding education.  That training also helped build needed confidence in the dog.               Abby watches people from her crate, leery. She doesn’t trust them. Human actions, their demeanor, is something her mind doesn’t naturally process. Rick Hardin takes her out of her crate and you wouldn’t believe this is the same dog. Abby responds well to him. They work sheep together and her bold, championship performance leaves you expecting this dog has no reservations about anything. Abby is what Rick calls a soft dog. Through specialized training Abby has learned to feel comfortable working with Rick, even though by nature, this dog has a communication problem with the human species.            Like most eve
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Adding Power to the Premack Principle

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  Adding Power to the Premack Principle was originally published in Chronicle of the Dog's Winter issue 2023 and is presented here with permission of the editor of the magazine,  Devon Hubbard Sorlie. Do you recognize the dog in the picture below? This was the dog known as Eddie in the sitcom Frasier. A lot of people loved the dog's antic in the show. For this dog to successfully be in this series, he needed to be well trained. How ironic that his original owner gave the dog up for adoption because of the dog's extreme bad behavior. And guess what, there was no treat the original owners could offer to get the dog to comply. This article gives insight to trainers who have difficult dog to reform.   Training comment: Not all of the discussion I had with Eddie/Moose's trainer are contained in this article. There is however one question I asked Mashilde years ago and I remember her answer.  I asked how she got "Eddie" to stick out the end of his tongue when sittin
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Calming Signals That Work

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 This is my unedited copy of the first article I wrote on Calming signals. The original was published many years ago in AKC Gazette. The information truly stands the test of time. Picture courtesy of Ken Gee Photography Calming Signals That Work  Before an agility run, I was talking to Kelly Misegadis, owner of five-year-old AKC, NADAC and USDAA champion Boston Terrier, Hoosier (MACH, Hoosier Hamburger Padees- CD, CGC MAD), Elite Versatility. Suddenly, Hoosier began what Kelly later described as a reverse sneeze. Instead of blowing air out, the Boston Terrier began to snort air inward in short, rapid, and inefficient breaths. There was no missing the panic in Hoosier’s eyes as the dog suffered the equivalent of having the breath knocked out of him. Although I had no idea what precipitated this attack, I knew without a doubt, the dog could not run agility in that state.  Kelly went right into action. She moved to the front of her dog and focused his attention. “Get it together,” she sai
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