Posts by Jim

Q. I have a dog that about goes through the door when someone walks by,comes to the porch, etc. He stops barking if I say “no bark” but how can I get him to not have such a reaction? I see other dogs that just lie quietly by the door and watch us walk by,…

Q. Most people don’t believe in feeding their dogs table scraps, but if I have left over fish skin (non seasoned) or roasted veggies, then I do put these into the dog’s bowl? Is that terrible? A. Contrary to what we were all taught, table food can be a great way to add variety to…

Q. How do I know if my dog is sensitive to certain things like wheat and corn? If he seems fine, do I need to pay attention to that or can I get dog food and treats that are cheaper? Also, does organic matter when it comes to feeding my dog? A. The most common…

Q. My yellow lab’s barking is too much! How do I train her to alert us to activity with a bark, but not an ongoing one? A. While we all want our dogs to bark to alert us of someone or something, as you indicated, that is one reason why we might have a dog…

Q. I don’t mind the dog jumping on me when I walk in the door, but my wife says if I let the dog jump on me then it is hard to teach her to not jump on anyone else. Do we have to be consistent either “no jump” or just let her jump on…

Q. Is it ever too late to put my dog in a training class? A. Simply – No! It is never too late to do training! Obviously young puppies greatly benefit from training. It provides rules, boundaries and discipline whereby a puppy can grow up into a confident, well adjusted dog. Training teaches dogs how…

Q. Do dogs feel stressed at the holidays like people? A. Dogs certainly can feel stressed at the holidays. But they obviously don’t stress for the same reasons we stress. What our canine companions can stress from is our reactions to the busy season. We all have so much more to do; shopping, entertaining, wrapping,…