Ian Dunbar's Blog, page 3

Why Purchase a Puppy that is NOT Housetrained?

I’ve raised a few puppies in my time and it has always puzzled me why anyone would want to purchase a puppy that hasn’t already been housetrained, especially since house soiling and other behavior problems, such as excessive barking and destructive chewing, are a major source of frustration for new owners. Most kennel-bred puppies are allowed to eliminate anywhere and everywhere, chew anything and everything, bark at will and run around uncontrolled, which of course, is exactly what they’ll do in their new homes. Consequently, far too many eight-week-old puppies already have behavior...

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puppy training
house training
dr. ian dunbar

Why Don’t We Adequately Socialize Young Puppies With People?

Dogs may be taught manners and basic obedience at anytime in their lives. However, training puppies is just so much fun and so, why wait? Similarly, behavior problems may be resolved at any time in a dog’s life but of course, they are annoying and frustrating for owners and so, why not teach good habits from the outset? Temperament problems, however, must be prevented during early puppyhood because rehabilitating adult dogs is complicated and extremely time-consuming. For example, whereas It takes just a few days, or a week at the most, to resolve incipient signs of shyness, fearfulness,...

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puppy socialization
dr. ian dunbar
sirius puppy training

Housebreaking Tips: Does rubbing a dog's nose in it's mess teach a dog where to eliminate?

I received a question today from one of my Udemy SIRIUS® Academy students: “What do you say when a client tells you, in regards to puppy housebreaking, "Well I rubbed my dog's nose in his poop and he knew he was wrong and he never pooped in the house again."

 

Well, let's start with what we know. We know the client rubbed the dog's nose in the poop and if we believe the client, (which, by the way, I don't), the dog never had a housebreaking accident again. However, we don’t know that the dog "knew he was wrong". (We don't even know what our spouse, another human being, is thinking and so,...

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housebreaking
housetraining
puppy training
Ian Dunbar

Jamie's amazing Universe Verse Book - Get it now for free!

I love science, especially the behavioral sciences. That’s why I couldn’t be happier to announce that my baby boy, Jamie, has finished his epic ode to science, a project he’s been working on for over 7 years! 

Of course Jamie is the James in James & Kenneth and along with Kelly and I, he is an integral part in keeping Dog Star Daily, James & Kenneth Publishers & SIRIUS Puppy Training all running smoothly.  On top of his many roles and responsibilities working with us in the doggy world he’s found time to moonlight as a educational comic book author and illustrator.

The project he...

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science
comic book
evolution
children
illustrated
dunbar
geek
kickstarter
rhyming
secular
graphic
big history

10 Tips For Current and Future Puppy Owners That Want to Train the Perfect Dog

For a limited time you can use the promo code "10tips" to save 50% on Dr. Ian Dunbar's comprehensive Online Course How To Train a Puppy

General Dog Training Tips
1. Choose Wisely When Selecting Your Future Pup

Whether selecting your prospective pup from a professional breeder or from a family breeding a litter for the very first time, the criteria are the same. Look for puppies raised indoors around human companionship and influence—specifically around people who have devoted lots of time to the puppies' education.

2. Future Problems Result from Early, Non-Corrected Problems

Digging,
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Ian Dunbar
tips for puppy owners
dog training
new puppy

A workshop with Ian Dunbar: Solving "impossible" off-leash, real-life behavior problems, real-time.

In this vlog post Ian Dunbar describes one of his latest workhops and what he most enjoys about teaching people and dogs in this format. He loves bringing "impossible" problem behaviors into the workhop and resolving them in real time. He teaches handlers how to quanitfy progress, test reliability, and improve performace vastly. This put the responsibility of reliability and performance on the handler and on training, rather than on the dog. Far too many dogs are being punished in the name of training or due to disobedience, when the fault actually lies within the teaching process. 

Pet Food and Canine Nutrition: Best Brands

I just read the Independent Pet Food Nutrition Research Study by John Martinez based on a modification to Goldstein’s Wellness & Longevity Program — Natural Care for Dogs & Cats.

245 pet foods were scored according to quality of protein, fats and carbohydrate (whole grain and grain-free), absence of additives & preservatives, with a premium based on uncooked foods and vitamins, presence of phytonutrients, antioxidants, probiotics, prebiotics and lecithin and absence of non-beneficial nutrients to help reduce gas and form stool. (Obviously, with a good diet, dogs have good-looking...

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pet food
canine nutrition
best brands
dog food
dunbar

Puppy Classes And Canine Parvovirus

I have just read a paper in the March/April issue of the Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association describing a study that concluded, puppies vaccinated at least once prior to starting puppy classes at less than 16 weeks of age were at no more risk of being diagnosed with Canine Parvovirus infection than vaccinated puppies that did not attend classes.

The study comprised two parts:

1. A total of 21 veterinary clinics were selected from both low- and high-income zones in four cities with different seasonal patterns (Atlanta GA, Chicago IL, Phoenix AZ and Seattle WA). Data were...

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puppy classes
canine parvovirus
dr. ian dunbar

He Won't Sit Still for a Second: Quantifying Success in Dog Training

Years ago after a puppy class, a frustrated owner (of a Jack Russell Terrier) complained that her puppy wouldn’t sit still for a second. I got out my stopwatch and checked. She was quite correct; the puppy only sat for 0.2 of a second. I wrote the number on a sheet of paper and stuck it on the wall. On the fourth trial though, the JRT proved her wrong and sat for 1.2 seconds. I wrote the dog’s new personal best on the sheet of paper. Baby steps? Yes. But because we objectively quantified the dog’s performance, we realized that these baby steps reflected a 600% improvement. I explained to...

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dog training
quantifying
dr. ian dunbar
sit
Jack Russell Terriers

My Call To Action

I've got a plan to help keep puppies from ever become shelter dogs in the first place. But I need your help to make it happen. In this vlog I explain how The SIRIUS Puppy Initiative works.