Recent content by CreatureTeacher

There's more yet! Had to actually train today, so I didn't have much time for writing about it. :)

I don't know if I have quite enough for a book. Maybe in another few years!

Training dogs has taught me a lot about myself. I never counted patience among my virtues, but I have discovered a boundless patience for dogs, and an ability to extend it to those humans who love them. I have found that I fall desperately in love with my clients’ dogs more often than not...

Trixy and Peaches were litter-mates, prim little maltese-poodle mixes with cream-colored fur and big brown eyes. They were cute as buttons. Andy and Lila were chiropractors, well-off and very busy. They had gotten tired of listening to Trixy and Peaches’ barking. When I arrived, it was...

Annie weighed less than a pineapple. Her parents, Steph and Robert, threw her a “birthday†party when she reached two pounds, and that was the weight she kept. She was a yorkie-maltese mix, and remains to this day the smallest dog I’ve ever trained. We were doing a straight obedience...

When I first spoke to Caroline on the phone, I knew we had a problem on our hands. Two problems, to be precise, named Delilah and Bodhi. I could hear perpetual barking in the background. Even though it was early spring and chilly, Caroline explained that she had gone into the backyard to call...

Sammy the German Shepherd was a neurotic mess. His solution to his problems was to circle the dining room table. Always counter-clockwise, always to his left, always in the same path. He had literally worn a hole in the carpet around the table. The claws on his left legs were notably shorter...

Thanks, everyone! I'm finding it surprisingly cathartic writing them out. They've been in my head so long, it didn't occur to me to write about them until my hubby suggested it. I've got loads more. I'll keep them coming.

I was hired once to teach a dog not to wag his tail. Lewis was a three-year-old greyhound, rescued by Pam in Fort Collins. He was big for a greyhound, with a beautiful red brindle coat. He looked like a predator that should’ve been out hunting the savannah, but like every greyhound I’ve...

I started writing down some of my favorite training experiences, and thought some folks here would get a kick out of them. :-) This is the first. First up is Otto, a black standard poodle from 2004 in LaPorte (northwest of Ft. Collins). Otto's mom called me out of concern for his...

I dunno...I haven't heard of them before, which gives me pause. Looking at their website, I don't see much wrong with their program in theory. Would you be willing to travel to their campuses in North Carolina or Puerto Rico? What really makes me hesitate is that they want $500 up front for...

Oof. I can't wait until that nonsense goes the way of bloodletting and humour imbalance.

I'm suspicious of the training methods from a company called "K9 Control". Sad. Calling a breed "state of the art performance breed" really undermines the individual animal, too. Dogs aren't cars. They're living, feeling animals, for chrissake. People looking to control their state of the...

Haha! That is too cute! I second the sombrero idea!

My mother has this same problem. She has an Anatolian shepherd that guards her chickens (the dog appointed herself to this position; but hey, she hasn't lost any chickens to buzzards since!). Some female Anatolians have a really hard time keeping weight on. The vets don't know why, but it's a...