by Anne-Marie Mayes When you adopt two dogs at the same time or very close together, your vet or dog trainer may mention "Littermate Syndrome" even if they are not actually littermates. This topic hasn't been studied very much but this article is based on my experience as well as the experience of other trainers and veterinarians I have worked with. When someone adopts 2 dogs at one time they usually believe the dogs will play, entertain, and exercise each other. They may als

by Anne-Marie Mayes One goal in my training career has been to educate people about dogs and how to co-exist with your dog in our society. All it takes is for one oversight or one dog shows reactive behaviour and all dogs are affected. For example if one dog lunges at a person in a dog-friendly store, they stop allowing dogs altogether. I believe that owners need to understand their dog's behaviour and be held accountable. I want dogs to become more included in our society

In the past I have written articles about my travels with the dogs and this time I want to share about our recent trip to Prince Edward Island. I was a little stuck on what to talk about, but as I started to think of the dogs' behaviour with the different environments that we went to, I came up with a few ideas. So I would am going to combine some observations as well as recommended training scenarios that I experienced during my vacation. To begin, this year I brought my

by Anne-Marie Mayes What are the effects of when your dog is injured or chronically ill? When I refer to injury it can be physical, like a broken leg or torn muscle, a laceration, or side effects of healing from the dog's spay or neuter. It also seems that nowadays more dogs are having allergy or digestive flare ups. These issues require that the dog have restricted exercise which a lot of time includes a reduction in socialization. I have many requests from owners that the

by Anne-Marie Mayes I have written articles in the past about dogs who jump on people at the door, so this time I wanted to talk about dogs who try to jump on people while out on a walk. I teach a class called Walking and Greeting and asked my current students what questions they have about this topic. Several people brought up the concern that they didn't know how to say no to people who want to greet their dog without coming off as rude, even when their dog does not want to

by Anne-Marie Mayes I thought that I would combine the topics of Car Safety and teaching Stay which complement each other. With the weather getting nicer we are gearing up for some outdoor fun and travel. For some of us we are packing up our gear and dogs and heading out in the car. How do we safely do this? First of all, I would say it depends on the size of the dog and how well the dog travels in the car, whether in town or on the highway. The safest way to travel is

I am asked frequently as to why dogs eat grass or I overhear clients discussing it. Some of the more common things people believe are that their dog is not feeling well and is eating grass to get themselves to vomit, or that they are lacking some nutrients in their everyday diet, but it isn't always that simple.

One major misconception is that using food to reward behaviours is bribery. When used properly, the food should be given after the behaviour occurs. Positive reinforcement encourages the dog to want to learn and try different exercises for the well-being of the dog.

Specifically, many dogs have issues with people entering the door. I would like to discuss how to deal with your dog in order to reduce territorial behaviour at the door. The door is a very exciting and stressful place for the majority of dogs as this is where people come and go from the house.

by Anne-Marie Mayes I would like to visit the topic of biting or “mouthing”. I have had many clients over the years come to me with the...

by Anne-Marie Mayes In some of my past articles I have discussed my own dogs’ behaviour as well as a few client case studies but this...

by Anne-Marie Mayes There are many reasons why dogs can be fearful, including: Change in environment; May have been physically harmed or...

Over the past few years in springtime I have written an article about walking and socializing our dogs after winter hibernation. For...

by Anne-Marie Mayes Dogs are one of the most stoic creatures that I know. They mainly only show pain or discomfort when their condition...

I came across an article about building a sensory mental stimulation garden. This topic piqued my interest as I am always trying to find...

by Anne-Marie Mayes I have joked with my clients that I have more dog friends then human but it is true, and is something that I am proud...

As the temperature continues to become cooler my dogs are spending less time outside and so is my cat Henry. At this time of year...

by Anne-Marie Mayes We have had gorgeous weather this fall but the temperatures are starting to get cooler. The amount of time that I am...

by Anne-Marie Mayes Does your dog protect your vehicle? Does your dog bark or growl when people or other dogs approach or are outside...

Should dogs be encouraged to make their own choices?