Have you ever wondered or thought to ask: “Colby, what commands do you teach a service dog?” As guide dog puppy raisers we teach our puppies 9 basic obedience commands before they start their formal training. Adelle’s service dog training manual lists 30 commands! That’s right THREE – ZERO!!! We’ve been raising and training guide […]
Should I Get A Puppy Or A Dog? 6 Major Differences Between The Two
Should I get a puppy or a dog? After having both at the same time we quickly found out that there are major differences between training a puppy vs dog. It has been many moons since we last fostered an older dog. That all changed 9 months ago when we brought home a Golden Retriever […]
Dog Training Certification: How Do I Become A Certified Dog Trainer?
I’ve been training dogs (not just my own) for over 10 years now. I know some of my colleagues have gone on to get their dog training certification and I started to think: Do I want to get certified and if so, how do I become a certified dog trainer? I come from the world of I.T. Certification […]
Stetson Our First Guide Dog Puppy In Training
Stetson was my first guide dog puppy in training. He was the reason I started this blog. It’s been over a month since Stetson passed. Yesterday, I was talking to my wife and she said our 2 year old daughter told her that she missed Stetsie. I nearly broke down and cried…I miss him too… […]
New Puppy Checklist – I’m Getting A New Puppy, What Do I Need?
“I’m getting a new puppy, what do I need? Do you have a new puppy checklist?” –C.M. On January 7th, 2005, I asked those questions to the employee at the local pet store…wait a second, lets rewind… That morning I didn’t know it, but in the afternoon I’d be bringing home an adorable, little Aussie […]
How To Stop A Puppy From Barking In His Crate At Night
Crate training a puppy is an exercise in patience (with Stetson it certainly was). If there’s one thing I’ve learned as a guide dog puppy raiser it’s how to crate train a puppy. More importantly I learned how to stop a puppy from barking in his crate at night! I’ve been raising puppies now for the […]