Enrichment is becoming commonplace, but why might some dogs appear disinterested? It could be that the dog isn’t sufficiently motivated to work at getting the food.  Perhaps he gets plenty of similar food for free (in a bowl) and can easily do without whatever extra is in the enrichment toy.   Or perhaps the food … Continue reading Why dogs might not be interested in enrichment feeding

I recently read that scatter feeding (scattering food around) is a bizarre fad that will teach your dog to eat everything they find and possibly kill them. So here’s what I think. I understand that this conclusion can easily be arrived at, “scatter food and they’ll eat anything on the ground”.  However, let’s take a … Continue reading Scatter Feeding: Are you killing your dog?

 We see the argument put forward frequently that our dogs actually prefer to work for food rather than getting food for free.  At first look, this seems illogical. Why would any animal choose a path of work and effort rather than a path of freebies?  Foraging, hunting, and seeking are innate behaviours which are surely … Continue reading Contrafreeloading: Why animals may prefer to work for food

Why is there often conflict, confusion, or frustration in the dog-human relationship? Whether it's training, husbandry, enrichment activities or just going for a walk, we are often entirely focused on the human perspective,  we generally go about these tasks with our entire focus on what we want.  We want to keep walking so we pull the dog away … Continue reading The most beneficial thing you can do for your dog

1)  Increase interaction. We may live busy lives but we can add interaction into our daily routines.  Each time you are waiting for the kettle to boil, have a short training session. Each time you put something in the bin, have a quick play on the way back. Build small interactions into your day; the dog … Continue reading 10 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR DOG’S LIFE