Dogwise Publishing grew out of a company named Direct Book Service, and it is a small (but clearly busy!) family-run company in Wenatchee, Washington. Here is a little bit from their About Us page:

Dogwise Publishing now produces six to ten new books a year on topics that are important to our customers. Renowned dog experts who are published by Dogwise Publishing include Jean Donaldson, Patricia McConnell, Turid Rugaas, Roger Abrantes, Brenda Aloff, Sarah Kalnajs, Rachel Page Elliott and Pat Miller. Our focus is on creating humane, understandable and scientifically sound information for people who enrich their lives by working with, playing with and loving dogs. Dogwise Publishing has an insider’s knowledge of dogs and serves both the dog-loving public and the dog-oriented professional.

Note that “humane, understandable, and scientifically sound information.” The emphasis is on reward-based methods like clicker training. While their website carry a wide range of dog training titles from many different publishers, the preponderance of them are very much in line with the principles of my website here, looking at training methods that the dogs enjoy. As the old saying goes, you can catch more flies with honey, and it is a pleasure to be involved with the movement towards pain-free, positive rewards methods of training dogs. Dogwise is at the forefront!

The Expanding Ebook Section at Dogwise

Dogwise has been bringing out a lot of their books as ebooks as well as regular books. This particularly pleases me because until they began this, most of the dog training ebooks were very high priced. Here is a link to the homepage of their ebooks section

I usually buy their ebooks in PDF format, which can be printed out, though mostly I just read them on my laptop. They also put their ebooks into the Mobi format which works on Kindles and in the ePub format which works on Ipads, Nooks, and other e-readers. You get all these format for one price, so if you start out with something as a PDF and later want it on your Kindle, you just log into your account with them, go to “My Ebook Shelf” and download the other format. They have help on the download page too.

The Dog Forum and Some Useful Lists

There is an active and friendly forum here, with sections on dog training, general chat, health, wellness, and nutrition, and showing dogs.

Here is a page which is a list of lists created by customers and staff. You can make your own list if you want to add one!

Dogwise has a variety of other lists in their sidebar menu too.

My Relationship with Dogwise

Besides being a customer, and sometimes posting reviews on their pages, I am also an affiliate of Dogwise. That means that if you click through on one of my links to them and buy something, I may earn a small percentage of the sale with no cost to you. It’s a way that Dogwise can reach more people, helpful to them as they compete with bigger websites.  I have been doing this ever since I began training-dogs.com… geez, I don’t remember exactly what year that was, but  it was  in the past century!

I still remember very clearly the  first sale I made from Dogwise. Someone bought Dr. Ian Dunbar’s excellent puppy training DVD–well, it was a video then– Sirius Puppy Training and when I saw that on my statistics page at Dogwise, I burst into tears. Not because I had just made my first three bucks or so as an affiliate, but because some puppy somewhere would have a better start in life. Later, as I watched my stats over time, I was surprised to see that some articles I had done on training deaf dogs had resulted in a lot of sales of a couple of books on the topic.

If you are interested in signing up yourself as an affiliate, go to http://www.dogwise.com/Affiliate/index.cfm to sign up, with the name of your website.

Do Take a Look!

Check them out at Dogwise, All Things Dog!

Positive Dog Training Gets Help from Dogwise is a post from: Training Dogs Blog

I don’t read much fiction–as my father was science fiction writer Cordwainer Smith (link to my site about him), I grew up hearing more than a lifetime’s worth of scary tales. So I had never read a word by Koontz, an extraordinarily prolific and popular author, because I thought his stuff was too horror-filled for me.

But  Amazon has this useful–or tricky–feature where you can download a selection from the start of a book onto your Kindle. (Or your free Kindle reader for PCs or Macs, link takes you to Amazon page that explains how.) So I figured that I could look at the first chapter. That word “Joyful” in the title kinda hooked me. So I read the first chapter, and then on a Kindle, you can just click to buy the book and download the rest immediately. Without a moment’s thought, I did.

I was immersed for hours in the story of how Dean Koontz and his wife Gerda had been so hardworking for so many years that they had never had a dog or a child. But they both loved dogs, and evidently dogs feature in many of his novels. They had been deeply involved in supporting Canine Companions for Independence, which trains and provides service dogs at no cost to kids and adults with disabilities, and they had good friends in the organization. So they mentioned to one of their friends there that they were about ready to get a dog.

She found them Trixie, who had been a service dog but had needed surgery for a bad elbow and couldn’t go back to the person she had been assisting because of regulations about the health of service dogs.

Trixie changed their lives. In SO many ways. I’m not going to tell you any of the stories… Koontz does that so incredibly well. I did cry… several times.

I will comment that it was a tremendous pleasure to read some of the passages, here and there through the book, where he talks about how Trixie was to him and his wife a manifestation of the Divine. Here is one such bit:

I believe that Trixie, in addition to being a dog and a child and an inspiration and a revelation, was also a quiet theophany, a subtle manifestation of God, for by her innocent joy and by her actions in my life, she lifted from me all doubts of the sacred nature of our existence.

(can’t quote a page because Kindles don’t show them but it is at 88%)

That captures so well what brings me back to dogs again and again. If that point is not your cup of tea, I think you’d still like the book.

Trixie  has her own part of her dad’s website: Trixie Koontz.

Click on the image above to go to Amazon, where you can get it for the Kindle, as a hardback, as a paperback, or as an audiobook. Highly recommended!

A Big Little Life: A Memoir of a Joyful Dog, by Dean Koontz is a post from: Training Dogs Blog

2. I will remember to be silly more more often.

3. I will get enough rest.

4. I will get plenty of exercise.

5. I will eat healthful foods and make sure I get plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.

6. I will write more stories about my dogs, the ones I live with and the ones who have crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

7. I will love life with all my heart.

Thanks to all the dog lovers who uploaded their photos to photo sharing sites. The only photo here that is of our dogs is #6, showing our LarryDog as a young fellow; he is now 15 and a half. The little Basenji next to him was our Sunbeam, and she crossed the Rainbow Bridge some years ago. We full-timed in a large RV for a while, and in the photo they are fixated on my dinner.

New Year’s Resolutions, Dog-Inspired is a post from: Training Dogs Blog

I set out to write a post about not getting a puppy on Christmas Day if it’s hectic with lots of people, and then I thought, wait a minute, didn’t I do that once? Sure enough, here is my blog post on Puppies and Christmas. And here is one of the main tips:

If you are giving or receiving a puppy at Christmas, consider making the actual arrival of the puppy happen on the 26th or later. Christmas tends to be a busy day for many families, and it can be a day when you leave for Christmas dinner at another home. Of course, there can be exceptions to this, such as a gift to a lonely elderly person who will be home.

I did another holidays post too: Puppies, Dogs, and Christmas or other big events.

Happy Holidays to your dogs and to you!

Rosana

Your Dog or Puppy and the Holidays is a post from: Training Dogs Blog

Pet obesity graphic produced by Matt Beswick for Pet365 – a UK stockist of dog coats, collars and accessories. Click here to view the full post.

More on Pet Obesity is a post from: Training Dogs Blog

That question came to me as a comment on my review of Nicole Wilde’s excellent book, Don’t Leave Me, which is on separation anxiety. It led me to an AHA moment, which I’ll get into further down.  First, here is the comment:

I borrowed a copy this book from a friend of ours. It’s a great resource and very comprehensive. My ONLY criticism is that – as is the case with most training guides – it doesn’t allow for owners whose lives are necessarily short of time. Most of us have to earn our living; some, like me, are lucky enough to be able to work at home, but even so, there is often a very full day’s work to be done, and working at home demands a very rigid and rigorous discipline. How then do we fit into that work schedule the multitude of desensitisation and familiarisation exercises that Nicole prescribes, so that on the occasions when we do have to leave our beloved hound at home he will be content and secure in the knowledge that we’ll be back before long?

Or have I misunderstood it all?

Like Marty who asked that, I too work at home and I too need to keep a strict schedule and am challenged to find enough time for the dog training I want to do. Both my dogs have some level of separation anxiety and I would especially like to do some of those exercises with our 6-year-old Rottie, Lola. When we leave for several hours, we crate her because several times when she had the run  of the house, she pulled books off the bookcases and destroyed them. Being myself a librarian and book publisher, that was much less acceptable than the sofa cushions she used to chew up when we left! (Happily, she doesn’t mind being crated with the fun toys we always include.)

No, Marty, you have NOT misunderstood in the slightest. It takes time to do anything and even more time to do it in  detail. Very few of us have a lot of spare time… heck, very few of us have any!

My AHA Moment

I will make two key points in this article, but first allow me a moment of your time to explain my AHA moment… It happens that I used to teach time management. I did some corporate consulting but mostly I taught continuing education classes and did private consulting with individuals. So I have quite a few ideas on time management and living with dogs. Also, much as I enjoy writing about dog training, I am no expert on it. So maybe Marty’s question points me in a direction where I do have a unique contribution to make!

So here are two ideas for finding time for dog training:

Tip #1: Plan a Time and Write It Down

Do you have to-do lists? Or a calendar that you make appointments on? Then plan some times for dog training. Your first appointment with yourself might be to think about what you want to do, order supplies if  any are needed, and to set up a series dates. You don’t need to make long dates; even 10 minutes 3 times a week will get you and your dog moving forward. There is something daunting about starting a new project, but if you chunk it down to small bits you are much more likely to get going. And once you are into it, it may more easily expand if you want it to.

And that bit about writing it down is really important. Study after study has shown that people who write things down are much more likely to get them done. I use an online list-making website at vitalist.com myself, and I have lots of lists there. I love the facility with which I can reorganize, postpone, and check things off! There is a free version there, and there are quite a few websites of this sort. But you can also just write things on a piece of paper on your fridge door.

Try it! And do come back here and post a comment on how it worked…

Tip #2: Apply the 80-20 Rule, Even When You Aren’t Sure How

The 80-20 rule, also called the Pareto Principle, is a really key part of how I get things done. The idea is that if you have a group of things that you want to do, 80% of the value of the things to do is in 20% of the things. For example, 80% of the dirt tends to accumulate on 20% of your floor area. Right there, you know something about how I do my housework. (Now and then I do the rest of the floors, honest!)

So applying this to training a dog to have less separation anxiety means that you don’t need to do 100% of the exercises in that book. It means that something like 20% (it’s a rule of thumb, not an inflexible universal law) of the exercises will yield close to 80% of the value of them all.

So how do you figure out which 20% to do? Start by noticing which things you were drawn to in the book, and try them first. We all have a much more powerful intuition than we necessarily take advantage of. If those things don’t work enough, think about which ones seem like the best ones to try next.

Each dog is different. Each person is different. And by using these tips, you can work out something that works the best for you and your dog.

Finding Time for Dog Training is a post from: Training Dogs Blog

Also, if your dog needs to lose weight, see an article I did for this blog a while back, called Is Your Dog Fat?

Click on the images to read more about the books at Amazon:

I’m pleased that this is available for Kindle as well as in paperback… Here’s the blurb about Fitness Unleashed: Research shows that trim pets live up to two years longer than overweight ones—making for a more healthy, vibrant life for your dog.

In a groundbreaking study, top obesity expert Dr. Robert Kushner found that exercising with your dog not only benefits your furry friend, it also gives you more confidence and motivation to exercise, leading to more weight-loss success. Dr. Kushner and prominent veterinarian Dr. Marty Becker have teamed up to present a simple, comprehensive walking program—beginning with just three 15-minute walks per week—that is as good for you as it is for your dog!

With a subtitle of 100 Ways to Work Out with Your Dog, See Spot Run goes into creating a regular fitness program and sticking with it, and then spells out 100 sports, games, and activities you can do with your dog. No matter your level of activity, you and your dog will find some fun here!

The Health Benefits of Dog Walking for People and Pets: Evidence and Case Studies (New Directions in the Human-Animal Bond Series) is a more scholarly work and its price reflects it. Still, I am tempted by the Kindle version which is about half the cost of the hardcover book.

It came from a special 2009 symposium on how human-animal interaction may help fight obesity across the lifespan. The authors present scientific evidence about the benefits of dog walking for improving human and animal health, and case studies of programs that are using this powerful expression of the human-animal bond to combat obesity. The volume is especially valuable as a sourcebook of evidence-based studies for public health professionals treating overweight humans and veterinarians treating obese dogs.

Losing Weight with Your Dog is a post from: Training Dogs Blog

Clipped from: doggonesafe.com (share this clip)

While I’m on the subject of Doggone Safe, here is a link to their blog article about why dogs really aren’t that fond of being hugged.

Clipped from: doggonesafe.blogspot.com (share this clip)

Halloween and Hugging Dogs: Two Topics from Doggone Safe is a post from: Training Dogs Blog

There, Jennifer Arnold, her brother, her veterinarian husband, and numerous other workers and volunteers train Golden Retrievers and Labrador Retrievers to be service and seizure response dogs for people–both kids and adults–with a wide variety of  challenges.

This is an expensive undertaking, and they have some good fundraising approaches. Besides corporate sponsors including Milk-Bone and Delta, they get a lot of support from everyday people. As they say on the site, “95% of donations go directly to the training and placement of service and seizure response dogs with children and adults throughout the country.”

While they originally worked with some shelter dogs, they now breed their own service dogs and start their training at 2 days old. I found this fascinating. It makes a lot of sense, too, in terms of what is known about cultural enrichment for young children!

Well, I was spellbound by the program and right after it  ended I was online and found that Jennifer Arnold had written a book, also titled Through a Dog’s Eyes. (Clicking on that link or the image takes you to Amazon, but you can also get the book and the DVD at Canine Assistants.) I got the book on my Kindle, and read it. As was evident from the program, the training methods used are all pain-free. Arnold has some interesting ideas about dog training, and what with 75 to 100 dogs going out the door in a year, her ideas must work well! The book expresses her dismay, which I share, at some of the outdated dominance methods that reach a wide audience. She refrains from saying who she means so I will too!

Here is a link to one chapter of her book, one of the most powerful,  on the Canine Assistants website. It’s right there on the webpage to be read.

It is simply inspiring to see how a small group of devoted people can do so much work for good, helping others get the service and seizure response dogs who make such a huge difference in their lives.

Through a Dog’s Eyes: the Remarkable Canine Assistants is a post from: Training Dogs Blog

This meant that our dog bed blocked the access to my office unless you like walking over foam all the time. I don’t.  This bed is a formerly-human bed, consisting of 3 pads that can fold up. I took off the cover, cut one of the 3 parts off and after recovering, put it in my office. Neither dog much cares about it.

The old bed was plenty large for both dogs, and they were often there together. Now the smaller 2-pad bed is the prime real estate. In this sequence, shot in about 20 minutes, senior LarryDog claimed it first.

Then he got up for a drink and Rottweiler Lola immediately came out of the bed in her crate–also in the living room–and took it over.

But the cat rules supreme around here! Neither dog will challenge this.

While I was on a roll with my camera, I followed Lola when she went outside. Ever since friends gave us this tall dog food and water feeder, Lola prefers to drink from it instead of the bowl in the house. (That should change when there is ice on this dish in our Colorado winter!)

I don’t think it would have occurred to me to buy one of these things, but it’s really interesting how much she likes it. You don’t see the food dish because I take it back in the kitchen after meals… no free choice feeding around here!

Lola inherited this dish from a very sweet dog, even larger than her, who recently crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

Lola looked up at me and decided it was game on. She went and found a much-chewed ball that we got her when she was a puppy. Too bad I didn’t have my little video camera with me, as she went into wild and crazy mode only barely hinted at by these pictures, taken in rapid succession.

I totally missed getting a photo of the part where she dug deep into the sand, ball in mouth.

Ah, the ordinary, everyday fun we have together. Readers, any recent moments that you want to share?

Our Dogs Adjust to Smaller Bed, Lola Romps Outside is a post from: Training Dogs Blog