Dog's Best Friend - Voted one of South Bay's Favorites!

Dog's Best Friend has been named one of the South Bay's Favorite Dog Trainers in this year's Daily Breeze Readers' poll.

Thank you so much for voting for us!!! You're our favorite too!

Dog's Best Friend's Daily Training Tip

Dog's Best Friend's Daily Training Tip:

Dogs are always changing and
no matter how sweet your rascals are, there is always potential for new
issues like Resource Guarding to crop up. To ensure that your pups are
always okay with people approaching their food bowls, make a habit of
regularly walking by your dogs' food bowl, while they are eating (just
about a foot way), and throwing in a delicious treat. This will teach
your pups that a person coming close to their bowl is a wonderful thing
and nothing to worry about or guard against (*caveat - never allow
children to approach their dogs' bowl. Do not do this if your dog is already
resource guarding. Consult a professional if that is the case).

My dogs are 6, 7 and 8 and I do this every single day!

What it means to be a Dog Parent?

A colleague of mine, Gerald Ingram, from Oregon, recently wrote what it means to be a Dog Parent/Guardian. He put it so beautifully, that I just had to share.

Seemed appropriate on National Dog Day.

"I don't like to think of a dog as no more than a couch, car or
pencil. Property is disposable, an animal life is not. ...We have a
greater responsibility to an animal in our care of responsibility
than just ownership. I can reupholster a couch, I can scrap a car or
trade it in, I can break a pencil out of frustration and no one cares
or even should care. I can shoot an old car with guns and set it on
fire, just because I am pissed or just for the fun of it.

Some do treat dogs like human children, bad spoiled brat human
children. If you take the knowledge that we posses in teaching and
caring for dogs and properly apply it to humans, we would have a lot
less trouble in our youth and hence a lot less trouble in our society
as adults. If we provided the the right nutrition, the right
reinforcement and didn't focus on punishing our children, they would
be better off. If we did not appease them with food or freedom just
to get them off our backs, but instead spent quality time and gave
positive feedback, our children would be much better off. Too many
people refer to those who spoil their dogs as treating them like
children. Spoiling is a relative term. I spoil my dogs with proper
care and emotional support. I spoil them with medical attention and
proper training. I only wish I could go back and do better for my
children as I am now doing for my dogs. I didn't do my children
wrong, but if only I had known how to make them believe in themselves
just a little bit more. If I had reinforced them in even better ways,
just how much farther might they have gone."

Well said. Thank you, Gerald.

Thursday's Training Tip!

One of the biggest mistakes dog guardians make is that they often bark off (pun intended) commands to their dogs, thinking that their dogs know what they are saying. For instance, I often hear people saying, "Buddy Come, Come. Buddy, Come." But Buddy doesn't Come. Why is this? Is he ignoring them? Is he stubborn? Is he just being a plain old jerk? The answer is NO. Buddy is probably not coming because they never took the time to TEACH Buddy the word. We must SHAPE the command. We must show the dog what COME means, mark it with a treat/praise and practice it over and over again, until he learns what the word means. Remember, dogs don't speak English (as stated by the amazing Ian Dunbar), we've got to teach them our language...and in return, we should learn theirs as well! I think that's only fair, don't you?

Announcing Dog's Best Friend's August Dog of the Month ~ JUSTIN!!!

Justin is an extremely bright and spirited Entlebucher Mix.  He recently adopted Lora, John and Elizabeth and is bringing tons of joy and excitement to their lovely family.

Cathy from Rover Rescue spottedJustin at a local shelter and couldn't resist his soulful glance.  Could you?

Justin loves playing in his back yard with his little sister, Elizabeth, and practicing his training with Mom and Dad. This guy is very ambitious, so is currently working towards his Canine Good Citizen Certificate with his Dad, John.  We don't want to jinx it, but the likelihood of this smart boy passing, is very high!

Justin is especially grateful to his Mom and Dad, who have dedicated their time and energy to helping him become a nice, well adjusted pup.

Congratulations, Justin.You have worked hard and deserve to be our August Dog of the Month.

"Who can believe that there is no soul behind those luminous eyes!"
~ Theophile Gautier

Happy Birthday to Dog's Best Friend's August Birthday Dogs!

Happy Birthday to our August Birthday Pups, Charlie Bonvie, Abby Stamp, Kira Clay, Marley May Salazar, Max Schauer and Chase Mendoza! Check out their photos in their very own Facebook Photo Album. Birthday kisses to the sweet pups.

Facebook/Dog's Best Friend