Dr Dunbar's Iwoofs Podcasts

  For this episode we return to an article that was on the Kennel Club’s website which suggests that puppy classes and social play sessions are responsible for increasing reactivity and aggression in pet dogs.   The article focuses on poorly managed classes, and uses this as justification for...

In this iWoofs episode we address an article that appears on The Kennel Club website, by Robert Alleyne, a Board member of the Kennel Club Accreditation Scheme for Instructors.  As major advocates for puppy classes you can probably imagine that we have a few bones to pick with this article.  We

  It’s been awhile since Dr. Ian Dunbar has conducted dog training workshops in the United States, but that’s about to change.  Over the next few months Ian will be giving dog training workshops in locations all across America, starting in Texas, Rhode Island, New Jersey & Maryland.  In this...

A listener has a sweet three-your old Rottweiler that likes to mouth people. He’s never hurt people, but the owner recognizes that this is a potential problem. With a large, potentially intimidating dog like a Rottweiler it’s a particular pressing problem, because people may be very scared.

There are a lot of things that can go wrong in dog training, mistakes which will make any method or exercise significantly less effective.  Dog training is complex and requires some important skills, it requires some patience, persistence and timing.  Also, there’s something about dogs which tends...

Last week we found ourselves in the position of being able to put the SIRIUS Puppy Raising Initiative into practice.  It turns out that one of Jamie's friend's father had bred a litter of German Shepherd Puppies.  Unfortunately, he'd done so quite a while ago and the pups were already nine weeks old by the time we learned about them and no one had given him BEFORE or AFTER You Get Your Puppy.  While his heart was in the right place, he didn't have all the information he needed to help the pups be their very best selves. However, young pups are super-malleable and puppy training and socialization is what we're all about. We offered to help and he was very enthusiastic, so we got to work.  First we helped him set up the housetraining program and address some important socialization issues in their home, then we took all the pups to our SIRIUS training facility in El Cerrito to work on some training and socialization outside the home, which we filmed.

Deborah Flick over at Boulder Dog attended Dr. Dunbar's Science-Based Dog Training with Feeling seminar in Denver, CO this past March, and she wrote a series of wonderful blog posts about her experience.  In this iWoofs we respond to her thoughts on the seminar, which were very interesting.

Hubie got a German Shepherd puppy for his son, who is currently living with his mother.  The mother and boy are scared of the dog and Hubie is at a loss for how to ensure that the dog is gentle with people, so that his son enjoys the dog rather than fears it.   The answer is not physical

This highly devoted owner has a huge Newfoundland that they’ve been working hard to train all through puppyhood.  Now that adolescence has hit though, the owners are having new problems with controlling their dog’s attention and aggression.  As an un-neutered male dog he is the target of additional hostile attention from other dogs.  With such a powerful dog it’s incredibly important to get things under control as quickly as possible.  Fortunately Kelly & Jamie have some easy tips for dealing with the difficulties of adolescence, testicles included.  A rock-solid sit, with eye-contact on cue, will mean your dog is always under control, and unlikely to provoke an aggressive response.  Add in plenty of classical conditioning and your dog can be calm and collected in any situation. Super-Sit: http://dogstardaily.com/training/ultra-super-sit

Our perception of dog aggression is easily distorted by fear. That’s why it’s important to evaluate "dog bites" by an objective measure. The Bite Scale provides a consistent way of looking at a dog’s history of aggression by measuring the amount of injury that was inflicted. 95% of “dog

In this episode the Dunbars respond to and discuss a video by John Rogerson about the declining numbers and quality of mongrel dogs in the UK. You can see it yourself at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s850_3s0C8. Mongrels used to represent the naturally evolved pet dogs of a village, and so they

Many dogs end up in shelters because of relatively minor behavior problems.  Unfortunately, most dogs then become less adoptable the longer they spend in a shelter, because whatever housetraining or socialization they do have begins to deteriorate.  But it doesn’t have to be that way.  In this

The easiest way to save shelter dogs is to prevent them from being created in the first place. Every shelter dog began life as an impressionable little puppy and in this episode the Dunbars discuss the importance of starting that puppy on the right paw. As dog trainers, it’s our responsibility to

To learn more, visit: https://www.jamesandkenneth.com Ian is gearing up for a round of seminars this year and he’s coming to a city near you. After a 6 year retirement from public speaking, Dr. Dunbar is back with a new seminar series. It’s called Science-Based Dog Training (with Feeling) and

Dog Training is all about learning and teaching.  There is a lot of research that has been done about how animals and humans learn, and the results should inform our approach to dog training.  However, learning theory has been developed from experiments conducted in a lab, and it’s important to

Apps are all the rage these days.  As more and more people get next generation smart phones and iPhones, a whole industry has sprung up.  These mini computer applications can be anything, and they’re usually relatively cheap and can be accessed from your phone while you’re on the move.  The

There are a lot of products out there that claim to help you take care of and train your dog.  Some of these items can make your life considerably easier, while others are a waste of money and some can even be dangerous to your dog.  The Dunbars talk about the best tools you can use in dog

Dog Star Daily and the Dunbars could not be more excited to announce the launch of a new show that is going to revolutionize dog training TV.  There are nearly as many ways to train dogs as there are dog trainers, which is why we will feature a new trainer each week.  Each one will be using their...

Dog owners can have some silly notions about their dogs, but if you watch TV and movies it’s easy to see where they come from.  Dogs in the media are regularly portrayed as little people in doggy bodies, which automatically understand us and help us when we need it.   And the dog trainers that

Getting a dog is a huge responsibility in a a number of different ways.  In this episode, the Dunbars talk about the financial commitment that a dog, and especially a puppy require.  They break down the cost into the most common categories, and discuss tips on how you can save a little money