Free Treats? NO!

Don't treat your dog unless he does something to earn it. Have him sit or beg or stand or do something you've asked of him before he gets a treat. Why?

1. Free treats diminish their training value
2. Treats are like money to people (or allowance to children) they have great value - the dog learns he has to do something to earn a treat

More on what is a "treat":

• A small piece of kibble is a healthy treat that works as well as other goodies to obtain proper behavior.
• "Good dog!" -- rewarding good performance with a treat and a good dog, gives the spoken "good dog" power when used without a treat.
• An activity can also be a treat. Have your dog sit and wait before you throw a ball. Throw the ball and have him wait until you say, "go get your ball!" Don't let him get the ball until he does it correctly. His reward is getting the ball and getting the "good dog!"

Play Your Dog Smart!

What can your dog learn if learning is a game? What fun tricks will your dog WANT to perform if doing them is part of a game -- a game involving treats and toys and YOU? Dogs are motivated by fun, games, treats and you. Mix in trick training, and you have an engaged, smart, fun DOG!

Try it! Funagle has been given as gifts for Christmas, Birthdays, Mother's Day and Weddings. Yes! Weddings. We will share some of the FUN stories we've heard back from Funagle players.

Stay tuned!

Teach your dog tricks for even deeper bonding!

Every day KT and I work on learning a new trick. Her hardest trick to date has been "play dead." It took 2 months to accomplish "play dead." I'd have her lie down (she's good at that), then, I'd move a treat in front of her, over her side and around to her back. I gave her time to think about it. She wanted the treat, but wouldn't roll over onto her side. If she didn't do it, I gently rolled her onto her side and said "Play dead!" and treated her.

We worked on this once every morning with 2 attempts. Two weeks ago she finally did it on her own. Why is this important? Because we were working on something together. It was her special time to think, get "alone" attention and to feel accomplished. I never said no to her, just encouraged her with treats, my voice and belly rubs.

As close as we are, training KT to do tricks makes us even closer. Next we will learn "roll over" (this will be easier).

Old Dog New Tricks - HOUSE BREAKING SUCCESS!

Fergie, a nearly 15 year old Yorkie who had very lax housebreaking habits, now has become a very reliable and housebroken dog. How? We made her go out more often than she needed to and told her to "go potty". When she did we gave her a tiny treat. It took a month, but she is very reliable again. In fact, at lunch time she will go out and pee. Come in for her treat. Then go out again to go poo and come back in for a treat. She knows what she's doing.

We HIGHLY recommend this solution for anyone having housebreaking challenges.

How to Play Funagle

There is now a video about how to play the new board game for people and dogs to play together, called Funagle! It's posted on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16XxTJFhwz4
It's a great way to entertain yourselves and your dog[s] during the holidays and winter months. Start with lots of treats and your dogs' favorite toys. You'll be amazed at what you can get your dog to do with a little creativity on your part. Treats are a great motivator. Enjoy!

Old Dog New Tricks Follow-up

After 3 weeks of encouraging our our 14 1/2 year old Yorkie to "shake," we seem to be making progress. Fergie raises her right paw when asked to "shake" before she gets her treat every morning. It has taken longer than it would have when she was younger, but, it appears that it just may be possible to teach an old dog new tricks. What do you think? Have you had luck training elderly dogs?

How to celebrate a dog's birthday

Every year it's nice to mark your dog's birth with a celebration. What's the best way to celebrate? Well, what is your dog's favorite thing to do? Besides eat? Go on a walk? Play with friends? Chase a ball? Go to the dog park? There's your answer. Give her special attention, an extra treat, a walk to her favorite shop or tree, a belly rub. You know what she likes. Let her know how happy you are that she came into your life.

Can an old dog learn new tricks?

We decided to test the old dogs/new tricks cliche with our 14 1/2 year old Yorkie.

She never learned to "shake." A week ago we asked her to shake before she got her morning and afternoon treats. She's very good at sitting, but doesn't know shake.

We have her sit, say "shake" and lift her paw, then treat her. The 3 year old yorkie got it in 3 treat sessions. The old dog hasn't gotten it yet. We're giving her 2 weeks to catch on. We'll keep you posted.

How ManyTreats Should I Give My Dog?

Dogs don't care HOW MUCH treat you give them...they care about the actual act of giving. So, treat your dog more often with very small morsels.

One big treat each day, teaches them that they get one big treat a day. Give your dogs smaller treats more often when they have done something to deserve a reward. If you want to give your dog a treat, have her perform first. Every time you reward her for an accomplishment, she learns something.

What sized treat should I give my dog?
Give toy-sized dogs approximately a 1/2 inch x 1/2 inch treat.

Give big dogs just enough so that he can tell you've given him a treat. Try a 1/4 inch x 1 inch circle. If you can go smaller, do.

Remember, treat LESS more OFTEN!

Dog Music

You're driving down the road and a jerk tailgates you. You start to feel angry -- then all of a sudden, a song you really like comes on the radio. Doesn't it diffuse your anger? Doesn't it make you think, "I feel sorry for you bad driver, you're not enjoying your life." Music is such an amazing mood changer.

Now, think about songs you hear that remind you of your dog. "Stolen" by Dashboard Confessional makes me think about my little dog.

We, at Darf, are assembling songs that are personal "dog" songs. Let us know what your "dog" song is.

First Darf Video

We will be creating videos showing how to get dogs to do things. Our first video called Yorkie Chases Bear is not a training video, but shows how to tire out a little dog while practicing fetch. Please view the video at http://www.youtube.com/Darfinc and enjoy!

Get Your Dog To Shake Hands

Have your dog sit.

Ask her to shake. Lift her paw. Give her a treat.

Do this 5 more times. Let her rest for at least 30 minutes.

Try again. Offer her your hand, ask her to shake. If she will does it without you lifting her paw, treat her. If she doesn't lift her paw, ask her to shake again, lift her paw and treat her.

It won't take long before she will lift her paw to shake when you ask her. When you feel like she shakes on command, only treat her for shaking once of every 3-5 times she does it.

What is Funagle?

FUNAGLE is a BOARD GAME people and their dogs play with friends and family. It's like Trivial Pursuits, but instead of answering trivia questions, people have to get their dogs to do things in a limited amount of time in order to progress around the board. The best performing dog/person team wins the game.

There are no rules as to how you get your dog to do these activities, but we can share some clever ways to get dogs to perform.

You can get your dog to go potty on command (this is not in the game). Every time your dog goes out to potty say "Go potty" to your dog. Keep saying it to him until he goes potty. Treat him. Do this at least 10 times. Then take him out when you know it's about "that" time and say "Go potty" once and wait. If he goes potty, treat him. Next time take him out and say "Go potty". When he does it don't treat him, but tell he's a good dog. From then on, treat him once in a while when he goes potty on command, but not always.