The Dog Tutor

11/12/2025

Very few dogs are actually aggressive, even the reactive ones. In general, dog body language is highly misunderstood (even by some self proclaimed experts) and then a dog is labelled as dangerous. If someone tells you to isolate, medicate, or euthanize your dog, instead of training the dog, please run away from that person as fast as you can and find a qualified trainer to help you.

11/06/2025

Stress is important to a dogs wellbeing for emotional resilience. Most importantly the stress has to be manageable. This means there needs to be a solution and we need to help the dog learn how to work their way to a solution past, our through, the stress. If someone ever tells you not to stress your dog they are not helping you or your dog.

11/03/2025

Lets talk about p*e pads. They are one very misused product with dogs.
Unless your dog is physically incapacitated, where you cannot take them outside, or you have a 1-8 week old puppy then p*e pads have no place in your home. They are very counter productive if you are potty training. Teaching your puppy to associate the touch sensation of a pad vs grass, during training, will slow your ability to properly potty train your pup. Remember dogs live in a physically associative world.

10/31/2025

Food for thought

10/20/2025

It's that time of year.....Halloween.
It's the time of year we need to train our dogs that all those scary lawn inflatables are not scary at all. It's an easy process if you start soon enough.
If your dog struggles with Halloween decorations on peoples lawn then please help your dog understand what they really are....just frivolous human fun.

10/09/2025

Be good to your dog. Feed them well and keep them healthy.

10/08/2025

10/07/2025

Society as a whole does not allow us to grieve the loss of a companion dog. People who take the loss to heart are looked at as being silly. "It's just a dog" is heard, more than I ever want to elaborate on. It's something that is generally viewed apon that we should get over in a short time. Taking time off work to grieve would be considered ridiculous.
Anyone that has created a deep meaningful relationship with a dog knows what I am talking about....we never really get over it. We lose a part of who we are, when we lose a beloved dog companion. I've even heard someone express that losing their dog was probably harder than losing their parent. I take that statement very seriously.
Hopefully one day, dogs will be looked at for what they can be to a human, "highly emotionally relevant".

09/30/2025

Recent studies have shown a link between plug in scented air fresheners and lymphoma in dogs, which most likely would relate to people too.

Love your dog and yourself.

09/20/2025

"But my dog doesn't really play.....".
This is something that I have heard over and over again. The truth is that almost all mammals are genetically hardwired, in the brain, for play. The problem lives in the fact that human beings don't nurture play behavior to develope it well into adulthood. Why is play important? For dog's it fills a fundamental need that invokes pure joy and fullfillment. It activates very specific regions of the dog's brain. It builds a relationship on a level that cannot be produced by any other means. Play should be looked at as a neccessity and not a recreational activity we do in our spare time.
Play with your dog and you will find yourself in the winners circle.

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09/16/2025

Does your dog understand "no" and "yes". If you have a reactive dog then you need to start working on building your dog's understanding of both of those commands in order to begin your journey to success.

08/28/2025

Here is some "new to most" information regarding spay and neutering. We live in an interesting balance between potentially unwanted litters of pups, and adult dog health in this country.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1CYMB4MAmT/

In conclusion, this study shows that the risk of cranial cruciate ligament disease in dogs is linked to how long they are exposed to natural s*x hormones, and the relationship isn’t simple or linear. The highest risk was seen when females were spayed before about 1054 days (just under 3 years) and males before about 805 days (a little over 2 years). These results may help define what counts as “early” spay or neuter when it comes to cranial cruciate ligament disease risk.

Veterinary reproduction specialists now recommend hormone-preserving sterilization: preventing unwanted litters & less risk of torn cruciates.