Dog’s Don’t Want To Bite: Understanding and Helping Reactive Dogs
An Interesting, But Not Unique, Encounter While picking up lunch, someone saw my logo’d jacket and asked if I worked at the School for Dogs. “Why yes I do!” I replied. “What kind of training do you do?” he asked. “Well, mostly just manners,” I replied. “So no bad...
Holiday Travel Tips for Your Dog
With the Holiday Season comes a lot of traveling. Whether it’s to visit family, friends, or you’re just taking a little vacation time, If you’re opting to bring your pup along, here are some of our top holiday travel tips for your dog! First, let’s talk about car...
Dog Training Cues: Helping Your Dog Understand What You Want
So, you’re working on training your dog, and you’ve heard the word “cue” thrown around a lot. But what exactly is a cue, and how do you use it to help your dog understand what you’re asking? Think of a cue as your dog’s “lightbulb moment”—it’s the signal that tells...
Dog Adolescence Survival Guide
Puppies are great! Adorable little sponges that (typically) want to be near you instead of venturing far away, learn new behaviors fairly quickly, recall pretty well, and seem to learn so much in those first few precious months home. And then they hit 6 months and...
Puppy Socialization 101: Raising a Confident, Well-Adjusted Dog
By Rachel Moseley The critical socialization period for puppies is between 3-12 weeks of age. Ideally the breeder you got your puppy from has started this for you with carefully planned exposures and socialization opportunities prior to them coming home. Once they’re...
Top 5 Reasons to Crate Train Your Dog
Crate training isn’t just about keeping your dog confined—it’s a game-changer for potty training, safety, and emergencies. It helps puppies avoid accidents and saves your favorite shoes from chewers. Plus, it prepares your dog for vet visits or unexpected disasters....
Puppy Survival Guide
Rachel and Shanthi run the puppy training and socialization course at NWA School for Dogs. With years of experience and a passion for helping pups and their humans thrive, they’ve seen it all when it comes to puppy parenting challenges. From potty training mishaps to...
Why Clicker Training Works: A Science-Based Approach to Dog Training
“Clicker training” is the popular term for the training or teaching method based on what we know about how living organisms learn. Research has shown that any creature—whether a dog, cat, dolphin, parrot, fish, horse, llama, or person—is more likely to learn and...
Leash Foundations for Dogs
This was written many years ago when the school was at a facility with cement floors that we could use sidewalk chalk on. Nowadays, our high-tech waterproof floors don’t work with chalk, so we ask our students to stand perfectly still and reward their dog for paws...
Lockdown: A Detailed Protocol for Potty Training Difficult Dogs
Most owners who contact me about this protocol are desperate—ready to rehome their dogs because this behavior has become so problematic. These cases typically involve: Adult dogs (2+ years) who never learned indoors isn’t a toilet Shelter-raised puppies denied...