Prong Collars are Great… If You Know What You’re Doing There seems to be some confusion and misinformation being spread about prong collars (also known as pinch collars). Many now believe that they are inhumane and injure dogs. In fact, if they are fit right, prong collars are great for training and are perfectly humane. […]
Can An Old Dog Learn New Tricks? Perhaps you just brought home a rescue dog or inherited a family member’s dog. Maybe, you’ve neglected training and are only now taking the time to properly engage. Regardless of the reasons, the question is, can you train an older dog and how to go about doing so. […]
Meeting a New Puppy Meeting a new puppy can be very exciting and a bit overwhelming. Not only for us but for the puppy as well. Keep in mind, a dog is considered a puppy for several months into its life – ranging from 9 to 15 months. If a meeting is handled incorrectly, you […]
Is Your Dog Possessive of You & Acts Out? Most likely, you are going to be around other people and pets throughout the life of your dog. A protective and possessive dog can be a hindrance on enjoying your life to its fullest and make bringing your dog places difficult. If your dog acts out […]
What You Use Matters When you are training your dog, you need to keep them motivated and, most importantly, interested in what you are trying to teach them. This is where high value rewards come into play when implementing positive reinforcement. A dog performs a positive behaviour and is rewarded with a treat for doing […]
Commands That Help in More Ways Than One Once you have mastered the basic commands with your dog (sit, stay, come, place, heel etc), you may want to have some more fun with your training and introduce tricks. This is a great idea as it can strengthen the bond between you and your pet while […]
Teach Your Dog to Walk on Leash Walking on leash is a basic skill every dog should harness (pun intended). You should start training your dog to walk on leash as early as possible. The earlier the better because it gives less opportunity to build poor habits. That said, not every dog that needs to […]
Why Balanced Dog Training is the Best Approach At ITK9 we use a Balanced Dog Training approach and are very transparent in how we achieve such great results with our clients. Below we attempt to set the record straight on why all positive training doesn’t work best for most dogs and why a balanced approach […]
Looking For Affordable Dog Training? It’s tempting to find the least expensive option when you are searching for a product or service. In our experience, dog owners share the same sentiment when searching for a trainer. On average, our clients have seen 3 trainers before they come to us. So, it needs to be asked […]