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debra morgan's blog: the first bad dog
by Debra MorganPublished Jul. 10, 2008
Tonight's the night! During WRAL's 5:30 News for the next three Thursdays, we're going to profile a bad dog and see if we can turn him or her into a good dog! We had so many great entries, it was tough to pick just three. But we chose dogs who seemed to represent several other dogs with "issues." You may see some problems you see in your own dog. And, as I'm sure you know, training the family is just as important as training the dog. Our first dog is Albie. He's a Puggle with multiple bad behaviors such as barking (a lot!), going to the bathroom in the house, acting up in his kennel, chewing, and did I mention barking?! But, by the end of the story, you can see some obvious improvement. Once we profile all three dogs, we will revisit them in a fourth story to see if they've really gone from bad dogs to good ones. This project really interests me since my two children have four legs. Bailey is the black Lab and Harper is the yellow Lab. This picture I've attached shows them when we first brought Harper home. Bailey is now 7 and Harper is just one. My husband has done an amazing job training them! In fact, if you watch the Bad Dog! promo running on TV right now, you can spot Harper in the "O" and Bailey runs through the picture carrying a newspaper. They'll do whatever my husband says so they were great to work with during the photo shoot. I'm a proud mom!
By the way, the trainer on this project, Jenny Marconyak with Bark Busters, is willing to answer your questions on this site so ask away!
Debra
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November 24, 2008 5:48 p.m.
[url=http://sambell3rd.com/birddog]Virtual Bird Dog Blueprint[/url]
September 4, 2008 2:52 a.m.
Virtual Bird Dog Blueprint
September 4, 2008 2:51 a.m.
Virtual Bird Dog Blueprint
September 4, 2008 2:49 a.m.
September 4, 2008 1:40 a.m.
Bottom line is that you have to really like people. Educating and working with pet parents is the biggest part of my life and I love helping people make the connection and resolve issues with their pets. If you don't genuinely enjoy helping the people, you may want to go another direction.
Look into apdt.com, the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, which is like the "BAR Association" for dog trainers. They provide educational opportunities, conferences, etc.
I recommend reading Nicole Wilde's book "So You Want to be a Dog Trainer". This a great read about all the ins and outs of the profession, how to gain experience and education, etc.
And this article is right on the money on dogstardaily.com with practical thoughts on making a business plan, getting liability insurance, etc. by Valerie Boutelle called "Making a Living with the Dogs":
http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/making-living-dogs-veronica-boutelle-ma-ctc
Best of luck!
GOLO member since July 14, 2008
July 21, 2008 11:28 a.m.
GOLO member since July 10, 2008
July 19, 2008 9:24 p.m.
I have a couple of questions... 1. How does somebody who is an amateur "dog whisperer" go about becoming a professional dog trainer? I definitely have a way with dogs and can think like them....they all love me! I would love to become a dog trainer as I have to say my two dogs are extremely well-behaved. (everyone says so, especially the people at the vet's office...particularly my rescued Chow-Mastiff mix, who everyone expects to be very aggressive...he's not at all.) 2. My brother has a friend whose pit bull terrier is in danger of being euthanized and I'm scrambling to come up with an alternative. Apparently, he got into a fight with another male dog the other day, and bit my brother's friend. He gets along with the other dog in the home, though..she's female; he's neutered, too, so I think he can be trained to not be dog-aggressive. Ordinarily, he's not people-aggressive. Can you please help? How much are your services?
GOLO member since March 17, 2008
July 17, 2008 10:30 a.m.
GOLO member since July 10, 2008
July 16, 2008 1:57 p.m.
July 14, 2008 4:52 p.m.
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