On my morning walk, I ran into a woman who has a Lab mix I like a lot. The dog likes me as well, as evidenced by the way she normally all but mugs me for petting and attention whenever we meet. Of course, I love it! But this morning, as I casually reached to pet her while chatting with her mom, I noticed her lips retracting horizontally. No hard stare accompanied it, but there was the slightest movement away from my hand. Thankfully, I knew this to be a submissive grin rather than a sign of...

My last blog post was about paying attention to your dog. Now let's look at the other side of the coin: your dog paying attention to you when asked. It's one of the first skills dogs learn. Normally—at least the way I’ve always taught it—a dog is expected to give eye contact when hearing their name. Then, once you have their attention, other cues can be given. I’ve come across trainers who use the dog’s name to mean “come to me and give eye contact,” but I don’t recommend it. Imagine your dog...

Smokey the shepherd mix is on leash by his owner’s side. He stands calmly as his owner chats with another morning walker. Suddenly, an unfamiliar dog appears, headed in Smokey’s direction. Fortunately, the medium-sized dog is also on leash, because although Smokey is friendly with people, he’s not always so welcoming with other dogs. As the dog-owner team approaches on the narrow walkway, Smokey lunges. His owner hasn’t been paying attention to either dog, and the leash slips out of her hand....