Blog — Holistic Dog Training

The goal of training your dog should really be entraining your dog. To explain this, let's look at the meaning of entrainment as given by Wikipedia: Brainwave entrainment, the practice of entraining one's brainwaves to a desired frequency Entrainment (biomusicology), the synchronization of organisms to an external rhythm Entrainment (chronobiology), the alignment of a circadian system's period and phase to the period and phase of an external rhythm Entrainment (engineering), the entrapment of one substance by another substance Entrainment (hydrodynamics), the movement of one fluid by another Entrainment (meteorology), a phenomenon of the atmosphere Entrainment (physical geography), the process by...

I currently have my dogs on an "attention diet." That means "no touch, no talk, no eye contact," as Cesar Millan would say (and I promise you, this is both the first and last time I will ever quote Cesar!). Why do my dogs need an attention diet? Well, they've received way too much attention indoors, been completely anthropomorphized, overstimulated, over-pet, overly coo-ed to, and in a fairly co-dependent relationship with me for most of their lives. It's only day two and so far, so good. I've been able to practically go "cold turkey" and my dogs are snoring soundly while...

Dogs are like humans in many ways, including their biology. An important biological element that we share is the 10th cranial nerve, also known as the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve connects the brain to the body and helps regulate the autonomic nervous system in both humans and dogs. When all is going well our ventral vagus is in charge, and we have feelings of safety and comfort. Our breathing and movements are easy and joyful. We are in a state of flow, showing playful behavior while interacting with others. When we start to sense fear or perceive danger, this system also helps...

I wanted to share with you some of my recommendations for crate training a puppy. Many people have an aversion to using a crate with their dog because they think it's cruel to put him in a "cage." The first thing you have to wrap your head around is that dogs are den animals, and a crate for a dog is analogous to a bedroom for a human. Try searching Google images of "wolf den" and you will see that they often hang out in little dirt holes. It is safe, it is comforting, and it is their home. Instead...

I recently saw an article stating that the reason a dog acts out is because he is bored and needs more mental stimulation (7 Signs Your Dog Needs More Mental Stimulation). What's more likely to be true is that your dog is already over-stimulated and this is why he's acting out. What our dogs need today is more emotional grounding and less mental stimulation. Think about it, there's no such thing as being over-grounded, because emotional grounding is always good. But there is such a thing as being over-stimulated. We all get over-stimulated when we have too much mental activity and not...