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3 Basic Commands Every Dog Should Know and #BeSleepypodSafe


There are many dog commands that you can teach your dog, but there are a few essential basic commands that every dog should know. Teaching basic dog training commands will make both you and your dog happier and your relationship stronger.

Does your dog know these three basic commands

This post is sponsored by Sleepypod. I am being compensated for helping spread the word about Sleepypod products, but Golden Woofs only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers.

Basic Commands Every Dog Should Know

3 Essential Basic Commands Every Dog Should Know

1. Sit is the easiest to teach and the foundation to learn other commands.
How to teach your dog to sit?
a) Stand in front of your dog while holding a treat 2 to 4 inches above his nose.
b) Move the treat toward the back of your dog’s head.
c) As soon as your dog sits, praise him and provide the treat.
Optional: Pair the voice command “sit” with a hand signal. After your dog knows the vocal command, you can start to wean off the treats and use only the hand signal (watch the video from akc)

2. Down is taught as soon as your dog has mastered the sit command. Teaching your dog the down command provides the foundation for many other advanced commands. Most importantly it helps establish you as the leader in the relationship you share with your dog. The down command is very handy especially when you and your dog are in a potentially unsafe situation. The down also keeps your dog calm in stressful situations.

How to teach your dog the down command?
a) Get your dog to sit while holding a treat about an inch in front of his nose.
b) Say the verbal command down and while luring your dog into a lying down position.
c) When your dog is all the way down (truly down and on their side), praise him and provide a treat.

teaching your dog down command

3. Stay command means don’t move from a sit or down position until released. Stay is a vital basic command a dog should know.

All these three commands are very useful especially in introducing KORU BEAR to how fun a car ride can be and be safe. On a previous post, 5 Tips: Introducing Car Rides to Your Dog; it’s essential for your dog to learn how to sit or lay down in the back seat while buckled up with a dog harness like Sleepypod Clickit Terrain.

Basic Commands Every Dog Should Know

Every dog (and owners too) must be proficient to these three basic commands and be trained to execute anywhere/anytime. These essential training commands could one day save your dog’s life.
Does your dog know these three basic commands?

Puppy Training | 4 Reasons Why Train Your Puppy At Home #RaisingPuppy


It’s exciting to get a new dog especially a puppy. When SUGAR passed away, we did not expect to adopt puppy KORU BEAR. We went on immediate adjustment mode; from senior care to puppy care. We reminisced Sugar’s puppy training moments and quickly implemented it.

Puppy Training 4 Reasons Why Train Your Puppy At Home

Puppy Training Made Easy with Raising Your PuppyTM is sponsored by Robin K Bennett Raising Your PuppyTM and the BlogPaws® Pet Influencer NetworkTM. I am being compensated to help share information about this online course, but Golden Woofs only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Robin K Bennett is not responsible for the content of this article.

Good Puppy Behavior Begins At Home

When we adopted KORU BEAR, he was six months old, and we had to help him build his confidence level.

We know that training KORU BEAR basic obedience at home is an excellent confidence-building activity. Puppy training requires a great deal of time and patience. It can be exhausting but also has considerable benefits.

4 Reasons Why Train Your Puppy At Home

1. Dog training is a critical part of dog ownership and developing a Positive Bond with your dog.

Puppy Training at Home Positive Bond

2. Puppy Training Made Easy with Raising Your Puppy
There are many resources available online for new puppy owners. Robin K Bennett Raising Your PuppyTM stands out from other online puppy training courses. Why? Robin Bennett provides a step-by-step guide on what to do from the moment you bring your puppy home to six months of age.

Raising Your Puppy Robin Bennette

3. Utilizing an online puppy training like Robin Bennett helps you Train Your Puppy At Your Own Time. I love that Robin offers a weekly printable checklist “What to Do This Week”, puppy-raising goals and milestone check-in’s to ensure your puppy training is on track. Also, the 100+ short 2-3 minute videos are effective especially for a visual learner like me. What I learned from these videos, I can apply to my daily activities with KORU BEAR.

Robin uses positive training methods – clicker accompanied with lots of praises and treats. Positive Training Techniques Builds TRUST and RESPECT between you and your dog.

Also from Robin’s training materials, it amazes me that a puppy can actually earn a Novice Trick Dog Title. So far from Robin’s list “How Smart Is Your Puppy”, KORU BEAR can perform 8 tricks out of 23. It’s on my list to accomplish these skills with KORU BEAR.

4. You’ll be happier and your puppy too. A Well-Trained Puppy Grows Into A Good Happy Dog.

well trained dog happy dog

Puppy Socialization is the Key to Creating a Well-Trained Dog. According to Robin Bennette “in order for socialization to be effective, your dog needs positive associations with the novel things he encounters.” Robin provides a fun idea list – “Scavenger Hunt for Puppies (and adult dogs too)” people and places your puppy must meet and visit. A list that KORU BEAR is working hard to achieve. Every day on our puppy training, he is happy working on his fears to become a confident well-trained dog.

Dog Trainer Robin Bennett

Robin Bennett is an expert on dogs. For over 20 years, she has been “reading dogs,” teaching families how to train dogs, and working in the pet care industry helping others keep dogs safe. She is a certified professional dog trainer, author, and consultant. In Virginia, she founded one of the largest dog training companies. Robin is also the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Association of Professional Dog Trainers, the premier dog training association with over 5000 members.

INVITATION Raising Your Puppy Online Puppy Training Course

Are you a new puppy owner? We invite you to JOIN Robin Bennett and her puppy, Ranger in their online Puppy Training Course, Raising Your Puppy. You’ll receive ongoing guidance, tips, and advice for every week of development from 8 weeks to 6 months of age. You’ll have access to an exclusive Facebook group of puppy parents.

If you Sign-Up in the next two weeks, you will receive three great bonus items at no cost: 1) How to Handle Loose Dogs and Dog Fights pdf 2) Loose dogs and Dog fights checklist to use on walks, and 3) Dog park safety mp3

Robin Bennett’s Raising Your Puppy online puppy training course has been a tremendous help to us in training KORU BEAR.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Robin Bennett. The opinions and text are all mine.

5 Reasons You Should Train Your Dog


Obedience training is an important part of any dog’s life.
A well-mannered dog is a happy dog.

dog obedience dog trainer

Our Facebook pal, Nacina Dawn, owner of Destiny & Me Golden Retrievers and Puptopia, shared with us some fundamental reasons on why you should train your dog. Nacina specializes in training puppies with a positive and holistic approach that uses every aspect of the puppies life, to create an environment that is happy and safe for everyone involved.

5 Reasons You Should Train Your Dog

5 Reasons You Should Train Your Dog

1. Interaction with Others
Your dog learns from every interaction with you and with the environment. Wouldn’t you like him to learn to make good and safe choices with a thoughtful program? For instance, if your dog jumps on people to greet them, and then gets pushed off, or told “no”, he is being reinforced for jumping up because he gets the attention that he is seeking. It is so much better to only give him attention when he is sitting for a greeting.

Training using rewards is incredibly bonding for you and your dog

2. Bonding
Training using rewards is incredibly bonding for you and your dog. A great benefit, considering that you will be living together for hopefully many years. Training together creates clear communication- We speak a different language than dogs, but they are always trying to interpret us anyway. Why not make it easier on you both and find those words or signals that you both know so that there is no confusion?

dog training bond with your dog

3. Safety
Training can literally save your dog’s life. See that potentially poisonous mushroom? Leave-it saves the day. Someone left the door open, and your dog is following you into traffic? Stay can save lives. Are there little kids or frail seniors in your social circle? Off or even better, sit to greet, can prevent falls and injuries. A reliable recall can get your dog to your side and out of trouble in no time. Yes, these things take effort and time but are a very worthwhile investment.

a mannered dog is a happy dog

4. Well-Mannered
Having a trained dog means that he gets to be a bigger part of your life- A well-mannered dog would be much more welcome at your friend’s house, at social gatherings, and other places where you like to go to have fun. Often, a reliable recall is enough to get the ball rolling for “Dog is Copilot” trips.


On our trips and hotel stays, KORU BEAR always practices basic dog obedience.

5. Your dog will love it!
Positive-reward based training is using games and equates to making it incredibly fun for both you. Marker training encourages dogs to enjoy the learning interaction, become more confident, and can produce speedy results. Training should absolutely NEVER involve the use of force, pain, or fear. That means NO shock collars, NO prong collars, and NO choke collars, no hitting, no yelling, and no actions that could harm your dog or your relationship. Pet Professional Guild is an organization that provides educational materials you can use as a resource to train your dog.

a Trained Dog is a Happy Dog

Do you train your dog? Make training work for you and your dog. Incorporate training commands into your dog’s everyday life.

Teach Your Dog To Unroll A Yoga Mat


Two weeks ago, you saw Sugar do Yin Yoga. Many of you asked “how did Sugar learn to unroll a yoga mat?” Sugar used her Golden Nose.

dogunrollyogamat

5 Things You Need

1) Yoga Mat
2) Small Tasty Treats : Sugar’s favorite is Zuke’s Mini Naturals
3) Your Dog’s Attention
4) Patience
5) Calming Music

9 Steps To Teach Your Dog To Unroll A Yoga Mat

1) Find a spacious place
2) Have your dog in a “down” position.
3) Place treats on the mat (spaced it accordingly).
4) Roll the mat, leaving a piece of treat for your dog to see.
5) Guide your dog’s nose to the first treat (close to the first roll).
6) Guide your dog’s nose to the rest of the treats.
7) Always remember to have FUN teaching your dog a new skill.
8) Be Patient.
9) Make sure to praise your dog.

Teaching your dog to unroll a yoga mat is a FUN skill to learn. Give it a try.

Watch Sugar’s Yin Yoga video, check our 1/17 post Yoga with Your Dog

How Did You Do That? Balancing Trick


Training a dog is an important duty of a responsible dog owner.
It also makes life better for both owner and dog.
My family took a lot of time and patience to train me.
Believe me I was a little handful to train.
Food was the main factor to my success, which I never grew out of.
Now I combine my training in doing tricks, of course for fun and with a food reward.

Did you know that it is beneficial teaching your dog a trick.
Doing tricks helps stimulates your dog’s mind and challenges him/her to try new things.

Doing fun tricks with your dog involves learning and
mastering basic commands such as sit and stay.
These are the 2 main commands that I master immediately and
very important to learn fun tricks such as balancing treat on my nose/head.

Many of you I’ve asked How Did I Balance TREATS on my nose/head?
It started Sept 4, 2010 when mom was making me a Tasty Treat: Peanut Butter Banana Oats.
I was so excited to have a taste and she said I forgot my manners to “wait.”
So she taught me a Trick: Dog 10 sec Dog Treat On My Nose.
Click Here to read our post.

Then October 25, 2011 (new year, new trick), I learned to Balance Treats (yes Treats) with my favorite tasty treat Pumpkin Bones. Click Here to read our post.
On our November 1, 2011 I tried to balance treats that were in round shapes.
Click Here to read our post.

We received numerous emails in regards to my balancing treat(s) trick.
Wisteria, a home decor website featured my 10 sec dog treat on my nose photo in their blog, click here to read their post.
Recently, my Balancing TREATS photo was featured on the Red Dog, Blue Dog book,
click here to read our post.

Also, on my Jan 23, 2013 post, I balance a bunch of bananas on my head (5 bananas).
How did I do that?

Beside mastering the commands sit and stay, both you are your dog need to have patience.
5 simple reminders on teaching your dog a trick …
1) Remember to do it for FUN.
2) Do the trick in small increment of time.
3) Stop teaching the trick if your dog is uncooperative
4) Always start the trick from the beginning
5) Find a safe place to do the trick (balancing trick works best on carpeted or padded area)
* Don’t forget to praise your dog. *
How I balanced a banana on my head …
My mom commanded me to sit.
Then she placed the banana on my head.
I started with 1 small banana, just like the photo above.
My mom commanded me to stay as she placed the banana on my head.
I balance the banana on my head.
I added the SMILE 🙂

Below is a very short video on how I can balance a banana on my head.

FUN trick isn’t it …

What am I working right now … trying to balance objects
my toy Kong, toy paw bone and a book (Red Dog Blue Dog book)

Oh … I found this golf ball at the golf course.
It is dangerous for a dog to play with golf balls.
Just for FUN tried to balance it on my head and nose.
I have a curve on my head/nose …
Is this my secret feature that allows me to do the balance trick ???

Hope you enjoyed our post and encourage you to do a balancing trick with your dog.
Give it a try. Remember, “You can always teach a dog (no matter its age) a trick.”

Lots of Golden L♥VE n Woofs
SUGAR

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