Dog Training
The Art and Science of Heeling
The Art & Science of Heeling By Angelica Steinker, M.Ed., C.D.B.C, CAP2 Designed by Kimberly "Kim" Archer, CPDT-KA, CTDI "Heeling is a dance of special connection with my dog. Some view it as merely a mechanical exercise, but for me it is the ultimate connection of our two spirits.” – Ruth E Barish, avid obedience competitor and author [...]
It is Unwise to Say, “Just Ignore the Problem Behavior!”
Niki Tudge shares some important information about the misguided advice of "ignoring unwanted behavior". Ignoring a problem behavior is just one part of the equation; at the same time, [...]
Why Prong Collars Hurt
Thank you Eileen Anderson for writing an informative blog on the physics of a prong collar. Please see additional note at the bottom of the post. Prong collars, also called [...]
“Naughty” Dog Or Normal Dog?
by Anna Francesca Bradley In spite of the various labels commonly assigned to them, dogs do not deliberately set out to make their s’ lives difficult. Photo: Susan Nilson [...]
Health & Safety
Enjoying the Holidays with your dog
This article is shared with permission from USDAA.com. Holiday festivities are fun for us, but can be both stressful and dangerous to our dogs. Here are few tips to make sure everyone in your family [...]
Tampa Dog Trainer: Dog Travel Safety
Dog Travel Safety is an important concern Tampa Dog Trainer: Dog Travel Safety By Brenna Fender Dog s often travel with their pets to competitions, on vacation, or just about town while on [...]
Tampa Dog Trainer Angelica Steinker: Helpful Pet Insurance Information
Helpful Pet Insurance Information It can be hard to find helpful pet insurance information, so today we are sharing a link to a huge chart listing many of the pet insurance companies and presenting a [...]
Dog Agility Training
Courteous Canine Articles
Meetups: A FUN Way to Make Dog Friends
If you enjoy the concept of meetups please consider joining one of these meetup groups if your dog fits the breed or activity -- For Chihuahuas: https://www.meetup.com/Chihuahua-Mafia/ For doodles: https://www.meetup.com/Doodle-Bugs-of-Tampa-Bay/ For pet therapy enthusiasts: https://www.meetup.com/Tampa-Paws-for-Pet-Therapy/
Tighten Those Turns
By Brenna Fender Several dog sports benefit from tight turns. Agility is the most obvious one, but rally and traditional obedience also include about turns that are best done tightly around the handler. Turning tightly [...]
AKC Coursing Ability Tests (CAT) are for any breed!
(as opposed to lure coursing tests that are for sighthound breeds only) Below is a link to the AKC’s summary description of the CAT. This outlines the distance of the course based on dog size [...]
Enjoying the Holidays with your dog
This article is shared with permission from USDAA.com. Holiday festivities are fun for us, but can be both stressful and dangerous to our dogs. Here are few tips to make sure everyone in your family [...]
Teaching Spin
By Brenna Fender Teaching your dog to spin is easy, fun, and useful! This trick can be used to help stretch your dog out before activity, to build coordination, and to teach your dog lefts [...]
The Four Courteous Canine Learning Games
Our four learning games: Shaping Prompting Capturing Observational Learning So how do each of these learning games work using a 'clicker'? Shaping - Shaping is the process of training your dog by rewarding a very [...]
Homemade Agility
By Brenna Fender Before you could buy agility equipment online, and even before plans for making agility equipment became available, people practiced agility for fun in their backyards, and you can too! As long as [...]
Looking for some doggie fun this weekend?
Looking for something fun to do this weekend? Come join us at Courteous Canine, Inc. to watch some dock jumping we are starting at 8 am both days and will roughly end at 4pm. Admission [...]
Screw-Up Cookies
By Brenna FenderNo dog trainer is perfect. When training simple behaviors, you might most often get your cues, lures, clicks, and rewards right, but when the tasks get complicated, there is more room for error. [...]
New Dock Diving Opportunities in Florida
The American Kennel Club (AKC) is now recognizing dock diving titles and Courteous Canine, Inc. is giving Floridian dog s their first in-state opportunities to compete! Dogs attending North America Diving Dogs (NADD) sanctioned events [...]
A Quick Guide to Agility Organizations
By Brenna Fender The United States offers many agility sanctioning organizations, which means that American competitors have lots of options for different agility experiences. There are more similarities than differences between the organizations. Most are [...]
Teach Your Dog to Peek!
By Brenna Fender “Peek” is a cute behavior that’s easy to teach and handy to use as a fun trick or helpful move in various dog sports. It works like this: a handler stands with [...]
Tampa Dog Trainer Brenna Fender: What is UpDog?
Tampa Dog Trainer Brenna Fender: What’s UpDog? UpDog is a brand new dog sport organization created by Kat and Jack Fahle, Andrea and Jason Rigler, and Babz Mahony. These dedicated disc doggers wanted to expand [...]
Tampa Dog Trainer Brenna Fender: New Trainer and New Class at Courteous Canine, Inc.!
New Trainer and New Class at Courteous Canine, Inc.! By Brenna Fender Did you ever see a dog do some really cool tricks and think, “Wow, I’d love my dog to be able to do that”? [...]
Tampa Dog Trainer Brenna Fender: The ABCs of Tracking and Other Games
Tampa Dog Trainer Brenna Fender The ABCs of Tracking and Other Games By Brenna Fender American Kennel Club (AKC) is probably the most well-known organization in the United States to sanction tracking. You can read [...]