Tuna Fudge is a favorite dog treat recipe of both our dogs and the Wags & Wiggles family in attendance at dog agility trials. It’s nutritious and easy to make. The dogs crowd around us in anticipation of their tasty reward. We have had great success with this dog treat recipe as a training tool for finicky dogs who are not normally inspired by treats. Below is the version we have more-or-less perfected. A 15oz can of Salmon (in … Read More
Can you just look at a piece of wood and immediately know how long it is? What about if I asked you the distance driving from your house to your work? Would you be accurate? I probably would not be. I can be directionally challenged. In agility, this can be a problem for dogs and humans that don’t naturally calculate distance well. On course, do you notice the distance between jumps changes? Sometimes they are closer together and sometimes farther … Read More
Trip to Kentucky The trip to Kentucky for the USDAA Agility 2011 Nationals was a good trip but not a great trip. We didn’t come back with any wins or trophies this year. While I was proud of what we did, we just had an off trial. Gumbo, my steady Catahoula, and I were just not in sync. After close examination of the video, there wasn’t anything obvious I did most of the time – we were just off. He … Read More
Most clients would like to know how to stop their dog from chasing squirrels or how not to pull on the leash. Those questions are somewhat easy to answer with a well-laid training plan. A few days ago, I was asked a different sort of question that I found much more difficult to answer. Identifying the Issues This client’s agility dog struggled with several issues: separation anxiety, counter surfing, start line problems, bar knocking, and a few other things. … Read More
For those of you who haven’t met me, my name is Liz and I am one of the staff trainers at Wags. I recently was able to assist my first foundation agility class with one of our longtime instructors, Lisa McFarland, and it was a really eye-opening learning experience for me. Real Value of Rewards One of the most interesting things I learned via assisting was how important it is for us as instructors to help our students learn the … Read More
Hi All! Romi here, over at the Tustin Wags & Wiggles! For my first blog post, I decided to make it a cute, short one! I compiled some pictures of Wags client dogs and staff dogs that have been coming to us since wee bitty puppies and have grown into beautiful adults! I thought it would be fun to compare the before and after pictures! One of the perks of the job is watching our puppies grow! Enjoy the … Read More
Sir Punk Rodent is really his full name. Rodie for short. He just joined the pack of Team Agility Zurborg. He’s a 4 1/2-month-old Chihuahua who is full of evil thoughts. He loves to bite, chase, harass, and be a total punk. Super-Dog! He has no thoughts of self-preservation and will climb any mountain, jump off any building, and wear his superman cape all day long. I realize he’s the wrong color but we will soon rectify that with a … Read More
The first thing you have to know about Tortoises is that they can go on a “tortoise rampage”. You never know what prompts it. They just get angry about something. I just spent 3 hours battling my tortoise. Our Sulcata Tortoise Named Bump Bump is a 15-year-old sulcata tortoise we rescued from the LA Shelter. He now weighs 67 pounds. Today Bump decided that he HAD to fit inside the smaller hut belonging to our other tortoise. Bump can’t … Read More
The crazy summer months at Wags are finally over and it’s time to take a little vacation. We all worked super hard taking care of everyone’s dogs while all our clients jet-setted from the beach to the desert. Little did I know I was about to learn how agility teaches humility. I chose the coast in central California to play agility with great weather, great friends, and great life lessons. My dogs were so happy and loving. They made … Read More
No matter what style of training you use, teaching a dog to walk nicely on a leash is often a source of frustration for the human. That’s where calming ovals can help. Questions we often hear are: When do I click? When do I feed? What hand do I feed from? When do I stop? Do I turn around? What if the dog won’t walk? When do I yank the leash? Well, hopefully, you are coming to our … Read More