James Lu Dunbar

Blog posts by James Lu Dunbar

Quick Tip: The Keys to the Kingdom – How to Use Life Rewards to Motivate Your Dog

Teaching your dog what you want them to do is just the first step in training. The second step is motivating your dog to WANT to do what you want them to do, and this actually represents the vast majority of the time and energy that it takes to train a dog, 

 

Quick Tip: The Gift of Gab – Maximize the Effectiveness of Your Training by Talking to your Dog!

Your voice is one of the most useful tools you have in dog training. Sadly, it's also one of the most underutilized. Many dog owners don't understand how much they can communicate by using their voice, and as a result, they fail to give their dogs the feedback they need to learn how to behave. 

Of course, your voice is most powerful when you use words that your dog understands, but even when you use words they don't understand your dog will appreciate the tone and intensity and that can communicate quite a lot!

Watch the video below to learn more:

 

Quick Tip: Handcrafted – How to make the best use of your HANDS during training

You have to know how to use your hands correctly if you want to be a good dog trainer. Excellent dog handlers know how to use their hands to energize, calm, lure and reward.

On the other hand, when owners don't know what they're doing, they can accidentally train their dog to become afraid of human hands, which can lead to anxiety and aggression problems.

And of course, the best thing about your hands is that they are one of just a few tools that you always have with you!

To learn more, watch this video:

 

Quick Tip: Superfood – What You Should and Should not be Feeding Your Dog

For many dogs, the most important aspect about the food you feed your dog is whether or not you use it in training. If your dog has behavior problems, you can, and should, use their regular food to help solve those problems.

That's why it's well worth considering a dry kibble that will be convenient to use in training. For many people, if it's not convenient, it's not going to happen, and when you fail to use food in training you really handicap yourself. 

To learn more, watch this video:

 

Quick Tip: Ditch the Dish – The First Step to Resolving Your Dog's Behavior Problems

When it comes to dog training and behavior problems, the number of different solutions are as great and varied as the number of different problems.

But whatever your problem is, there's a good chance that the first step you're going to want to take is getting rid of your dog's food bowl. Feeding your dog form a food bowl really undermines your ability to use food in training, and food, used properly, can make training much, much easier.

To learn more, watch this video:

 

Dunbar Academy Gets a Make-Over

Dunbar Academy is our online dog training and behavior school and presents a more structured and curated learning experience than Dog Star Daily can provide.

But it wasn't always that way. When we started Dunbar Academy a couple of years ago, it primarily consisted of video recording of Ian's many dog behavior seminar and workshops. 

 
Dunbar Academy is now on YouTube

Announcing the Dunbar Academy YouTube channel

We're excited to announce that we've launched a new YouTube Channel!

It's going to feature videos of all three of the Dunbars dispensing top-notch dog training informaiton and entertainment! Our goal is to add at least one new video each week and so we've been doing A LOT of filming lately.

 

Is Your Aggressive Dog Dangerous? Dr. Dunbar Says, Probably Not

This video clip was taken from the new online seminar by Dr. Ian Dunbar: Dog-Dog Reactivity, only available on the Dunbar Academy. Try your first month for just $1

Do you have an aggressive dog that barks, lunges, snaps, growls, or bites? If so, the next question to ask yourself is:

"Is my dog dangerous?"

 

How to Use Food Intelligently in Lure-Reward Dog Training

Based on Dr. Ian Dunbar’s lecture (of the same title). Only available on Dunbar Academy. Try your first month for just $1.

Food is extremely useful when training a dog …

Food is simply unmatched for classical conditioning and is incredibly useful as both lures and rewards when teaching basic manners. 

… Unless it becomes a bribe

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