Blog by K9 Pro and Steve Courtney Dog Training K9 Pro The K9 Professionals

Dog Training aids and tools are a hotly debated topic when it comes to dog training and rehab, they probably get more attention than the useful topics do, sadly. Many people may not know this but in my field, dog trainers and behaviourists are often defined by the methods and tools they use rather than whether they are effective or …

Most of us who have dogs, love dogs, that is a given, but there are so many ways that you can love a dog, and many of them are not going to help produce a stable, confident dog that knows how much he or she is loved. When I ask “are you loving your dog the wrong way“, most people …

Why are children being killed by dogs? We have had some absolutely tragic events of late involving dogs biting children and a couple of cases of children fatally wounded in dog attacks, but why are we seeing this? I wish it was as simple as changing just one but in many cases it is just the sum of many things that …

These days, pets are considered part of the family by more than 90% of pet owners, this means that they are held in such high value, it can trouble us deeply when they are sick, hurt or not behaving well. This means that treating peoples pets has become a professional vocation for many, including yours truly. Having that said, I …

Abusive relationships are not limited to just people, I meet a number of people each week that are living in an abusive relationship with their dog that could not be described as anything less than abusive. Whilst some of the elements of the relationship vary, abuse very often is occurring.

Many people comment and message us saying how much they love the videos we make of the rehab work we do here at K9 Pro, and you may be one of them. If you haven’t watched them yet, most are on our YouTube Channel (here). But I feel that most of us, do not truly understand the level of immense …

So for those of us who watched Tony Danza in the show “Who’s the Boss”, this article has nothing at all to do with that. Now with that out of the way, I want to talk about a common ideal that often exists within dog owners households. I meet a lot of people that tell me that their dog knows …

Anyone who has a dog with a problem, serious enough to seek help, is looking for the magic cure for dog problems. They feverishly search the internet, books, dvd’s, vets and every other resource known to man, or woman. The problem seems that everyone thinks they have the magic cure to dog problems don’t they? Me personally, I don’t feel …

A dog that will stand by your side in life, a friend, protector and confidant? The German Shepherd Dog has long been mans most loved breed when the man, or woman wanted a very capable dog. Over time though, more and more of this incredible breed ends up in trouble, rescue, rehab and worse. Why does this happen to this magnificent …

A while ago I wrote an article called “positive doesn’t mean good” where I spoke about the terminology used in dog training and behaviour modification that are part of the Operant Conditioning principles. I wanted this article to talk about the REAL problem I have with punishment. Not the application of traditional systems and methods but the peoples actions which …

So it won’t take you long to figure out that I wrote this article with the recent dog attacks in mind, in something like 5 days there were 4 dog attacks on 4 children, one resulting in the death of a little 1 year old girl. Of course there was an instant explosion from the “ban the breed” believers, but …

One of the most important things I have learnt as a dog trainer is the difference between feeding a dog and reinforcing behaviour with food. Learning how to use reinforcement correctly in training is usually just one element of successful behaviour modification but it is a critical part of helping the dog to develop work ethic, learn how to make …

As many people who follow us know, we specialise in Dog Behaviour Modification and Rehabilitation. There are hundreds of articles and videos that show our work including many before and afters, just check out our YouTube channel (K9Pro YouTube) if you would like to see some of our work.

I work with a lot of Assistance Dogs, these are often brought by people who are training their own Assistance Dogs, but other times I may be working with already certified Assistance Dogs that are displaying behaviour problems.

It is a real shame but most people that get a new puppy spend a very small amount of time on very basic training then stop. The next time they think that it is time to do some training is when their dog is behaving badly. This means that those people are reacting to their pups behaviour rather than training …