It’s official; AKC’s most popular breeds list is out for 2020. Dog breed popularity in the United States can be faddish depending on what celebrity owns what breed at the moment. Tracking breed popularity is almost like tracking the stock market and, like the stock market, you can frequently really overpay. I’ve listed the top 20 breeds for 2020 compared to their 2019 ranking below.

It’s common knowledge in the dog and animal behavior consulting profession: dog aggression of all types is increasing across America. Since almost all dog aggression is fear based, it makes me somewhat melancholy to think an increasing number of dogs are experiencing this. The most important question is, why?

A new client walked in my door recently. She was a middle-aged woman who was nicely dressed and very well spoken. She came with a large and beautiful female sable colored long-haired German Shepherd. I must admit that the dog was so beautiful it caused me to ignore this new client for a moment - this is the kind of dog I call “leash candy”.

It seems like some of the most effective dog training advice I provide dog owners is actually fairly simple. The following is an example of a tip that is simple but extremely powerful when training your dog at home.

My wife, Barbara, and I said goodbye two days ago to our sweet sweet boy, Reagan (pictured above). He was 11 years old and died of a rare liver disease. Words cannot express how immensely blessed we were to be his caretakers, nor can they express our level of sadness at this time. Godspeed sweet Reagan; thank you for all of your love and loyalty. You will be immensely missed and forever in our hearts.

“Should I get a dog?” is a question that all prospective first-time dog owners ask themselves as well as those dog owners who are thinking of adding a dog. I’ve worked with thousands of dog owners in my behavior consulting career and have put together my list of things to consider before getting a first dog or adding another dog to your family.

The picture you see with this article is of my Great Pyrenees, Luke, relaxing in his crate. Luke frequently chooses to spend time in his crate voluntarily; I leave the door open so he is free to do this. Dog owners have mixed feelings about crating their dogs. Some feel it’s like putting their dogs in jail while others feel it’s a great “dog cave” or safe sanctuary for their dogs.

Dog breed is not the ultimate predictor of how well a specific dog will fit into your life, but breed types do have disposition tendencies that need to be considered. Picking the right breed, or breed mix, is especially important for first-time dog owners.

Of all the creatures on earth, have you ever wondered why humans and dogs seem to really “get each other”? Dogs really enjoy being with us. They appear to read our moods and our motives. They are forgiving of our worst transgressions. Their love is…unconditional.

When I was eight years old my mom asked me to take the groceries in from the car. Instead of taking a bag or two at a time, I loaded all five bags in my arms at once in order to make just one trip. Unfortunately, I dropped all of the bags on my way to the kitchen breaking many glass bottles and all of the eggs.

There are a number of key concepts that are extremely important when working with dogs that have behavior issues. I’ve included three of the most important of these below. While the things I detail below seem rather simple, they really aren’t in practice. These axioms are hard to implement when we are frustrated with our dog; furthermore, they can also feel counterintuitive.

If your dog has one of the following problem behaviors, you might be thinking about getting another dog in an attempt to fix the problem. There are seven common instances where I find dog owners considering this remedy. Read below to see why this may, or may not, work for your dog.

“Let’s go visit the Smiths! We’re all good friends and all of us love dogs too! Wait! Let’s take Bella with us so their dog, Luna, and ours can be friends too!” Sounds like a good idea, but it probably isn’t.

Rescuing a dog, versus buying one from a breeder, is always a great idea for a number of reasons. Primarily you are keeping a potentially great dog from being euthanized. By rescuing a dog you may also take a sale away from a puppy mill since the majority of puppies come from puppy mills these days unfortunately.

I’ve seen hundreds of dogs that are aggressive to humans. I feel the owner’s confusion, frustration, disappointment and anxiety as soon as I meet them. Unfortunately, some owners bring me their human aggressive dogs when it is realistically too late to modify the dog’s behavior in any significant way.

Certified dog behavior consultants, like myself, are frequently asked to quantify and provide details about human dog bites. Aggressive human dog bites are required to be reported to animal control.