Welcome to Week 44!

Now that your dog knows how to "go hide" you'll learn how to walk away from her, plus tell her to "go hide" from a distance, and what she should do when you tell her, "ambush!" Use this clicker-based exercise in this week's instructions in Kids & Pets, "It's an Ambush – Part Two!"

NILIF means Nothing In Life Is Free, and this is a leadership "practice" with your dog. You may also recognize this as the, "Say Please" process. Same practice, different titles. Whichever you'd like to name it, the theory behind it is that you become a leader to your dog, not by using fear, force or intimidation, but by controlling all of your dog's valuable resources and expecting her to do something to EARN the right to them. Think of it as, "nothing in life is free, my furry friend, so if you'd like that cookie you must do something to earn it." Read more on this week's Understanding Your Pet, "NILIF."

You've made the investment in the training sessions, now what! Whether you attend a group class or hire a trainer to work with you at home, there are things you can do get the most from your lessons. What to do now? Read more about making sure you get the most bang for your buck in this week's Perfect Pet column, "How to get the Most Out of a Dog Training Class."

There's a saying in Positive Reinforcement dog training:  "Train with your brain not with pain." It makes perfect sense to me, although there are some people who claim that because dogs are animals we must use physical techniques and corrections, such as leash pops, when training a dog. In other words, we must use brawn not brain when training a dog. However, some physical techniques/corrections can have unwanted consequences and backslide our training. Sir Isaac Newton has a theory and valid contribution to physical corrections in dog training. Newton's Third Law of Motion states that, "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." Read more in this week's Training For Success column, "It's All About the Brain, Baby!"

We hope you enjoy your Week Forty-Four issue of MyPetTrainer.com. The staff of the MyPetTrainer.com and LostMyPet.com community is here to support you!

Together in success,
The staff of MyPetTrainer.com