Welcome to Week 45!

The next time you and your family take photos, remember to include your dog—smiling! This exercise will help you capture your dog's natural smile! Using Clicker Training at its best with "capturing a behavior" use this week's instructions in Kids & Pets, "Teach Your Dog to Smile."

When you correct your dog do you think that if you tell her what you don't want, she will automatically know what you DO want? Dogs are born not only unaware (and unacquainted) with how we think they should act, but also unequipped to simply flip the behavior coin from how you don't want her to behave to how you do want her to behave. Your job in training your dog is to set her up to succeed, not wait until she fails and then correct her for it. Correction, without first teaching what will gain a dog success, is old-school thinking. It's putting the burden on a totally different species, equipped with totally different skills and natural needs, to deal with the threat of learning-through-correction. Read more on this week's Understanding Your Pet, "Dogs Aren't Mind Readers."

Did you used to have mini blinds on your window only to discover them chewed and bent? Or find your very pretty lace curtains in shreds? Or the drapes ripped right out of the wall? Seems like Fido is destructo dog around your windows! Read more about why your dog is destroying your blinds and curtains in this week's Perfect Pet column, "Dogs + Window Coverings = Destruction."

When you're picking a dog training methodology remember that your kids need to be able to safely train your dog. Not all dog training tools and techniques are safe for your children to use. Keep in mind that there are more people than just you when it comes to training your dog. Be sure to pick tools and techniques that not only work, but also work safely and humanely. Read more in this week's Training For Success column, "Kids Are Trainers, Too."

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

Together in success,
The staff of MyPetTrainer.com