DogStarDaily Website - Take A Look

Now a number of you will probably be heartily sick of my mentioning this website but no I’m not going to apologise and here’s why. This is the single best dog training website that I have found. It is full of very useful and practical advice and gives the views of many different contributors and encourages contributions (posts of photos, videos and comments) from the public. Yes like every information source there are times when I wish something hadn’t been posted or said – but these are extremely rare compared to other sources of information I find including books, brochures, magazines and DVDs.

So I decided to bite the bullet and give you the chance to see just what I mean in the first post of what will turn into a few about some of the best resources I’ve found. Feel free to add posts to the dog folder on resources you’ve found useful and why.

For instance if you were interested in housetraining for instance then on this one website you could find (as a minimum):

• Articles on:
• Puppy’s first week at home
• Errorless Housetraining
• Puppy Playroom and Doggy Den
    
• Blogs including:
• Blog of a new puppy owner (Jeff Silverman)
• To crate or not to crate, and why (Valerie Pollard)
• Why did he do it? (Ian Dunbar)
• But I’ve tried everything! (Gillian Ridgeway)
• It never happens…until it happens (Gillian Ridgeway)
• Establishing dominance (Jerry Hope)
    
• Handouts (Behaviour blueprints):
• Housetraining
     
• Radio episodes:
• Loo logistics
• Errorless Housetraining and Chewtoy Training
   
• DogStarDaily Video clips
• Housetraining from the original SIRIUS puppy training TV show and videos
• Errorless Housetraining
• Puppy Playpen for Housetraining
• Housetraining a Puppy
• Pee Before Walk 
• Potty problems at the pub and associated consultation (from Training the Companion Dog DVD)
   
• Home videos
• Potty training puppies – the basics.
    
  One of the most awesome home videos I've ever seen is on the site - Housetraining is easy! An amazing video you should all watch – basenji puppies trained by their breeder to toilet on cue. It’s amazing! http://www.dogstardaily.com/video-cck/thickbox/3251/425/350/field_video_0 The person who trained these pups is a breeder - not a dog trainer (at least according to him - I think the evidence says he might not be a professional but he certainly has the skills)

DogStarDaily was established by Dr Ian Dunbar once he decided to retire from the international speaking circuit - that lasted only a couple of months – but the idea grew legs and continues to grow and expand almost daily. So what do you find at this website (http://www.dogstardaily.com/ ):

• The Training Textbook which provides, and expands and updates information previously only available in the books ‘Before you get your puppy’, ‘After you get your puppy’ and ‘Teach a New Dog Old Tricks’ all by Ian. The topics include:
•  Before you get your puppy
• Your education about puppy education
• Developmental priorities
• Choosing your puppy
• Shopping list
• Raising a puppy
• Puppy’s 1st week at home
• Puppy’s 1st month at home
• Puppy outside the home
• Basic manners and obedience
• Basic manners
• Lure/Reward training
• Food critics
• Puppy training
• Adolescent dog training
• Adult dog training
• Dog behaviour problems
• Dog behaviour and play
• K9 Games
• Other articles

As well as the text and photos you can often get PDF printouts of relevant pages from the books or handouts and to the right of the page you will often find related video clips.

• The Dog Blog which features blogs from scientists (like Dr Roger Abrantes), Veterinarians (like Dr Nicholas H. Dodman, Dr Jon Klingborg and Ian himself), Veterinary Behaviourists, owners of dog training and daycare facilities, rescue groups, many professional dog trainers and published authors including Suzanne Clothier, Trish King, Patricia McConnell, Sarah Whitehead, Nicole Wilde and others. 
   
• IWoofs Radio which is now in it’s third season and includes downloads of episodes that vary from 30 mins to 60 mins in length. They touch on all sorts of topics about getting, managing, training and living with puppies and dogs. For instance there is an episode called ‘Peaceful Paradise or Wild Kingdom’ which deals with issues associated with living with multiple dogs, including aggression between dogs in the family situation. Another talks about resource guarding and yet another about living with an adolescent.
   
• DSD TV provides you with access to short video clips (available on sets of his commercial CD’s) and from various TV shows and sponsored advertisements. There are also home videos that people have posted themselves – and Ian’s currently working on projects to add more about training adult dogs (I’ve seen some of the snippets at his talks in Australia last year and they look great).
   
• Free downloads including:
• Electronic copies of his books ‘Before You Get Your Puppy’ and ‘After You Get Your Puppy’ which started because the guy from the NSW Siberian Husky Rescue asked him if he could put these books on his website – and Ian and his family gave permission free of charge and then decided to also do it internationally.
• Downloadable articles and fliers on various behaviours and how to deal with them.

Up to you – but I really recommend a visit. As with all information you need to decide what is right for you and your dog but I recommend this site unequivocally to all new puppy and dog owners.