January 2012 is National Train Your Dog Month.

Jan. 24, 2012 - PRLog -- In celebration of the American National Train Your Dog Month, Charmaine Hammond, bestselling author of a great dog book,On Toby’s Terms, offers three ways that training turned her dog around from being incorrigible to incredible.  “Toby came to us with longstanding behavioral issues including separation anxiety, depression and fear of noises.

Through the work of our dog behaviorist Maggie, and training, Toby became a Pet Assisted Therapy Dog helping many people through depression and other forms of mental illness. We learned to understand Toby’s behavior and how to correct his destructive behavior. Toby needed a purpose, a job. The day he got the job at the hospital, his life changed, and so did ours.”

Hammond stated that training can:
•   Help the owner better understand the dog’s non verbal communication and intervene or correct the behavior early and in a positive manner,
•   Build owner confidence and consistency,
•   Alleviate some stress for the dog as it better understands the owner’s communication and direction, and,
•   Reduce the number of dogs that are returned to shelters.  Training can save lives!

According to the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT), the APDT began the National Train Your Dog Month campaign in 2010 to promote the importance, and benefits of training dogs to become happy and healthy companions for their owners. The APDT indicates that too many dogs are given to rescue organizations and animal shelters each year for difficulties with behavior and training issues. Many of these behaviors could have been easily resolved with proper guidance and behavioral intervention, socialization and positive, gentle, science-based methods of training (credit APDT).

As pet owners, we discovered that the training was not just for our dog, but was also for us! Toby, was a Chesapeake Bay retriever who loved to empty closets, rearrange rooms, destroy toilet tank lids and turn water taps on. Now, Toby’s story is chronicled in Chicken Soup for the Soul- What I learned from the dog, On Toby’s Terms (Bettie Youngs Books, Oct. 2010) and a wildly popular children’s picture book series Toby The Pet Therapy Dog & His Hospital Friends (Bettie Youngs Books, Aug. 2011) with a new release scheduled for 2012-  Toby Says Be a Buddy Not a Bully . On Toby’s Terms is being turned into a major motion picture, with Impact Motion Pictures, a California based production company.

To find out more about dog pet trainers, you can check out the national association at http://www.cappdt.ca (Canada) or USA http://www.trainyourdogmonth.com. Or speak to your local Veterinarian or animal rescue and shelter for a referral.

Contact:  Christopher Alcock or Charmaine Hammond,   780-798-2426 (Canada phone) or     Chris.alcock@hammondgroup.biz.  Website: www.ontobysterms.com

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Charmaine Hammond, MA, BA, is an international transformational speaker and best selling author, helping people live inspired, resilient lives and is a leading trainer in corporate North America helping transform workplaces.