This month, Kiki Yablon, KPA CTP, CPDT-KA, shares how to prepare a home before a baby arrives and how to build a healthy relationship after. Without question, it takes time and effort to prepare a dog for a baby, but it is time and energy well spent. Planning ahead and erring on the side of caution can help everyone live a long and happy life together. Here are some more specific tips for pre-baby prep and beyond.

Many of the serious behavior problems seen in adult dogs are rooted in incomplete or improper socialization. Yet adopters of young puppies often don’t learn what socialization really is, or why it’s so important, until it’s too late. Socialization in canine developmental terms isn’t just hanging out with other dogs. It’s a time-sensitive process that needs to be well under way before your puppy is 12 weeks old.

We invited Kiki Yablon, KPA CTP, back for another post on behavior and training. This month’s topic: the practice commonly known as “counter surfing,” or taking objects off tables and countertops.

In her last post, Kiki wrote about how dogs communicate with us. This month, she delves into how we communicate with our dogs.

Given she's made a career out of training dogs, she dedicates a little time each day formally training her own pup, Pigeon. In this post she shares three key ways to communicate clearly with your dog when working on new behaviors or improving existing ones.