Happy Train Your Dog Month!

Welcome to the month of January, which, unlike December, has quite a few pet holidays!  But there aren't just individual ones, there are month-long celebrations, too. And January is National Train Your Dog Month.

This month-long celebration is sponsored by the Association of National Dog Trainers - yes, this exists! The association promotes dog training and the use of dog trainers to improve your dog's behavior.  They picked the month of January specifically because it's a time of year in which a lot of new pups are brought home for the holidays. It's the sixth year that National Train Your Dog Month is being celebrated.  ANDT founded this holiday in 2010 in order to raise " awareness to the importance of socialization and training, and most of all, to inform the public that training your dog can be easy and fun!"

If you don't believe it can be easy and fun, you might just need a new strategy!  Training your dog can be pretty grueling, especially if they're stubborn or having trouble catching on.  But that's why the National Dog Trainers are here! They promote training to educate everyone on just how successful you can be if you're training your dog properly.  You can access their bank of trainers they have who are accredited by them, from all over the U.S., so you can find one who best fits you and your dog.

And if you want to have a hand in promoting this month, you can!  ANDT's website has suggestions on how you can not only celebrate National Train Your Dog Month (by training your dog, of course!) but also promote it.  

Get a Proclamation From Your Local Government - This is a pretty intense commitment, but you could definitely get it done!  This means filing a request to your local town or city government to have this month recognized by them as a holiday/special occasion. 

Write a Letter to the Editor - Write a letter to local magazines or newspapers to encourage them to write about and promote National Train Your Dog Month. 

Use Training Tips Handouts - Use resources from the NADT's website to give to those you know who might need help training their dog.

Send an eCard to Someone - Along the same lines, you can send ecards to friends who have dogs in order to promote the month, but it also might encourage them to get training help themselves! 

Now go celebrate by teaching your dog a new trick!