Royal K9 Inc, Calgary, AB (2024)

02/06/2024

Did you know? Dogs must be 24 months or older for OFA Hip and Elbow certification, and 12 months or older for Cardiac, Patellas, and Thyroid certification. There is no age minimum for eye certification, nor for DNA, since DNA does not change as the dog ages.

The OFA also does Preliminary evaluations on hips and elbows before 24 months of age. However, they will need to be re-evaluated again for a final certification once the dog reaches 24 months.

For more information, visit https://ofa.org/

12/02/2023

Socializing your puppy to the world isn't about being a Walmart greeter to all people and dogs they meet.
It's about taking in everything in life with calmness.
Like a cart ride at Canadian Tire!

12/02/2023

Reposted from another

My dog is not my child. My dog is not my furbaby.

I am not his mother, I am his trainer. The word trainer is not a bad word, it means leader, supporter,disciplinary.. and friend.

My dog is my friend. He is my partner and my companion. To treat him like a child, to infantilize him and make it seem as though he needs my constant coddling or protection, would be unfair to him.

He is an adult carnivore that I have brought into my human world. Because of that it is my responsibility as his owner:

1) To communicate with him in a way he can understand.

2) To provide leadership, discipline and mutual respect.

3) To understand his instincts and needs, and provide appropriate outlets for them.

4) To train him and provide him the skills to function effectively in our human world, including acceptable manners and behaviours including the veterinarian.

Our dogs deserve to be given responsibility and allowed to be adult creatures, not perpetual babies.

Please, don't try to make them tiny humans, they aren't and they don't want to be. Dogs are wonderful because they are dogs. Let them be dogs.

Teach them to be good ones.

Katherine Carter 4/8/19
"Dog Trainer Unpopular Opinion of the Day:"

06/30/2023

My website!! Still a work in progress.
Need help with your dog, look no further?
Sign up for my information packed Newsletter!!

Dog training for people w/ puppies, first time pet owners, manners, obedience, aggression, reactivity, distraction, fear based, and understanding.

10/23/2022

A good read also

I like to share this post every year or so. It always seems to be something folks are struggling with. SA is often unintentionally created, and often done so with good intentions but poor understanding.

•Pet your dog, all the time
•Talk to your dog, all the time
•Allow your dog to follow you, all the time
•Allow your dog to be on your lap or laying on your feet, all the time
•Pet, soothe, comfort your dog when it whines or barks for attention...or is simply anxious
•Allow your dog to demand affection/interactions
•Be emotionally dependent on your dog
•Allow your dog to do whatever it wants, whenever it wants
•Provide no structure or rules
•Refuse to crate train your dog
•Refuse to correct your dog when inappropriate behavior occurs
•Refuse to train your dog to be calm, relaxed, and independent by using a “Place” command, and/or “away” time in the crate
•Allow you and your home to be a free-for-all, where your dog has zero leadership and guidance
•Let your dog out of the crate when it whines or barks
•Avoid training or anything that makes your dog uncomfortable or unhappy
•And many, many more...

Basically, baby, soothe, allow, enable, lean on, and create a toxic dependency...so when you leave, your dog is a mess, because you haven’t prepared them to be strong, resilient, robust, independent, and alone.

10/23/2022

Good read!!

Here’s another post I share annually. Many, many owners (and trainers) have found life changing insight and value from this short read. I hope it’s helpful. 🙏
——
Okay, so this is a word that gets an awful lot of play in the training world, and it’s definition has come to mean an awful lot of things. Many of which, are incredibly counter-productive, if not downright dangerous.

So let’s see if we can’t clarify a few things.

Socialization isn’t:
-About letting your dog freely interact with dogs at the dog park, day care, or with friends dogs.
-About allowing your dog to meet other dogs on-leash.
-About allowing all manner of people, in all manner of mental/emotional states interact/pet/pressure your dog.
-About exposing your dog to the sights and sounds of cars, buses, motorcycles, bikes, skateboards, joggers...and allowing them to freak out, panic, aggress, hide, bark etc.
-About exposing your dog to the sights and sounds of dogs, cats, and other animals, and allowing them to freak out, aggress, lunge, bark, growl etc.

Socialization is:
-About teaching your dog the proper responses to dogs. What is and isn’t appropriate behavior, and correcting the unwanted when it appears.
-About teaching your dog to walk by the barking, lunging dog(s) on walks and ignore them, completely. Correcting if necessary to achieve this result.
-About advocating for your dog and ensuring people aren’t allowed to pressure your dog, by touching, crouching down, attempting “kisses” etc. That means being a big boy or girl, and stopping others from engaging in unwanted, uninvited interactions.
-About exposing your dog to all manner of daily life “things” and ensuring a proper response. If aggression/arousal is present, it’s corrected, if fear/arousal is present (and causes an overreaction/fleeing etc.) it’s corrected. Ask your dog to learn to ignore and not care about these “life” distractions/concerns/temptations. Teach them to listen to the training, not the world around them.
-About teaching your dog to leave other creatures alone. The cat, the bird, the cow, the goat, the other dog, is simply none of their business. If they decide those things are their business, it’s your job to correct and clarify what is and isn’t their business for them.

Socialization has become a ridiculously simplified, dumbed down, all-encompassing idea. Free interaction and exposure have been presented as a panacea, the magic gateway to a balanced dog. That’s a whole lot of B.S. you’ve been sold, by a lot of people full of B.S. 🙂

Socialization is all about teaching your dog how to behave and exist in the world...properly. People have a belief that only interactions create a well socialized dog. They don’t understand that existence is almost always preferable, and more valuable than actual interaction. Yes exposure is critical, but exposure without 100% clear guidance, and corrections for poor choices, isn’t socialization, it’s chaos, and it’s not teaching your dog what’s right, what’s wrong, and that you’ll keep them safe, so they don’t have to.

A well socialized dog isn’t fazed by the world around them. And that doesn’t come from simple exposure and interactions without guidance. Ironically, that’s precisely how you create anti-social dogs.

Think on that for a minute.

10/22/2022

www.k9angie.ca

Dog training, fix dog problems, puppy and behavioural training

10/18/2022

Now it doesn't matter where you are... I can help
Please Share

07/26/2022

Great read. Knowledge vs Emotion

Let's Talk About... the Prong Collar. Facts, not emotions:

The prong, or pinch, collar was first patented by Herm Sprenger in the late 1800s, and the design has evolved over the decades with improved knowledge, experience, and materials. It should be noted that Herm Sprenger (*not* "Springer") are one of only a very small handful of prong collar manufacturers that reputable trainers recommend, and arguably the best.

The collar itself:

The individual prongs themselves are angled in and blunt at the ends, NEVER sharp. They are not designed to stab like a needle, or injure the dog. Due to the mechanical design, pressure is distributed evenly around the neck, and this pressure is felt far more readily than that of a choke/check chain, or flat collar. Ergo, less pressure is required to be used by the handler. This is particularly useful for handlers who have strength or mobility issues, or who have very large dogs. Also important to observe is that there is a martingale chain that connects each side of the collar, which prevents the collar from tightening excessively or dangerously, as can happen with a choke or check chain that is not used appropriately.

The mechanics of the collar, as explained by a mechanical engineer:

F = force applied by the handler.

FA, FB, FC etc = force applied on dog's neck. The tip exerts the force in opposite direction of pull. This is because of the lever effect created by the fulcrum (shown in the red circle).

Now the important part: anatomy, not physics.
A dog’s neck is sensitive at the throat and strong at the side and back. FE is force applied at neck and FB & FC are force applied on side of neck.

Now FA = F cos (angle made by FA and F); similarly, FB, FC etc. If you look at a trigonometry book, the greater the angle between F and the direction of resultant force (FA, FB etc), the lesser is the force. So you can see the force on the neck/throat is almost zero. And the force on the side of neck is almost equal to what you apply.

Please do bear in mind that this post is about the science behind the prong collar - not your *feelings*. If you don't like this particular tool, it's pretty simple: don't use it. But also bear in mind that, if you haven't ever used it, then your opinion of it is based on nothing more than emotion and/or hearsay. If you are triggered by this post, ask yourself why - based on *fact* :-)

And finally, always please remember: TOOLS DON'T TRAIN DOGS; TRAINING TRAINS DOGS! If your trainer puts one of these on your dog to "teach it to walk nicely to Heel", I would suggest firing them and finding a trainer who understands how to teach Handler Awareness, the Step Sit, and actually train the dog. If your dog will only walk to Heel when it is wearing equipment (of any kind), it's not trained :-)

Thank you for reading!

07/26/2022

The physical location in Deer Lake NL, is permanently closed!
Dog Training is still available, message for details

07/11/2022

Our pet store and grooming services are now closed. We do not offer any services or products from Deer Lake. Details to come

05/18/2022

BIRTHDAY BONES
Contest and sale!
If your pups birthday is in May, share, like and then post a picture of your Birthday baby for a chance to win a bone!
We have too many... they need to go to deserving pups with upcoming Birthdays.
Regular price $5.99
On sale for $2.99 to reduce stock!
Debit, cash or email transfer! Pink and white only

05/10/2022

We DO NOT offer Dog Boarding or Daycare services any longer 😔

04/17/2022

Reach out for help today! Book your evaluation now.

04/17/2022

04/16/2022

Please share.
Two spots left.

Intermediate Group Class starting!
Pre-Registration required.
Starts April 20/22
Wednesday evenings 7-8 pm
8 weeks $260 (Tax included)
Learn to get your dog to listen with distractions of other dogs. Leash manners, dog to dog, basic commands, all under distractions!!
Minimum age 4.5 months

These classes will also involve outside work depending good weather.
Send a message to register or get more information!🐶🐶

04/14/2022

Intermediate Group Class starting!
Pre-Registration required.
Starts April 20/22
Wednesday evenings 7-8 pm
8 weeks $260 (Tax included)
Learn to get your dog to listen with distractions of other dogs. Leash manners, dog to dog, basic commands, all under distractions!!
Minimum age 4.5 months

These classes will also involve outside work depending good weather.
Send a message to register or get more information!🐶🐶

04/10/2022

Why do dogs live less than people??

Here's the answer:

Being a vet, I was called to examine a 13-year-old Irish dog named Belker.

The dog's family, Ron, his wife Lisa, and their little 6-year-old Shane were close to Belker and expected a miracle.

I tested the dog and found out he was dying of cancer. I told the family I couldn't do anything for him and offered to do the euthanasia procedure at home.

The next day, I felt the familiar feeling in my throat when Belker was surrounded by family.

Shane seemed so quiet, petting the dog for the last time and I was wondering if he would understand what was going on. In a few minutes, the animal fell peacefully sleeping to never wake up.

The child seemed to accept Belker's transition without difficulty. We sat for a moment wondering why the unfortunate fact that dog life is shorter than human beings.

Shane, who had been listening closely, said, "I know why."

What he said next surprised me: I had never heard a more heartwarming explanation than this. This moment changed my way of seeing life.

He said: "People come into the world to learn to live a good life, like loving others all the time and being a good person, eh? well, as dogs are already born knowing how to do all this, they don't have to stay as long as we do."

The moral of the story is:

If a dog was his teacher, you'd learn things like:

🐾 When your loved ones come home, always run to say hello.

🐾 Never pass up an opportunity to go for a walk.

🐾 Allow yourself the experience of fresh air and wind.

🐾 Runs, jumps, and plays daily.

🐾 Upgrade your attention and let people touch you.

🐾 Avoid " biting" when just a "growl" would suffice.

🐾 On warm days, lay on the grass.

🐾 When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.

🐾 And never forget: "When someone has a bad day, stay silent, sit close and gently make them feel like you're there..."

This is the secret of happiness that, even if we don't realize, dogs teach us daily. 🐶❤️

~ Written by Mark Ferrell