Our approach to handling fear and anxiety (featuring Riley, who just started his 5 week board and train).
Everyone thinks we get aggression cases the most often. Fear and anxiety can certainly lead to reactivity and aggression, but the vast majority of our crates are filled with dogs lacking confidence that just don’t know how to make the right choices.
🐺 Bark Brigade Dog Training
📞 250.588.6941
📧 [email protected]
💻 barkbrigade.ca
📍 Calgary, AB
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A sneak peak at our board and train go home sessions 👀
For us the go home session is most critical part of board and train. It doesn’t matter who trains your dog or how well if you’re not prepared to handle it after. That’s why so much through goes into them here.
We set all our clients up with access to our online platform with hours of content to watch before hand so you are prepared as possible to handle your newly trained dog. Each go home session starts with a quick debriefing on your dogs particulars, followed by an introduction to training tools and a live demo with a trainer. After that we are getting you on the leash as quick as possible, getting you comfortable with all your dogs new skills.
Once you and your dog are warmed up, we get some distractions out and really make sure you guys are ready for real world scenarios. Sometimes this is other dogs, like my dog Havoc here, or it can simply be walking through the neighborhood.
We then touch on the game-plan going home since first few days, weeks and months are so important back in their regular environment. We’ll go over previous problem areas, advise on other dogs or people in the house, and leave no stone unturned for heading back with the family.
This session usually takes about 2 hours, and then it’s up to you to go home and keep it up! At the follow up sessions 1 week and 1 month out, we tackle any regression or bumps in the road that might occur after coming home, so you’re never left hanging. Creating and keeping a well behaved dog doesn’t happen overnight, so our go home support is something we chose to invest a lot of time into early on. We love to get updates or questions thrown our way months down the line after B&T because we know those owners are the ones that are going to be successful 😄
🐺 Bark Brigade Dog Training
📞 250.588.6941
📧 [email protected]
💻 barkbrigade.ca
📍 Calgary, AB
#barkbrigade #reactivedogtraining #yycdogtrainer
#yycdogtraining
You probably know it’s generally not great for your dog to be pulling you.
But it is probably way more important than you think it is! Yes it’s lovely to enjoy a walk with your dog not ripping your arm off. However, I am way more concerned about the state of mind a dog is in when I’m handling them and getting them out in the world. Loose leash walking creates a dog that has to practice some basic impulse control on the leash. It creates dogs that have to actually pay attention to their handler and not just default to becoming an arousal junkie on their environment.
Think of the leash as your communication system with your dog on a walk. Your dog should feel that leash pressure and understand you are telling them something: “We are going this way now”
This gets your dog’s brain in a place where they are actively paying attention to you, looking to you for direction and not getting hyper aroused while they on the leash, because they have to practice some basic impulse control to not yank you around. A dog in this headspace is going to be able to handle a whole lot more than a puller. They have some rules and structure to fall back on in stressful moments, or moments where their natural impulses could get them in trouble, like retaliating to a reactive dog or chasing a running child.
Try to think of it this way, if your dog will pull you to go sniff a garbage can, or pee on a post, what in the hell is going to be stopping them pulling or lunging when the stakes are higher?
This is why we take loose leash walking so seriously. If your dog is pulling you, you’ve got problems coming your way! The beauty of making the rules so clear (“just don’t pull me”), is the dog still has freedom on leash to be a dog and it’s very easily transferable to other handlers. This is my first time walking Bunker. Our junior trainer here did all the work, I’m just holding him accountable!
🐺 Bark Brigade Dog Training
📞 250.588.6941
📧 contact@barkbrigade
Bagel wraps up his 5 week board and train today!
Bagel came to us with pretty intense reactivity and stranger danger. He couldn’t be walked without lunging and snapping, people couldn’t come over to the house and his intense fear and anxiety made it possible for him to take direction from his handler.
After finishing our 5 week program, we’ve not only trained him up with the functional obedience all the dogs learn, but we’ve gotten him to face his fears, learn to trust his handler and built his confidence up enough to to be trusted on and off leash in public and the home.
We’re going to miss Bagel when he goes home today, but we can’t wait to see how he does with all his new found confidence!
🐺 Bark Brigade Dog Training
📞 250.588.6941
📧 [email protected]
💻 barkbrigade.ca
📍 Calgary, AB
#barkbrigade #reactivedogtraining #yycdogtrainer
#yycdogtraining #calgarydogtraining #calgarydogtrainer
#calgaryboardandtrain #yycboardandtrain #albertadogtraining
#albertadogtrainer #albertaboardandtrain #reactivedog
#reactivedogs #reactivedogsuccess
Everything we cover in 3 vs 4 weeks at board and train here at Bark Brigade ✅
Board and train is tailored to each dogs individual needs, but there are some obedience bench marks we hit with all the dogs that come through for 3 and 4 weeks, and we make sure they can take it out into the real world before they go home!
In 3 weeks, we are aiming for absolute stability and control on leash as well as off leash recall. We only do recall with a 3 week minimum stay so we have time to condition that e collar fairly and effectively for the dog!
4 weeks is our advanced off leash option. This is for anyone who wants to have absolute control of their dog on and off leash anywhere and anytime. We take these dogs out and have them off leash heeling just about anywhere by the time they head home!
These are the results we strive to hit for every dog that comes through our program. Severe behavioral cases aside, the vast majority of dogs are capable of this level of obedience and stability anywhere, you just need the right foundation in place.
This is a shortlist of the obedience we go over during your dog’s stay, but there is a ton more behind the scenes going on. Confidence building, socialization, reconditioning behavioral responses, crate training, and so much more are all part of the process, but that’s what creates the mindset in the dogs to be able to perform to this level!
🐺 Bark Brigade Dog Training
📞 250.588.6941
📧 [email protected]
💻 barkbrigade.ca
📍 Calgary, AB
#barkbrigade #reactivedogtraining #yycdogtrainer
#yycdogtraining #calgarydogtraining #calgarydogtrainer
#calgaryboardandtrain #yycboardandtrain #albertadogtraining
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#reactivedogs #reactivedogsuccess
Simba and his family wrapped up their 10 sessions of private training today and we couldn’t be more proud of the progress they’ve made!
This team was extremely dedicated to making it work with Simba, who was a bite risk in the early stages of training and weighing over 120lbs to boot! The difference we’ve seen him over the the past few months has been mind blowing, the owners really stepped up, committed to the program and came out the other end with a dog they can really be proud of ❤️
People aren’t scared of Simba’s huge presence in the house anymore, he can be off leash, and he can just tag along for a little shopping trip no problem!
Great work team Simba!
🐺 Bark Brigade Dog Training
📞 250.588.6941
📧 [email protected]
💻 barkbrigade.ca
📍 Calgary, AB
#barkbrigade #reactivedogtraining #yycdogtrainer
#yycdogtraining #calgarydogtraining #calgarydogtrainer
#calgaryboardandtrain #yycboardandtrain #albertadogtraining
#albertadogtrainer #albertaboardandtrain #reactivedog
#reactivedogs #reactivedogsuccess
Another reactive dog turned off leash reliable!
Rocky wraps up his four week board and train tomorrow so we took him out on the town to put his training to the test. The goal with off leash outings is a dog that follows direction and obedience commands without issue, but also knows how to just exist and make good decisions on their own!
Rocky’s owners brought him to us for reactivity to pretty much everything, problems with inconsistent obedience and the goal of off leash reliability. Being almost 4 years old, Rocky had some practice rehearsing these behaviors and needed some serious rehab to get him to this point. Just like all the dogs that come through here, we made the expectations clear, took them through the functional obedience, found what motivates him, and he’s finally showing us the dog he’s capable of being!
🐺 Bark Brigade Dog Training
📞 250.588.6941
📧 [email protected]
💻 barkbrigade.ca
📍 Calgary, AB
#barkbrigade #reactivedogtraining #yycdogtrainer
#yycdogtraining #calgarydogtraining #calgarydogtrainer
#calgaryboardandtrain #yycboardandtrain #albertadogtraining
#albertadogtrainer #albertaboardandtrain #reactivedog
#reactivedogs #reactivedogsuccess
Winston only has a week and half left in his board and train so we are getting out on the town generalizing his training as much as we can!
Winston is a pretty nervous guy, so we like to bring his ball and keep the obedience training fun the first couple times. This way we can keep it light and have him having all the same fun he has in the training room out in the real world.
There will be times we just need him to follow instruction, but it helps to get the nerves out with a little play and show him that outings don’t have to be super stressful!
🐺 Bark Brigade Dog Training
📞 250.588.6941
📧 [email protected]
💻 barkbrigade.ca
📍 Serving Calgary and the surrounding area
#barkbrigade #reactivedogtraining #yycdogtrainer
#yycdogtraining #calgarydogtraining #calgarydogtrainer
#calgaryboardandtrain #yycboardandtrain #albertadogtraining
#albertadogtrainer #albertaboardandtrain #reactivedog
#reactivedogs #reactivedogsuccess
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Training tools are misunderstood!
Many people against training tools would take the first clip of Jax on the prong collar and claim that the collar we chose to use has the dog in a perpetual start of fear. I see it all the time online and it’s just doesn’t tell the whole story.
In this case, Jax is very scared of cars and doesn’t do well with any new stimulus or environments at first. Before we put any obligation on the leash, Jax would be lunging, barking and choking himself out on the leash next to this street. Once we took away the ability to pull, and made him stay loose, we see what’s all underneath, which is a scared dog who doesn’t know how to handle what’s in front of him. The tool here just helps us get his arousal down and to a place where we can do the work, desensitizing him and creating better associations with what scares him. Without that first part, we would never be able to make any real progress!
The second clip is a few weeks later. Jax got better each day and we eventually graduated him to the flexi leash allowing him more freedom. He gets more freedom because we taught him how to make better choices and took the time to work him through his irrational fears.
Yes training tools create momentary discomfort, no correcting dogs isn’t fun and should be taken lightly, but when the end product is happier, confident dogs with freedom, that’s the route we are all always going to take!
🐺 Bark Brigade Dog Training
📞 250.588.6941
📧 [email protected]
💻 barkbrigade.ca
📍 Serving Calgary and the surrounding area
#barkbrigade #reactivedogtraining #yycdogtrainer
#yycdogtraining #calgarydogtraining #calgarydogtrainer
#calgaryboardandtrain #yycboardandtrain #albertadogtraining
#albertadogtrainer #albertaboardandtrain #reactivedog
#reactivedogs #reactivedogsuccess
#offleashdogtraining #offleashdogs #offleashdogtrainers #ecollar #ecollartechnologies #ecollartraining #dogtraining
Bernie is in full swing off leash out and around Calgary!
He goes home this week and we are gonna miss him but we know he can’t wait to show off his new skills at home!
Bernie came to us with no real behavioral issues, just a young dog (about 8 months) that we wanted to set up for the best life possible!
🐺 Bark Brigade Dog Training
📞 250.588.6941
📧 [email protected]
💻 barkbrigade.ca
📍 Serving Calgary and the surrounding area
#barkbrigade #reactivedogtraining #yycdogtrainer
#yycdogtraining #calgarydogtraining #calgarydogtrainer
#calgaryboardandtrain #yycboardandtrain #albertadogtraining
#albertadogtrainer #albertaboardandtrain #reactivedog
#reactivedogs #reactivedogsuccess
#offleashdogtraining #offleashdogs #offleashdogtrainers
