Team Fido Dog Training

08/30/2024

08/29/2024

Wed Puppy Kindergarten!

08/29/2024

Thursday Small Breed Playgroup!

08/29/2024

New client Raffi!

He's here for some fun and games!

08/29/2024

Great video about dog body language!

Bite prevention starts with understand what a dog is trying to say! Please help us spread the word!!If you're a trainer, a vet, a breeder or you work for a r...

08/29/2024

How's your recall? These lions were trained with rewards of meat.

08/28/2024

Jasper!

He's been in his new home since July, and he's really starting to settle in. Today at the training hall he was checking everything out, then trying them out! He was very brave 🙂

08/27/2024

Prim!

First video shows the new behaviour I am shaping, grabbing the cards.

Second video adds things Prim already knows, like opening the mailbox. Putting them together is the start of a behaviour chain 🙂

We will keep building on it!

08/27/2024

Friday Focus Fitness Fun class grads!

08/27/2024

Sunday FUN DOG!
London and Carl had a makeup class on Sunday, they both did great working through obstacles both inside and outside.

08/26/2024

Sunday Small breed playgroup

08/26/2024

Recognizing your dog’s stressed body language is important because lowering your dog's stress level is key to maintaining their health.

08/25/2024

Maren has been working as an assistant at Team Fido since last year, now she's off to the East coast for college! Thanks for all your help Maren, and good luck!

08/25/2024

Prim's Sunday workout

08/25/2024

Kenzee Friday tricks!

08/25/2024

Prim!

08/24/2024

Saturday Focus Fitness Fun class! Riley and Mack couldn't make it, so Kate and Duke had all the fun!

08/24/2024

I mentioned trainer Leslie McDevitt's books in a previous post, here they are! If I had to pick just one for you (I do have them all 😁) I would recommend the Control Unleashed, Reactive to Relaxed.

08/24/2024

Angus!

Today I introduced some training games that can help with recall, walking skills and attention and focus in distracting environments. Pattern games were introduced by trainer Leslie McDevitt. Check out her books! Different games teach the dog a new, recognizable 'pattern' that can replace behaviour they normally default to, especially for reactive dogs. Today we practiced Super Bowls, using upside down discs as our bowls. This one will help him to focus on his humans instead of what the neighbours are up to. We also started teaching Angus the 123 Pattern game. We can use this one for walking, recalls and other situations with distractions. Teaching new, fun games can make a huge difference in your relationship with your dog!

08/24/2024

Darcy (foster) is growing like a w**d! They believe she is a Mastiff mix. She and Clover came for some fun and learning to the training hall today! I taught Darcy the "leave" game and both dogs worked through the obstacle course 🙂

08/24/2024

Dexter can't make his SMART DOG graduation class, so we did a makeup class ahead of time today!

08/24/2024

New client Blondie!

She loved trying out puzzles and obstacles! We are going to be working on her Focus and impulse control, especially around squirrels and bunnies!

🐶

08/24/2024

🤣

08/23/2024

Wed nite puppies!

08/23/2024

Riley!

When he first started coming to Team Fido...3 years ago? He would hide underneath an equipment shelf until it was time to leave. He has stranger danger with people and is very selective about what dogs he's comfortable with. His Mom has done classes, walks and private training, and has never given up on him! Today at playgroup he was more social than I've ever seen him, approaching other dogs. Look at him go!

08/23/2024

*New*
Thursday Small Breed Playgroup!
I am offering an additional small breed playgroup every Thursday at 1030am. Email to register!

08/23/2024

Please read!!

So you’re at an outing, standing next to your spouse or friend. Someone approaches you with a tray filled with hors d’oeuvres, and offers one to you. You look at the tray, but then say “no, thank you.” The waiter moves away.

Now, imagine if after saying “no, thank you” the waiter didn’t go away. Imagine if the waiter continued to push you to take one, and even your spouse started saying “come on, take one!” So you uncomfortably took and ate one, even though it wasn’t what you wanted. You’d probably be pretty aggravated with your spouse too. But you think it’s a one off and you carry on with the evening.

A few minutes later another waiter approaches with another tray, and the same thing happens. This time you feel yourself get more upset, especially after saying “no” multiple times. But your spouse insists also, even going so far as to take the snack off the tray and try to put it in your mouth. By the end of the interaction, you’re really on edge.

The third or fourth time you see a waiter approach you, you’re feeling either stressed, angry, or both. The waiter hasn’t even gotten all the way over to you yet and you’re ready to yell “no!” You look around for a place to escape to but your spouse/friend has their arm around you and you can’t back away. You end up physically snatching the tray from the waiter and throwing it on the ground, yelling obscenities and getting as quickly out of the room as possible. The guests look at you while your spouse simply says “I don’t know why she’s being so aggressive! They were just wanted to give her a snack!” I’m guessing you would be pretty angry at your spouse/friend by this point too. They aren’t helping support you at all. You can’t trust them OR the waiter.

You see where I’m going with this don’t you?
Try to imagine if your “no thank yous” were ignored. How many times would it take being ignored for you to get angry, get physical, or try to escape, or worse, just shut down completely. Everyone would handle it differently, but we’d all hate it.

Dogs deal with this EVERY DAY. They say “no, thank you” all the time. And we often times are guilty of ignoring that request and trying to convince them otherwise, sometimes even going so far as to force them through something because WE don’t understand. And then we wonder why dogs reach a point of aggressing or avoiding. Whether we are the waiter; trying to push something onto the dog like an interaction, or the spouse/friend not supporting the dog and backing up their request of “no, thank you” we are doing serious harm to the dogs confidence and even more harm to our relationship with them.

Your dog can only use his body language to tell you what he wants, so pay attention. If your dog says no thank you, listen. If they don’t want a stranger to touch them, support them. If they don’t want to meet a strange dog, let it go. If they want to take their time trying something different, let them take their time. I can tell you the more choice they feel they have the more likely they are to actually decide to try when they are ready. Just like you may finally get hungry enough to want a snack from the tray, but on your terms, and one that you get to pick.

Choice and consent matters in ALL species. Respect your dogs “no, thank you” and you’ll get a lot of respect back.

- Helen St. Pierre, No Monkey Business Dog Training. Please if you share give credit.

08/22/2024

New client Buster!

He has big feelings about other dogs and strangers. Giving him space is important! We are working on setting up his environment differently so he feels safe, and starting to build his confidence.

08/22/2024

Donnie! (Big (little) sister Peaches just hung out and got rewards 🤣)

We have been working on his recall, adding a whistle and the hand touch cue. Today we worked on walking skills, and practiced getting in and out of the car 🙂