Yogadog Dog Training

Cats and Dogs! #barncats #rescuedogsofinstagram

For the Yogacat people ❤️ #rescuecat #feral cat #feralcatsmatter #ranchlife #barncats

Bang-Bang!

Titch and I are honing up on his snow angel skills, so I used a trick he knew to get him to make a dog angel 💕 #rescuedogsoftexas #mountianlife

Snowshoe Recalls 🙌

#mountianlife #rescuedogsofinstagram Snowshoe Recalls 🙌

Ranch Life ❤️ I’m working hard on exposing the dogs safely to the horse…they are wary of her, with good reason. Every once in a while they will bark and lunge at her out of fear. She could easily lash out and kill them, or spook and hurt herself…break a leg or a fence. I’m so fortunate that this horse has been around hunting dogs all her life and doesn’t even flinch! You have to do a lot of foundation training with dogs be for you trust them with equine. Untrained hyper dogs are a recipe for disaster on a ranch. We have four dogs here now and they are all still learning to be good ranch hands. People often contact me to rehome their hyper dogs to a “farm”, but hyper dogs that haven’t been trained, desensitized and taught respect are not a good match for livestock 🤷‍♀️ We spend a lot of time in the barn, in the feild and in the corral just being together calmly. The dogs help me bring her up to the barn every day for lunch and we built trust. My two mutts are rescues, that I got as puppies at 6 months, but they didn’t see chickens, donkeys or horses until we moved here! Anyone who has ever rescued knows they all come with quirks…so it is an ongoing journey with Babe and Titch!

Yogadog Agility 🐶

Every year for twelve years I have asked myself: “Who do you think you are teaching dog agility? You have never competed or won any trophies in dog sports!” It is a case of imposter syndrome I guess, but you’d think by now I’d be over it. My dog training is solid, my left knee however, not so much. Each year brings new challenges, but the funny thing about us humans is we thrive when challenged!

For all the yogacats out there! The ranch has a new member of the crew! Ms. Mew (the feral cat I captured and spayed) is now living in the barn in the hayloft. Babe and Titch have figured out how to climb up and steal her food, so the next plan is to build her an open ended cat box with a heating pad and perch for winter. It gets to be -35 here on the mountain and she needs a warm place to sleep, plus a safe place for her food dish 💕

Ms. Mew!

I am an animal lover, a rescuer and not particularly partial to cats, BUT….I did do some great work with this feral cat. Let’s hope she sticks around…I’ve kinda gotten used to this ungrateful little creature! I wish I could have done more work with her! It just isn’t possible for me to have another indoor pet. She also couldn’t co-exist with the four dogs or Theo the ragdoll cat who lives in the suite…she’s territorial and she fights! So I spayed her and rehabbed her for a full week, before setting her free again 💕🐈💕 My friend Anna said this: “She’s perfectly happy as she is - in her natural element. It gives me a sense of peace and gratitude to know that she can live out her life chasing mice and grasshoppers and providing for herself. She gets to live her life on her own terms.” Isn’t that a beautiful life? I will continue to feed her tho 💕

Honouring this territory each and everyday 🧡

Appropriate Play: Leo and Titch This is what I look for, otherwise the dogs take a time out and relax together. Note that there is no growling. I do not like to see rough play…except maybe with dogs (like Babe and Titch) who live together that have established deep trust. Even with my two dogs we take a time-out if they get vocal. Both dogs should be taking turns, open mouths, but no biting, taking breaks and no fearful signs or bullying 🙌