Neighborhound Dog Training

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Neighborhound Dog Training

Helping you walk your reactive dog anxiety-free and feel proud of your pup no matter where you are.

27/01/2023

Meet Barry - he looks like the happiest dog in the world, but the truth is that it took a while until we saw him smile like that outside of his home!

When we first started out Barry was completely overwhelmed as soon as he even got near the front door! He was hypervigilant and every dog he saw was a reason to whine and pull - and he is strong!

Our starting point? Teaching him skills inside (which he loved!), finding food that he truly enjoyed and was interested in eating outside (it turned out to be real chicken) and working our way up to him being comfortable just in the backyard and driveway.

And, of course, doing lots of fun things with him to keep him happy!

20/01/2023

When we work together to help your dog, it’s certainly about teaching your dog new skills.

But it’s just as much about You learning new skills, reframing your expectations and developing a better understanding for your dog and his behaviors.

Here are few of my clients’ take-aways from our sessions - I personally love the self-reflection.

What have you learned from working and living with your (reactive) dog? Let us know in the comments so that we can all learn from you!

18/01/2023

Just before Christmas I wrapped up working with Charlie the rescued Greyhound who loves a speedy run at Spanish Banks but does not enjoy meeting other dogs in her neighborhood and even less so in her building.

It might be one of the most challenging situations - improving reactivity in your dog’s immediate home environment, and getting in and out of an apartment building with your reactive dog.

Never knowing if you’ll run into any triggers and few ways of avoiding them. There are a number of tricks and tips that we can explore together on how to manage these situations best, but it will take time for your dog to truly feel comfortable in this environment with little space.

Charlie is still working on this with all the tools she’d learned during our time together. But her walks have gotten so much better now, no need to escape to the other side of the road anymore, and she’s enjoying more freedom at Spanish Banks as she now reliably comes when being called back.

Here’s what her humans, Allie and Nik, shared: “Julia helped us understand why Charlie is reactive to dogs and showed us ways we could support her in these situations. It was a great experience that gave us the tips and tools we need to help manage Charlie’s reactivity. As a result, Charlie does not react to dogs across the street anymore, we are able to focus her attention on us.”

16/12/2022

Puppies are definitely NOT Xmas presents - unless you get one for yourself, after you have thought about it and are sure that you’re ready for that commitment. And a commitment it is!

Puppy SCHOOL on the other hand can be a wonderful Xmas present indeed!

Whether for family or friends who you know just got or will get a puppy or for yourself, giving a fun experience of learning, and the foundation of a lifelong wonderful relationship with your dog - that sounds very 🎁- worthy!

If that sounds like something that needs to be wrapped (and placed under your Christmas tree … if you celebrate Christmas) check out our Neighborhound Puppy School with the link below where you can select between a bunch of mini-courses or get access to it all. Once you’ve decided, send us a DM or email and we’ll prep a gift card for you!

https://neighborhounds.thinkific.com/bundles/puppy-all-access

14/12/2022

Meet Faith - isn’t she cute? And wow, did she love learning!

As a rescue dog there were lots of things that she needed to get used to in her new life, but she did so with ease… and lots of amazing support from her new humans! Other dogs and some people were a bit scary at first and met with a bark, but as we worked together we helped her see the world more optimistically.

Welcoming a new rescue dog at home is so rewarding, and yet can come with unforeseen challenges. Let us know if you need help!

30/11/2022

One of my clients recently asked me what I’m working on with my own dogs - so I thought I’d share it here with you!

The complete truth is that it’s a bit messy, and I don’t always stick to just one thing. It’s also different between the different dogs.

But there are two main skill sets that I’m working on with all of my dogs: Anything body handling, and tricks!

I’m a vet and have experienced animals being stressed by vet procedures first hand. So anything that I can do to help my dogs cope better I try. We’re doing a lot of muzzle training (even though my dogs don’t have a bite history, a dog in pain is always more likely to bite and I want my vets be and feel safe) and work on showing their paws, their mouth, their teeth etc.

And as for tricks: I just love it, and so do the dogs. I’m not very structured about it at all, so we’re working on various skills. Blue is way more advanced (and so is MJ), so we’re doing a bit more concept work, while with Chickpea it’s all about having fun. She used to be quite timid about training and I’m really happy to see her engaged and relaxed now.

How about you? What are you working on with your dog? Let me know in the comments!

29/11/2022

Are you using treats to help your dog be calmer around dogs or other triggers that he barks at? Yes? Wonderful, you’re already my kind of person!

Let’s make sure though that you're using those treats most effectively, since the devil is - as so often - in the detail! Hop on over to our blog to learn which common mistakes to avoid when you’re using food in training your reactive dog!

https://www.neighborhounddogtraining.com/post/using-treats-to-stop-barking

02/11/2022

There are a lot of resources out there that teach you how to train your puppy what to do. It’s where you should focus.

But it’s equally important to know what to do when your puppy doesn’t listen.. when training doesn’t go as planned.

Here are a few of my favorite tips on how I handle training “mistakes” by my puppy, or really any dog of any age…

1 - Give your puppy the benefit of doubt. There’s a very good chance that your puppy doesn't know yet what you'd like him to do. And yes, this might even be true if he did the behavior perfectly yesterday!

2 - Use the rule of 2. If your puppy makes a mistake (= offers the wrong behavior) or doesn't listen ( = ignores what you asked) twice in a row, it's time to change something. In most cases you'll want to go back a step (or two) in your training plan.

3 - Make it easier. Making it easier might mean that you go back to the previous step in the training plan, or it could mean that you reduce distractions and ask your puppy for less duration of the behavior.

Tell me in the comments below - if your puppy doesn’t get it, what do you usually do?

12/10/2022

… and I mean it - the training is an investment in both my dog's and my mental well-being.”

This is what Erin shared after our session together, where we helped Lu feel more confident, comfortable and calm when he sees other dogs. He’s the perfect example of an old dog (he’s 9 years old!) learning new tricks, new life skills and new ways to cope.

Will he ever be a dog who will enjoy dog parks? No. And that never was our goal. Our goal was to have better walks without the stress, and being able to show Lu the world in a way that keeps him feeling safe and happy.

And I couldn’t agree more with Erin - the training is as much about your end of the leash as it is about your dog’s end of the leash. We often start out with both of you being stressed and not enjoying walks, and our goal always is to make that better for everyone.

Here’s what else Erin said: “I got in touch with Neighborhound Dog Training because of my dog's reactivity around other dogs (lunging, barking, whining and sometimes snapping) and how stressful walking with my dog felt. I’m really proud now that Lu is checking in with me when other dogs are close by, and how I've learned to use games and toys to help Lu recharge and integrate after training. “

05/10/2022

Once your puppy has learned some easy, basic skills at home, you’re likely wanting to take it out on the road. In fact, I actually quite like to practice with puppies on the road from early on - making sure that there’s also enough time to just hang out and for my pup to see the world and just be a pup.

When we do make the transition to a more difficult environment, we can’t forget that they’re just puppies though. We’ll need to do everything we can to help them be successful, so that they are having fun and stay motivated to work with us outside.

Here’s how you can help your puppy succeed when practicing skills outside and your puppy struggles to focus on you.

1 - Change the environment. Move to and practice in an area that is less distracting for your puppy, for example a quieter corner in the park, so that you create distance between distractions and you and your pup (distance is your friend).

2 - Increase your “rate of reinforcement”. Every treat that you use in training is feedback for your puppy that they’re on the right track. It motivates them to try again. The best way of increasing your "rate of reinforcement" (= how many treats you give/min) is by asking your puppy for an easier version of the behavior and rewarding that.

3 - Use higher value treats. Kibble will work at home for most puppies, but once they're outside everything else is more interesting to them. Use food that your puppy truly loves for more distracting environments - your puppy gets to decide what that is.

Most of all, make sure that you and your puppy are having fun - don’t forget to explore and to play, and to discover the world with them.

03/10/2022

Thank you BC SPCA Vancouver Branch and Valerie Barry at Dog Partners. Happy training!

14/09/2022

Here’s what else Jen had to say: “Our dog had become increasingly reactive and aggressive and taking him on walks, on or off leash had become really stressful as a result. Julia helped us have a much better understanding of our dog, and feel confident in supporting him when his big energy comes out. As a result, we have fun taking our dog out again and we are confident that we can support him to calm down if he reacts to another dog.”

I’m so proud of this team, and just happy to help reactive dog guardians enjoy their dog again. It’s not always easy to see the good side of your dog when it’s such a challenge to take them out on walks or have them join you for the activities you love.

Do you also have a dog that struggles when seeing other dogs on leash? Send me a DM and we’ll chat about how I can help.

07/09/2022

Whether you train your reactive dog or a puppy, the better YOUR skills are to teach your pup effectively, the easier for your dog to learn… and the faster you’ll reach your training goals. Even though you’re not a trainer (and chances are, you never wanted to be one), learning how to use this training system will really help you move along faster and feel more confident that you can help your dog.

In our sessions we’ll always start out with you leveling up YOUR skills before we start working on your dog’s skills - if you’re new to this, I’ll teach you from scratch; if you’ve been training your dog for a while we’ll check that it all looks good and take your skills to the next level.

And as easy as it sounds - there are so many moving parts to make the most out of this..

**which EXACT behavior does your dog have to do for you to mark and reward it?
** how good are your observation skills - do you always see when your dog is offering the right behavior?
** how good is your timing with your marker - are you marking on time or are you always a bit late with your marker and your dog is already doing something else?
** is the treat you’re offering really working as a reinforcer for the behavior (is your dog motivated to work for this treat)?
** how do you deliver the treat to your dog to make the most out of it?
** where do you keep your treats?
** what do you do with your hands while your dog is working?
** and much more!

All of these details make a difference when working with your dog! What’s the one that you’re struggling with most? Let me know in the comments!

31/08/2022

Whether starting your puppy or older dog on food toys, a common mistake I see is that the food toy is way too difficult for the dog and she quickly loses interest in getting the food out of a toy.

Even worse, some of the food puzzles are so frustrating that instead of calming your dog, might actually increase their arousal levels in a way you didn’t intend to.

So look at food toys the same way as you look at training - start easy with lots of wins for your dog, and once your dog is enjoying it, you can increase difficulty. See my latest blog post on which different products you can use to help your dog get the hang of it.

https://www.neighborhounddogtraining.com/post/my-3-favorite-products-to-get-your-puppy-started-on-food-toys

27/07/2022

Are you going to be there? The come when called webinar is going live in a few days (July 30) and I’d love to have you join!

And if you’re wondering if this is for you, here are a few hints:

This is for you
-If you want to give your dog more freedom to run and do what she loves while being confident that she won’t ignore you when you call her
-If your dog listens great inside but not outside
-For dogs of any age and breed, including puppies and older dogs
-Whether you have trained your dog before or not

This is not for you if
-You don’t want to reward and motivate your dog with food
-You’re not willing to practice with your dog for about 5 minutes per day, and 4-5 days a week

Not sure about joining? Shoot me a DM and I’ll be happy to answer your questions!

25/07/2022

A come when called (or recall) is one of the most fun behaviors to teach, and actually not hard to teach at all, but you do have to consider some “rules” around it to make your training effective.

This is not an extensive list, but here are some tips on what I’ve found makes a difference - but gets often ignored or missed.

1: Spend lots of time teaching foundations

Yes, the goal is that your dog comes running to you even when they’re playing with other dogs or chasing after a critter. But to get there, you’ll want to lay solid foundations for the behavior, by practicing lots at home or in easy outside environments when your dog isn’t distracted. You’ll even want to keep practicing these easy set ups when your dog is already good at coming away from distractions.

2: Make sure that your dog understands your cue, and doesn’t only respond to the sound of your ziplock bag

Does your dog do great when you have treats on you, but he ignores you when you don’t? That’s a common problem, and is often rooted in mistakes we make when we train the behavior. Here’s one way you can work on this: Store the treats away from your body in a container on a shelf when your dog isn’t watching. Call your dog. Immediately when your dog gets to you, get those treats from the container and throw a 15 second treat party for your dog!

3: Quality over quantity - how you practice makes a difference

My typical recommendation to my clients is to practice 3-5 days a week, and for 3-5 repetitions within each session. I’d rather have them throw a HUGE treat party (of tiny treats) for each come, but keep it special so that your dog can’t wait to play again next time.

22/07/2022

Ready to teach your dog a reliable come when called? Perfect, since I am more than ready to teach YOU how to train this skill to your dog! :) It’s one of my favorite skills to teach!

Registration is now open to my first ever webinar that comes with a full online course as well - so that you don’t have to take notes (though you can) and so that you don’t have to watch the recording (I mean, who does…).

Link to sign up: https://neighborhounds.thinkific.com/courses/come-when-called-webinar

Let me tell you a little more about the plan:

The webinar happens LIVE on July 30th, at 10 am on Zoom, the same day that I’ll open the full course for you.

Before then, you’ll get access to a first set of course lessons so that you can prepare and get the most out of the webinar.

And if you’d like to have personalized feedback on your training, I got you covered, too. Opt for the VIP Pass and I’ll analyze your training videos, and meet you for a live Q&A to answer all the questions that usually come up once you start working with your dog.

Here’s the registration link once again:
https://neighborhounds.thinkific.com/courses/come-when-called-webinar

Can’t wait to see you there!

21/07/2022

Watch Charlie acing his come when called! This is his first session where he practices in the park. Ignoring me (I’m holding the longline), ignoring other people. Way to go Charlie!

If you want your pup to come running to you as happily as Charlie does, stay tuned!

We’re working hard behind the scenes to put everything in place for our come when called webinar (+ online course), which will happen live at the end of July.

In my experience you don’t need me there to teach this to your dog (it’s one of the easiest behaviors to teach!), so I wanted to create an offer where everyone can join, no matter if your dog is reactive, finds group classes overwhelming, or doesn’t like car rides.

Keep your eyes peeled for more info in the next few days!

20/07/2022

Watch me work with puppy Abby when she picks up one of my slippers (my bad, I forgot to put them higher up). This is likely very opposite to what you think you should be doing when your puppy steals your stuff, so pay attention!

Since puppies take all and everything into their mouths - some of the things are truly dangerous, others we don’t want to see destroyed - it’s easy to tell your puppy “no” and take things they have away many times a day. That’s the perfect way to teach your puppy not to trust you when they have something they like, and soon they’ll try to avoid you. Sometimes this starts out as a keep away game, and your puppy learns that it’s fun or necessary to run away or growl if they want to protect the things they have from your hands.

Watch what I do. When Abby (she is 3 months old) had the slipper I invited her to come over with a kissy noise (not on video). She did, which I loved, and I just engaged with her without paying attention to the slipper.

After doing this for a while, I did want to trade, but watch how I did it: I still didn’t pay any attention to the slipper, and made the dead leaf that was lying in the area more interesting by moving it.

She let go of the slipper and started playing with the leaf instead (off camera). Now, very important: I keep engaging with her for quite a while, playing tug. If I were working with treats, I would feed multiple treats and maybe let her chase a few.

This is important because puppies learn quickly that when they have something they like and you offer a treat (good for you if you do!), you’ll take the stuff they like. They often learn to not go for the treat, or to jump right back to the treasure they had after eating the treat. Using food is great, but how we use it is critical to not create a problem.

So, what I look for is building trust in my puppy, I want them to happily come even when they have valued items, and I want them to have even more fun after they swap for something different.

Of course, if your puppy has a dangerous item, it is important to take it away quickly, and I would do so while still trying to be gentle. However, I really try to minimize the occasions.

If your puppy shows any signs of aggression around resources (food, toys, stolen items) make sure to consult a professional, force free trainer and behavior consultant early on to tackle the issue.

13/07/2022

All too often do I trip over empty Kong shells when I visit a client with a new puppy, and hear that their puppy doesn’t like the Kong, or just gets frustrated about not getting the food out.

And I love how everyone is trying their best to make their pups happy and give them an opportunity to use their mouths, but sometimes puppies don’t get how to use food toys right away.

If this is true for your puppy don’t lose hope. There are a few things you can do to help your puppy enjoy stuffed Kongs or other food toys. I’ve put together some of my tips on how to do this in my latest blog post:

https://www.neighborhounddogtraining.com/post/my-3-favorite-products-to-get-your-puppy-started-on-food-toys

By the way: these are also great if you just adopted a new rescue dog who has never had a chance to enjoy food toys and needs to learn how to entertain themselves.

Photo by Taylor Sondgeroth on Unsplash

06/07/2022

After more than 2 years of running Neighborhound Dog Training it was time to finally get some biz branding on the way that I can feel really proud of - hello new logo!

A huge shoutout and massive gratitude to the incredibly talented and skilled Emily - I truly enjoyed the process of working with Emily and can’t recommend her enough.

If you’d like to support a small, woman-owned business - and want some awesome, creative ideas in your feed along the way - please consider following Emily’s Insta account (or hire her for your new logo and branding ;)).

You’ll see that I expanded on my biz name a bit, adding “welfare” to the mix of training and behavior. After all, I did my PhD in animal welfare, and it really felt like something was missing, like I didn’t honor that part of my professional journey enough and integrate welfare concepts in my daily work (despite, of course, being focused on “positive training methods” or however you’d like to label this).

Not that it will change how I approach training per se - the welfare of your dog has been and is always on my mind when I suggest how we work on your dog’s reactivity, or when we work on raising your puppy.

But I would like to add more insights into what ‘welfare’ is and how we can assess your dog’s welfare.

I’m also a strong believer in the concept of “one welfare”, that the well-being of animals, humans and our planet is inter-connected. This is really important to me in so many ways, and I’ll talk more about it in future posts as well.

But for now, just grateful for the new look!

22/06/2022

I’m curious - can I ask you how you and your puppy found each other??

There are so many decisions to make and so I was wondering how you picked your puppy.

How did you choose a breed?
How did you choose a breeder?
How did you choose your pup?

I’d love to hear - tell me in the comments or send me a DM :)

15/06/2022

Part of being an expert is knowing your limitations and one of mine certainly is that when it comes to kids and dogs, I’m just not the right person to talk to. Not because I don’t understand the concepts, but because I have no experience with kids and how to teach them in a kid friendly and fun way.

But I do know that this is important, and I have a solution!

I LOVE my friend and colleague Justine’s content, and in her latest blog post she just crushed it, once again.

Check her latest post here - does your child have SPS? https://www.thefamilydog.com/blog/dog-bite-prevention-sps

Make sure to spend some more time on her website to learn more about kids and dogs, and how to keep them both safe and happy with one another.

And if you’d like to dive deeper, I have a special offer for you (or anyone you know who could benefit from it): Get a $30 USD discount on Justine’s amazing Kids & Dogs online course - with special lessons for your kids, but also support for you, and lots of great info on how to train your puppy or dog.

You can get access to the discount here*: https://www.thefamilydog.com/plkd-codered-g?ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thefamilydog.com%2Fa%2F2147489702%2FSXLoiXoz

Disclaimer: Any link with an * following it indicates an affiliate link which means I may make a small commission if you choose to make a purchase with my link. There is no added cost to you (in fact, you’ll get a discount, too!), but it helps me create more valuable free content for Neighborhound. Thank you for your support!

Photo by Stephen Andrews on Unsplash.

08/06/2022

Oh hello there, Bowser -

Bowser is the latest in graduating with honors from our private puppy program. He loves all things fun, and he’s on his way to be the best behaved family dog, so much for sure. I couldn’t be prouder of him and his family.

Can’t wait to see him grow into a handsome adult dog who will spread the love!

20/05/2022

We’ve had so many amazing puppies joining and completing our puppy program lately, and Sosee is one of them - one round of applause, everyone!

She’s learned all the skills without any trouble, but learning to keep four on the floor instead of jumping - especially when there’s food in sight - was certainly a challenge… let’s see it from a “growth mindset” perspective and call it work in progress, shall we?!

18/05/2022

It feels amazing to know that your dog will come back running to you when you call them! It really makes taking them on hikes or family trips so much more fun.

If you want this for you and your dog - we have something planned for you:

Our first “Come When Called “ virtual event is coming up in June!

We decided to call it “Beyond the webinar”, because it’ll be a webinar with perks so that it’s easy to follow through with all the training steps and we can be sure that your dog comes running to you like you’ve always dreamed of!

Stay tuned for more info, and make sure to follow us so that you don’t miss out!

13/05/2022

Another amazing puppy grad - help me celebrate Wulfric!

Wulfric and his humans have so impressed me with all the skills he learned during our time together - he LOVES training (and food) and he didn’t think at all that an hour long training session was too long.

Some of the skills he learned:
** come
** sit
** down
** settle
** spin
** touch

And many important life skills, like staying home alone and watching other dogs and people calmly (not an easy feat for a Pomeranian ;)).

So proud!!!

11/05/2022

Zeus is the latest rock star and graduate of the puppy program! He is also part kangaroo - it’s quite incredible how high he can jump (we’ll keep our eyes open for his agility career!).

I’m especially proud of how confident he has become - this wasn’t a given and required work and patience by his human. It’s amazing to see him enjoy being in the park now, watching people walk by calmly and being curious to meet other dogs. Huge thanks to as well for supporting him on the journey!

04/05/2022

See you in June!
Just wanted to give you a heads up that I’m going to be away for most of May (visiting my family in Germany for the first time since Covid).

If you’re a current client, I’ll be in your inbox in the next few days to let you know when I’ll be checking emails and our shared worksheets during my time away.

If you are looking for help with your puppy or dog, I’ll be taking new clients as of June, and you’re most welcome to complete the short contact form that you can find on my website - tell me more about your puppy or dog and maybe we get to work together once I’m back!

29/04/2022

I love it when research findings align with my own preferences: training your dog less often might actually help them learn faster! In other words, training doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. But, if you still struggle with fitting training your dog into your schedule, check out my blog post for 3 simple strategies that I have found helpful to still make it happen.

Blog post: https://www.neighborhounddogtraining.com/post/got-a-busy-schedule-me-too-but-this-is-how-i-still-find-time-to-train-my-dog

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Wednesday	10:00 - 18:00
Thursday	10:00 - 18:00
Friday	10:00 - 18:00
Saturday	10:00 - 14:00

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http://www.neighborhounddogtraining.com/

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Videos

What I’m working on with my own dogs

One of my clients recently asked me what I’m working on with my own dogs - so I thought I’d share it here with you! The complete truth is that it’s a bit messy, and I don’t always stick to just one thing. It’s also different between the different dogs. But there are two main skill sets that I’m working on with all of my dogs: Anything body handling, and tricks! I’m a vet and have experienced animals being stressed by vet procedures first hand. So anything that I can do to help my dogs cope better I try. We’re doing a lot of muzzle training (even though my dogs don’t have a bite history, a dog in pain is always more likely to bite and I want my vets be and feel safe) and work on showing their paws, their mouth, their teeth etc. And as for tricks: I just love it, and so do the dogs. I’m not very structured about it at all, so we’re working on various skills. Blue is way more advanced (and so is MJ), so we’re doing a bit more concept work, while with Chickpea it’s all about having fun. She used to be quite timid about training and I’m really happy to see her engaged and relaxed now. How about you? What are you working on with your dog? Let me know in the comments! #doghandling #muzzletraining #vancouverdog

Come when called

Watch Charlie acing his come when called! This is his first session where he practices in the park. Ignoring me (I’m holding the longline), ignoring other people. Way to go Charlie! If you want your pup to come running to you as happily as Charlie does, stay tuned! We’re working hard behind the scenes to put everything in place for our come when called webinar (+ online course), which will happen live at the end of July. In my experience you don’t need me there to teach this to your dog (it’s one of the easiest behaviors to teach!), so I wanted to create an offer where everyone can join, no matter if your dog is reactive, finds group classes overwhelming, or doesn’t like car rides. Keep your eyes peeled for more info in the next few days! #puppytrainingtips #positivedogtraining #onlinedogtraining

Preventing resource guarding

Watch me work with puppy Abby when she picks up one of my slippers (my bad, I forgot to put them higher up). This is likely very opposite to what you think you should be doing when your puppy steals your stuff, so pay attention! Since puppies take all and everything into their mouths - some of the things are truly dangerous, others we don’t want to see destroyed - it’s easy to tell your puppy “no” and take things they have away many times a day. That’s the perfect way to teach your puppy not to trust you when they have something they like, and soon they’ll try to avoid you. Sometimes this starts out as a keep away game, and your puppy learns that it’s fun or necessary to run away or growl if they want to protect the things they have from your hands. Watch what I do. When Abby (she is 3 months old) had the slipper I invited her to come over with a kissy noise (not on video). She did, which I loved, and I just engaged with her without paying attention to the slipper. After doing this for a while, I did want to trade, but watch how I did it: I still didn’t pay any attention to the slipper, and made the dead leaf that was lying in the area more interesting by moving it. She let go of the slipper and started playing with the leaf instead (off camera). Now, very important: I keep engaging with her for quite a while, playing tug. If I were working with treats, I would feed multiple treats and maybe let her chase a few. This is important because puppies learn quickly that when they have something they like and you offer a treat (good for you if you do!), you’ll take the stuff they like. They often learn to not go for the treat, or to jump right back to the treasure they had after eating the treat. Using food is great, but how we use it is critical to not create a problem. So, what I look for is building trust in my puppy, I want them to happily come even when they have valued items, and I want them to have even more fun after they swap for some

Come when called webinar

It feels amazing to know that your dog will come back running to you when you call them! It really makes taking them on hikes or family trips so much more fun. If you want this for you and your dog - we have something planned for you: Our first “Come When Called “ virtual event is coming up in June! We decided to call it “Beyond the webinar”, because it’ll be a webinar with perks so that it’s easy to follow through with all the training steps and we can be sure that your dog comes running to you like you’ve always dreamed of! Stay tuned for more info, and make sure to follow us so that you don’t miss out! #onlinedogtraining #Neighborhound #beyondthewebinar

Handing out treats to multiple dogs

Quick tip: if you have multiple dogs in your home, make sure that you say their name first before handing each a treat. That helps them to know who it is for, and to learn to wait patiently until it’s their turn. In the video you see puppy Skye the Goldendoodle learn to patiently wait for her name - and because she’s new to the game, she gets a turn more often than the more experienced dogs in the game. Safety disclaimer: do not do this with dogs who have a known history of resource guarding or aggression towards each other around food, or if you are not sure if this game could cause any conflict. And even if your dogs are usually fine, watch your dogs for any subtle signs of discomfort or aggression in this situation. If in doubt, get the help of a force-free and reward-based professional. #neighborhound #dogtraining #dogtrainervancouver #dogtreats #lebenmithund

Cow Training

Today I wanted to share about a not so dog related passion of mine: training dairy cows! Most of my career I’ve actually spent working with cows, not dogs, and gumboots were part of my hero outfit. Before I moved to Canada in 2013 I worked as a dairy vet in Germany, and when I came to Canada I joined the Animal Welfare Program at UBC to study animal and dairy cow welfare. Together with the wonderful team at the AWP I did a study in 2019 where we trained 1 year old dairy cows with reward based training to come and cooperate for an injection, so that they had a positive experience but could also opt out of the procedure at any time. They did fantastic (and most of them didn’t opt out). Plus, they loved their training sessions - you don’t have to be a cow expert to guess that by their fast and playful approach to the training area ;) Without any doubt, I am convinced that using reward based training (and the mindset that comes with it) would benefit cows (and other farm animals) and us humans who work with them. The joy it brings, and also the time it saves once animals are trained, can just not be compared to the more traditional handling (which I’ve done plenty of). So, other than helping my wonderful clients with their dogs, which I love, I’m also hoping to dust off my gumboots at some point in the future again, and investigate more about how R+ training could potentially help farmers and their cows. If you want to read the full research paper, that we published in 2021: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022030221002484 If you want to learn more about the Animal Welfare Program: find them on Twitter and Facebook @ubcawp

Just a normal day at home

Just a normal day at home… You might think that as a dog trainer I train my dogs all the time.. And yes, sometimes I do, though probably not as much as one would imagine. But if I’m honest, more often than not I just hang out with them. My time to decompress, and they usually really enjoy it, too. It’s also just another opportunity for me to watch my dogs, see what they choose to do, when they want to engage with me and when they don’t. No pressure at all, just being together. #neighborhound #dogtraining #puppytraining #dogsofinstagram #dogstagram

Today I wanted to share a little glimpse behind the scenes, what I do when I'm not training dogs. The truth is that we can keep this fairly simple and short: I'm mostly just hanging out with my own dogs. :) Yes, I sure do other things: I love reading (and will forever be grateful to Lisa who introduced me to Louise Penny's Gamache series), play piano (beginner style) and enjoy Vancouver's amazing abundance of Sushi places (recommendations anyone? - share your favorite Sushi place in the comments!). But really, I just wanna hang out with my dogs, or go adventuring together. Paddle boarding is one favorite one for adventures, and doesn't this look so much more fun with a dog on the board? How about you? What's your favorite way of adventuring or hanging out with your pup?

Puppy training with a wag

For some of the pups taking a break between training exercises and lying calmly on their mat while the humans are talking is SOOO hard - especially with a tail on autopilot 😂 #puppytraining

Chickpea learns paddle boarding 🤩

"How can I make it easier?" This is probably one of the most important questions you can ask yourself if your dog struggles to learn a new task, or when you want to prevent that she makes a mistake or feels uncomfortable when training a new behavior in the first place. The easier we make it, the more successful our pups are, the more fun it is for everyone and the more motivated they will be to do the behavior when we ask. There are many ways we can go about this. For example, when we're training a stay we can first ask for very short "stays", this would make it easier for most dogs. Or when we practice leash walking skills, we can first start in the living room where your dog isn't distracted, this will help most dogs to be successful and turn frustration into fun. Another way to think about it is to take the goal behavior apart into all the different skills that will be required of your dog. This is how I recently set up a training session with Chickpea who I wanted to learn more about paddle boarding. I know that when I'll ask her to come on the board with me, I'll want her to stay in a calm position on the board, know how to get back into position when she gets up, and also to feel good about having the paddle moving around, even above her head. So when we practiced, we worked on these parts separately before we put them all together. This made it fun for her, and after all I want her to enjoy the adventures as much as I do. So what skill would you like your dog to get better at, but you're somehow stuck in your training? How can you make it easier for your dog? Think about the different components that your pup has to learn about, practice those separately first, and reward your dog generously for every win. You'll be way on your way to reach your goals! PS: By the way - did you notice that all the dogs on the couch are panting? While this could be a sign of stress, they were actually really just trying to cope with the heat. We were in the middle of

What is your favorite way of keeping your pup cool in this heat? Our dogs reject most of my brilliant ideas (cooling beds, wet towels, cold water bottles) - so what choice do we have other than taking them to the lake 🤷‍♀️ Hope you're all staying cool and we can pick up on training sessions again in a few days! Julia XX

Did you know: Science says that playing with your dog after a training session can help them remember what they've learned. Little Miss Oakley must have heard about it - after our training session with lots of learning about coming when called, walking with her human instead of pulling ahead, and ignoring fun but dangerous things like socks she decided to go all in. What a fun way to end a puppy training session! How about your pup - what's his favorite game? Let me know in the comments!

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