Winnie was not a fan of putting on her harness so we taught her to put her head through on her own. It took about 5 seconds for her to decide putting her head in was a good choice😅🥰
Trying to keep mahana from getting bored, she's learning her colors
Aurora has been working very hard on her reactivity to cars, dogs, big trucks, people, etc. All her hard work is paying off as today she was able to watch this commotion outside her window and handled it like a pro! So proud of her progress. She is a lucky girl to have a family that works so hard with her and with so much love and patience🥰
This little one is working on disengaging from distractions. It's hard work but she's doing great!
Working hard on recall skills! This game teaches the dog to walk away from things they want but also teaches them that recall doesn't end the fun!
Working on disengagement. It's so much harder the farther behind the dog you get and Charlie is doing great!! So proud of her progress!
Bruno is one of the more sensitive dogs I train. He is reactive to everything, highly distracted and anxious and such a sweetheart. We have been working hard to get him to be in the moment so that he is in a teachable state of mind. He is making progress and we are getting more moments of focus with him. Every session is a little better and we are proud of him for being such a brave boy!
Dog training is all about building value. In one short session, we built enough value in this little bed that he didn't always want to come out😅
Why does positive reinforcement work? Because we build value in the behaviors we want our dogs to perform. When you correct a dog by telling them "no", "leave it", "off" etc. you're not teaching them what the right answer is. Because they see value in the thing they're doing (counter surfing, chasing the cat, sitting in the couch, etc), they are never going to stop doing it no matter how many times you tell them not to. You might be able to deter them in the moment, but guaranteed they are going to try it again later. When we create value in a behavior, dogs will do it even when we're not around to tell them what to do.
This morning we had a great example of this at our house. Last night someone, not saying who😅, left the chicken coop open. So this morning when I let the dogs out, at some point the chickens also came out on their own. They were all out together unsupervised for almost 2 hours. I was calling the cats and dogs in for breakfast when I noticed that the chickens were out. And what were the dogs doing? Toby had come in and was laying next to me waiting for breakfast and Millie was laying in the yard with her back to the chickens.
We have been practicing disengaging from the chickens every day for the last couple months and that work has paid off!! Positive reinforcement training changes behavior permanently all while strengthening the bond you have with your dog. This is why I do what I do!
We have progressed to being off leash today but still under strict supervision. The dogs did great!
We really want to be able to have free range chickens so we are working hard to make that happen. Millie struggles a lot more than Toby (being a spaniel). We're working on disengagement and high value in ignoring and walking away from the chickens. This is our 4th little session and they're doing good!
The submissive grin is a rare behavior in dogs used when greeting to show that they mean no harm and are not interested in conflict. Because we have all been taught that a dog showing their teeth is a clear sign to stay away, the submissive grin is often mistaken for aggression. That's why it's so important to look at the whole body. In a submissive grin, the dog will lift their lips to show their teeth. This will be accompanied by other submissive behaviors such as ears pulled back, head ducked and a low hanging tail.
When his new dad comes home from work, Toby often greets him with a submissive grin. It's a little bit hard to catch on camera because it is accompanied by so much movement.
