Love 2 Play Dog Training

20/11/2024

Relevant to all dogs, not just herding dogs!

Whether you have a dog that is pushy, sensitive or an even keeled team player, it’s important to recognize as his partner, our job is to guide and teach, not bully or have an agenda.
Key to helping him reach his full potential is having a teaching mindset.
This includes more understanding and less correction.
More consistency and less expectation.
More listening and less imposing your will.
More patience and less ego.
Even with stronger dogs, it’s about consistency and an intuitive method.
We get asked thousand of questions about dog training and probably 90 percent of the answers are reflected back on the handler.
We as humans want so badly for the problem to be something other than ourselves, that we sometimes allocate blame elsewhere. But if we’re humble enough to look at ourselves, our mindset, our method, our commitment to continue learning and be honest with ourselves, we’ll often find the answer.
For myself, many of the most valuable lessons in life I’ve learned from my dogs. macraeway.com

14/11/2024

25/10/2024

Who has looked on the CHC website to see that there are Hoopers video trials in Feb and April and July and October. (MEEEEE!!!!!!)

Who has set the dates aside for the trial (MEEEEEEE!!!!!)

Who is also following the weather for November looking at the snow coming and likely sticking before Nov 8 - 10 Video trial (MEEEEEE!!!!)

Thank you Debbie Vassallo for the advance planning and for NOT overlapping with the CARO Virtual trial weeks.

Remember: Every hoop, every tunnel, and every successfully navigated gate are an expression of the beautiful teamwork between you and your loyal companion.
Your dog will feel your energy and will look for your support. Together you'll overcome any challenge and you'll create long lasting memories, which strengthen your connection.

Never forget: “Team work makes the dream work!”

Dive into the world of hoopers, enjoy every second and celebrate every small progress like a big success!

24/10/2024

SPACE has come up in this class....grab it now.....
(this class is also running IN PERSON at Love 2 Play starting November 17)

21/10/2024

I just removed about 100 people from the love 2 Play student page. Mostly people who have moved away, whose life has moved away from activities with their dogs or whose names I haven't heard since 2016. If you were removed in error, please let me know. If you ARE a present student and want to be on the page specifically for students (advance notice of classes and other info, just let me know). This is supposed to be a 'relatively' safe place so I would like to limit it to students. If you just want to stay in touch, join our business page.

19/10/2024

Somehow I expect that there are more than 2 people who want to attend the CARO working trial in Winlaw on December 16 Kelly Hodder Glenda Harris, Brenda Oliver, Irene Manley

17/10/2024

Canine Hoopers of Canada
Seminar and Trial with CHC Founder Debbie Vassallo

May 2 - 4, 2025 in beautiful Glade.
Lots of room for RV parking or tent camping

Seminar is Friday and Sunday; Trial is Saturday.
Limited working spots, unlimited auditing.
Stay for the weekend and hang out with other 'dog people!

Registration is on the Love 2 Play Website services/events
Come and learn, find out what all the excitement is about!

16/10/2024

One spot has opened up in Intro to K9 Nosework, this Saturday, 3 hour workshop. After that you continue on your own or take any of our nosework classes as enrichment or move on to Intro to Odour or Intro to Handler Scent.......
Learn how K9 Nosework can build a dogs confidence!!!!! Great enrichment (and mentally fatiguing for the dog)

Saturday 3pm at Love 2 Play $100.
Invest in your dog's well being!

09/10/2024

I’m a professional dog trainer of 23 years, so here’s a list of things I can guarantee you my dogs are better at than most -

1. Begging for food. That’s right. My dogs 100% know how to turn on the drool and charm when I’m eating or cooking. Does it work? Maybe. Do I always pay cheese tax? Absolutely.

2. Taking over my furniture and bed. Yes. My dogs sleep with me, lay on me, take up real estate on the couch, my lap and anywhere else they find comfort.

3. Getting super excited at greetings. My dogs jump up and hug me all the time. In fact, I don’t ever wear anything I care about. It’s super fun in summertime when I’m in shorts.

4. Chewing stuff that isn’t theirs. Shoes, the corner of a rug, we’ve even lost a chair leg to adolescent teething. Toys? Oh sure they have TONS of them, that I rotate and fill with food and freeze and hide - but what are toys compared to a family heirloom?

5. Ignoring me when it’s really important. Why come back when I’m calling them when it matters most? Why not make me stand in my underwear at 5am for a few minutes. They sure do love to keep me on my toes. It’s even better when it’s in public and I’ve just told people I’m a dog trainer!

6. Getting sick at the worst possible times. It’s not a vacation if someone doesn’t start pooping water or ingest something unknown while I’m gone. Or when I’ve just finished putting the kids to bed and cleaning the house, they are SO good at vomiting right at the bottom stair so I can step in it barefoot on my way downstairs to “relax”.

7. Barking at nothing, and everything, at all times. Leaf fall? Vacuum going? Small creak in floor? We could all die and they keep me safe. Without them, I may fall into the awful spiral of having peace and quiet, and who wants that?

8. Pointing out my flaws. Nothing like an adolescent dog or a drivey shepherd to make you recognize you need more work on your patience, timing and delivery. If it weren’t for them, I’d never have to really work on myself!

9. Leaving too soon. Just as we’ve figured out all of each other’s idiosyncrasies and habits and settle into a friendship of a lifetime, they have to go. We get a few amazing years together, and then my heart gets absolutely shattered, yet I still wouldn’t have it any other way. And THEN, I choose to take the journey all over again.

10. Being my best friends. Long day, feeling gloomy, struggling to see a bright side? They are there through all of it. Making me laugh, keeping me grounded, never taking things too seriously and always ready to try again for me. At my best and my worst they adore me, what better friends can you get than that.

I’m a dog trainer, but I still have dogs. They are not perfect, neither am I. My dogs are still allowed to be dogs as they accept that I’m still allowed to be a human. They are gonna dig a hole in my favorite spot of the yard and I’m going to take away the soggy tennis ball they found in the swamp. They will shred a new bed I bought for them and I’ll ask them to walk politely next to me instead of dragging me down. They will bark at a suspicious plastic bag and I will ask them to perform silly behaviors in front of people. They need to smell a tree branch for 10 minutes and I want to watch this new Netflix documentary. It’s a two way street and I’ve learned to embrace it instead of try to control it. That’s the only way I’ve found for it to be truly fair to them and to myself.

If you want a dog trainer who doesn’t advocate for allowing dogs to be dogs, and humans to be humans, and finding a compromise that’s fair and humane, I’m not your trainer, and that’s okay with me. They aren’t here long enough to make such big deals out of such little things for the level of friendship and devotion we get in return with them. Love your dogs everyone. For them, and for you.

- Helen St. Pierre

08/10/2024

So important.....dogs can become quite 'stuff' oriented and don't believe their noses is there isn't 'stuff'.......need to really emphasize the concept that 'odour pays'

Are there cracks in your training? No I'm not here, at least now, to discuss "Cracks in your training programs" I'm here discuss wall or ground cracks. The essential part of scent detection is as Cameron Ford K9 says, "Odor Pays." If that's true we need to expose dogs to the concept that odor, and in particular it's source, can come from anywhere in a search area.

Dogs are typically item oriented. This means when we're searching an area they typically will gravitate to "things" in search areas to sniff. Think about when you go for a walk with your dog. When you're walking around your neighborhood or local park your dog moves from bush to bush, sign to sign, and other items and things along your route. Trainers also get into the habit of placing an emplacing target items in search areas. Heck as a CNWI we're encouraged and it makes good logical sense, to bring target odor boxes outside to bring contextual target items outside to encourage dogs to target them. So then it may be hard for dogs to understand that odor can come from things like cracks on a wall or cracks on pavement or concrete.

We need to Deliberately Train for dogs to understand that odor can come from cracks. Having a reinforcement history associated with finding hides in cracks ensures that during trials dogs and handlers understand and appreciate that they are productive search areas. Especially obvious cracks.

Odor will effuse from the vessel, and flow from it, down the seem of the crack and billow up from it as well. That means that the odor is susceptible to airflow/wind and movement in the area. Some times dogs will blow past the hide, or walk over it, and disturb the airflow around them. This means you may see a dog whip around and come back to the hide.

The BEST way to have handlers and dogs, be open to observing and perceiving cracks as the target location of a hide is to have a training reinforcement history associated with them. Remember every reinforcement event reinforces BOTH ends of the leash.

This a "A" way to train for them. When training ANY new task, make the initial context easy. The criteria can start with a hide placed at or near the start line. Try to ensure the hide is upwind from the start so odor is blowing towards the team. Then as the team begins their behavior chain, they start the search moving towards the hide. Give the dog the time to process the odor and when the dog arrives at the target hide location, pay on sniff. Then restart the search and let the dog get two more opportunities at that location. If need be continue to pay on sniff. Hopefully the dog begins to understand what it's perceiving.

Again, take nothing for granted. If there's no reinforcement history associated with sniffing something, there's a chance a dog and handler won't perceive the value in searching it.

Fill this crack in your scent detection training.

07/10/2024

Nosework--Intro to Odour....DAYTIME class. Permission of Instructor required (just email me) Fridays starting October 25 for 3 weeks.
https://portal.busypaws.app/customers/love-2-play-dog-training?booking_id=847321

05/10/2024

Have fun today everyone at the Kootenay Underdogs AAC agility trial. Looks like the weather is going to be awesome. And remember to be grateful to be able to step to the line one more time with your dog!

29/09/2024

Sunday October 12 Hoopers Fun Day.

Sunday, October 13, 2024 2440 Highway 6 between Crescent Valley and Slocan Park Contact us at 250 359 6650 or [email protected] FIRST DOG ON THE LINE 11:00 am

28/09/2024

Kay Laurence always says it best:

Dogs have been successfully learning for thousands of years, it is modern society that has imposed an acceptance on how they consider dogs should behave. This is often in conflict with the learning skills that dogs possess and, even with positive overtones, is about suppression of behaviour, compliance and easy management.

Are we just making dogs compliant for people or should we give more consideration to what is going to be beneficial for that dog, living in that lifestyle and an uncertain future?

The more I see “sit, down, come, stay heel” as the essential basics the more I am moving further away from the general view of living with dogs.