Fun times!
Champ and his housemate, Chevy, having some fun before we work on calm
Leave it
Would your dog leave it? I didn’t even have to ask ☺️🙏🏽
A confident dog helping another gain confidence
What better to teach a timid dog than a well balanced and confident dog! Emma isn’t totally confident in many surroundings and relies on her brother who is more confident (but pushy and sometimes rude) to give her support. Other dogs also can tend to make Emma nervous. After we gave them all a short walk together to create neutrality I decided to hook Emma up to Ronnie so she could experience following a calm, balanced leader, who isn’t pushy or rude (who speaks the same language). Once we got back to the acreage Emma was very interested in seeing what else Ronnie could teach her
Birch
Sweet baby Birchy learning a cool new way to exercise and play with her mama yesterday.
Excellent way to build confidence as well, after we moved along and came back to these blocks she wanted to go back for another round. Although at first she wasn’t sure what we wanted her to do.
Today on Piper’s walk we just stuck to her street. I really want Piper to understand where I want her when she’s walking with myself or her parents. We inched closer to the end of the culdesac a couple times, but Piper shows me that it’s just too much stimulation the further we go. So for now, we worry about quality over quantity. Once she started to realize she was a lot comfier sticking slightly behind me, we switched up the activity and worked on regulation around stimuli. Which you can see as we work on settling on the place cot. This girl has a very busy brain, so she needs to learn to slow down and take in the world at a more calm pace
Piper shares her brain with her sister, Maggie. She pulls on leash, she’s all over the place, and she’s reactive to people as well as dogs. Because she doesn’t totally think for herself, she has a hard time slowing down and taking life in, in order to learn how things roll.
Today while her sister got a break from her at daycare, and while mom and dad work, I went to take her for a 1 on 1 walk to allow some things to sink in better. She did such a good job! We did see a few triggers, but I was able to work her through each one and she made me proud. Some dogs take a bit longer to learn compared to other dogs, but they do learn. This is why being patient and consistent is a big deal with training dogs.
Teaching Boone recall and loose leash walking today in the rain ☔️
Nelly walked next to a strange dog today! At first she wasn’t sure, so we kept our distance. But she was checking in a lot with mom, to which I told her to reward check ins, and then we were able to close the gap once she realized Ronnie wasn’t gonna get her. And Ronnie was tired cuz it was her second session she came to with me today 👌🏽
Rafael is a pretty anxious and hyper guy when he’s outside of his own home. He becomes fearful when other dogs bark at him, and will bark back in return. Humans are super exciting, and water is a dangerous obsession - he will drag his mom to any body of water (rivers, lakes, etc.).
Shirley was told by another trainer that it’s bad to give him any form of leadership as it will damage their relationship. Meanwhile, she’s continued to struggle with his reactivity and dangerous tendencies that wind him up in the vet office because he knows he can just run amok with no structure and boundaries. Folks, leadership is not the same as being a dictator. Leadership by definition means: the ability of an individual or a group of people to influence and guide followers or members of an organization, society or team.
Shirley was fear mongered into thinking Rafael would resent her if she told him no, or that she would seriously injure him by putting on any other tool aside from a harness. One reason this handsome pooch has so much anxiety is because his parent has a lot as well. So while I’ll be teaching Rafael how to be less reactive, less impulsive and more calm and collected, his mom will also be learning to be calm and have confidence.
As you can see here, he’s responding fantastically to the slip leash with guidance on how it works and how to follow the leash rather than fight it 👌🏽
“A tired dog is a happy dog.” How many times have you heard someone say that?
At the same rate, how many times do you have to walk your dog a day in order to get them to that “happy” point where they’re calm? A lot of people tell me they have to walk their dog for hours on end just to get a little peace at home, and they say “even then, he’s still not tired”.
Did you know that sometimes we can inevitably create an athlete by doing that? You know how when you go to the gym (or start working out at home), generally you start out with a small amount of weight, and over time increase it because 10 pounds is no longer heavy enough? If we start walking our dogs (and they pull like a freight train) for 45 min, and increase to an hour, 1.5, 2.5, etc. that it’s basically the same thing as that 10 pound weight? If your goal IS to create an athlete, then great! But if your goal is to fulfill your dog, just a walk isn’t necessarily going to cut it.
A tired dog, is a tired dog. And sometimes a tired dog can be a grumpy dog (think of when you’re exhausted vs just tired). A fulfilled dog however, is a happy and well behaved dog. Fulfillment for dogs can be more than just a walk (key words, “can be”, as it depends on the dog). Fulfillment for our dogs can be scent games, urban agility, sharpening obedience skills/leash skills, practicing the art of doing nothing, swimming, and other biological forms of fulfillment.
Outside of walks, other forms of biological fulfillment can be actual agility, herding, rally obedience, dock diving, tracking, barn hunt, fly ball, GRC, and so many other activities! Biological fulfillment includes activities that our dogs were bred to do. A lot of misbehaviours we see from our dogs are not misbehaviours in their own minds. Rather they’re just trying to find a way to accomplish the jobs they were bred to do when we aren’t giving those to them. They don’t realize the misbehaviours usually don’t fit into our societ
Reactivity is a rough one that most dog owners struggle with today. Reactivity is when your dog becomes overly aroused by (usually) common stimuli. As you can see in this video, they may lunge, bark, and growl. Becoming so preoccupied with whatever their trigger(s) may be that they may become difficult to control and get out of the situation.
Reactivity is a complex emotional response dogs have, and usually it takes a while (depending) to work them out of this habit. Some reactive dogs don’t always fully recover, but we can work to change their emotional response so that they don’t feel the need to become overwhelmed by triggering stimuli all the time. When working with reactive dogs, the goal is usually to create neutrality to triggering stimuli, as well as engagement with their handler.
A dog who is reactive generally has had some instances that have led up to this becoming their response. So they need to learn that their human will advocate for them in stressful situations, so that they don’t feel the need to take the matter into their own hands (paws.. teeth?). Reactivity is not something most trainers will give you a “how-to” guide on how to fix over the internet. Why? Because reactivity is complex, and it varies depending on the dog. Then why, the how, etc. So don’t get offended if you ask a trainer how to fix your dog’s reactivity on the net, only for them to tell you to hire a trainer. It’s not because we don’t want to help, it’s because we want to see you and your dog succeed. Internet advice is always generalized for everyone as a whole. Sure some stuff might be able to help you get further, but reactivity has so many small nuances that it’s best to hire someone that can create a custom program to fit you and your dog as individuals.
If you do need help with your dog’s reactivity, please reach out on my website in my bio. You don’t have to keep struggling through this by yourself 💜
Molly struggles with reactivity to people and all sorts of animals, she’s also landed some bites on people and her senior dog house mate (hence the muzzle). Dogs like this need more positive exposures to the world and their triggers so that they can start to create a new feeling towards them. They also need advocacy in these environments so that they know they don’t have to lash out if they don’t like something.
Walks in general are also something Molly needs to get accustomed to, with her reactivity her family hasn’t been able to get out with her as much as she needs. So here we are working her through seeing a trigger while out in the world that she’s also learning exists
I got Ronnie a cooling mat today because it’s been so hot and we don’t have AC.
One thing I notice when I read reviews for cooling mats, as well as when I used to sell them when I worked in a pet store, is the people who say their dog wouldn’t use it. It’s a new thing that doesn’t feel like the rest of their beds. If you spend a bit of time teaching them that it’s just a new bed, and *wow* it keeps them cool, they’ll use it.
Socialization is not just about having your dog play with other dogs. Your dog needs to learn that you still matter, and that you’re still valuable even if there are other people and/or dogs around. Kona is just about 5 months old and while she really did want to play with and jump all over Ronnie in the beginning, she learned over the course of our session that she gets more reinforcement from her owners than another dog. She still had a positive experience around another dog, but she learned that she doesn’t need to focus all of her attention on another dog. She also did get a correction from Ronnie a couple times for barreling into her, but she learned as well that she can recover from that and that doesn’t mean Ronnie is bad or doesn’t like her, just that she has to respect the other dog as well
Sweet girl doing a good stay and a good recall 👌🏽
Bagel was showing off his new tricks he’s been learning while it’s been so smoky outside, look at him go! 👏🏽
One of my friends came across this on tiktok and sent it to me, she makes a great point
How’s your dog’s prey drive around animals like rabbits, birds and squirrels? Do they have impulse control? Can you recall them if they’re off leash and see these critters?
Teaching Moxie how to walk nice today. We’ve got a smart one here 🐕
Ronnie says thanks for the massage, friend K9 Muscleworks, and thanks for the good chats as always Ang 💜. Canine massage and bodywork is beneficial for dogs of all ages, great for socialization and desensitization with puppies and overall good for the longevity of your dog (she also does cats!)
