SOS K9 Training

03/01/2025

In 1928, a German Shepherd named Buddy changed the world forever by becoming the first official guide dog for the visually impaired. Her story is one of trust, partnership, and a shift that revolutionized society's view of blind people's independence.

This story centers on Morris Frank, a young American who lost his sight in a tragic accident. Frustrated by always having to rely on the help of others, he learned about guide dogs being trained in Switzerland. Determined to regain his independence, he contacted Dorothy Eustis, an American dog trainer in Switzerland, and asked her to train a dog for him.

Dorothy Eustis agreed and soon introduced Morris to Buddy, an intelligent and disciplined German Shepherd. A close bond quickly developed between the two. With a lot of patience and training, Buddy became not only Frank's "eyes," but also his closest companion. They practiced navigating busy streets, avoiding obstacles, and moving confidently through crowds. This collaboration showed the world something revolutionary: blind people could regain their independence with the help of well-trained dogs.

Buddy's success was immediate and impressive. Morris Frank and Buddy traveled across the United States demonstrating the capabilities of guide dogs. At one famous demonstration, Frank said, "It's wonderful to be guided by a dog. I'm not afraid anymore." People were amazed to see Buddy safely guide them through busy streets, intersections, and dangers - things previously thought impossible.

The success of this partnership sparked a movement that would change the lives of many people around the world. Together, Frank and Eustis founded The Seeing Eye, the first guide dog school in the United States. This gave many visually impaired people access to this life-changing assistance. Buddy's story proved that dogs can be not only loyal companions, but also valuable helpers to people in need.

Buddy's legacy is monumental. Her journey marked the beginning of a new era of accessibility and inspired the creation of guide dog schools worldwide. Today, guide dogs stand as a symbol of independence, trust, and unconditional support. Buddy's story reminds us that even the quietest acts of courage and loyalty can leave a lasting mark in history. Buddy didn't just change one man's life - she changed the world.

02/01/2025

Tip of the week.

02/01/2025

I am a Balanced Trainer. (And proud of that)

There's a lot of misinformation about balanced Trainers online, a lot people hear words that trigger them and from that point, hate spews.

I'm a traditional balanced trainer, trained in the old school ways but also trained in the new age ways.
I take the best of both worlds and employ them as needed. The thing about only being trained in the new age way, is they are not open to any other options, it's always the same, hide away from stress, only treats and if that don't work medicate or worst PTS. We balanced trainers tend to deal with the dogs that other style trainers don't want as their way won't work. We don't cherry pick , we are here to help.

Balanced trainers are 99% positive, we use treats, toys and more, but we have seen enough to know not all dogs take these, and not all owners want to use these. So you must be open to other options.

There must be consequences for unwanted behaviour, mabey it's a pop on the lead (even FF zach george pops for correction 🤔), mabey it's they don't get that treat, or we ignore them for a moment, but there must be a consequence.

Dogs are animals that we domesticated, we need to stop with the fairystyle training, why do we hold dogs to a higher standards than humans? Why do we make excuses for unwanted behaviour 😕

Dogs live in the moment, and it's how we handle every moment that counts.
Dogs are animals that look to owners for leadership, guidance, structure through consistency and dedication.

If you only say no to a dog, your dogs going to hate you, if you only say yes to a dog it will think your a doormat, it's about a healthy BALANCE.

Balanced trainers I believe get the best short and long term results due to us being open and considering all the options, we don't have the attitude of they will learn to love it. We play to their and your strengths to get the best results.

My opinion and food for thought

Always check vids, pics, reviews and mentions as achievements of success is what matters, not how many letters are stacked after someone's name!

01/01/2025

Happy new year everybody ✨️ 🤗

Here we Go again, another year of helping owners and dogs achieve their goals they thought weren't possible.

Thanks to everyone who has supported us since we opened last year, we can't thank you enough, not even a year old as a company and we already have a massive following, met so many nice people and even made some friends along the way.

I wish you nothing but happiness for this year 🤗

Remember training doesn't have to be hard, for the new year you could do a little 10min session everyday for a week or 2 and you will notice a massive difference in your dogs behaviour, and the bond you have will only get stronger, making you the perfect leader 😀

We have soooo many plans for this year and can't wait to reveal them when the time is right 😉 so stay tuned.

SOS K9 is here to help!

Remember be calm, cool & confident!

26/12/2024

🎉🎉****** Competition time *******🎉🎉

A nice easy Competition that gives you the chance to win a free 121 session that can be for you and your doggie 😀 🐕🐕

🐾 4 simple steps to enter 🐾:

1. Hit the like and follow button on our page SOS K9 Training
2. Post the cutiest or funniest pic of your dog in the comments. (on this original post)
3.share this post to your wall.
4. Hit the 3 little dots on our page (at the top)and invite all your friends/family to like and follow our page.(this just helps us as a small business 😉)

We have shared our picture which is of our dog and cat reenacting a scene from rocky 😀 😄 😉

Feel free to tag friends and family members for a chance to win

🐾Competition will close December 31st at 5pm and the winner will be announced at 9pm that night. The winner will be selected by my daughter 😀 will pic her cutiest or funniest picture.🐾

26/12/2024

🙌🏽

Have you checked out our dog sport + training merch? We promise you won’t be disappointed ˙ᵕ˙ ShopCanineAesthete.com

25/12/2024

🐾Merry Christmas everyone. 🎄🎁
I hope you all have a great day full of fun, laughter and great food and company 😀 😊 🐾

24/12/2024

🐾We got our Xmas present today 😀
🐾Our new business cards arrived today 🙏🎄
Designed by us.

21/12/2024

🐾Well that's pretty much it for us for Christmas, we have a couple walk & Trains tomorrow and Monday and that's it!🐾

I hope everyone has a pawsome Christmas 🎄 🙏

Can I just say a massive thank you 😊 to everyone who used our service, who gave me a chance to prove myself and help you and your dogs 🐕

🐾Thanks to everyone who likes, follows, shares and comments, I appreciate you all for helping me achieve the success I have.🐾

I am so proud and humbled that everyone has given us a chance, I can't thank you enough 🙏, most trainers do this part time on their own for ages before going full time, but thanks to you guys, within 3months we made this into a full time job and I love every minute of it!🐕

Many thanks to Norfolk & Suffolk Animal Trust for their constant support, a massive thank you to cassie our volunteer who helps me out all the time (along with shadow 😀)

So Merry Christmas from all of us at SOS K9 🎅🎄

Stay tuned for a competition between Xmas and new year to win a free 121 session for you or a friend/family. It will be a nice easy competition 👌

15/12/2024

After a hard day's training and then Xmas shopping with the family, we get to enjoy this beautiful sky.
Got to enjoy the little things in life 👌

13/12/2024

Yep, harness is for sledge dog or mountain rescue or the older or well trained dogs in my opinion. A harness makes it easier to pull and it's more comfortable to pull. Unless dogs understand lead tension and what the lead means, it's best to use a harness for play mode with a long lead.

Dogs generally pull about 60 per cent harder on a leash when wearing a padded harness compared with a collar, even when the equipment is marketed as “anti pull” – putting the people walking them at risk of injury.

Some dogs – especially smaller breeds – pull with a force more than twice their body weight on the collar, potentially damaging their throats, says Erin Perry at Southern Illinois University.

“It’s really very shocking,” she says. “The dogs are almost choking themselves on that collar repeatedly. But the harnesses in our study just didn’t inhibit pulling in any way, and that’s definitely a wake-up call – especially because of the risk to owners.”

Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2459747-dogs-pull-harder-on-the-leash-when-they-wear-a-harness-than-a-collar/

Image: CBCK-Christine/Alamy

10/12/2024

🐾Off lead walking kali our exotic pocket bully. Stubborn little dogs but if you build a good respectful relationship then anything is possible.🐾
Iv built engagement between handler and K9 to a level that my word carries great weight 👌

Providing consistency, structure and rules early on mean your dog can have more freedom for longer.🐾

I always tell people, train everyday for the first 2-3 years that you get a decade plus of bliss having a well balanced dog 🐕

Making training routines into habits is key!, we as humans are creatures of habits and our dogs learn from us during these periods. So why not make good habits, sitting, eye contact, light recall, leave it etc should be used every day across all environments, that way you really cement obedience in your dog, which is the most important thing.
Great Obedience means more freedom and fun 😁

Little things like timings of praise and corrections help mold your dogs behaviour, carful of pitfalls, it's easy to reassure a dog it's OK, but are you reassuring them, or are you mistakenly praising unwanted behaviour. Don't praise while still fixating.

Here at SOS K9 we aim to make owners into mini trainers for their dogs 🐕
We play to both yours and your dogs strengths to get the best results.
We understand how lonely it can be at times as a owner of a reactive dog, trying everything and everyone with little to no success or progress. This is what we specialise in, so why get in touch to have a friendly chat to start your pawsome journey with us 🐾

Sosk9training.co.uk

Drop us a message for a friendly chat to see how we can help!

07516927849

Check out our vids, pics, reviews, mentions and more on our Facebook and Instagram..

Call now to connect with business.

09/12/2024

Look at this boy 🐕. On the pier chilling around people, dogs and birds 😆 a nice walk & Train with zeus to start the day 😃

07/12/2024

Wow 👌 👏
If you know the story just a few short months ago Ruby didn't walk outside, didn't know what toys were or even how to play!
Now look at her and her owner Mandy Thompson 😍 learning tricks. This is such a massive achievement 👏 all thanks to the dedication 🙏
Well done to the both of you, you have come miles.
She walks and plays, only thing now is building trust around strangers, which will take time, but these two have it on the right tracks! So proud 👏