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Sit Happens Dog Training, Arlington, WA (2025)

01/01/2025

🎉🐾 New Year, New Tricks! 🐾🎉

Happy New Year from Sit Happens Dog Training! 🌟 As we step into 2024, it’s the perfect time to set some pawsitive resolutions—for you and your furry best friend! 🐶✨

Is 2024 the year to:
🐾 Stop leash pulling?
🐾 Master basic cues?
🐾 Fix jumping or barking habits?
🐾 Build confidence and social skills?

Let’s make those training goals a reality—together! 💪🐾

🌟 New Year Special! Book your first session in January and enjoy 30% off your consultation to kick off your training journey! 🎊

No matter your dog’s age, breed, or behavior, we’re here to help you create a stronger bond and a happier, well-behaved pup. ❤️

📞 Call us at 425-375-7733 or email [email protected] to get started today!
Let’s make 2024 the year of growth, learning, and lots of tail wags! 🐕🎉

12/30/2024

Happy New Year! I hope 2025 brings you a year of learning, growth, and wagging tails!

As the New Year approaches it’s time to think about our resolutions. We often think about resolutions for us only, such as, losing weight, getting the new dream job, or maybe traveling more. But what about our dog training resolutions, what do you want to focus on this year for you and your dog? Comment your dog training resolution below…

Here are some good ideas to help if you are unsure:

1. Consistency is Key: I’ll focus on being more consistent with cues and rewards, making sure training sessions are clear and structured for my dog’s success.

2. Enrichment & Stimulation: I’ll provide more mental and physical enrichment to keep my dog happy and healthy, incorporating puzzle toys, new challenges, and regular exercise.

3. Positive Reinforcement: I’ll stick to positive reinforcement techniques, rewarding good behavior with treats, praise, or play, to build a strong, trusting relationship.

4. Patience & Progress: I’ll remember to be patient, understanding that progress takes time. I’ll celebrate small wins and be kind to myself (and my dog) during setbacks.

5. Socialization Opportunities: I’ll work on more socialization, exposing my dog to new experiences, environments, and other dogs in a positive way to build confidence.

6. Training Adventures: I’ll take training sessions to new places, practicing cues in different environments to help my dog generalize what they've learned.

If you would like assistance reaching your dog training resolutions or just need some help with dog training in general, feel free to reach out using the email and phone number listed on my page.

12/27/2024

In dog training, meeting needs and suppressing behaviors are two different approaches to addressing unwanted actions.

Meeting needs focuses on understanding the root cause of the behavior. Dogs bark, chew, jump, or dig often because they have unmet physical or emotional needs. These could include the need for more exercise, mental stimulation, social interaction, or attention. By fulfilling these needs, you're addressing the underlying reasons for the behavior, which leads to a more balanced and well-adjusted dog. For example, if your dog is chewing because they’re bored, providing chew toys and more play time can redirect that energy positively.

On the other hand, suppressing behaviors means trying to stop the behavior without addressing the underlying cause. This might include punishing a dog for jumping or barking without looking at why they're doing it. While it can stop the behavior temporarily, it doesn't solve the root issue and may lead to more frustration for both you and your dog.

Ultimately, meeting your dog’s needs is a more effective, humane approach that promotes long-term success, while suppressing behaviors without understanding the cause can lead to confusion, stress, and even more undesirable behaviors. Training with compassion and insight leads to a stronger, happier bond! 🐕💡

12/23/2024

Management is crucial in dog training because it helps create an environment where success is more likely, reducing unwanted behaviors and setting your dog up for success. Here’s why:

1. Preventing Mistakes: Management allows you to prevent situations where your dog could practice undesirable behaviors, like jumping on guests or chewing on furniture. By controlling the environment, you can avoid reinforcing these behaviors unintentionally.

2. Setting Clear Boundaries: It helps establish clear rules and limits for your dog. For example, using baby gates to keep your dog in a safe area during training helps them learn what's expected without confusion.

3. Reducing Frustration: For both you and your dog, management makes training more effective and less stressful. If your dog can't access distractions or become overwhelmed, they can focus better on the training.

4. Creating Success: By making the right choices available to your dog and removing temptations, you're setting them up for success, which makes learning easier and more rewarding.

Overall, management supports the learning process and helps you build a stronger, more positive relationship with your dog! 🐾

12/20/2024

First, let me give a quick definition of what generalizing means...

Generalizing means teaching your dog to respond to a cue or command in different situations, environments, or with different people, distractions, and objects.

Generally, dogs cannot effectively generalize a cue without practice. While dogs are capable of learning associations, generalizing a cue across different environments, situations, or people usually requires repetition and experience. For example, if your dog learns the "sit" command at home, they may not automatically understand that the same cue applies in a park or when someone else says it.

Dogs often need to be exposed to various contexts where the cue is used to fully understand that it applies universally. Through consistent practice and positive reinforcement in different environments, your dog will learn to generalize the cue. Without this practice, dogs may only respond reliably to the cue in the specific context where they first learned it.

In short, generalization takes time and consistency, so it's important to practice cues in varied situations for your dog to fully grasp them! 🐾🎓

12/18/2024

If you or your dog are getting frustrated during training, it's important to take a step back and reset! 😌🐾 Here are a few tips:
1. Take a Break: Shorten the training session and give both of you a breather. Training should be fun, not stressful.
2. Revisit Basics: Go back to simpler exercises your dog knows well, and end on a positive note to rebuild confidence.
3. Stay Calm: Dogs pick up on your emotions. If you're frustrated, your dog might mirror that. Take deep breaths and stay patient.
4. Adjust Expectations: Sometimes progress takes time. Set realistic goals and celebrate small wins!
Remember, training is a journey, not a race. Patience, consistency, and positive reinforcement will help you both stay on track! 🐕💙

12/13/2024

When training your dog, it's important to gradually increase the difficulty of their learning environment. This is where the 3D’s of dog training come in: Duration, Distance, and Distractions. These concepts help you refine your dog's behavior in real-world situations.

1. Duration: Start by teaching your dog a behavior for a short period of time, like holding a stay for a few seconds. Once they are successful, gradually increase the duration to ensure they can maintain the behavior over longer periods.

2. Distance: Begin training with your dog close to you. Once they’re reliable, increase the distance between you and your dog. This helps reinforce that they can perform the behavior even when you're farther away.

3. Distractions: Introduce distractions slowly, like people or other dogs, once your dog is comfortable with the behavior at short durations and distances. The goal is to ensure your dog can stay focused and perform the behavior, no matter what's going on around them.

By systematically working through the 3D’s, you can teach your dog to perform reliably in a variety of situations, making your training both effective and practical.

12/11/2024

A clicker is a small device that makes a distinct “click” sound when pressed, and it’s widely used in dog training as a form of positive reinforcement. We use it to mark the exact moment our dog performs a desired behavior, helping them understand which action earned the reward.

How to use it:
1. Associate the clicker with rewards: Start by clicking and immediately offering a treat so your dog learns the sound means something good is coming.
2. Mark desired behaviors: When your dog performs the behavior you want, click at the moment it happens, then reward them with a treat.
3. Repeat often: Consistency is key to ensuring your dog understands what behavior is being rewarded.

Tips for success:
• Timing is crucial: Click at the exact moment your dog does the right thing.
• Keep treats small and high value: This keeps your dog engaged and focused.
• Be patient: Dogs need time to make the connection between the click and the reward.

With practice, the clicker helps your dog learn quickly and clearly, making training sessions fun and effective!

12/09/2024

FALSE!

Yanking on your dog's leash can be harmful and counterproductive. Instead of teaching your dog to walk politely, it can create frustration, fear, and even physical injury. Positive reinforcement methods, like rewarding calm walking, and using proper training tools (such as a front-clip harness) are far more effective in encouraging good leash manners.

12/06/2024

One of the most valuable things you can teach your dog is how to stay calm and composed in different situations. Whether it’s during walks, when guests arrive, or while relaxing at home, reinforcing calm behaviors is key to a well-behaved dog.
Why Calmness Matters:
Calm behavior helps your dog manage excitement and anxiety, making them more relaxed and easier to handle in everyday situations. It also strengthens your bond by creating a more peaceful and enjoyable environment.
How to Reinforce Calm Behaviors:
• Reward Quiet Moments: Whenever your dog is calmly sitting or lying down, reward them with treats or praise. This teaches them that relaxation leads to positive outcomes.
• Use a Calm Command: Consistently use a word or phrase like “settle” or “relax” to signal calmness and reward them when they follow through.
• Create Calm Environments: Practice calm behaviors in low-distraction areas before gradually moving to more challenging situations.
Remember, calmness can be taught just like any other behavior. Be patient, reward consistency, and soon your dog will learn how to stay cool and collected in any situation!

12/04/2024

Today is Moo’s Birthday! Today this goofy guy turns 3! He has brought us so many laughs and brought some fun and life back to his big brother Charlie! Moo is Charlie’s safe space, he knows things will be okay when Moo’s around! Moo is so smart and loves to have fun! We love you so much little Moo cow!!

12/02/2024

When it comes to training your dog, consistency is one of the most powerful tools you can use. Whether you're teaching your dog basic commands or addressing behavioral issues, a consistent approach helps your furry friend understand what's expected of them, making training more effective and enjoyable for both of you.

Why Consistency Matters:
1. Clear Expectations: Dogs learn through repetition and association. When you consistently reward the behavior you want to encourage, your dog quickly learns which actions earn rewards. If the rules change from one day to the next, it can confuse your dog and make it harder for them to learn.
2. Building Trust: Consistency in your reactions helps build trust between you and your dog. When they know what to expect, they feel more secure in their environment and are more likely to engage in training.
3. Reinforcing Positive Behavior: With positive reinforcement, you reward desirable behaviors with treats, praise, or play. The more consistent you are in delivering the reward immediately after the behavior, the stronger the connection your dog makes between the behavior and the reward. This makes the behavior more likely to occur again.
4. Avoiding Mixed Signals: Inconsistent training can send mixed signals. For example, if your dog receives a treat for sitting one day but not the next, they might become confused about whether sitting is a behavior that earns a reward. Consistency ensures that your dog clearly understands what’s being reinforced.
5. Encouraging Long-Term Results: Consistency over time creates lasting habits. The more often you reinforce good behavior, the more ingrained it becomes in your dog’s routine, leading to better long-term results.

Tips for Maintaining Consistency:
• Set Clear Goals: Know what behavior you’re working on and be specific about what you want to reinforce. For example, decide whether you’re rewarding your dog for staying in a sit position for 10 seconds or simply for sitting at all.
• Involve the Whole Family: If you live with others, make sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to training. Consistency is key, and everyone should use the same commands and rewards.
• Be Patient and Persistent: Learning takes time, and your dog may not always get it right immediately. Be patient and keep rewarding the desired behavior consistently to encourage progress.

11/29/2024

Let’s talk about a common dog training myth that goes around and take the moment to talk about the truth!

Myth:
“Dogs should not need rewards to train, they should just want to do it because they want to please me.”

Though dogs very much enjoy pleasing us sometimes, they are more apt to learn because it gets them something they want. Dogs are sentient beings with their own wants and needs. Just like we do things that work to get us what we want, dogs are the same. For instance, I go to work not to please my boss, but to earn a paycheck. My paycheck motivates me to not only show up to work but to put in the effort required to do my job.

So, remember when training your dog if your dog isn’t motivated to train, then let’s take a look at the reward (or the paycheck) that you are using. Your dog will train if they are motivated enough!

Need some help? Contact me! Let’s find what motivates your dog.

11/27/2024

Even if you do not believe in the Thanksgiving holiday and what it stands for. I still like to look back and realize what I am thankful for!

Here is my list:

• My fiancé: He has stood by me and supported me through everything I wanted to do. Quit my corporate job and start in the dog training world? He said go for it! Now wanting to start my own business he said, “what are you waiting for?” No words can express how much I love him.
• My family: My family’s support and love will always be something I am grateful for.
• My dogs: Recently I lost one of my pups and it was the hardest thing I had to go through. My dogs will always be something so incredibly important to me, they are family! Over the years of owning dogs, they have taught me so much. I always said “Bentley (my first dog and the one I recently lost) taught me how to love a dog, Charlie (my adopted) taught me how to train with love and compassion as we work through his fears, and Moo (our youngest and craziest) has taught me how to be patient and adapt my training when things go wrong.”
• My work and my coworkers: Outside of training dogs on my own I work for an amazing company, The Dog Spot. The work we get to do there is so rewarding and getting to work with people who have the same philosophy for both dogs and people is something I will never take for granted.

What are you thankful for? Post in the comments below!

11/25/2024

Do you see all these people successfully train their dogs with positive reinforcement but for some reason your dog is just not getting the hang of it? Don’t fret! This is not the time to give up on using Positive Reinforcement. This is the time to reevaluate and see if some adjustments on your end, as the handler, could give you the solution you’re looking for. Here are some of the top reasons that Positive Reinforcement goes awry:

• Timing Of Your Reward: If your timing is off of when you mark and reward a behavior you could be rewarding the incorrect behavior. Timing is very important when it comes to Positive Reinforcement.
***The example that immediately comes to mind for this one is when we potty train our puppies. We tend to reward as the dog comes inside from going potty, but this would be incorrect timing. We did not reward them for going potty outside, but instead we rewarded them for walking back in the house. The reward should occur no more than a couple of seconds after the dog goes potty to be rewarded correctly in this scenario!

• Insufficient Reinforcement is Being Used: You must reward with what your dog finds motivating. Our dogs are sentient beings with their own sets of likes and dislikes and they are not robots working on just the idea of pleasing us humans. Your dog isn’t working for kibble? Try some dog treats or a tiny bit of cheese!
***The example I think about here is when people bring their dogs favorite treat to dog training classes and the dog won’t eat it. They look at me and say, “I don’t understand, my dog loves this treat at home.” To which I respond, “Your dog is not home, your dog is in a new and potentially overwhelming environment. What may have worked at your quiet and comfortable house, may not be the same level of motivation in a more distracting environment.”

• The Environment is Too Distracting: There are tons of outside motivating factors that we must compete against. Like the squirrel running from tree to tree, the other dog playing fetch with its owners, or a really good smell that they just can’t say no to sniffing. If the environment you are using is too distracting, try going somewhere less distracting for them to start. Plan to build to those bigger distractions only when your dog is ready!
***My example for this one is recall. I have several people saying their dogs recall is top notch in their backyard, but at the park it’s like they do not even exist. They did not work their way up to this distracting environment and the dog was not ready. The backyard is quiet and has far less distractions in it, whereas the park is filled with other animals, smells, and people. Try a quiet parking lot or even a park with far less distractions and see if that makes a difference. Once they are ready start progressing towards that distracting environment.

• Your Inconsistent in Your Training: Remember! A Behavior that is rewarded is repeated. This can go for those self-rewarding behaviors as well, such as jumping up. Make sure you remain consistent on what you are okay with and not okay with. And that everyone in the house practices the same. This will help avoid confusion for your dog!
***If mom is teaching the dog not to jump on her buy ignoring the jumping up behavior and rewarding all feet on the ground, but the dad comes in greets the dog with an enormous explosion of excitement which causes the dog to jump all over him. This is not keeping the training consistent and causes confusion for the dog. Everyone needs to be on the same page!

• Your Expectations Are Set Too High: If the task or behavior is too complex, this can lead to frustration for both you and your dog. Your dog may not understand what you are asking them to do, make sure you are breaking the steps of your training down to appropriately sized chunks for your dog to be able to understand.
***When teaching settle on the mat your end goal would be for the the dog to walk over to the mat, lay down, and settle, but that should not be your first step. You would want to break down this complex behavior into something more manageable for the dog to ascertain. Your first step could be getting them to look at the mat or walk towards the mat. If you needed to go for an even easier first step it could be an ear twitch or eye glance in the direction of the mat and then you would progress step by step to the end goal of settling on the mat! It is all about adjusting the training based on how your dog (and you) are doing!

11/22/2024

Why is it important to provide both mental and physical stimulation?

Physical exercise is so important for our dogs. Our dogs need opportunities to get their energy out, this helps prevent behavioral issues caused by boredom. It also prevents obesity and health conditions in dogs! The amount of activity needed will depend on the breed, size, age, and energy level of your dog.

Some dogs love to go for walks or runs while others may prefer swimming in a lake or ocean! Find something your dog loves to do and go enjoy the outside world with them. It is important to keep physical activity in your dog’s routine. But remember it is important to moderate it as well, dogs with too much physical activity can become exhausted or may not be able to calm down since they are so used to always being on the go!

Mental stimulation is a great addition to physical exercise, or even an alternative on days you can’t get your dog out and moving. Mental exercise can be just as tiring for a dog as physical exercise (if not more!) and can be a great way to help a dog get some energy out in a different way. Mental stimulation should be just as prevalent in a dog’s schedule. It is also a way to give an outlet to natural dog behaviors that may be unwanted to humans, like adding a digging pit in the backyard to prevent digging in the rest of the yard.

Picking mental stimulation will be dependent on what your dog likes to do! Does your dog like shredding things? Allow them to shred some cabbage or a cardboard box. Does your dog like to sniff? Sign them up for a nosework class or take them on Sniffaris! Ways to add in mental stimulation are endless.

If you want some additional ideas check out my previous post or reach out so we can build an enriching schedule for your dog. You’ll be amazed at what An enriched and balanced schedule can do for your dog!

11/18/2024

As humans, we tend to be pretty good about giving physical exercise and stimulation opportunities for our dogs. But we tend to miss out on providing mental stimulation for our dogs. We must remember that even though dogs have been domesticated they have evolved from wild animals. Mental stimulation provides them outlets to prevent boredom, prevent them from doing unwanted behaviors, and help keep their mind sharp.

Here are some ways to provide some mental stimulation in your dog’s daily routine:
• Interactive toys or slow feeders: snufflemats, Kongs, or puzzle toys.
• Training: Teaching basic manners or teaching a trick is a great way to get your dog’s mind thinking.
• Sniffaris: Walks specifically for your dogs to sniff and follow their nose. Dogs use their noise to collect data from their environment and is a great way to get them mental stimulation.
• Classes: Try agility, parkour, or nosework!
• DIY enrichment: hiding treats in rolled up towels or letting them shred cardboard (if they won’t eat it). There are plenty of Facebook groups that have excellent ideas like: Canine Enrichment Ideas!

Have you added mental stimulation into your dog's day already? List some ideas below to give additional ideas!

11/15/2024

Need some ideas of different things you should try and socialize your puppy to? You’re in luck I have created a list just for that!

Remember when working on this list to take things slow and to work on one item at a time. Trying to cram too much in at a time can be overwhelming for your puppy. You will not get through this list in the amount of time you have, and you should not try to, this is just a list of ideas. Work on the stuff that is going to be the most important and relevant for your puppy to be comfortable around.

Are you running into problems? Feel free to reach out and we can work on socializing together!

Sit Happens Dog Training

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