Fur The Heart Dog Training

11/11/2024

Today, we pay tribute to the courageous men and women who have selflessly served and sacrificed for our nation. Let us take a moment to acknowledge the fortitude and resilience of our heroes and their families. To all veterans, active-duty personnel, and military families: we extend our sincerest appreciation for your valor, devotion, and service. Your sacrifices are deeply appreciated, and we remain eternally grateful.

Happy Veterans Day from everyone at Fur The Heart Dog Training! 🇺🇸

10/18/2024

🎃 Halloween is Right around the corner!
Here are some tips to keep your pup safe:

•The candy bowl is for trick-or-treaters, not Scruffy or Fluffy. Several popular Halloween treats are toxic to pets. Chocolate in all forms—especially dark or baking chocolate—can be very dangerous for cats and dogs, and sugar-free candies containing the sugar substitute xylitol can cause serious problems in pets.

•While a carved jack-o-lantern certainly is festive, pets can easily knock over a lit pumpkin and start a fire. Curious kittens are especially at risk of getting burned or singed by candle flame. Popular Halloween plants such as pumpkins and decorative corn are considered relatively nontoxic, but can produce stomach discomfort in pets who nibble on them.

•For some pets, wearing a costume may cause undue stress. The ASPCA recommends that you don’t put your dog or cat in a costume unless you know he or she loves it. If you do dress up your pet for Halloween, make sure the costume does not limit his or her movement, sight or ability to breathe, bark or meow. Check the costume carefully for small, dangling or easily chewed-off pieces that could present a choking hazard. Ill-fitting outfits can get twisted on external objects or your pet, leading to injury.

•Halloween brings a flurry of activity with visitors arriving at the door, and too many strangers can often be scary and stressful for pets. All but the most social dogs and cats should be kept in a separate room away from the front door during peak trick-or-treating hours. While opening the door for guests, be sure that your dog or cat doesn’t dart outside. And always make sure your pet it wearing proper identification—if for any reason he or she does escape, a collar with ID tags and/or a microchip can be a lifesaver for a lost pet.

Photography Credit: .a.southphotography photos of .of.gillis

10/13/2024

Did you know?
The iconic “Poodle Cut” also called a continental clip, was originally put in place to help assist the breeds natural swimming abilities as the pom poms were thought to increase buoyancy.

10/13/2024

In his training program, Gullveig, a service dog, is advancing his public access skills, prioritizing endurance and task proficiency across multiple short outings.

10/09/2024

We know owners like to share human food with their dogs, but did you know there is a hidden danger lurking around? Xylitol a common sweetener is found in many products, including gum, candy, and some peanut butters.
Even though xylitol is safe for humans, it is extremely toxic to dogs. Even small amounts of xylitol can cause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), seizures, liver failure, or even death in dogs so always check labels before giving anything to your dog!
If you suspect that your dog has eaten a xylitol-containing product, please contact your veterinarian or Pet Poison Helpline, a 24/7 animal poison control center, at 1-800-213-6680 immediately.

10/09/2024

Counter-conditioning means changing the way the dog feels about the Scary Thing, so that it becomes at the very least a Neutral Thing, and preferably even a Good Thing. This training tactic is often best used in combination with desensitization and the combination is usually abbreviated DS/CC for short.
Jean Donaldson's open bar/closed bar technique is a great way to do counter-conditioning. What it means is that when the scary thing appears (e.g. the other dog, or the sounds, etc...) the bar is open: treats will keep on flowing. Yay! It's like a party! Then when the scary thing stops (e.g. the other dog goes away, the sound stops, etc.) the bar is closed and the flow of treats stops. Now, nothing happens - the party is over.
Using the open bar/closed bar technique Major, and Apollo built up their confidence around the Halloween decorations and animatronics. From the beginning of the lesson, owners Sam and Emily were amazed by their dog's self-assurance. Major (Bully mix) and Apollo (Belgian Malinois) demonstrated a confident acceptance of unexpected noises and actions. They ended the training session with a down-stay review.

10/05/2024

10/03/2024

Sam and Major have been diligently working together on refining his skills, specifically focusing on shaping his auto-sit, ignoring sudden distractions and developing greater confidence in public settings as a team.
Major is a highly intelligent dog, and we have found that he learns best through playing small training games throughout his lessons.
Sam, Majors owner, has also been continuing his education by researching the various types of bringsel’s and how they can be used by working dogs. Most commonly bringsel’s are used by service dogs to visibly alert their owner to an impending medical episode such as a change in blood sugar, heart rate, debilitating migraine attack or seizures.

09/14/2024

Let’s Welcome Sam and Major!
Major is a very happy and handsome rescued Pit-bull who is training to become a multipurpose service dog for his owner. Majors owner, Sam has previously worked on training and has done an excellent job, but he is looking to expand his abilities and knowledge with the help of Fur The Heart!

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09/12/2024

Did You Know,
Dogs can be trained to detect cancer, and other diseases in humans. Cancerous cells release different metabolic waste products than healthy cells in the human body. Dogs may even be able to sniff out cancer cells simply through smelling someone’s breath

Follow us for more Dog Facts to celebrate learning all September long!

09/11/2024

Within hours after the attacks of Sept. 11, thousands of rescue workers from across America deployed to ground zero to help in the search and rescue efforts. Joining the endeavor were dogs specially trained in search and rescue, police work, therapy and comfort. It is estimated that more than 300 dogs took part in the search, rescue and recovery efforts at ground zero.
Search and rescue dogs (SAR) certified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) specialize in disaster response skills. Trained to search and detect living human scent, their mission was to find survivors buried in the rubble. The last living person rescued from ground zero 27 hours after the collapse was found by one of these search and rescue dogs.
As the days went on, rescue and recovery workers soon realized the chance of finding survivors was slim. With rescue operations pivoted to a recovery mission, and cadaver dogs, trained to find human remains, were brought onto the scene.
Working alongside their handlers, the four-legged heroes worked tirelessly climbing huge piles of debris while fires still smoldered. The search for signs of life or human remains was mentally and physically taxing on the dogs, as the SAR dogs began to get discouraged and lose their search drive. Aware of the importance of morale in these dogs and to keep their motivation high, their handlers would stage a “mock find” so the dogs could feel successful.
Veterinarians were stationed at the site to help care for these dogs. Working 12-hour shifts on the pile, the dogs needed to have their paw pads, eyes and noses cleaned often.
In addition to search and rescue dogs at ground zero, therapy dogs provided comfort to the firemen and rescue workers who continued to work countless of hours on the pile. They represented a respite from the surrounding destruction and debris, even if it was only for a minute.

09/04/2024

Just like us, a service dog may get startled by a sudden loud sound, and that is okay. Service dogs are not robots, and we shouldn’t expect them to act perfect all the time. Instead we should expect our dogs to be able to quickly settle, while remaining under our control.

So how do we teach this?
 The first and most important step begins with you, the owner! Take the time to learn about your dogs, body language, and stress signals. Learning this will help you identify what your dog is trying to communicate with you. Many dogs may show very subtle signs when they are stressed, anxious, fearful, or frustrated and unfortunately many owners miss these early warnings simply due to lack of awareness. It is important to recognize these feelings before they spiral into an unfavorable behavior or reaction.
As a responsible dog owner, you should also make sure that you are socializing and desensitizing your dog to various sounds, animals, people, places, and things in a safe manner from an early age. Desensitization training, is a behavioral modification technique that gradually exposes a dog to a trigger in order to reduce, or eliminate that response. The goal is to teach the dog that the trigger is not something to be feared, but rather something unimportant or ordinary. For example, if your dog is scared of a vacuum cleaner, you can first try encouraging them to be in the same room as the vacuum while it is off. Don’t force them, but let your dog choose when they want to interact with the vacuum. You will then reward your dog when they offer any kind of interaction or curiosity towards the vacuum (sniffing, touching, or being in close proximity). After a while, your dog will be confident around your vacuum cleaner while it is still off, but what about when it is turned on? For desensitizing your dog to a sound we recommend using YouTube, or a recording of the triggers sound to help your dog adjust to the noise. For many dogs, it’s the sudden loud sound that is more startling than the visual appearance of a trigger itself. Using the recording, you will play the sound of the trigger (or in this example a vacuum cleaner) at a very low volume that is comfortable for your dog. While the recording is playing give your dog rewards randomly, or play the sound while your dog eats their dinner. Over time you can slowly increase the volume until it is about the same level as your trigger, or vacuum in real life. By using this technique you’re helping your dog build confidence, and create a positive association with the sound of the trigger. The key to this technique is going slow, at your dogs own pace, while providing consistency, and positive reinforcement. Never punish your dog for being afraid, or force them to interact with their trigger. Forcing your dog to interact with their trigger too soon may actually increase your dog’s fear and anxiety.

[ Gullveig, a German Shepherd service dog in training showed his owner that he was feeling a little uncomfortable with the noises inside of this new environment (a gymnasium) by holding his ears in a slightly backwards position. Tasha, his owner quickly recognized, and provided reassurance along with positive reinforcement (in this case delicious high valued treats and praise!) For Gullveig, this was all he needed to feel more confident and they both were able to enjoy the orientation with no issues! For Tasha, she was able to identify a trigger for her dog and is now able to practice with him on that trigger specifically ]

09/04/2024

We hope everyone had a smooth and successful transition back to school!
To celebrate to learning; We will be sharing a new fact about dogs each week until October.

Did you know?
German Shepherd Dogs Are Excellent Herders!
A member of the herding group; German shepherds were initially bred to tend to large flocks of sheep by acting as a “moving fence”. German shepherds will run along an invisible line and instinctively know how to keep the flock in a defined area away from danger.

07/04/2024

Happy Independence Day!

During July 4 activities:
•Consider putting your pets in a safe, escape-proof room or crate during parties and keep them inside if you or your neighbors are setting off fireworks.
• If you’re hosting guests, ask them to help keep an eye on your pets to make sure they don’t escape. Placing notes on exit doors and gates can help both you and your guests remain vigilant.
• Keep sparklers, glow sticks, fireworks, charcoal and kabob skewers away from curious pets, and don’t let them get near your barbecue grill while it is in use or still hot.
• Too much sun, heat and humidity can be dangerous to pets. Keep them inside; make sure they have access to shady spots and plenty of water when outdoors; don’t leave them outside for extended periods in hot weather; and know the signs that a pet may be overheating.
• If you’re travelling out of town, consider leaving them at home with a pet sitter or boarding them in a kennel. If you need to bring them with you, be sure you know how to keep them safe.

After the celebration:
• Check your yard for fireworks debris before allowing pets outside to play or relax. Even if you didn’t set off fireworks yourself, debris can make its way into your yard, where curious animals may pick it up to play with or eat.
• If you hosted guests, check both your yard and home for food scraps or other debris that might be dangerous to pets, such as food skewers.

06/27/2024

Did you know that you should be protecting your dogs paws all year round, Especially in the summer?

The Air outside might only feel warm but the asphalt will be hotter than the air and can cause serious burns! An egg can fry in 5 minutes at 131°F and at 125°F skin destruction can occur within 60 seconds! 
“If it is too hot for you to walk barefoot, don’t make your dog walk on it!”

📍To prevent pad burns, follow these tips:

•Walk your dog on dirt or grass paths
•Walk your dog in the early morning or evening before temperatures climb
•Avoid black asphalt, which can burn the pads instantly
•Plan trips ahead and be responsible so you don’t take your dog on hotter days.
•Try shoes or booties for your dog, They come in many different sizes and colors! We HIGHLY RECOMMEND them!

06/22/2024

Did you know it’s easy as 1, 2, 3 to set up a consultation and initial evaluation of your dog?..

1.) Contact us
2.) Schedule your appointment
3.) Show up!

Today Timber had an initial evaluation including a temperament test to determine if she would be a good service dog prospect for her owner. She did extremely well and has now started her training journey. We can’t wait to watch this loving pup prosper!

05/17/2024

Dog Training Is Not Linear.
When we talk about progress in training, it is very rarely, if ever, strictly linear. This is especially true when we talk about behavior modification. There will always be forward and backwards steps in the process. Some days will look incredibly promising while others will be less encouraging. Most people, when they start out training, expect the motion to always be advancing and always be forward moving but learning (in general, not just with canines) is a process of forward and backwards movement. There are successes and failures and that’s part of learning–there are days where, for whatever reason, new skills are easier to do than on other days. I think of it like a child learning to ride a bike. There are lots of failures at the beginning but the more they practice, the more their movements start to propel the bike forwards. You’ll encourage them to get back up when they fall, and not give up. Then, one magical day they start to ride the bike on their own. Just because they did it perfectly once does not mean that from that point on they will ALWAYS ride a bike perfectly without falling. It’s more likely that after that one perfect ride comes a bunch of less than perfect bike rides. As they keep practicing, they will have more good rides and fewer falls.

03/30/2024

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