Check out Frankie practicing "place" in the kitchen. It's a very easy skill to teach dogs to stay out of your way while preparing a meal.
Does your dog need this training?
Taking your dog to patios for coffee or a meal can be a very fun opportunity. That being said, your dog may need to build skills to be a low stress outing.
Bowie, the Boxer, enjoyed going with his teacher to lunch during his day training session. Rachel Anderson-Stroud is aways looking for fun learning opportunities for the dogs and their people.
If you'd like to prepare your dog for patio outings, please let us help make it a great success!
www.caninecountryacademy.com/contact-us-athens
Life gets busy. We like to implement easy outlets for dogs to use their natural abilities to decompress and enjoy their life.
A super easy enrichment option is scatter feeding one of their meals in your yard. Literally throw their kibble out like you are feeding chickens, lol
If you have multiple dogs and have concerns about resource guarding or fights, we recommend only having one dog at a time do this. There is no need to turn enrichment into a stressful situation.
Will you be trying this?
Is your puppy needing an outlet for their extra energy on these rainy days? This is a great opportunity to use their tail teaser toy. You can use this to have them run around, play tug, and practice known skills for a very fun reward.
Check out Barli demonstrating how fun it can be.
Dogs speak through their body language. One way they get to know another dog is through scent.
These puppies are giving each other the "doggie handshake" by doing sweeping circles smelling each other's booties. They are both agreeable to this interaction, too.
Some people might be grossed out by dogs smelling each other in this way, but it's a good thing. When dogs can happily greet off-leash in a safe environment it's a great scenario for a dog who is comfortable around other dogs.
It's important for those sharing their lives with dogs to understand dog communication with other dogs. We can easily misinterpret or put human ideas into these situations causing the dog to not feel heard.
What is something you observe about your dog's communication around other dogs?
On a decompression walk it's tempting to ask your dog for things like recall. Do your best to let your dog just dog.
This may be hard for your dog to move away from you and not seek information on what to do. You may want to create context clues and even a verbal cue like "go dog" to get into this mindset faster.
Norby had 50-feet to go do things, but initially stuck close and checked in constantly. As the walk progressed and I kept quiet the more exploring he did.
I like to reward a couple of times when he checks in and asks for a snack. But other times smile and say something kind so he loves on.
This walk is for your dog. That being said, being quiet in nature together is great for you both.
Check out Izzy having a session with Ali during her board and train focused on kitchen manners.
As you watch this sped up video you'll see Ali adjust the level of distraction based on Izzy's response. When training we are assessing how to adjust so the dog has the most success.
Notice when Izzy releases herself there isn't a big fuss. Ali simply resets her and tries again. One thing we recommend is to adjust the expectation if the dog is not successful after two attempts.
This full length video, along with many others gets uploaded into a shared drive for her family to review. That way everyone is on the same page and the owners are regularly updated.
To learn more about our board and train program: www.caninecountryacademy.com/board-and-train
3 SPOTS LEFT!!!
The year is coming to a close and we have 3 spots left for our board and train program in December. Don't delay in seeing if your puppy or young dog is a fit.
This is great for:
👍 busy families who need a weekend with the puppy away
👍 people traveling for the holidays
👍 new puppy parents who want a jump start on important skills
Our trainers stay with your dog in a home environment to help the dog feel comfortable and learn skills in a new place.
Contact us to book before it's too late!
www.caninecountryacademy.com/contact-us
Does your dog struggle with resolving noises out in the world?
A skill you can implement to help them cope is a food scatter where you "help" them find the goodies together called GO HUNT (@Suzanne Clothier taught us this).
This is something you start at home so the dog understands and enjoys the game long before a scary noise happens.
For Ty, the dog in this video, he seemed less worried playing this game at the park. Sniffing is his favorite along with tasty treats. The sniffing gives him a job to do with his caregiver and sniffing releases good endorphins that calm the brain.
Happy Friday Athens Friends! Don't forget to MAKE TRAINING FUN. 🤗
Do you have two or more dogs?
Would like them to take turns?
Can you imagine training them easily at the same time?
Rachel Stroud Anderson enjoys teaching multi-dog families how to train them to do all of the above. This way you don't have to sneak away to train one or listen to one barking or stresses when its not their turn or feeling overwhelmed because you can never get them both to do things together.
You CAN train two dogs at the same time!
Check out Bella and Bentley learning the foundation skills of hanging on a designated spot. Great work puppies!
Let us know how we can help you: www.caninecountryacademy.com/athens
These two puppies are in our board and train program. They are about 5.5 months of age and are learning so much.
Puppies are hungry for information. This is why we highly recommend teaching them as soon as they join your family.
In this training session, Bella and Bentley are learning what to do at doors. An open door is not an open invitation to the world. It's a location to pause and pay attention. Look at the doing this off leash at an exciting door at our Lawrenceville facility. Wow! 😲
If you are interested in getting training for your puppy, please let us know.
www.caninecountryacademy.com/contact-us-athens
You want your dog to hang out in one place while...
...you cook dinner.
...you open the front door.
...you watch TV.
...you work on the computer.
Dogs can learn to hang on a "place" with teaching the foundation skill of relaxing on a mat and then proofing.
Your dog may make a mistake like Hannah's board and train. You'll see Hannah doesn't fuss at the dog. She kindly reminds her we are still doing this thing and continues the training. Dogs are allowed to make mistakes. It's the trainer's job to set the learner up for success.
Does your dog dig a monthly subscription box?
Ours do!
We created a YouTube video for you to see what we got in May's KONG Club box. It had a lot of stuff both for our dogs and us!
Check out the full video here: https://youtu.be/gACZHmXyT_w
To get your dog ready for a kayak adventure, we recommend doing some training long before getting on the water. This can be short n' sweet.
Teaching your dog to be calm on a "place" is a helpful skill so they aren't being annoying while on the kayak. It's not easy for some dog to just chill. This "place" training should start in a quiet place at home. Then you can teach your dog to relax other places.
Here are some steps to get started:
1. Cut up some tasty treats into small bites. I prefer little bits of cheese or meat that won't bounce and your dog can gobble up quickly.
2. Find a cozy mat, towel, or dog bed your dog would be willing to sit or down on. This can be a different surface in the future that is water friendly.
3. Leash up your dog, even in your house, to limit their choices. This will also help them be comfortable wearing a leash on the kayak.
4. Reward your dog for any approach to the "place". I like to let the dog guess what gets them a "yes" and treat. You can toss the treat into the bed or place it there. No correction if the dog leaves the "place". Wait for them to get back on it or go towards it.
5. Slowly increase the expectation of what is rewardable:
- walking towards the place
- stepping on the place
- sitting on the place
- laying on the place
* ideally reward only a calm response verse a bouncy dog
6. Increase the time they hang on the place in future sessions.
Once your dog is seeing place like a magnet they cannot resist, you can take this training other places. You'll want to start back at earlier steps before expecting them to be magnetized right away.
Your training sessions should be kept short enough that your dog would like to do more. This will vary from dog to dog.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Our friends at Rescue Ranch are hosting a paddle event next month. Paddling for Paws on Saturday, June 25th at Hard Labor State Park in Rutledge, GA.
Happy kayak prep training!
Arousal and Aggression: What does “arousal” have to do with aggressive behaviors in dogs? In some cases, arousal can be the catalyst for an intense, aggressive response, sometimes redirected at something a dog may not even be focused on. We may also see cases where a dog in a highly aroused state spill over into aggressive behavior.
Mike will first define this sometimes-controversial topic and discuss why it is crucial to consider arousal as a factor in aggression cases. Prevention, management, and behavior change strategies will be highlighted!
If you want to learn more about this topic sign up for next Saturday's seminar with Michael Shikashio at our Lawrenceville facility. This day is geared more towards the pet dog owner.
https://caninecountryacademy.dogbizpro.com/public/registration/events.aspx?event=5408
Are you looking for an indoor activity to use your dog's mind and body?
Norby recommends getting out your Cato Outdoors board for some training with distance work.
You'll need the CATO board to have a high rate of reinforcement history to get duration and distance. In our session, we had distractions provided by two senior dogs. Norby was super excited! So we stayed about 10 feet away to send him back to the board.
You can also do long distance recalls with the board. That is how we warmed up before taking this video. I asked him to get on the board and wait. Then walked to the other side of the room, gave treats to the senior dogs, and called him over.
If your dog prefers toys you can use their favorite to play fetch or tug as the reward.
Have fun!
Do you know a dog who jumps all over guests? strangers on walks? even you?
Victoria demonstrated "puppy cha cha" in puppy class today in Lawrenceville with a very enthusiastic greeter. It was SO hard for this socialite.
If he was still and quiet she stepped forward. If not, she backed up or stopped moving. It was the dog's job to make the choice that would result in Victoria moving closer.
When working on polite greeting it's most helpful to be consistent in practicing the desired behavior.
Are you extra busy and need a way to tire your dog without much effort?
A snuffle mat can be a great outlet for your dog's active mind. You can feed them their daily meals out of the mat, use them for training (release them to snuffle their reward), or hide them with snacks somewhere in the house. It's a simple tool your dog will love!
There are all kinds of snuffle mats available. We recommend supervising snuffle time to ensure they don't destroy it while snuffling.
Here is one to consider: https://amzn.to/3dgk51j
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