The Kind Canine

10/29/2024

Does your pup get anxious around or react strongly to other dogs or people? Our small group reactivity support class can help! ⭐️

We understand how stressful it can be when your dog has difficulty socializing with other dogs and/or humans. That’s why we’re excited to continue offering our group reactivity class to current and previous training clients, designed specifically for dogs (and their humans!) who need a little extra help building confidence and skills around their triggers.

In this class, our goal is to help your dog feel more comfortable, relaxed and safe around other dogs and people. Our trainers will provide personalized guidance and support, and you’ll have the opportunity to connect with other dog owners who are going through the same experience.

Our November classes are Saturday, November 9th and 23rd at 9am. If you’re interested in signing up, send us a DM! ✉️

These will be our last reactivity support classes until the new year - we’d love to see you and your pup!

10/24/2024

If you’re local and your dog finds nail trims to be spooooooky 👻, you should check out this awesome opportunity!

Is nail trim time with your dog a NIGHTMARE?
Does your dog HATE getting their nails trimmed?

The photo in this ad isn’t meant to be a joke, in fact, it’s quite common for dogs to have a negative association with the nail clippers themselves.

But nail trims don’t have to be a nightmare! They don’t have to elicit fear or anxiety, in dogs or humans!

This workshop is designed to empower you with the knowledge to complete a positive nail trim with your dog at home! We will teach you positive reinforcement training techniques that can help change your dog’s emotional response to having their nails done. We’ll discuss techniques like desensitization and counterconditioning that can help your dog feel more comfortable with having their nails trimmed. We will even discuss alternative options for pups who are terrified of the nail clippers, including a dremel or scratchboard.

We only have 7 spots left, so register now to join us THIS SATURDAY for an educational workshop that will benefit you and your canine friend! Registrants will receive a small tasty treat and a complimentary organic, homemade dog treat bag to take home.

Where: Downtown Bend Library, Hutchinson Room (BEND, OR)
When: October 26, 2024 at 12pm
Tickets: $10
To Register: Email [email protected]

10/22/2024

If you have a dog that is extremely stressed by unfamiliar people or children coming to the door (“why are they dressed so weirdly??” 😳), be proactive in mitigating their stress this Halloween.

Take a page from one of my clients, who set this up outside of her house last year so that the kids could come and get some snacks without her fearful dog panicking every three seconds.

I really love the messaging she chose. She gave clear instructions to the kids (direct and to the point!) and also emphasized the importance of extending kindness and compassion towards animals. Seriously, how perfect is that? ❤️

Halloween is once a year, folks - we can make small accommodations for our dogs to make it through safely and comfortably!

What kinds of things are you doing to help your dogs cope with or avoid the added stress of trick or treaters? 👀

Things we will be doing:

⭐️ creating a similar setup as my client

⭐️ appropriate physical exercise and mental stimulation during the day to help them more easily relax later

⭐️ stuffing/freezing a couple of kongs in advance for their dinner

⭐️ having marrow bones/chews on hand

⭐️ having the TV on (horror flicks duh) and a layer of white noise underneath (thank you air purifier)

⭐️ preparing a counterconditioning procedure (high value treats at the ready and nearby) for if the doorbell DOES ring, despite our best efforts

10/15/2024

A “beginner’s mind” is a Buddhist principle that can be defined loosely as letting go of our expectations and preconceived ideas about something, and seeing things with an open mind - with fresh eyes, just like a beginner.

Take a rose, for example. 🌹

Think about that VERY brief moment before your brain says “rose” and throws it into a category, discarding it as “just a rose”. Think about the colors, the swirl of the petals, the texture of each one between your fingers - isn’t it amazing? Aren’t you fascinated by it? It’s as if you’ve seen it for the very first time, and it makes you curious and full of child-like wonder.

We can ALL benefit from intentionally cultivating a beginner’s mind with our dogs, especially with regards to their behavior. For example, instead of seeing a dog who isn’t responding to what you’ve asked of them and immediately labeling it as “stubborn” or “a bad dog”, I propose that we take a moment to step back from those emotionally charged judgments and re-evaluate. When we use a label like that, we are immediately ceasing the thought process. We are labeling them as “stubborn”, moving on with our lives and never giving it a second thought.

I understand why people do it. It’s the easier way out, but it doesn’t get you any closer to solutions and actively drives you away from a deeper relationship with your animal.

Your dog’s behavior doesn’t need a label. They need a “beginner’s mind” - a mind that’s going to be and stay curious, to try to get a deeper understanding of what’s going on. Follow that wonder and see where it takes you! If you get more curious about your dog’s behavior instead of slapping an oversimplified label on it, you can actually learn a lot about them and their behavior as well as possible solutions for the things that you are struggling with. Approaching behavior in this way helps you not only learn more about training strategies, but it also allows you to more deeply connect with them - and helps them to feel seen.

When we are curious, we strive to learn more. When we use an “expert mind”, we limit ourselves to labels and miss out on something so much more grand.

10/03/2024

We love Kora! 😍

Let’s find her forever family! ♥️

Meet Kora! This delightful girl embodies the essence of sweetness. At just over 4 years old and weighing 50 pounds, Kora has a heart as big as her playful spirit. Despite a challenging start in life, Kora is now poised to bring boundless joy to your home. Now, Kora revels in life’s simple pleasures: strolls through the neighborhood, romps at the dog park, and cozy moments with her foster pals. Patient and affectionate, Kora is a social butterfly among her canine companions. With an affinity for the great outdoors, Kora dreams of a family with older children or a devoted best friend with a yard where she can bask in the sun and explore to her heart’s content. House-trained and a lover of long naps, Kora is a model housemate. She walks gracefully on leash, never pulling, and her recall skills are top-notch. Off leash, she’s a shining star. Kora is currently being fostered in Bend, OR, and is excited to start the next chapter of her heartwarming journey with you!

09/24/2024

“I am asking for too much of my dog, and myself” That’s what I was starting to realize when my training sessions would end with my dog not knowing what I was asking from them- or they would wander away from where we were working- or I found myself getting frustrated.

“I guess I need to end sooner” was my first big realization. I was trying to work in too big of chunks. I expected to train with my dog for 10, 15, even 20 minutes at a time. What I realized is that when I’m teaching my dog something new, 2-3 minutes at a time was all we could handle reliably. Once she had a skill mostly learned, maybe I could extend that to 15 minutes of practice, but even then I was splitting that up into 3 sets with ample time for breaks in between. No more opting out of training from my dog. Great!

“She’s just not getting it” This was my next challenge. After the umpteenth time of us staring at each other with blank looks on our faces, I had to become a better communicator. I thought about how I could break the final version of the skill I was teaching into small, manageable parts. I repeated each small part several times before moving on, even when I felt like she had it down. And again, I took breaks after she made each connection to reward good effort with a bit of fun!

“Now how can we speed this up?” Once I started about thinking of our training sessions in “loops”, that’s when things really got fun. In my mind, I would think about drawing a circle of our training task, with the circle following the route of the skill that we were learning. The circle would end right at the beginning, and then we could do another repetition right away!

For example, when teaching a sit moving into a stand, I’d have her sit. Then I’d lure her into a stand and then, instead of rewarding from the standing position, I’d have her sit again and reinforce there. Voila! Nice short, training loop.

What is the next small, manageable piece to add your training relationship with your dog? Drop a comment and let me know!

09/10/2024

If your dog takes food anywhere in any circumstance, you might want to consider whether taking food is an appropriate barometer for threshold for your dog.
Trainers will often use the eating behavior to gauge whether a dog is “under threshold” and able to learn. If the dog is eating, they must feel okay, right?

Well, this isn’t always the case.

I’ve always loved that my dog, Nia, loses interest in even the “highest value” of food as soon as she starts to feel uncomfortable. Eating is a fragile behavior for Nia. For her, it is a fairly accurate barometer for whether she is in her “thinking brain” - it is one of our most reliable indicators of whether we will be able to work under this particular set of conditions.

However, for a “typical black lab type” who LOVES food and will take it in any and all circumstances (and let’s say, for the sake of this example, that this dog is also wary of unfamiliar people), he will eat until he is right up next to the person. In most cases, the lab is still very uncomfortable - maybe taking the food hard and then going to lunge at the person, seemingly “out of nowhere”. Sure, this dog was still eating moments ago - but has he been truly comfortable and under threshold? Definitely not. He’s clearly still very concerned about the person and worrying about his own safety.

I often ask my clients to take a “multi-faceted” observational approach to their dog and whether they are in a state for productive and helpful learning.

1️⃣ Do they respond to they’re well-conditioned marker word in this context?

2️⃣ Do they respond to requests for known (and well practiced) behaviors?

3️⃣ Are they taking food in a reasonably calm and relaxed way or are they “sharking it” out of your hand?

4️⃣ Are they offering sustained, easy engagement with you or are they going right back to scanning for triggers after taking food?

5️⃣ Can they engage in social play with you? Do they seek connection and interaction with you?

There are many other ways to assess threshold - these are just a few. But whether or not your dog is eating is almost never the full picture!

09/08/2024

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 wise words from Susan Garrett's DogsThat!

The number one reason dogs get into trouble has to do with our expectations as owners compared to the level of education our dog has.

09/03/2024

Worried about your dog becoming “treat dependent”? Let’s talk about it.

Here’s why you might not need to stress too much about using food rewards, especially when you’re in the first several months of working more “formally” with your dog:

1️⃣ Leveraging the power of biology/domestication: Using food in training with dogs caters to their natural instincts related to the process of domestication. As descendants of wolves, dogs have a strong instinct to search for and consume food. By incorporating food rewards during training, we are leveraging this inherent drive - making the learning process more engaging and enjoyable for dogs. This fosters a positive relationship, mimicking the mutual benefits that may have contributed to their domestication thousands of years ago.

2️⃣ Long term goals: The short term goal of using treats/food rewards is to reinforce and BUILD desired behavior, build positive associations and develop complexity/generalization of skills. The long term goal of training is to gradually fade out treats and use them more intermittently. Once the dog has learned the desired behavior and is fluent under many conditions, you can play with other forms of reinforcement. Thinking about what your dog WANTS (which can also include things like getting space from other people, access to outside, going for a walk, etc.) and using those things strategically can help you move to more natural rewards in order to maintain skills. This is done over a process of teaching individual skills in the LONG term - not over the course of a handful of training sessions!

3️⃣ Food as a bonding tool: How do humans connect with one another? We go out for a meal, share popcorn at a movie, cook for one another - food can be a POWERFUL bonding tool. Additionally, sharing a meal with someone can increase oxytocin levels - enhancing feelings of closeness/trust. Both dogs AND humans both experience oxytocin release when they experience positive feelings or interact with another being in a positive way. Using food more thoughtfully in our training and interactions with our dogs can have a profoundly positive impact on our relationship.

08/27/2024

Chester is currently being treated for pain concerns via PT exercises, laser therapy and pain medication. He has a disc issue in his spine and signs of early arthritis in his front right paw, which had a digit amputated when he was around a year old.

I got him evaluated by a physio/rehab therapist a couple of months ago because I noticed subtle shifts in his behavior like:

🚩 less stamina on off leash outings with dog friends
🚩 investigating environment MUCH less on walks (in favor of walking closely next to me)
🚩 increased sound sensitivity
🚩 less interest in play with other dogs, but especially with Nia
🚩 handling sensitivity, especially around being picked up (which is unusual for him)
🚩 small changes in his gait, especially at a trot - smaller strides with hind legs

If you’re trying to work through some of your dog’s behavior concerns (yes, even when you’re opting for positive reinforcement) and there is suspicion for pain contributing to that overall picture (again, it may look different than you’d expect!), it is our responsibility as their guardian to help provide relief before jumping into any specific training goals.

With a combination of pain medication, laser therapy and PT, we have seen huge changes in his behavior (with ZERO training outside of his fitness work):

💚 decreased sound sensitivity
💚 more interest in greeting unfamiliar people
💚 daily play with Nia (sometimes multiple times daily!!)
💚 increased stamina on off leash walks
💚 more joy in the things he loves doing
💚 increased confidence and general optimism
💚 greater energy - always ready to go!
💚 more relaxed in the car

Put simply, If you don’t FEEL functional, you likely won’t BE functional.

All training/behavior modification should take a backseat to resolving pain concerns, and we need to get better at noticing and addressing pain before more obvious symptoms end up showing up.

Your dog deserves to feel good and have relief from pain - first and foremost.

08/20/2024

Meet a few of our helper dogs (from top left, moving clockwise): Kaeda, Max, Beau and Chester!

Working with known dogs who have flexible, balanced temperaments can be the missing piece for many dogs who are working through some big feelings about other dogs. Helper dogs can be valuable assistants for things like:

1️⃣ Leash reactivity concerns: The helper dog can be found relaxing on leash with the other handler, being given specific instructions around how, when and where to move when needed - giving a unique opportunity to work through various situations at appropriate distances/intensity levels. This is a safer setup for training than working with unfamiliar dogs in public, particularly when working in closer proximity.

2️⃣ Developing play skills: Helper dogs will invite play in a socially appropriate way - and if the client dog isn’t receptive, they will often invite them to do something less intrusive (like sniff around the environment together). If the client dog is not yet skilled with reading other dogs during play, the helper dog gives smaller signals to diffuse tension rather than correcting harshly. This gives us an opportunity to redirect and teach the client dog how to more effectively read other dogs and respond appropriately, mitigating risk for escalation.

3️⃣ Social facilitation: Underconfident dogs can benefit from having a confidence buddy alongside them in situations in which they may be nervous. The helper dog can help them observe a situation at a distance and determine if something is safe - or might even be potentially fun!

4️⃣ Practicing on-leash greetings with less pressure: Some dogs need their greeting process to be a little more “stretched out” in order to take the pressure off and practice appropriate greetings without escalation/heightened arousal. Helper dogs are very skilled with reading other dogs and can help build some better feelings around meeting other dogs on leash in a safe way. Sometimes, having a safe opportunity to put on-leash greetings into a predictable format like this helps with the larger “leash reactivity” picture!

Thank you to all of our helper dogs and the incredible work they do! ♥️🐾

08/06/2024

Hey everybody! 👋 Welcome to our page!

A little bit about all of us here at TKC:

The Kind Canine is a team of dog trainers and behavior professionals in Central Oregon who provide private, in-home training and coaching services with a kind, welfare-centered and reward-based approach.

If you’d like to reach out and work with us, visit our website (link in bio!) to fill out our dog training intake form or get more information on current puppy class offerings.

Group reactivity support class slots are also available up to twice per month for current or past TKC clients working through leash reactivity concerns - reach out via DM or email for more information! 💌

07/16/2024

When training with your dog, it is likely and should be expected that you will be using a LOT of food. 🍪 Having a high rate of reinforcement is important in building value in specific behaviors and helps to develop a foundation for future reliability. Additionally, for dogs who have big, fearful feelings about some stuff (dogs, people, skateboards, etc.), we often use a substantial amount of food in the process of creating more positive associations. So, how do we balance all of this increased food intake with managing weight? Here are 3 tips!

⭐️ Measure out meals: Don’t just measure based off of the food bag recommendations - chat with your vet about your dog’s ideal weight and how many calories they should be taking in each day in order to maintain that weight! Every dog is different in terms of size, age, metabolism, and activity level. The recommended amount on the food bag is often a generalized guideline and may not match your dog’s specific caloric requirements. Once you’ve determined your dog’s amount of food that they should be taking in, measure it out each day - and use a portion of your dog’s food for training.

⭐️ Choose nutritionally complete treats: Subbing out a portion of our dog’s meals for “treats” like ZIWI Pets air dried food or Vital Essentials mini nibs can give us more bang for our buck. They tend to be higher value than kibble, but also have the benefit of being easily breakable (great for smaller dogs who need less calories each day, but still need lots of good reps!). They’re also cheaper by volume than treats since they are intended to be an actual food!

⭐️ Balance appropriate exercise: Take into account their general energy level, preferred activities, behavior concerns/risk management, physical limitations, etc. With my dogs, I do some assortment of: finding remote places for off leash or long leash outings once or twice per week in addition to shorter daily walks, toy play sessions (flirt pole, tug, fetch etc.), biking, hiking, paddleboarding/swimming, fitness work, running on the treadmill or on quiet park pathways, etc. Every dog’s preferred form of exercise will be different, and it’s worth exploring what your dog enjoys!