Leash Logic LLC

12/06/2023

Excited to start offering agility classes in Clifton!

08/17/2023

Do you have a Canine Good Citizen? Join me on September 14, when I will be administering Canine Good Citizen and AKC Trick Dog tests!

02/07/2023

Please join me at The Ides of Bark Festival on March 26! I’ll be conducting Canine Good Citizen tests and answering questions. There will be lots of demos and fun events and shopping for you and your dog.

12/25/2022

Happy Howlidays!

06/10/2022

05/06/2022

It’s Okay—Let’s Talk About Your Reactive Dog!

I’m here to tell you it’s okay, you don’t have to feel ashamed. You don’t have to hide away with embarrassment and feel guilty because your loved one screams obscenities at strangers in public. It’s not your fault. But there are ways to cope and manage the behavior.
No, I’m not talking about your spouse, children, or in-laws. I’m talking about your dog. Your REACTIVE dog.
Many owners have dogs that bark, lunge, growl, and just generally lose their minds when they see a certain stimulus when out on a leash walk. The trigger could be another dog, an unknown person, or a strange object, whatever. Different dogs act out for different reasons; for some, it could be fear, while for others, frustrated enthusiasm.
I generally urge owners not to focus too much on the reason why. It’s too easy to start making excuses for the dog’s behavior if you fall into the trap of feeling overly sympathetic to the motivation. Whatever the reason, the way you handle the situation is largely unchanged.
Things to keep in mind
-It’s not your fault that the dog reacts. Don’t feel guilty or embarrassed.
-The #1 rule is that the dog is not allowed to look at the thing that overstimulates him.
-Have a plan and stick to it. Realize that things will not always go smoothly. Forget about what went wrong and do what you must do in the moment to get back on track. Stick with the plan.
-He is overstimulated because he has too much emotion (fear, excitement, etc.) and he doesn’t know how to deal with that emotion in a way that is acceptable to humans. You must teach him that his best response when he feels overwhelmed is to look at you.
-If he looks at you, he is rewarded. Looking at you is safe and rewarding. He must believe you have the situation under control. You must enforce this and help him be right so you can reward. You are not a meanie for enforcing this.
-Remember to keep moving. Your dog cannot be walking briskly with attention on you and lunging at another dog simultaneously. These events are physically incompatible.
-Pay attention to your dog’s body language. Dogs are pretty transparent, and they will signal their intentions very clearly. Look at this image of the black dog from my bathroom wallpaper—does he look relaxed to you? Every time I see this dog, I want to redirect his attention to me!!

03/25/2022

01/27/2022

Leash Logic has been very busy with our new puppy, Ruby, who joined us after the holidays!

While new puppies are a lot of fun, they will also keep you on your toes. The easiest way to survive this initial period with your sanity (and rugs and furniture) intact is to make use of gates , crates, and ex pens.

Whenever your puppy is not under direct supervision, she needs to be contained in a safe environment. Puppies have a lot of energy, are naturally curious, and put their mouths on everything as they explore their worlds it only takes a moment for them to get into something that could be dangerous for them!

We start by setting up the area of the house where we spend the most time. Use baby gates to close off doorways, and set up an exercise pen. The exercise pen is of great use to safely stow your puppy for a few minutes (after she’s had a trip outside to potty) while you attend to a task. We also leave lots of safe puppy chew toys scattered around this room to help the puppy make good chewing choices!

Sometimes it’s appropriate to keep your puppy with you as you go about your household chores, and for that we use the umbilical cord method. This involves clipping your puppy’s leash to your waist, so your pup must follow where you go, but your hands are free. Great for doing the dishes, laundry, changing the sheets, whatever! It’s a passive way to reinforce your pup’s idea that she’s part of the household pack and that you’re the pack leader. Plus, it keeps them out of trouble!

I’m not forgetting about crates, but that is so important that it will be it’s own post.

11/23/2021

11/23/2021

Do I Have Your Attention?

When many people decide they want to train their dog, they start listing a bunch of commands or tricks that they want to tackle. However, that list is of that little value unless you first condition the foundation of all obedience training: ATTENTION.

So what does that mean, attention? This means that in the face of external distractions and exciting environments, you are able to get your dog to focus on you.

A familiar scenario is the owner repeating, 'Sit, sit, no sit, SIT!" while desperately waving a slice of hot dog in the face of a dog that is tuned out, staring off at something in the distance. The dog may know the sit command very well, but the chances of him performing it in that scenario are almost nonexistent. He is not paying attention to the owner, and she might as well be on another planet.

When I begin working with a new client, attention is one of the first concepts I like to introduce. Even baby puppies with short attention spans can begin with short duration and a frequent reward schedule. Building that connection with your dog takes time and must be done bit by bit. But that foundational relationship will support your future training success. Having solid attention is also key to preventing and managing on-leash reactivity, which is a very common problem for pet owners!

I like this photo because these dogs were wrestling with each other and the toy, but when their owner asked for their attention, they stopped what they were doing to focus on her.

10/13/2021

Practice does make perfect, whether it be for good habits or bad!

The more often your dog performs a behavior, the more ingrained it becomes in her. This is great for things like sitting politely before being served dinner, coming when called, and walking nicely on leash.

However, if we regularly allow our dog to bark out of control at the front windows, pull on the leash, jump on people, or react when they see another dog, that will become their default behavior, and the habit will get harder to break.

The first step in breaking the chain of events is to plan ahead and create circumstances where the behavior is less likely to occur. While you and your dog build the obedience training skills and attention you need to overcome these issues, you may need to simply manage the situation in the meantime. This may mean gating off a front room where the dog likes to bark, or crossing the street instead of going face-to-face with a dog you know yours will react to.

The next installment will be about attention, and why it is the foundation of all training!

10/02/2021

Introducing your puppy to a select group of doggy playmates is only a small sliver of socialization. They should be seeing a wide variety of people, places, and things during the socialization window, which closes at 16 weeks.*

A free-for-all of letting your puppy interact with every random dog you encounter can backfire in a couple of ways— first of all, not every dog out there is a safe or appropriate playmate for your pup, and you don’t want him to have a negative experience with other dogs during this crucial period.

Another often overlooked consequence of letting your dog meet every dog it sees is that he may grow up to believe he is entitled to meet every dog he sees on the street, which may be unsafe at worst or inconvenient and annoying at best. I want my adult dogs to be calm, focused on me, and neutral when meeting other adult dogs.

*after 16 weeks old, that developmental period ends, so everything following that period is desensitization, not socialization.

09/28/2021

Setting Your Dog Up for Success

When we are training, it is imperative that we give our dog many opportunities to be correct. We want to give the dog the chance to be right as often as possible so we can tell the dog he is right and reward him for making the correct choice. These are the moments when learning happens!

Our human instinct is to “test” the dog, asking them perform the exercise in its entirety each time, maybe even unknowingly creating circumstances where it is impossible for the learning dog to succeed.

However, the dog is often more successful if we can alter or break down the exercise we are teaching into smaller or simpler pieces. This allows the dog to be told he is right (or wrong!) more frequently and with a greater degree of granularity. By increasing the amount and quality of feedback you give your dog, you can accelerate the learning process. Once your dog understands the individual pieces of an exercise, you can put them back together quickly and teach the dog the entire behavior chain.

Let’s take teaching the recall, a.k.a. the “come” command, as an example. When teaching a new command, we must set up the circumstances so the dog is guaranteed to be successful the first time we call it to come. We can do that by:

-Making the exercise really simple. Instead of calling the dog from the other side of the yard, we will call the dog from just a few feet away.
-Keeping distractions to a minimum. Start your recall training in a quiet space without a lot of activity so the dog can concentrate on you.
-Be ready to help the dog make the right choice using the tools available. In the case of the recall, have the dog on a long line so you can reel him into you if he doesn’t respond immediately.
-Use the dog’s instincts and natural drives to your advantage. Have a helper gently restrain the dog by the collar and leash as you walk away. This will engage your dog’s pack drive and increase his desire to get back to you as quickly as he can.

When your dog is reliably coming when called the first time at the initial level of difficulty, you can slowly increase your distance and level of distraction. However, continue to use the long line so if your dog starts to make a mistake and blows off your “come” command, you can enforce it by reeling your dog in. We don’t want the dog to think he has the choice of not following the command.

Most dogs are eager for our approval and willing to engage in the training process if we make it a pleasant and engaging experience for them.

*This picture shows a high-level difficulty recall. Off leash in a distracting environment at a distance!

09/11/2021

Do you have a Dream Dog?
When many people decide to get their first dog, they have a vision or dream of the fun things they will do together. That may include long, relaxing walks around the neighborhood or park, cuddling on the couch, visits to the farmer's market, or showing off some cool tricks to friends and family. And, of course, the dog is perfectly behaved and completely focused on you at all times!

Then reality hits, and your new buddy is distracted, gets into things, barks inappropriately, and may even be reactive to other dogs and people on leash. The dream has become a nightmare!

But don't despair, Leash Logic LLC is here to help you turn that nightmare back into a dream. We will help you implement commonsense strategies using a balanced approach and rewards-based teaching to develop a rapport between owner and dog. We will come to you, whether it be your home, neighborhood, vet's office, or wherever you are having an issue, and we will coach you every step of the way!

09/04/2021

09/04/2021

09/01/2021

Laurie has over 20 years of dog training experience with dogs of different breeds, temperaments, and backgrounds. As a successful competitor a in variety of AKC dog sports, including competition obedience, rally obedience, agility, tracking, and retriever field events, she has honed her dog handling skills and studied the science of behavior modification.

Leash Logic LLC was founded on the premise that each dog and and its people are unique and deserve a custom, commonsense approach to training. Leash Logic LLC offers in-home or on-location sessions to address specific challenges on the spot using a balanced approach and rewards-based methods that actually work!

Serving Northern Virginia- Fairfax County, Arlington, Alexandria, and close-in Prince William County