Kathy's Balanced & Behaved K-9'S LLC

02/20/2025

Snowed in here at BBK-9’s

01/30/2025

The babies of my pack, Layla and Oz 💕

01/22/2025

Ozzy’s very first snow ❄️ 😊❤️

01/21/2025

A quick chuck it with Layla! As it’s begun to snow.

01/09/2025

Layla is quite the daddy’s girl 💓

12/12/2024

My precious Poppy girl 💕

12/02/2024

Yes 🙌 great analogy!

11/19/2024

11/19/2024

Something to think about! This could be rewarding an undesired behavior by comforting with affection at the wrong time?!

11/19/2024

Austin ♥️ is my boi from Starmark ❣️ one of the OG! Best demo dog I’ve ever had ! I can’t believe he’s 8 years old.

11/02/2024

Good morning from the all powerful OZ 🌞

10/26/2024

The beautiful Sadie Mae,playing and training at the same time.

10/08/2024

Oz and Layla had a a great morning training session with Jason M. Sample today! Such a great way to express that Shepherd energy!

09/30/2024

Worth the read ❣️ if you treat a dog like a human, dog will treat you like a dog!

Having been a veterinarian for almost 3 decades, I have seen the tide of how animals are treated change drastically. When I graduated dogs were dogs, now dogs are considered to be higher ranking than people. In our crazy world, people love their dogs more than they love their own families and they treat their dogs better than they treat other humans and I am sorry to say that we are destroying our dogs mental health because of it.

It is increasingly common to go into an exam room and have a dog that is growling at me and trying to bite and the owner is petting it telling it that it is a good dog. It is NOT being a good dog and it should not be rewarded for growling and trying to bite. It is important that we train our dogs properly and we use right language with them. Never is it ok for a dog to growl and try and bite in an exam room where nothing horrible is happening to them and feeding into that behavior does not make it better for your dog, it trains them that their fear is a good thing and it is not.

Mental disorders are exponentially increasing in our dogs and it is us owners fault. Please stop treating your dog like it is some fragile child and start treating it like it is a dog. TRAIN them and teach them commands and correct them when they are wrong and stop thinking you are going to hurt their feelings if you do. Dogs are dogs, not small humans. They need training and proper instructions or it leads to horrible anxiety issues in them and I can assure that that behavior is going to hurt your feelings way more than being an adult and training your dog to be a good dog instead of a spoiled child.

The following are a few copied excerpts from an article that I read this morning from a dog trainer. I feel like there are a good reminder for all of us on exactly what are dogs are and what they need.

"Your dog is a dog, not a human child. Constant unearned affection is a killer and creates an unhealthy addiction for both dog and owner. Your dog will love you unconditionally but will never respect you unless you give it reason to.

The most basic of basics, your dog must learn how to be still in any situation. If your dog can’t be still around any distraction, you will never have control.
Recall
Sit
Down
Walk nicely on leash
Out, meaning release anything in your mouth

You MUST have a language dedicated to your dog that your dog can learn by you being consistent and applying meaning to the words you use. Your dog MUST know what yes means, but also MUST know what NO means. If nothing comes after those words, yes equals reward for good, no equals correction for bad, your dog will never give meaning to either. Your dog’s name is not a command, or correction. NO should not be your dog’s middle name.

The training starts the second you bring the dog home."

08/31/2024

So blessed to have this beautiful girl ❣️ Layla really keeps me on my toes 🤣

08/31/2024

Here’s a great way to reuse the beef marrow bones that I get for my crew. This provides them some mental stimulation when they are crated or in the kennels.