Mindful Manners Dog Training

08/22/2023

https://www.facebook.com/100044222179937/posts/831116178372447/?mibextid=cr9u03

  This post is inspired by Katha Miller-Winder’s new book: Practicing Partnership: A therapy dog and his person. My favorite part of the book (definitely recommended for anyone with, or about to have, a therapy dog), is on page 7 and 8: “If I’m being a true partner for my dog, I’ve given th...

08/12/2023

Early morning Hounds trying to beat the heat.

08/05/2023

Perfect weather for an evening Hounds class. looking for a fun way to spend time with your dog, learning in challenging environment?You’ll both learn to think outside the traditional training box to meet the challenges life tosses your way. We meet every Saturday and typically one evening each week.
Send me a PM for details

07/27/2023

Perfect evening for Downtown Hounds. Breat dogs, great people, and a terrific sea breeze to help beat the heat.

07/25/2023

So fancy with her new haircut and bow!

07/19/2023

Sólo un perro. 🥰

De vez en cuando la gente me dice “relájate, es sólo un perro” o “es un montón de dinero sólo por un perro”. Ellos no comprenden la distancia recorrida, el tiempo invertido o los costos incurridos por “sólo un perro”. Algunos de mis momentos de mayor orgullo han ocurrido con “sólo un perro”.
Muchas horas han pasado siendo mi única compañía “sólo un perro”, pero ni por un sólo instante me sentí despreciado. Algunos de mis momentos más tristes han sido por “sólo un perro”, y en esos días grises, el suave toque de “sólo un perro” me dio el confort y la razón para superar el día.

Si tú también piensas “es sólo un perro”, entonces probablemente entenderás frases como “sólo un amigo”, “sólo un amanecer” o “sólo una promesa”. “Sólo un perro” trae a mi vida la esencia misma de la amistad, la confianza y la alegría pura y desenfrenada. “Sólo un perro” saca a relucir la compasión y paciencia que hacen de mí una mejor persona.

Por “sólo un perro” me levantaré temprano, haré largas caminatas y miraré con ansias el futuro. Así que para mí y para gente como yo, no es “sólo un perro”, sino una encarnación de todas las esperanzas y los sueños del futuro, los recuerdos del pasado, y la absoluta alegría del momento. “Sólo un perro” saca lo bueno en mi y desvía mis pensamientos lejos de mí mismo y de las preocupaciones diarias.

Espero que algún día puedan entender que no es “sólo un perro”, sino aquello que me da humanidad y evita que yo sea “sólo un humano”. Así que la próxima vez que escuches la frase “sólo un perro”, simplemente sonríe porque ellos “simplemente no comprenden”.

"Solo un perro" de Richard A. Biby.
Acuarela: Marter bedroom. (Recámara principal) (1965) Andrew Wyeth.

07/12/2023

Stress for dogs often comes from the teacher, not the task.
If your dog is telling you he’s uncomfortable, it’s important to recognize it and make the necessary adjustments.
Stress often manifests in avoidance of some kind or lack of enjoyment and in either case, your dog is telling you something is not right or he’s not ready for the next step.
Sometimes handlers associate this with the task, ‘my dog doesn’t like X” (ie driving, turbacks, shedding), when actually it’s the way it’s been taught that is the problem.

The issue may include your set up, the pressure from the sheep, your foundation training, his confidence (in himself or you) and/or your mindset.
For example, if you approach a new concept by making it difficult (even inadvertently),
have a set up that doesn’t ensure success, have expectations of how quickly your dog should learn, how proficient he should be or if you try to force behavior, it could be that you are creating the stress that your dog then associates with a specific task.

Just like people dogs can get bored when you do the same thing too often, frustrated when it’s too arduous or disheartened when too often being told ‘you’re wrong’.
He is constantly giving feedback with his body language and demeanor; if he’s not enjoying what he’s doing or showing signs of avoidance he may be telling you he needs you to change your approach.

Empowering your dog to reach his full potential includes practicing patience and having a teaching mindset. The cornerstone of a teaching mindset is an intuitive method. Intuitive training results in more understanding and less correction. More understanding and less correction yields higher confidence and increased confidence fosters enjoyment.
Once your dog is enjoying and anticipating what you’re training, try the next step and make adjustments based on his feedback. Your continuous effort to adjust to your dogs response will help him become the best sheepdog he can be—you can just train or you can partner.
macraeway.com

07/01/2023

Downtown Hounds under the oaks-thanks to everyone who braved the heat to play with your dogs💙 Sometimes herders just have to herd😂

06/29/2023

Princess Rhye says the weather is better suited for retail therapy training today.

06/21/2023

Iza Walker Treeing Hound named Benji, hurry and give me the popcorn, this learning stuff is FUN!!

06/02/2023

Rhye had a bit of an unexpected adventure this morning.

05/13/2023

Great morning for Downtown Hounds. If you’re interested in learning skills for everyday life in different settings, this is the class for you.
Contact us for more info.

05/09/2023

Moki enjoyed a training session downtown with Quin as her teacher dog. Downtown was definitely easier for Moki with a steady pal along.

05/03/2023

Tater Tot is one lucky girl. She was surrendered to a rescue at almost 7 and has been adopted by a wonderful person determined to give her the best life possible. I’m so excited to watch their journey, the future it bright.

04/29/2023

Great morning for Downtown Hounds!

04/28/2023

Peaches

04/14/2023

Petra Ford

Just wrote this for one of my classes and thought it was worth sharing:
Training is NEVER Linear. This is an incredibly important concept. I’ve seen memes that show training progression as a line that zig zags dramatically…going up and crashing down…the point of these meme is that it’s a frustrating journey. But I don’t see it that way. Learning is never linear. No one ever said it should be. It’s what people WANT…but that’s just not realistic. It’s SUPPOSED to be up and down. That’s NORMAL. And if we understood and accepted that, our training journey would make more sense. And we would be much less frustrated!! We would understand and accept that ups and downs, moving forward and back are perfectly typical. Our dogs are visual. They rely primarily on context and physical cues. They don’t know the end goal of what we are trying to achieve. How could they? The human knows how they want the dog to behave. But the dogs have no idea where any of this is going. They want to be right. So they look at context for clues. When the environment looks like this, and my human looks like that, if I do this behavior, I get rewarded. Ok. Got it. And then what do we do? We change the context. Or we change our cue. And the dog is lost. Or confused and unsure. As humans, we don’t get it. Are you kidding me? You know this!! What is wrong with you?? Why are you not doing what I ask?? And we get really frustrated. We must remember that ANY TIME the picture changes, even the slightest…it’s different for our dogs. And different makes it harder. Our dogs may be doing a great retrieve at home in the driveway. Which is where you always train. Take the dog to the front of the house, now it’s different. You won’t get the same quality of work. You may teach articles in one room of the house. Take them to another room, and the dog is confused. Today your dog might be doing a full ring entrance, leash removal to a setup in your yard. Take them someplace new, and you may not even get through the ring gates. My dogs consistently perform pretty well inside Lowes and Tractor Supply. But recently we went to Petsmart…and that was HARD for them. If I go to a garden center, they find it more challenging than inside the store. I took them to Tractor Supply yesterday and both dogs thought it was fairly easy. But if I go tomorrow, it might be harder. Why? More or less people in the store, dogs may or may not be in the store, it might smell different, maybe my dog is mentally tired, maybe my handling is off…endless factors. All you can do is READ YOUR DOG. If they say it’s hard, honor that. If they did well one day and struggle the next…honor that. It is what it is. Don’t have expectations!!!! Train the dog in front of you 😊 If the dog is having a hard time, simplify. Next time your dog appears to “have forgotten” or regressed….Remind yourself, that is NOT the case. SOMETHING is different. The question you should be asking yourself is: What is different? What can I do to modify the training so my dog can succeed? We must learn to view the world through our dog’s eyes. Not through human eyes.

04/05/2023

Squirrels and birds at the park-best day ever!

04/03/2023

Gus💙

03/28/2023

Cats- We want in, why should the dogs have all the fun and get the cookies!

03/27/2023

I am so proud of the work Michele and Atlas have done. We’ve used lots of Control Unleashed Pattern Games with his super arousal while other dogs are around. the transformation is stunning. We’ll done!

03/23/2023

Let’s celebrate National Puppy Day and share pictures of the pups who make our lives so rich!

03/21/2023

A little terrier attitude.

03/09/2023

03/08/2023

Shopping for a post greenway fun (training) walk. It’s a great day in the life of Rhye.

02/27/2023

Met this little cutie today! He has just arrived at his new home in Charleston and off to a good start in his new life.

02/11/2023

The cutest little Bingo and his mom stsrted lessons to help him learn to use his mouth appropriately around children and give up coveted item without conflict.