Real World K9

06/24/2025

Saying it for the people in the back - leave your dogs at home today. 🥵
No your dog doesn’t “need” to go with you for a ride, no you can’t leave the car running with the AC on (that could stop running), no your dog doesn’t want to walk across scorching hot pavement to get inside Home Depot. Keep your pets inside your home with AC on if you have it or a fan to keep the air moving and fresh cool water. Give the birds and wildlife some water, change the hummingbird feeder. Stay cool everyone, and please check on your elderly friends too.

06/24/2025

6 yrs ago today, with my dogs Sieger n Grace. I wouldn't take them to the water today with this heat because there is so much exertion swimming the heat being so bad would not be refreshing or safe. The air conditioner is their friend today.

Keep your dogs inside today, too hot. Keep them hydrated if you do have to go out, keep them in shade and do not keep them in car unless you are with the air on. Keep it short too. All common sense but as we all know not everybody has that😉 they need a reminder.

06/23/2025

Rufus n I had a great afternoon of socialization in Wickford during their historic house tour this past weekend.

We practiced greetings with keeping four on the floor, meaning no jumping. If Rufus jumped on people I instructed them to give him no pets, no attention until he was on all fours👍

We saw many things on the streets of Wickford and Rufus handled everything well. He got alot of sniffing and investigating as well. Everyone was impressed with this 6 months old behavior. 😉🐾

06/22/2025

A very Happy 8th Birthday to one of my long time clients, 7 years, Lola, aka Lola bean. June 21st♥️Lola has been such an awesome dog to work with and train. Not only has she trained with me but has trained numerous other client dogs with me.

Lolas neutrality to other dogs, calmness and obedience skills have helped me and my client dogs immensely. Whenever I need a completely neutral dog for my client dogs to be around I seek out Lola. Lolas mom is a commited pet parent. She always does whats right for Lola and is diligent about Lola getting all she needs. Thank you for being such a awesome advocate and care giver for Lola, it shows. ♥️Happy Birthday Lola bean, we love you.

06/22/2025

‼️EXTREME HEAT WARNING‼️
The excessive heat will be dangerous for both people and animals for several days. PLEASE keep your pets safe and use caution.
‼️DO NOT LEAVE A PET IN THE CAR! Did you know that many vehicles have an auto shut off feature when left idling? Even if you leave your car running with the AC on, auto shut off or a mechanical/computer failure can result in the death of your pet. DON’T take the risk. Please leave them at home if someone can’t stay in the vehicle with them.
‼️KNOW THE SIGNS OF HEAT STROKE. Brachycephalic breeds and older dogs will be quicker to suffer from heat related illness.
‼️KEEP YOUR PET HYDRATED. Provide plenty of fresh, cool water available at all times.
‼️LIMIT EXERCISE AND OUTDOOR TIME. It is up to you to control their activity. Dogs will continue to play to exhaustion.
‼️MAKE SURE YOUR DOG IS SECURELY CONTAINED. A dog on the run or lost in extreme heat is at much higher risk of heat related illness.
‼️BE MINDFUL OF WALKWAYS AND PAVEMENT. These surfaces can be extremely hot and can burn paws. Walk in the early morning and later evening, and stick to grassy and dirt surfaces as much as possible.
‼️KEEP EMERGENCY VET CONTACT INFO HANDY. There are multiple emergency facilities if needed. Heat related illness is a medical emergency and time is critical.
‼️KEEP YOURSELVES AND YOUR PETS SAFE AND WE CAN ALL HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!

06/21/2025

Winston n Fern had a nice training walk yesterday. We walked riverside and stayed in the shade due to the heat. The boyz did awesome!😉

06/21/2025

Blaze is learning a nice recall. We are doing restrained recalls where I hold him back while his owner gets him so excited he wants to go to them but I hold him back till he pulls then I let him go...like a sling shot. We increase the motivation to go to his owner.

We also did some other fun skills to teach recall. Blaze did excellent with all the ways we recalled him. Great job team Blaze👍

06/21/2025

Poison cues. I also practice recalling them from playing with other dogs or when they are out in the yard and then release them again to go play so they dont think you calling them in means the fun ends.

Those bad habits creep right in.
Have you created a “poisoned cue”?
You may not even realise it is happening until they just don’t come to you when called.
They hesitate.
Or worse....run away.

Recall is one of those areas in dog training that depends heavily on your relationship together….. unfortunately, there are things we can do (often with the best of intentions) which really damage what was once a good and reliable recall.

Do you call them for their dreaded weekly bath?
How about always using your recall word to drag them away from their friends they are playing with?
Notice that recall word is becoming less reliable?
Do you say your recall word with increasing frustration because they are just not listening?

You can reset your recall to work again

But….don’t use that same recall word for those ear drops, baths, and nail trims.

Just go and get them for those times instead.

06/20/2025

Beautiful girl close by in Exeter.♥️

Nessa is relieved the rain is forecast to end later this afternoon, just in time for you to come meet her!

Exeter Animal Shelter is open 3pm - 6pm today and this sweet girl would love to meet some potential adopters! 🤞 🐾

06/20/2025

So many reasons to learn canine body language. I see this alot, dog people letting their dogs meet and one of the dogs is desperately trying to tell their handler they are not interested in interacting by hiding behing their handler or jumping up on their handler. I feel so bad for the dog when I see this, if I am close by I do say your dog is trying to tell you they dont want to interact with the dog thats pestering them. Sorry, not sorry. Someone needs to advocate for the dog. 😉

One thing is for sure!
When you start to see these signals, it opens your eyes.
Fully.
So how do dogs show they just aren't interested or need a break from interacting with another dog?
This shows some fairly common ways.
If we ignore these "no thanks" signals, it can cause issues for some.

I've said it before....no one likes a pest, and dogs are no different.

That dog that just won't give up?
Even when your dog may be desperately signaling their little heart out.
We have to intervene.

Are we "interfering" with their natural communication?
Yes we are, because that communication given is not being received.
If ever there was a time to advocate and intervene.....that is the time.

Over arousal/over stimulation is a very big cause of dogs not receiving clear communication well.

So we have to step in when the other dog "just doesn't get it".

06/20/2025

Rufus n I beating the heat today. We trained indoors where we could stay cool. We worked on recalls and some socialization. Rufus had a great time playing with his new toy while there was alot of activity and noise all around us. Great job Ruf!👍🐾😉

06/20/2025

The three amigos are back for some fun at RWK9! Teagan, Winnie n Scout loved their date day and so did I. They all came to me as pups for training and what a great group they turned out to be!

These girls come back to me weekly to keep all their training fresh. They had so much fun this week. Looking forward to seeing them again next week!😁