Wylde Pups Gentle Dog Training and Lure Coursing

07/11/2024

Miles is a 1-1/2 year old shepherd/ retriever mix who has lived most of his life in the shelter. He was adopted out once but returned after a short 3 months due to typical puppy behavior. 😔 This boy will need a stable and loving home who can dedicate time to training him, he is also showing early signs of hip dysplasia which is being aggravated in the kennels when he gets over excited. Please consider adopting or fostering Miles 🩵

03/22/2024

Does your dog want to be a therapy dog?
Join our class and learn how, beginning April 17!

06/27/2023

Have fun with your dog through training and play

03/22/2023

06/21/2022

I spend so much time working with people and their reactive or aggressive dogs, learning how to help them and work with them, but I also try to show people with NON reactive dogs learn how they can help them too. I truly believe if we work together as a collaborative society of dog lovers we can help every dog live their best life. Here are some things I try to teach every human and dog team, and I’ve actually found these are good preventative tools too.

1. Stop letting your dog have on leash greetings with other dogs. Even if they are friendly. Teach your dog when they are on leash you are the best thing they can focus on! This will minimize their conditioned excitement every time they see another dog and help them not pull, lunge or move towards a reactive dog who doesn’t want an interaction. Also, the more you do let your dog meet dogs on leash, the more frustrated and aroused your dog can get when they see them and then reactivity can develop. NO leash greetings all around is a much healthier way to teach your dog(s) that the world out there is great but you’re even better to focus on!

2. Silence your dogs tags. I started doing this a few years ago when we started camping. I realized that the jingling of my dogs tags walking was a huge trigger for many of the dogs in their campsite, and as a result, they would bark and scream profanity at my dogs walking. This made their walk stressful too. By minimizing the noise, I’ve greatly improved my dogs walks and I know I’ve also helped a lot of reactive dogs not get triggered for the umpteenth time that day.

3. Work on a bombproof recall. And then work on it some more. And then some more.

4. Only let your dog off leash in places that are allowed. Even if you think no one is there. Even if it’s just for a second. Just. Don’t. Do it. It’s not fair and it sets so many dogs and humans up to fail. Want a place to let your dog run? Look at Sniffspot.com

5. Respect muzzles, give me space vests, and people saying “no” It is super hard to take a reactive dog out in public and have confidence. The more we give space and respect the better these teams will do! Don’t make judgements or stare or insist on saying hello because you hope to be the exception. Just tell them they are doing a great job and keep going.

6. Don’t let your dog stare. This is a BIG one we work on in all our classes. We teach humans how to position their dogs so they don’t stare at other dogs. I work hard on teaching my dogs to not stare at other dogs on leash and you can too. This is more subtle than not leash greeting but it can be just as helpful. Teach your dog to acknowledge there’s a dog there, but then move on, or turn around and not face them. For many reactive dogs there is nothing more triggering than a goofy adolescent dog staring at them across the road. I swear they scream back “WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?!”

7. Confine and safely manage your dog in the car. Dogs hanging out of windows, barking and lunging in the backseat, or moving back and forth in the car are problematic because 1. It’s not safe and 2. It’s teaching THEM terrible behavior and 3. It’s very stressful for reactive dogs trying to walk down the road. My dogs are crated in the car; or tethered or use a calming cap to reduce their own stress and the stress of dogs that may walk past.

8. Offer to help. Ask the person what you can do to make it easier or help them? More space? Or moving back and forth? Or just continuing on your way. Some people struggle to find others with NON reactive dogs to practice with, so having help makes a big difference. Speak up if you see someone putting them down. Warn someone with an off leash dog that there’s a dog there that needs space. Help them the same at YOU would like it if it was you and your dog.

Reactive dogs are not broken: and they aren’t abnormal either. Reactivity honestly is now becoming more normal than NON reactive dogs, so we have to all work through this together. And it boils down to respect, understanding, courtesy and lots of reward based training.

We can do it gang.

-Helen St. Pierre

05/10/2022

Sheet1 LURE COURSING SIGN UP SHEET - weather permitting: call 607-343-0377 for cancellation info.,Kathy Wolf's Farm, 194 OLD Peruville Rd., Groton NY, Thursday, MAY 19, 2022, 3-7 pm,$8 per run,Due to COVID-19, masks are required while in the field and when social distance cannot be maintained.

04/06/2021

~Never pet a dog without asking~

03/27/2021

Do you have a new puppy? A really important skill to incorporate into their day to day whilst Ditching the Bowl and Ditching the Routine is remaining calm even when they’re alone! Sometimes we can be so excited about our puppy, or even feel guilty if we don’t have them out all the time when we’re home, that we can forget that they need to learn to settle and self-regulate without us there. It isn’t always necessary for them to be out with us all of the time.

Some ways to incorporate calm, separation-related behaviour prevention is to use part of their dinner and provide them with an opportunity to use a stuffed kong or toy to practice calm enrichment. This is a great way to reinforce that being alone is okay! Your puppy will think, “Wait, when I’m alone I get a cool frozen stuffed toy with super yummy food in it?” How cool is that? Have you recently welcomed home a puppy? What kind of opportunities are you setting up for them to enjoy alone time? We’d love to hear or SEE (okay, so we might just be asking for adorable pictures of puppies…) them partaking in a fun alone-time activity.

For more great tips on achieving calmness in our puppies and dogs, check out our YouTube video: How To Teach Your Dog to be Calm and Settled: https://youtu.be/KaojPmzris0

03/19/2021

Take your dog for a FUN walk

03/15/2021

Excellent concise advice from a terrific trainer

It's warming up outside and soon, Chicago walking paths will be filled with people and their dogs. While we all know the rules for social distancing, our furry friends do not. Laura Monaco Torelli of Chicago's Animal Behavior Training Concepts shares some social etiquette tips for your pandemic pooc...

02/22/2021

From the New York Times: Dog trainers are all booked up, thanks to a boom in adoptions during the pandemic. While you wait, they have some advice to share. https://nyti.ms/37sORS4

Now professional dog trainers are all booked up. While you wait, they have some advice to share.

01/25/2021