Pawsitive Play Dog Training
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Proactive Dog Training for Real Life Learning
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08/29/2024
Big shout out to my newest top fans! And a shout out to all you other top fans as well! I just learned how to do this 🤦♀️:-) 💎 Christine McCoy, Sue Walsh Gilmartin, Diann Keim, Laurie Zahar, Debbie Korce, Alise Marie
08/29/2024
My office mate is sleeping on the job... and I'm enjoying this wonderful, warm, windy day :-)
08/28/2024
I love it when clients check in :-) look how big Skye is now!! Her mom says she's doing great!❤️
08/26/2024
My heart melts for this little boy named Ollie! I can't wait to do more with him! :-) Welcome to Pawsitive Play Dogs!!
08/26/2024
Today is National Dog Day :-) pop a picture of your pup below :-)
08/24/2024
At first lovely Tara had no frame of reference for calmness or stillness. Now she waits patiently and actually laid down and put her head down to relax during a session :-)
08/21/2024
Everyone meet Maebh!! This little cutie is here to work on disengagement and impulse control :-) please give her a warm PPDT welcome :-)
08/12/2024
Gorgeous Maya!!
08/11/2024
Lovely Terra is training with her mom about the handling of distractions. This is a leveling up behavior from working in a low distraction environment. We are still working at a distance, but as the pictures demonstrate, she sees the horses but finds more value in her mom and the rewards. This is huge considering she is here because of barking and lunging at everything :-)
08/09/2024
Denise, my friend and partner in The Dog Training And Learning Center, has some great advice!
A question that we often get is "How long should my training sessions be?"
Training sessions with my dogs include teaching behaviors that I want to work on or improve, as well as rewarding good decision making throughout the day.
If I am working on a specific skill such as a learning to back up, recall, going to mat, I will often grab a handful of treats and when that runs out, we are done. Sometimes, it only lasts 5 minutes and sometimes it lasts 15 minutes.
Most importantly, your training session should last as long as you and your dog are having fun!
Happy Training!
08/08/2024
Does your dog have an emotional support stufftie like my dog does in the car? A ball? A blanket? Something he or she likes to have in a stressful situation? Drop a picture and show me what your dog likes to carry!
08/07/2024
Ryder is at the vet today for some blood work. As a young dog, he was fearful and difficult (understatement) at the vet. We've worked hard on confidence with handling, calmness in new places and focusing with distractions to achieve this!❤️❤️🎉
08/07/2024
Note the various positions that your own dog's tail adopts when they are playing, walking, eating, encountering new experiences.
The majority of dogs tuck their tail when they are unsure or afraid, but some dogs such as greyhounds and whippets naturally tuck their tail and it is not a sign of fear, but their normal carriage.
A wagging tail is not always a sign that your dog is happy or friendly. A happy wag is usually a big circle, a 'helicopter' tail, accompanied by a loose, wiggly body.
Most dogs, when on high alert, will hold their tails high and stiff and often show very fast tail movement.
Some dogs may swing their tails very low and slow when they are unsure or nervous. If they have a naturally curly tail, it may uncurl or it may go flat against their hind-end.
08/06/2024
Absolutely...
08/03/2024
Does anyone else feel this?🤣🤦♀️ love them!!!
08/01/2024
Yes!!!
07/31/2024
Check out this handsome gentleman! He's working on calm as a default!! He's such an awesome boy :-)
07/30/2024
I love client updates :-) check out Handsome Jack!❤️❤️
07/29/2024
Check out Sadie having the time of her life on vacation with her family!!
07/28/2024
Here is Terra practicing her disengagement reverse. This is a great skill to practice to help your dog in uncomfortable situations!!
07/21/2024
Gorgeous Aurora is growing by leaps and bounds!! Check out that face!! ❤️❤️❤️
07/20/2024
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, and then again thank you some more!!! The things you taught me with Ube are like nothing I’ve ever learned before. I feel like it taught me to be a partner with her. and have a bond with her. I can’t explain it, but I wish you knew how much it meant to me. I can’t be the first to be this excited about it!!!! I was so frustrated when I first came to you, and I feel so much different now. I take it all at our own pace just using all the tools you taught me so she’s successful."
Jeanne and Ube- 7/20/2024
07/16/2024
Yes!!
TRAFFIC LIGHTS AND REACTIVITY
Before trying to work on improving reactivity, consider what colour your dog’s emotional state is in.
The belief or expectation that by continually exposing reactive dogs to triggers will make them get over it, is setting dogs up to fail.
Generally, a dog that is reacting to something does not feel safe – they are in survival mode – a mode where learning and appropriate responses simply cannot take place.
Neurotransmitters like adrenaline and cortisol flood the brain causing automatic responses intended for survival. This red zone is certainly not the time or the place to try to change behaviour.
We need to start working with a brain that is calm, relaxed, focused and feels safe – the green zone, where learning can take place.
A calm nervous system is essential to learn a new way to respond.
To recognise which colour an emotional state is, we need to become more adept at recognising and interpreting our dog’s body language.
Being aware of body language enables us to intervene before our dogs’ emotions – the “traffic light” changes colour.
Always start in the green zone, this is where we can really help our dogs to learn strategies to cope with triggers.
Keep working in the green - reinforcing, proofing and building confidence.
Once behaviours are established in the green, we can try moving into the amber zone by allowing our dogs to notice and be aware of distractions, but at a sufficient distance where they still feel safe and are able to focus. This is where we can make distractions or triggers feel far less threatening.
Stay out of the red as much as you can. Avoiding this is not always possible – life happens / the unexpected happens and we have no control over this.
In this case get as much distance as possible between your dog and the trigger.
We can’t teach our dogs to feel safe, but we can help them feel safe by managing the environment, taking small achievable steps, being aware of body language and intervening when their emotional traffic light is about to change colour.
07/10/2024
Love this!!
07/09/2024
Ube has started working on skills for the TDI test (Therapy Dog International). Look at the lovely stay (and eventual recall) from 20 ft!! She also practiced being calm and walking past individuals with crutches and on a scooter :-)
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| Wednesday | 9am - 7pm |
| Thursday | 9am - 7pm |
| Friday | 9am - 7pm |
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Videos
Check out Sadie having the time of her life on vacation with her family!!
Here is Terra practicing her disengagement reverse. This is a great skill to practice to help your dog in uncomfortable situations!!
Check out Cavapoo puppy play!! Millie and her lamb!! ❤️
Fun with Skye... she's all in!! ❤️
"Thank you so much Michele! It has been awesome coming to see you and watch Maui improve. I'm so happy I decided to come train with you. You exceeded my expectations!!!! I will definitely reach out with any questions and updates on Maui. Thank you thank you!" I love it when I can make a difference! Thank you for this Haley and Maui!!!
This video you have to watch until the end. This is Willow, and she is a rescue who came to her family extremely scared. So scared that she wouldn't walk out of the garage and down the driveway. Her was response was to freeze and shake in fear, and she resisted any attempts to encourage movement. Willow's new family has worked diligently with her to ease her fears and help her acclimate. I am so proud of what they've achieved with Willow, and I'm happy to share this video with all of you :-)
Do you let your dogs have a sniffari? Here are some great reasons why it's a good idea to allow your dog to enjoy a sniffari! Sniffing allows them to explore and understand their environment through scent. It is one of the main ways dogs receive information about animals, people, and objects in their surroundings. Scent is also a way that dogs communicate with each other. When a dog sniffs in area, they are detecting pheromones that have been left behind by other animals and dogs. This helps them determine things like social structure, identification, and emotional states of animals in the vicinity. It's also mentally stimulating and involves concentration and problem solving skills. Although it's not as demanding as running and playing fetch, it's still involves movement and will help to exercise not only your dog's body but also his or her brain. It's also a great low impact activity for older dogs :-) sniffing is a natural behavior that helps them relax and reduce stress. Allowing dogs to sniff can be beneficial and have a calming effect. And last but not least, it's natural for a dog to sniff. So let them sniff!
Little Freyja having fun with the equipment!!
Taking a morning walk at positive Pawsitive Play Dog Training #dogtrainercleveland #cledogs #certifieddogtrainer #rewardbasedtraining #positivedogtrainingmethods #happydog
Good morning! It's a beautiful morning for a sniffy walk! My dogs are enjoying the exercise as well as using their noses to sniff out all the critters that passed through overnight. :)
In her therapy session, she also had her first hydrotherapy experience. This can be difficult for a lot of dogs because they first have to walk up a ramp into a small space that is then closed from behind, loud noises allow water to begin flowing into the bottom of the tank and then the treadmill begins to move. Teaching your dog to be flexible and handle new things is very helpful with experiences like this. She wasn't ecstatic but she handled it very well :-)
So, my girl had ACL surgery and then ended up with an infection because of a busted stitch due to swelling. She then decided that she wasn't going to use her leg. After 2 weeks of no use she has muscle atrophy and is just now starting to walk again... so right now we're doing short, slow, gentle walks and will be adding rehab in as she strengthens her leg. I'll be showing you some of her rehab as we build strength and get her moving again :-)
Playing in the snow! (PS I love his spontaneous check in here!! 🐾❤️)
Love videos from clients... here is Baroness being a dog and exploring :)
I often get asked about appropriate dog play. Here's a video just showing a little fun together after the long "request to play" made by my eldest dog :-) Play should always be equitable between dogs- one should not always be on the bottom/top and/or one should not always be the chaser or the chasee. Vertical play denotes an increase in arousal and should be redirected.
Listen to those birds in the back field... as you can see, my dogs could care less.
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