VP Dog Training

12/21/2024

Still plenty of room to join the next group training class. It starts on January 4 in Irvine. Great way to start off the new year with your dog. Let me know if you have questions or wish to join.

12/04/2024

New group class starting January 4 in Irvine. Great time to refresh all our dogs have learned. It’s hard to find time during the holidays so going to class is a great way to motivate us AND our dogs!

12/04/2024

Great breakfast get together with my big brother. Always great to get some real FaceTime.

09/06/2024

Beautiful birthday cake
Made for me by my very talented girlhood friend!

Thank you sooo much Michelle❤️

08/28/2024

NEW SATURDAY CLASS STARTS THIS SATURDAY in Irvine. It will be a small class so we should be able to work on some things we usually can’t.

Let me know if you have any questions or would like to join

07/01/2024

New Saturday class starts 7/6 in Irvine
Let me know if you have questions or would like to join.

07/01/2024

Our Saturday class graduated yesterday. All dogs demonstrated great improvement in their skills.

Some of the students stayed afterward to allow their dogs engage a bit.

06/04/2024

NEW WEDNESDAY CLASS STARTS TOMORROW
It is another full class with a fantastic diversity of participants. Last class was full and had 100% perfect attendance which is impressive. Let’s see if this class can follow suit. That is of course largely up to me in that I have to encourage, challenge, meet the needs of each dog and owner so they can maximize their learning.

I’m looking forward to this journey in the next 8 weeks!

04/30/2024

NEW SATURDAY CLASS

We have a new Saturday morning class starting on May 11th. Please contact me if you have any questions or wish to be added to the roster.

03/14/2024

SNAPSHOT into the real life of a dog trainer.

This is one of my rescued dogs. Super smart, super high food drive, super high prey drive and super high toy/ play drive. He also LOVES to train. These are all great qualities when managed well. He showed potential to do a bit of guarding as a pup so I worked hard on it using the most positive methods possible.

As he has become closer to “the guys” in the house there has been a bit of an imbalance of late. He has become more pushy for attention (24/7) and starting to steal food. I worked very hard to explain to the rest of the household that him being so pushy and demanding was NOT a good thing. But of course often am met with “oh but it is so cute” statement.

He has a dog bed that he loves to lay on and I made sure he did not become possessive of it. But last few weeks he has added a behavior that started to concern me (again it was thought of as cute by the guys). He loves to drag kitchen towels off of the counter and take them to his bed. He does not rip them up in any way. He also loves to steal toilet paper roll (only the new ones) and again take them to his bed. Again this was thought of as cute. I kinda saw the writing on the wall.

I have alway worked on a strong drop it command cuz I knew it was a must with him. Yes I can take things away but I rather he give it up willingly.

Then the other day he demonstrated the behavior I saw flags about. Had his towel and brand new toilet paper roll on his bed. Did it when I wasn’t looking. I walked up to take the toilet paper roll and he gave me a freeze and side eye. Next level “could” have been a snap. So I commanded him off his bed and removed objects. He knew he had messed up.

So I will be going back to training and reprimanding the guys for giving constant attention whenever he demands it. He essentially has gotten too big for his britches! After two days of sporadic training he is responding faster to all commands which is a good step. My challenge is not so much with him but how he is allowed to do whatever he wants and to whatever degree he wishes. Hopefully I can get a little more cooperation from the guys in the house.

These are things I run in to all the time with clients and I always have to laugh when they say “your dogs must be so well trained and little angels”. NOPE. I have to deal with the same things my clients do. I don’t hesitate to let them know that is the case.

03/09/2024

We have a great Saturday class. So diverse. Many different temperaments. All are taking to this game called training! We try to not only make training beneficial but an activity the dogs really look forward to. I can already see that spark in their eyes. And we ALSO celebrate with the owner when their dog finally masters something they were struggling with. We worked on beginning recall, sit-stay, down, off, side sit, and the dreaded loose leash walking. The owners were amazed how fast their dogs could improve if they broke the exercises down into small pieces.

AND our Frenchie that started far away from the class (due to extreme reactivity) is now calm and relaxed and really close to being fully integrated into the class. She has an angel for an owner as she has been patient and has stuck with our plan. It is really paying off. The dog now has a very bright future and the owner is thrilled and I feel rewarded myself. Doesn’t get better than that.

02/17/2024

We have a new class starting Saturday the 24th in Irvine. Class time is 9:30-10:30.

If you have any questions or would like to join feel free to contact me.

01/15/2024

Always looking for ways for my dogs to interact and have fun without going psycho. I’m liking this new game. Apparently the only rule is that you have to stay on the bed.

01/06/2024

Wow. What a year 2023 was. And I don’t know about you but the holiday season was super charged for me.

Now that things are quieting down a bit it’s time to get focused again. I’m not good about New Year’s resolutions so I just focus on working on projects that I’ve been neglecting.

My “girls” are maturing and showing their forever personalities. I’m truly enjoying their differences.

Bobbi is finally deciding that it is really more fun to play with her toys WITH me than by herself. I wanted her to come to that conclusion on her own. Food still is number 1 then affection number 2 for her. She is like lightening running to her crate to eat her meals. She is really turning into a “neutral” dog around other dogs. Something I have worked on from day one. She likes them but not at all obsessed with them. She is the more mellow of the two girls.

Andi is much more energetic and although she runs for her food too if there is a person on the way she HAS to stop and say high. She also seeks out physical attention above most everything else. She LOVES to share her toys with you. She always has. She is still the one that has to run off some energy before being able to think clearly whereas Bobbi does not. She is also becoming a great neutral dog.

Although they both have the basics down it’s time to continue actual training. So that is one of my top goals for 2024.

We welcomed a new grandson this year. Our son, his wife and their baby live in Oregon but we get pics and videos regularly. Our granddaughter is now five almost six! So hard to believe.

I also HAVE to buy a new vehicle this year. My 20 year old van keeps hinting that she is tired! It’s just so hard to decide the best choice for my needs. Sigh.

Also trying to move and exercise more and not as focused on “losing weight” as before.

I wish all of you a Happy New Year and that your own personal goals are achieved this year.

My Tustin classes have started up again…….brrrrrrrr but fun and some brave souls attending that.

I’ve heard from some longtime friends that are going to be getting a new puppy. So excited for them.

Hope to post some useful content going forward.

Until next time

Patti

10/21/2023

I saw this neat little graph and thought it worthwhile to post. I agree with the categories according to what I see on a daily basis.

10/13/2023

Another team practicing the walk by.

10/13/2023

Great article about dominance in dogs

https://news.asu.edu/20210805-discoveries-myth-alpha-dog?fbclid=IwAR3i0veq0a5iSKauIaQovG1-UQWLjW5ez46zIABYx4JXzi6dNZNFOkb3kKo_aem_AZWrry--LIRrO7E5aYJbHOWUC3HKYw-5R4Bjye5fRJ4lKcCFK06Wm6N2yy_nYfaBpUs&mibextid=S66gvF

ASU dog behavioral expert Clive Wynne conducted an extensive review of existing research on dominance in dogs and concludes that yes, they do experience it, but how it plays out among themselves is very different from how it plays out when they live with humans.

10/12/2023

Another team doing walk by