The Rational Dog

02/17/2022

Accurate

What about your dog?😂
Pict credit

01/27/2022

Joy.

I wanted to share this photo, though since it's one of my favorite pics of me and my Horton, I've probably shared it here before. But it just absolutely embodies what I want to share with you. With everyone. With the whole world.

Joy.

My vision for you, through our membership, our courses, our classes, or our training programs, is for you AND YOUR DOG to achieve joy. You don't get there by just suppressing your dog's behaviors and MAKING them be still and quiet.

You might get compliance, but you won't get joy. You won't get the massive smiles, the dog who knows who he is, who you are, and who WANTS to be your best friend. You'll get someone who is stressed to the max, even when he is "behaving," and I know you don't want that.

So when I talk about training, and what I want for you and your dog, the goals I want you to reach, think about this photo right here. Two friends, ridiculously happy to be taking a selfie together. THAT'S what The Rational Dog is about.

www.therationaldog.com

01/26/2022

Start 'em early, I say.

01/24/2022

Is training enough?

This is a question that I was asked today by one of my absolutely brilliant class-members. Her dog is an only dog, no buddies in the house with her. She does agility training, and she does my obedience class, and her dog is always out and about with her, seeing the world.

But is it enough, she asked? Or does she need a play-mate?

And my answer is this - A dog who has only playmates, but never any training fun with his owner will often be under-stimulated and unhappy. A dog who has only training, but does not have free time with playmates will often be just fine.

Ideally, yes, your dog would absolutely benefit from both as long as he does not have behavioral issues that prevent him from interacting socially with other dogs.

But if you have to make a choice between the two? I'd recommend training and adventures together every time.

12/15/2021

How to earn your dog's respect:

Set and enforce boundaries and limits.

Have integrity in your interactions.

Be trustworthy.

Bring joy to your dog's life.

Respect is not the same thing as fear. But it takes a lot more personal development to inspire in your animal.

Great words 🥰
credits: Horse Tricks 101

10/06/2021

Hard truths right there. But important ones!

Creating new habits is hard. Especially for us humans. It takes time and repetition. The point is to practice, practice, practice, and to be committed. Implementing new boundaries is also a new thing for your dog. They were used to doing things a certain way, and now you’ve decided that you’re going to do them differently. So naturally, they will test and challenge you. Are you consistent? Are you serious about the change? They want to figure out what they can expect from you. A little bit of “protest” in the beginning is very normal because this is also a big change for your dog. If you can hold the boundary, it’ll get easier and easier.

One very important thing is that you should feel good about the changes you’re making. The second you start feeling bad about giving your dog new rules or you think it’s not “fun” anymore you’ll bring that sad/negative energy into the mix and your dog will pick up on it. They’re the best at reading energy. So keep the big picture in mind as far as what you want to accomplish. We create these rules and boundaries to be able to have more fun and less stress, not the other way around.

10/01/2021

Wisdom once again :)

09/20/2021

This is a question that I get asked fairly regularly, and one that I have the most annoying answer to:…

09/14/2021

Oh, dogs. ❤️

09/12/2021

Like an electric toothbrush!

09/11/2021

If you don't follow The Naughty Dogge, you definitely should. She is full of this sort of incredible and helpful insight, and I have never disagreed with her.

09/09/2021

I don't know if you knew this, but we offer a TON of free resources on our website! Come check it out!

Hey you! I bet you’re wondering what all this is about! I’m here to share with you some of the…

09/07/2021

Is owning dogs a figurative walk in the park? No.

Do I commit an absurd amount of time to taking care of them, cleaning up after them, working and playing with them? Absolutely.

Have I had my heart completely shattered by them when their time comes to an end? More times than I can count.

Would I ever be without them?

No.

09/06/2021

09/05/2021

09/05/2021

If you've ever tried to trim the nails of a completely untrained dog, you know that this is true.

If you're a vet, vet tech, or groomer, you know that this is true.

If you've ever tried to brush out a dog who won't keep his teeth to himself, you know that this is true.

I promise, your vets will be much happier to see you if you put in the work to do some basic manners and handling training with your dog!

09/04/2021

There is so much more to a dog than just dogness. They like different things, they dislike different things. Some want to be pets, some want to work work work.

Part of it is your dog's genetics. If you've got a dog who was bred for a purpose, it can give you some clues about what your dog is going to enjoy, which will help you to select the right breed for your family.

An active hiking family would probably not want to bring home an English bulldog (while cute, they are known for having a lot of physical complications, particularly respiratory).

A sedate, homebody family would probably not want to bring home a Siberian Husky (unless they were committed to taking up running, biking, or other FAST activities).

Some of the things about your dog are just their own unique personalities, though. Take that time to listen, so that you can provide them the best lives possible.

09/03/2021

I once had a psychology professor who I drove completely crazy because I would not describe my animal training in solely objective terms. He wanted me to talk about the ABCs of training: Antecedent, Behavior, and Consequence. What came before the behavior, what behavior happened, and what came after the behavior.

Could I do that? Absolutely. But I would always include the conversation that I had with the animal too. Because if you can understand your animals, it really is a conversation.

Your dog's eyes light up when you ask him to spin, and he says "Yes! I LOVE this one!" as he leaps into the air. His head goes down and turns away when you tell him to go lie down instead of breathing on your ankles all night, and he says, "That's lame. I don't like that."

Training dogs is not just something you observe and manipulate to make things happen. It's something that you feel, because it's a conversation you have with your dear friend.

09/03/2021

Having a dog that takes responsibility for his part in your training relationship is, quite honestly, an absolute game changer.

Responsibility is a big word. “The state or fact of having a duty to deal with something,” or “The state…

09/02/2021

Buddies for life. Who was your childhood dog?

09/02/2021

Working with Horton the Bloodhound yesterday, we lasted maybe five minutes. That's all he's got in him right now for obedience work. Once his brain was tired, he started sniffing the ground, trying to pull out of his collar, avoiding me when I asked for his focus.

With Ti, I can keep a training session going for 20-30 minutes if I wanted to. She can easily stay with it for an entire obedience class. But Poor Horton cannot.

That's okay!

But it's important to remember that once your dog starts to ignore your commands and do displacement behaviors (sniffing, itching, licking, etc.) that it's not that they're stubborn or ignoring you out of spite. Many times it's because their brains are very tired and it's time to stop for now.

09/01/2021

Training your dog to come when he's called can seem overwhelming. In this video, I share with you WHY some dogs are easier to train than others, and I share ...

09/01/2021

The #1 mistake that folks make when training the recall, and how to fix it!

Training your dog to come when he's called can seem overwhelming. In this video, I share with you WHY some dogs are easier to train than others, and I share ...

09/01/2021

Some people may disagree with me. They may say that their dogs' competition behaviors are far more important than their dogs' ability to live in human society, because that's what their dog is for. Good for them.

To me, I'd rather have a dog that is a joy to be around, that can be in my home with my family, that can run and play without restraint, and that can learn the trick or competition behaviors that I want to teach whenever I want to teach them.

Few things drive me crazier than a dog at a show who is perfectly behaved inside the ring, and can easily take home High in Trial and earn titles, but who is lunging and barking at other dogs, pulling his handler, and is otherwise a total butthead outside of that ring.

But that's why I said "Personal Opinion."

08/31/2021

When I'm watching other people train, it's simple for me to point out how they can do it better. That's sort of my role as a dog trainer, right? To coach folks to be better?

However, it's just as important, and maybe more so, to be able to look at myself and see what I need to do better, how I need to change myself to keep building my own relationships.

08/30/2021

In the last 18 months, we've done a lot at The Rational Dog to try to help as many people as we can with their dogs, even those not in the Dallas area.

We have new programs and training models coming out all the time, and we are having a great time making training accessible to EVERYONE.

Take a look at our services page and see if there's a way that we teach that appeals to you, so that we can help your dog today!

We are so excited to offer you many different styles and modes of services here at The Rational Dog! Please,…

08/30/2021

If you're training so much and so hard that your dog is fatigued or burnt out, you're not building your relationship. You're destroying it.

Training should all be about building relationship with your dog, and when you start putting "Look what my dog can do!" before "Hey dog, let's do this together," you start to lose that relationship pretty darn quick.

Keep your eyes focused on the joy that you find WITH your dog, not because of the cool stuff you've taught him to do.

08/30/2021

Recalls are on my mind lately. I'm putting lots of related content on our Patreon site, so if getting your dog to come to you is a struggle, head over and check it out!

Join The Rational Dog on Patreon to get access to this post and more benefits.

08/29/2021

This is one of the most important things about training your dog. Any negative emotions that you bring to the table are going to confuse and concern your dog.

If you can't turn them off and just focus on your session with your dog, then take a break and put it off until tomorrow when you've had a chance to troubleshoot!