Big Friendly Dog Training

07/01/2024

More pets go missing on 4th of July than any other day of the year. Keep your pets safe and prevent them from going missing with these safety tips! ❤️🤍💙

06/28/2024

We proudly train ALL breeds of dogs, no matter how big or small 🐾🤎

06/26/2024

Dogs that are impaired, whether hearing or visually, can be difficult to work with. It takes creativity to find the right approach for a deaf dog with behavioral issues. Many dogs rely on verbal cues from their owners and other dogs (ie: commands from owners, or barking and growling from other dogs).

Being deaf for some dogs can even cause more on-guard behavior from the dog, where anxiety, fear, and aggression can form, if not trained and socialized properly. This can cause issues with other dogs, but we have a training process in place for deaf dogs. No matter what you are dealing with with your deaf dog, our reward training process will teach hand signals, visual cues, and make sure the deaf dog knows how to look for eye contact from their owner.

When you have a deaf dog, speaking commands are not going to be very helpful for them. But there are other ways to communicate with a deaf dog. The primary language between dogs and people is body language. Your deaf dog may not be able to hear what you are saying, but they might be able to see or feel what you are saying through your body language or hand signals.

06/24/2024

We offer private, in-home dog training programs for dogs of all ages, specializing in basic obedience, puppy training, and behavior modification. Our trainers aren’t afraid of a challenge, and we never discriminate based on your dog’s age, breed, or temperament.

What makes us unique to dog owners? We stay committed to your training goals until they’ve been met—no matter how long it takes and without additional fees. 💚

06/21/2024

Leash Work Makes the Dream Work!

Shared with Dropbox

06/20/2024

It’s officially sweet summertime ☀️🍉💕

06/19/2024

Happy Juneteenth!

06/17/2024

🌟 Puppy Training 🌟

Our puppy training program is ideal for puppies 7 weeks of age and older. We train puppies of all breeds and sizes. We cover the following topics:

• Potty Training
• Crate Training
• Leash Walking
• Recall
• Basic Commands
• Impulse Control
• Greeting Manners
• Biting, Chewing, Jumping
• Feeding & Exercise Schedule

If you are interested in learning more about our customized, in-home puppy training – contact us today!

06/16/2024

Happy Father’s Day to all the dog dads out there! 🐾💙

06/14/2024

Happy Friday! ❤️

06/13/2024

When your dog is constantly exposed to triggers or situations that cause a negative reaction, this only increases their anxiety and makes the situation worse.

Removing a dog from a situation that does not serve them is never a bad thing. At least until you start a training program and have a plan!

When you train with us, we’ll make sure your dog understands the behavior expectations, we’ll reduce the anxiety and then we’ll proof our training around those triggers, SLOWLY!

Contact us to learn more about how we can help your dog! ❤️

06/10/2024

A new dog or puppy coming into the home and family is a major life change, and some dogs can handle it, and some might have complaints about it. Possible issues like jealousy and resource guarding can occur, and that can include being possessive or aggressive over things like food, toys, and even over the owners! It’s important to help reinforce a healthy relationship between all dogs in the family, especially if puppies are involved.

Not only do we not want to put any of the dogs in harm’s way because of one’s poor behavior, but we also don’t want that poor behavior to seem acceptable to any of the other dogs or puppies in the pack!

For all dogs getting to know each other, the owner must show them that the leader of the pack is ALWAYS the owner first. The dogs should be allowed to socialize and interact, but there must be supervision and also certain situations that you could monitor more, or avoid altogether to avoid failure (i.e.: feeding the dogs separately can prevent any food aggression issues).

When the dogs have to be left alone, it is important that they are separated in the beginning, until things are 100% between the dogs. Making sure both dogs understand obedience, manners, and basic boundaries will help eliminate and avoid bad behaviors in the first place, while also keeping a consistent structure that both dogs can thrive in and feel more encouraged and confident.

Training is a great bonding tool, so maybe while one of your dogs might not need behavior training as much as the other, both can benefit from it, and also cement a positive relationship between the two.

06/07/2024

Happy Donut Day! 🍩💗

06/05/2024

Working with your Veterinarian

Behavior can play a big role in the dog’s overall well-being. For instance, we’ve had clients with dogs that are BANNED from their vet, due to their uncontrollable aggression. The dogs have bitten vet techs and they always struggled to put a muzzle on the dogs whenever the vet came in for the full exam.

Veterinarians and trainers have very similar goals; the approach is just different – a vet does medical checkups and will address any biological issues with the dog, and that can include dental health and also mental health. But when it comes to behavior, most vets can only just prescribe medication or recommend a behavior trainer. As a trainers, we want to address behavior issues that can affect the dog’s general health (and sometimes this can be a vice versa case, where a medical issue might contribute to some poor behaviors).

Veterinarians and trainers want to improve the quality and extend the life of dogs as much as they can. In a way, it’s a team effort. The more information between veterinarian and trainer is shared, the more clear the big picture will be, and the problems that the dog is suffering from can be resolved!

It’s not just about referrals, or getting special discounts at the vet or with training: knowing our vet community is a step to bettering our dogs lives. With a good vet to tackle any medical issues, and a committed trainer to combat the behavioral issues, your dog will be set for behavioral balance and also a lifetime of good health and happiness!

06/04/2024

Milo did so well working on recall and focus on the long training lead! His initial excitement shows with his body language. When he figured out what we were doing, he relaxed into a beautiful loose walk, paid attention to his proximity to mom and even began waiting for her to catch up with him! I love it!!

06/03/2024

Dog training is like going to the gym, it takes time to see results!

Changing behavior doesn’t happen overnight. It takes patience, consistency, and time! You won’t see results right away because your dog is learning a new way of life. Just like when we learn new skills it doesn’t happen right away, we need practice and that’s a lot of what training is.

Don’t shy away from changing your dog’s behavior because it won’t happen right away, start the process now so you can begin towards your goals!

Our dogs are with us for a long time, having a well-behaved dog is worth the effort! 🤎

05/31/2024

Off leash freedom is a privilege! Not all dogs can be trusted off leash even with training. Some dogs will always be a flight risk for several reasons.

Our training program always covers a solid recall. Off leash freedom is also included for dogs we feel can be trained for it.

To learn more about our training programs and what they include, visit us online!

05/29/2024

When it comes to behavior in dogs (and people too) it’s important to understand that behavior is not who someone is, it’s what they do.

Training doesn’t change who your dog is, it changes how they act and what they do in situations.

When you train with us, we don’t change your dog’s personality, we bring out the best in them! 🖤

05/27/2024

Happy Memorial Day! 🇺🇸🐶💙

05/24/2024

Dogs bring us so much joy 🖤

05/24/2024

Brody & Callie's Mom called me to get some help with loose leash walking and focus!
Callie is definitely better at impulse control in the beginning than Brody, however, he is trying to make up for it with cute bunny hopping.
I'm not falling for it sir, and now neither is your Mom!

05/22/2024

FOOD AGGRESSION

Many owners live in fear of their dogs, especially if they have food aggression. This is a problem. Rather than training their dogs and setting boundaries, they’ve allowed their dog to set the boundaries. I’ve met owners whose dogs were showing signs of dog’s food aggression, sibling aggression, or resource guarding and the excuses of temperament, instincts, or the dog retaining ownership over a space or object were common, such as a food bowl or the dog’s bowl.

The truth is, it’s not instinct or temperament, and a dog can’t own anything. The tendency for a dog to show aggressive behavior such as growl, snap, or bare teeth if his/her owner tries to touch something they see as theirs is a simple issue of behavior. This is especially common where food is concerned, and this is known as food aggression.

If you’ve ever tried to pet your dog while they are eating, been snapped at while trying to remove their dish for any reason, or if you have two dogs that bicker or fight over food, you’ve got a case of food aggression on your hands. It can be fixed, with proper training.

Don’t let food aggression affect when your dog eats. Starting working with them when they are young to avoid any aggressive behavior.

05/22/2024

🌟 Vet Appreciation 🌟

We take so much pride in being a part of our community and working with local veterinarians. Thank you for the wonderful review, Dr. Park and Waterloo Animal Hospital 💜

05/22/2024

Janey can be a big distraction for sister, Peach. Mom wants to be able to walk them together eventually and so we are working on loose leash walking, basic manners, focus on Mom and the good 'ol "Look Away, Walk Away"! Good work!

05/22/2024

Dogs don't necessarily need other dog friends. 😂

As a human introvert, I get it!
But just like us, they shouldn't be allowed to bite, punch, abuse or bully others.
So essentially, the NON-reaction is the PERFECT reaction!!

05/21/2024

05/21/2024

Usually, I am called to help owners with their dogs pulling excessively while on leash. Sometimes they have the opposite issue. We had to work on getting Yoshi to move! Distractions are real at their new house for him and so we are working on building up confidence on leash and eliminating crate anxiety. Yoshi is young, smart and he's going to love learning to navigate the world with Mom and Dad!

05/20/2024

WHY DO DOGS FIGHT?

Dog on dog aggression or “dog fights” most commonly stem from two instincts in dogs. These instincts can be categorized into: the will to be dominate and fear. If you own multiple dogs, and one dog demonstrates aggression towards one of your other dogs, they are most likely trying to be dominant. The dog exhibiting dominant behavior wants to be seen as the leader of the pack and aggression is an effective way for them to establish themselves.

However, if the trigger is a strange dog walking by or at the park, your dog could be trying to show dominance, or it may feel threatened for its safety or the safety of his home/family (which he would view as pack mates).

Although this aggression may never be meant to hurt people or the other dog, unfortunately it often does. There are hundreds, possibly thousands, of stories of owners or children getting injured because they were trying to break up the fight between dogs or were simply in the way of the attacking dog.

05/18/2024

A couple of years ago someone showed up unexpectedly at a session we were having for reactive dogs.
This was at a large venue we use.
Completely out of nowhere a woman showed up at our remote location and came marching right toward us.
I had no idea who she was and she was walking towards all of us with purpose.
The clients and the dogs were wonderful....calm and everyone put into place what they had been taught (luckily this was our last session so a lot of work had been done previous).
They weren't barking or lunging (always a strange word to spell!). All the dogs attending were amazing as were the guardians/owners.

This person and their energy could have caused a reaction so I matched her speed and walked right up to her to head her off.

I told her she couldn't be here as this was a private class and these were reactive dogs....she asked what a reactive dog was as I walked her to her car.
So I told her, her next comment was....

"Why would anyone want a dog like that" !

Everyone heard her say this.
I told her that was a really rude and insensitive thing to say.
These people love their dogs and often it takes just one incident for a dog to become reactive.
She didn't understand.

I know the difficulties and the judgement reactive dogs face, that also extends to their guardians/owners.

If you are out walking somewhere and see someone struggling with their reactive dog maybe think about how to help the situation rather than jump straight to self righteous judgement.

Can you give them more distance ?
Can you remove yourself quickly and calmly ?
Do they need something specific ? Ask them.
Can you stop your dog staring at theirs ?

If you can....please do BUT as you do this, acknowledge the people holding onto that lead and acknowledge that they are doing the best they can. Give them a small wave or a thumbs up.

Reactive guardians are some of the most dedicated people I know.

ALL it can take is ONE issue to occur and a dog can become reactive.....you could easily be that person at the other end of that lead.

05/18/2024

If a fear reactive dog is in the height of a reaction your dog is beyond learning anything. They are in their flight, fright or fight state and correcting this does absolutely nothing to teach your dog how to not be reactive.

When a dog is reacting it means that the dog has lost control of logic and their brain is flooded with stress hormones. This makes reasoned thought or learning impossible.

Your dog cannot learn in a reactive state.

Counterconditioning and desensitisation, while keeping your dog under threshold is a proven, effective way to lessen reactivity.
The best thing to do if your dog goes over its threshold and reacts is to walk away in the opposite direction.....keep going until your dog stops and do a U turn to reengage at a better distance.

If you do not reengage your dog will begin to think their reaction worked (it created distance between themselves and the fearful stimuli)....and you can have a cyclical reaction.

Always work under your own dogs threshold .

Celebrate the wins and remind yourself this is a process.