In a recent Q&A, we actually received a lot of questions asking about how to add more structure to their dog’s daily lives & routines.
The truth is, it’s often times a lot more about how we add more structure to our own routines & schedules as human beings, and the dogs are sometimes just a byproduct.
However!!! We do have an example of a more structured schedule, that would be beneficial for any dog & owner to follow. We even follow a similar schedule with our personal dogs too 🤗
-First things first: gotta empty those bladders from overnight!
-Our dogs don’t eat “normal” breakfast - so instead we’ll usually work on their engagement with a few snacks while we’re prepping our coffee, etc - but if your dog does eat breakfast, feed them here (note: this is where you could be hand feeding!)
-Crate rest - make sure you’re always waiting at least 30 min between exercise/activity & when your dog eats, so you avoid bloat!
-Short walk. And if your dog isn’t ready for a full blown walk yet, then add in your leash drills instead.
-A more structured schedule doesn’t mean that free time doesn’t exist! However, if you’re finding that your dog can’t handle that “free time,” there’s nothing wrong with adding in more kennel time and/or place work too.
-Structured exercise/walk. At least 45-60 min; & this cannot be you just letting your dog outside in the backyard. You can break this up though! If you don’t have a full hour, do 20 min here, 20 min there, and 20 min later on.
-Crate rest directly after exercise. Minimum of 2 hrs.
-Potty break.
-Play time!!! Remember to play with your dog. Fetch, tug, running around, etc - just find what your dog enjoys, & find time to do that together.
-Training practice.
-Place work (& offer a chew, if applicable!)
-Dinner (either hand fed or offered in kennel). Followed by crate rest.
-Post dinner walk. Can be structured or unstructured, depending on you & your dog.
-Bedtime (preferably in the crate
Meet our foster dog, Pepper! Available for adoption through Fur-Angel Foundation ✨
Have you met our foster dog, Pepper, yet?
If you’ve done private sessions with us, you might have gotten the chance to meet Pepper when we sometimes bring her out with us - if not, let us introduce you!
Pepper is a ~2 year old, spayed female, mixed breed (from just her behaviors & overall personality, we suspect that she is some kind of mix of terrier like Jack Russell, & potentially some French Bulldog and/or Boston Terrier), from our friends over at @fur_angel_foundation. Pepper is about ~17lbs, which does make her a great size for apartment living!
Now, let’s talk a little bit about Pepper:
1) Home girl can be 🌶️ spicy 🌶️ - but!! She is a work in progress. Pepper initially came to us for a ton of reactivity issues. Dogs, cats, chickens, people, bikes, scooters, cars - if it moved, she was going after it. We’ve cut back on the reactivity a lot & have made great strides (i.e like no more lunging at people, cars, etc)! However, other dogs are still a main trigger at times.
2) That doesn’t mean that she can’t go to a home with other dogs though. Pepper can be very social, and is even mostly neutral with other dogs! When introduced properly, Pepper gets along well with most dogs. We also suspect that she’d live fine with cats. Smaller animals, like birds, lizards, mice, etc might be more challenging for her though, as the girl has a pretty good amount of prey drive & likes to hunt (which makes sense for any terrier - it’s what they were bred to do).
3) As you can see from these videos, the girl is an absolute goof ball! We want to make people aware of some of her behavioral quirks, so they can figure out if Pepper is actually a good fit for their life & if they can dedicate the time to her continued training; but at her core, Pepper is a silly, cuddly, & playful little dog! When she’s in work mode, she can also be very fun to train too!
4) Pepper loves sunbathing whenever she can, dehydrated chicken feet & baby carrots, cuddling, p
Our top ten best dog breeds for first time owners.
10. Shetland Sheepdog
9. Shih Tzu
8. English Springer Spaniel
7. Havanese
6. Standard Poodle
5. Papillon
4. Greyhound
3. Labrador Retriever
2. Golden Retriever
1. King Charles Cavalier Spaniel
Just breaking it down for clicker and/or “yes” work here 🤗 but you’ll absolutely know when your maker (the “click” from clicker or “yes”) is charged up and correctly, when you can get a super clean and fast response from your dog. As you’ll see in this video, all 3 dogs were in opposite ends of the house, didn’t know Makana had a clicker or treats at his desk/in his hands, and still came running as soon as they heard that “click.”That’s the power of consistent conditioning and clear communication.This video is only a demonstration of clicker work, but technically speaking, any marker that you use for anything, should result in a quick and snappy response (after teaching and learning) - if it doesn’t, it may not be as “charged up” or even as truly understood for your dog, as you may think it is. If you’re working on markers with your dog; are you able to use “yes” work and/or the clicker at the opposite end of your home/away from your dog, with the same results? Tag us in your videos/stories if you can! We’d love to see 🙌 and if you’re not there yet - that’s okay! Message us if you need help.
Remember that your small breed dog deserves training too. Don’t do them a disservice by ignoring training, just because they’re small. ✌️
Remember that your small breed dog deserves training too.
Don’t do them a disservice by ignoring training, just because they’re small. ✌️
Here’s the thing, we know that a post like this won’t change the world - this is an idea that canine professionals are all too familiar with, & it’s an explanation that can fall on deaf ears often - but if we can even get one person to open their mind up to a new possibility, concept, reality, etc with their dog(s), then we feel like we’ve helped to do our jobs. The second that you begin to treat your dog like a human being, you’ve already failed them, & unintentionally disrespected them for what they are. An animal. A canine. A dog. Now, we’re not going to pull that line like “they’re just dogs,” because we know that they’re more than that. They’re more than that to us too. And we’ll be the first ones to tell you that we definitely view our own dogs as our babies & they’re for sure spoiled! But we never forget the fact that no matter how domesticated they are, they are still animals first and we have to respect that; and we never neglect their needs, just because they don’t align with our human ones. Your dog needs a different kind of communication system set up in order to best understand you - they aren’t just born understanding human verbal language, it has to be taught. Your dog is a migratory, pack animal; they need physical exercise & time to bond with their pack members - that means that they need to get out more often than just going for 3 potty breaks a day. Your dog has a different way of interpreting affection than you do - you petting your dog when they’re aroused/exited/nervous has a different response on their brains than if you were physically trying to comfort another human. Your dog has genetics that were specifically bred into them over thousands of years ago - so just because you want your dog to be a certain way or not do certain things, doesn’t mean you’re going to get that (Want a lap dog? Get a Shin Tzu, but don’t expect that same kind of behavior out of Cattle Dog, just because you want it to be so - one
Things we’d like to see more of going further into 2024 ✨
We’re only going to go over a few of these, because we’ll go over the caption limit very quickly 🥴😅 but feel free to continue the discussion and/or add what you’d like to see more of this year, in the comments!
✅ more kindness: for others, for your dog, & for yourself. That last one is one that gets ignored way too often. Take it easy & be a little more gentle. We talk about it often when it comes to dogs, but there’s a way to be both gentle & firm at the same time - start applying that same idea to yourself & the others around you.
✅ less pressure: this one has a few different meanings for us. 1) we’d like to see people stop putting so much pressure on themselves - social media can be a great thing, but sometimes it makes us feel like we’re not doing enough, that we’re not where we’re supposed to be, or that we’re just not good enough, based off of something that we watch for 15 secs. Especially when it comes to dog training. But truthfully, much of that isn’t reality. 2) we’d like to see people stop putting so much pressure on the dogs in general. Your dog doesn’t need to be friends with every single other dog, child, family member, or stranger that they come across. Owners need to start understanding their dog & advocating for their dogs first, & then maybe we’d stop having so many dog bites & dogs ending up in shelters.
✅ more rest - for you & your dog. Same for you - you can’t go without taking a break forever. There’s a beauty to the grind, but you need to find balance (even we need to be better about this one 😬) - it’s not cute to be burned out.
✅ more education: seriously pick up a book, take a class, or hire a professional. For anything that you want to know more about. This isn’t just for dog training, but we’d definitely like to see owners be more active participants in this. For ex, you’re looking to buy a puppy - especially for a breed that you’ve never owned before - reach out to a dog train
Not really sure what happened to us as a society (although we have some ideas 😅), where now we think that we’re just entitled to touch all animals - even ones that don’t belong us, or even wild ones. 😳
The reality of it is, is that you actually don’t have a right to touch someone else’s dog/cat/pet of any kind (especially without asking first!), just because you think it’s cute, or because you have one at home, or just because it’s there when you are. Same thing with all those people out in national parks trying to touch wild bison and moose, or people on the beaches here trying to touch Monk Seals… when you get gored or bitten, are you then going to realize that you’re not Snow White, and this isn’t some fairy tale? These are animals… dogs included. And sorry if this sounds harsh, but they owe you nothing.
Dogs are not public property, and therefore, are not there for your personal “use.” Ask first. If an owner wants to allow you to touch their animal, that’s totally fine! But don’t be an ass, if someone tells you no, that you can’t. They might be training, working through something, the dog might be ill, the owner may not want people in their own personal space, or they just straight up might not want you touching their dog - and that’s okay! They also don’t owe you an explanation.
Dogs owners also keep in mind that you NEVER have to feel bad for telling someone “no, you can’t touch my dog.” We hear so many owners tell us that they’re constantly apologizing to people when they’re out in public because their dogs are reactive/fearful/etc and don’t enjoy new people, and that they feel bad. But seriously, you have nothing to feel bad about.
Think about this way - babies are cute, but you don’t see random strangers walking up and just picking kids up out of their strollers or trying to touch them as you walk by in the grocery store… that’d be a major issue. 🚩 Usually people just remark on how cute a
