Connected K9

Having a crate in your home and your pup properly introduced to it is one of the first things we recommend to puppy clients. Crates are such good tools to use when raising a puppy or bringing home a new dog. Crate Benefits: 🦴 They provide a safe space for your dog to go if they feel overwhelmed or tired. 🦴 They are a great tool to provide structure and routine for your pup. 🦴 Helps build confidence and independence in your dog. Crate Mistakes: 🦴 Only putting your dog in the crate when you leave the home. This can build the negative association that crate = mom and dad leaving and can lead to separation anxiety. 🦴 Not properly introducing the crate. We want it to be a positive experience for your pup. Start by feeding them their meals in their crate. 🦴 Taking the crate away. Too often we see people take the crate away after some time. This can be more confusing for your dog. If they are doing well with the crate, there is no reason to stop using it. It keeps everyone safe and gives your dog a home of his own. If your dog goes in his crate throughout the day and enjoys being in there, absolutely do not take it away. They are showing you that they need and want that alone time/space. 🦴 Not giving them practice in the crate. Put your pup in the crate for 15-20 minute intervals throughout the day while you are still home to teach them that crate does not always = mom and dad leaving. This helps your dog be neutral about it. 🦴 Not giving them their space when they go into the crate on their own. Think of the crate as your dog’s home. We don’t want to mess with them or engage with them while they are in there. It is there safe space. 🦴 Using the crate as a punishment. While we can use crates to remove our dogs from situations (ex: your puppy wont stop biting your older dogs ears, so you put him in the crate to give your older dog a break), we dont need to be yelling at them and creating fear around the crate. It is simply a too

Why are we such big fans of crates and proper crate training? 1) Crates provide a safe space for your dog to decompress, sleep, and have alone time. 2) They are a great way to build confidence and possibly avoid or help correct separation anxiety in your dog. 3) In a multiple dog household, crates are a great way to keep everyone separated during feeding times to avoid conflict. They also ensure that dogs get time on their own throughout the day in a multiple dog household. 4) They keep your dog safe and secure when you have to leave the home. Ensures that your dog cannot get into anything they are not supposed to. 5) They provide stability and structure which are essential ingredients to your dog’s mental health and understanding of the world around them. 6) Puppies need 18 hours of sleep a day for brain development. Crates are a great way to give them the nap time they need. We believe in creating a positive association with crates. This means introducing it slowly. Feeding your pup their meals in there. Giving them practice in their crate for short amounts of time without us leaving the home. Giving them a high value reward in there. We want them to associate the crate as their positive, safe space and not to associate it with mom or dad leaving or as a punishment. Crates are great tools when it comes to managing multiple dog households as well and are very helpful in keeping all of the dog’s relationships healthy and positive. They are a great tool to remove your dog from certain situations. Ex: if your puppy is playing too rough with your older dog, he can go in his create to take a break. We always want to advocate for other dogs. We do acknowledge that not every dog is a good fit for a crate. There are times when past experiences or other circumstances warrant for your dog to not be crated. Through our experience, we have seen the wonderful benefits of crate training from an early age or when you bring a dog home. With that being said,

Pack walks and proper socialization! We love our monthly walk with our clients. It’s such a great opportunity to practice leash walking skills in a new environment and to challenge our pups. This is also an awesome way for all of the dogs to experience being around lots of other dogs and people, but to not interact with them. We’re teaching them to be neutral to their environment and focus on mom or dad. As always, we are beyond thankful for this community and all of the time and hard work our clients put into their dogs. 🐾

How to manage and respect an anti social dog! In today’s seminar we had a client who has a dog that is a great example of a pup that wants nothing to do with people outside of his circle. He has made it very clear through vocalizing, body language, and taking space from other people, that he does not want to be approached or interacted with. Often times as owners, it is hard for us to not project our own emotions and desires on our dogs. “We want him to be good with kids” “We want him to like other people” But what about what our dog wants? Especially one like this example where he has made it clear what he does and does not want. This is where we may need to adjust our expectations of our dog. At this point it is our job and responsibility as owners to respect the social preferences of our dog and to advocate for them in situations involving other people. The owners in this situation did a really great job of communicating to the kids that come to their home “to please not approach or interact with the dog”. Remember that you as a human probably do not like every person you meet. You don’t enjoy every social situation. You may be very introverted and not enjoy being around others. You may be extroverted and thrive in social settings. Dogs are not much different in that sense. Not every dog will enjoy others in their space. It is our job to advocate for them and to show them that we have their back when they are the most uncomfortable and vulnerable. Happy Training! 🐾

Giveaway Winner!

Congrats to Caroline Coleman for winning our review give away! Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to leave us a review and support our trainers and business. It truly is what helps us to grow. 🐾💙

Pack Walk!

Don’t miss our next pack walk this Saturday 3/30 @ 9:30am - Liberty Pond Park! Join us as we work on leash walking skills, obedience with distractions, and offer one on one coaching from our team of trainers. If you want to have as much fun as Cheyenne here, you’ll be there! Only open to past and current clients.

Client appreciation post! The way we train is a little different than some. We come to you for your sessions and really work to ensure that the training is just as much in your hands as ours. Our goal is to teach you how to better communicate and work with your dog so that training can be continuous and last a lifetime. You are just as important, if not more, to the outcome of your dog’s training than we are. We want to help empower and coach you to have the confidence needed to train and engage with your pup daily. We believe that training is a life long part of you and your dog’s time together. It can always be challenged and improved and we are beyond grateful to start you on that journey together. Whatever your goals are, we are here for you! Seeing our clients take the leash and practice what we have taught is the most rewarding part of it all! 🐾

What a great day for puppy training! Today we teamed up with Wags k9 Training and all of our puppy clients for the ultimate obedience, confidence building, leash walking, & socializing event. Every single puppy did a wonderful job today focusing on their owners in the presence of a whole lot of distractions. We are hoping to have events like these monthly for all of our current and past clients. Big thank you to Will and his team for hosting this awesome event! Happy training everyone!

Nothing better than fall on the farm and some @mountainwildpet training sessions. We are incredibly picky about what we feed our pups and what we use during training sessions with our clients. Choosing Mountain Wild was an easy choice due to their minimal and clean ingredients. Our pups and our client’s pups go crazy for these wild elk and deer treats that come from all the leftovers of hunting season in the Rocky Mountains. Who doesn’t love an ethical, clean, and sustainable product? 100% pure, natural, and wild. Just like our pups 😉 Use code CONNECTEDK9 for 10% of your next order! #wildroaming #MountainWild

Marker training “good” vs. “yes” In this group class we went over the difference between “good” and “yes” as it applies to marker training. When we want our dog to sustain a command, we use the word “good”. We teach them that this means the treat will come to them and they are to stay in that position until we release them. This should be a calm arousal state and we solidify and strengthen this by adding in distractions such as our trainer, Kyle, demonstrating here as he steps closer and closer to the puppy. “Yes” is more often used in the teaching phase and to evoke higher levels of arousal. When we use “yes” we move and draw the dog into us rather than bringing the reward to them. More to come on this “yes” in part two! This is just how we use markers, but you can absolute use different words as long as they have consistent meaning to them and are communicated clearly. Happy training!🐾

Leash walking and how we use certain tools to teach it. Tools are meant to be used to help and are not meant to be relied on. Utilizing something such as a slip lead must be done slowly, with intention, and above all, safely. We start by simply introducing the feeling of it to the dog. Letting them get used to what it feels like. Our next step is to use our voice paired with light pressure, small taps, and rewards to begin getting our pups to follow us as we change direction. We want to make sure that our body language and voices are helping to guide them where we want them to be and the light taps are simply the physical part of the communication. It’s important to start practicing these skills in a controlled environment without distractions before taking your dog on a walk and expecting them to respond well to the leash pressure or understand what you’re asking. They have to understand what the pressure means and what you’re expecting of them with no distractions before putting it all into practice in the real world. Always work with a professional when using new tools, be patient, and consistent. Happy training! 🐾 #dogtraining#dogtrainer#behaviormodification#basicobedience#dogtrainingtips#dogtrainersofinstagram#puppytraining#puppylife