Begging 4 Balance Dog Training and Rehabilitation

Chancey dragging the long line at Crandall

Chancey has just a few more days until he graduates and heads back home, so we’ll be visiting lots of parks and working on his on leash and off leash training around distractions.

Chamcey down/stay in the car

I teach all the dogs I train to hold a down/stay on the back seat. Because they know the command in other contexts it’s easy for them to understand what I’m asking for, even when the car is moving. Then e-collar makes it easy to inforce the command and keep them accountable. This is such a great skill for dogs with car sickness, anxiety, or reactivity. It really gives them a job to focus on rather than worrying about the movement of the car or what’s going on outside of it.

Saratoga with Chancey

Yesterday, before this excessive heat rolled into town Chancey and I took a walk around Saratoga Springs. It was great because there were tons of doodles and Golden Retrievers to pass by. Chance is here mainly because of his reactivity to dogs (doodles and goldens in particular). He did great passing by all kinds of dogs and working on his off leash commands around ducks and lots of other distractions in the park. 👏

Glens Falls with Chancey and Eddie

Chancey and Eddie walking and holding a down/stay in Glens Falls.

Walk with Chance and Eddie

A little clip from today’s walk with Chance and Eddie.

E-collar work with Chancey

Working with Chance on his off leash e-collar skills.

Hudson Falls with Eddie

I took Eddie to the park in Hudson Falls today.

Chance walking with my husband

Chancey walking with my husband and Eddie walking with me.

E-collar obedience is coming along nicely with both Eddie and Chancey. Today I walked them together and had Eddie hold a down/stay off camera while I worked with Chancey, then switched off a few times. Nice work, boys!

Place recall with Chance and Eddie

A little session working both Chance and Eddie

Walking Chancey and Eddie together today!

Chancey working on e-collar outside

Working on e-collar recall, sit, and down with Chancey. He’s just in the first phase of e-collar, so when you hear me give the command I apply low level continuous stim with the remote and leash guidance until he follows through. It’s all pressure and release, the same way he learned all these commands with just the leash and prong collar. Now we just layer over the low level sensation of the e-collar onto all the commands as well. Then we will begin to gradually phase out the leash guidance over the next several days.

Auto-sit with Eddie

Working with Eddie on auto-sit using e-collar.

First place command session with Chancey

Here’s a clip from the first day of working on place command with Chancey. The first step is teaching dogs to step up onto the cot, then I start working on the boundary and teaching them not to step off. Nice job, Chancey!

Started place command with Eddie

I started teaching Eddie place command, sit, and down using prong collar.

Chancey prong collar intro

After he arrived yesterday I started introducing Chancey to the prong collar. First I allowed him to walk away and apply some pressure to the leash. This engages the pressure of the prongs. Then I guided him toward me and the pressure from the collar is released. We walked back and forth like this a while. Next I started adding light leash pops instead of steady pressure. We also worked on auto-sit. So whenever I applied pressure up on the leash and guided him into the sit, I immediately released pressure from the prong. This is the same concept of pressure, guidance into the command, and release that we will be using when we start e-collar work. All this obedience along with correcting unwanted behaviors and a shift in relationship dynamics with humans will help Chancey to be more tuned in. It will also help him to take more of the follower role and relieve some of his concern with dogs and people. Nice job, Chancey!

Jucket park with Mumford

Took Mumford to the park in Hudson Falls today.

Proofing place command with Mumford

Proofing place command with lots of challenging distractions for Mumford.

Kennel up with Mumford

Some kennel drills with Mumford. He’s waiting for permission and learning to go in and come out on command.

Took Mumford to a new spot today. Now that he knows all the commands we will start increasing the distractions and challenges.