DragonTaming

We regularly see 'Service Dogs' and other animals during our public outings. Our Service Dogs are trained for all scenarios and should be confident with animals / Service Dogs walking past in close proximity! #dogtraining #dogtrainer #dogtrainingtips #dogbehavior #dogrecall #animalbehavior  #offleashtraining #caninebehavior #forcefree #forcefreedogtraining #sciencebasedtraining #sciencebaseddogtraining #positivereinforcement #advancedobedience #aggressiontraining #dogaggression #anxiousdog #reactivity #reactivedog #workingdog #workingdogs #servicedog #servicedogtraining #americanakita #akitainu #shepsky #germanshepherd

If someone tells you that you need an e collar to train your dog's drive or prey drive, they have no legitimate education and you should find a qualified professional. Here are quite literally the two most 'untrainable' breeds that have full control around wildlife and flawless obedience. The dogs speak for themselves! #dogtraining #dogtrainer #dogtrainingtips #dogbehavior #dogrecall #animalbehavior  #offleashtraining #caninebehavior #forcefree #forcefreedogtraining #sciencebasedtraining #sciencebaseddogtraining #positivereinforcement #advancedobedience #aggressiontraining #dogaggression #anxiousdog #reactivity #reactivedog #workingdog #workingdogs #servicedog #servicedogtraining #preydrive #americanakita #akitainu #siberianhusky #shepsky #greatpyrenees

Does your cat enjoy physicalinteraction? Are they socialized and exposed to a variety of environments, living beings and potential triggers? Do they accept cooperative care - can you brush their fur / teeth, trim their nails, put them in a carrier, take them to the Vet etc. with cooperation? All of these things are reguarly skipped over and not even thought about when it comes to cats. Cats need just as much 'training' as dogs!

Did we make a Skunk friend? The key to desensitization isn't actually rewards or positive reinforcement - although that helps and makes the process much more efficient. We simply need to practice neutrality as the first step! #dogtraining #dogtrainer #dogtrainingtips #dogbehavior #dogrecall #animalbehavior  #offleashtraining #caninebehavior #forcefree #forcefreedogtraining #sciencebasedtraining #sciencebaseddogtraining #positivereinforcement #advancedobedience #aggressiontraining #dogaggression #anxiousdog #reactivity #reactivedog #workingdog #workingdogs #servicedog #servicedogtraining #skunk

Bach did absolutely amazing! Both his owner and myself were a bit surprised by how well he did after a rough warmup. The key is to take it slow, let him exhibit signs of being relaxed with our auto-regulation and engagement drills, then continue into the challenging environment. As you can see in the video, you would have almost no idea that Bach is an intensely reactive dog! #dogtraining #dogtrainer #dogtrainingtips #dogbehavior #dogrecall #animalbehavior  #offleashtraining #caninebehavior #forcefree #forcefreedogtraining #sciencebasedtraining #sciencebaseddogtraining #positivereinforcement #advancedobedience #aggressiontraining #dogaggression #anxiousdog #reactivity #reactivedog #workingdog #workingdogs #servicedog #servicedogtraining

Opening the door is one of the biggest rushes owners with dogs struggling with separation anxiety can experience. You really have no idea what's waiting on the other side! Here, you can see that Jubilee is very relaxed yet, still excited for me to come home. This was about 5 months of work with myself being a Professional and having a fantastic fur family to help her build the skills she was lacking. Reach out to see how we can help your own pups struggling with separation anxiety! #dogtraining #dogtrainer #dogtrainingtips #dogbehavior #dogrecall #animalbehavior  #offleashtraining #caninebehavior #forcefree #forcefreedogtraining #sciencebasedtraining #sciencebaseddogtraining #positivereinforcement #advancedobedience #aggressiontraining #dogaggression #anxiousdog #reactivity #reactivedog #workingdog #workingdogs #servicedog #servicedogtraining #separationanxiety #greatpyrenees

Gulliver loves to express himself - very vocally and relentlessly. Here you see his owner / handler guide him through a situation that normally would elicit a strong reaction. The key is to be patient, rewarding him for both noticing the trigger as well as maintaining composure consistently as he needs. #dogtraining #dogtrainer #dogtrainingtips #dogbehavior #dogrecall #animalbehavior  #offleashtraining #caninebehavior #forcefree #forcefreedogtraining #sciencebasedtraining #sciencebaseddogtraining #positivereinforcement #advancedobedience #aggressiontraining #dogaggression #anxiousdog #reactivity #reactivedog #workingdog #workingdogs #servicedog #servicedogtraining

One of the easiest way to foster relationships across boundaries (fences, windows etc) is by simply making the interactions positive for all parties. Instead of immediately going on guard and becoming reactive towards my pups, the neighbor's dogs now immediately look for me enthusiastically! #dogtraining #dogtrainer #dogtrainingtips #dogbehavior #dogrecall #animalbehavior  #offleashtraining #caninebehavior #forcefree #forcefreedogtraining #sciencebasedtraining #sciencebaseddogtraining #positivereinforcement #advancedobedience #aggressiontraining #dogaggression #anxiousdog #reactivity #reactivedog #workingdog #workingdogs #servicedog #servicedogtraining

A trained Service Dog should be able to handle normal and surprise dog encounters without detriment to their focus. Unruly dogs can easily distract working dogs, which is why public access laws exclusively for Service Animals exist! Despite this, we train for all scenarios, ensuring success with our Service Dogs. You can see Artemis(my SD) do a 'circle', spot the Service Dog, then immediately re-focus on me once she realizes he's well behaved and won't disrupt her job. #dogtraining #dogtrainer #dogtrainingtips #dogbehavior #dogrecall #animalbehavior  #offleashtraining #caninebehavior #forcefree #forcefreedogtraining #sciencebasedtraining #sciencebaseddogtraining #positivereinforcement #advancedobedience #aggressiontraining #dogaggression #anxiousdog #reactivity #reactivedog #workingdog #workingdogs #servicedog #servicedogtraining #americanakita #akitainu #akitaservicedog

When letting puppies / adult dogs interact with your developing pup, or when resocializing your adult dog, you want to carefully pick and choose who they interact with. This allows them to efficiently relearn the 'rules' of interactions, creating predictability and confidence in the dog. Thankfully, I have 3 amazing 'helper' dogs that all are fantastic at developing other dog's social skills and confidence. If you're struggling to find the right dogs to work around, send me a message. Good trainers are usually the only ones with the dogs you want to socialize your dogs with! #dogtraining #dogtrainer #dogtrainingtips #dogbehavior #dogrecall #animalbehavior  #offleashtraining #caninebehavior #forcefree #forcefreedogtraining #sciencebasedtraining #sciencebaseddogtraining #positivereinforcement #advancedobedience #aggressiontraining #dogaggression #anxiousdog #reactivity #reactivedog #workingdog #workingdogs #servicedog #servicedogtraining #boerboel #greatpyrenees #americanakita #southafricanmastiff

We love finding wildlife! At this point the local wildlife we regularly see almost doesn't mind us being this close anymore. The skunks here seem to all remember us - we notice them scurrying away from other dogs and their owners well before detection. Could your dog handle their instincts and drive around wildlife? #dogtraining #dogtrainer #dogtrainingtips #dogbehavior #dogrecall #animalbehavior  #offleashtraining #caninebehavior #forcefree #forcefreedogtraining #sciencebasedtraining #sciencebaseddogtraining #positivereinforcement #advancedobedience #aggressiontraining #dogaggression #anxiousdog #reactivity #reactivedog #workingdog #workingdogs #servicedog #servicedogtraining #americanakita #akitainu #greatpyrenees #skunk

Jubilee gets really frustrated when Apollo(white older pup) gets to interact with other dogs through the fence. She is still also very much developing her social skills! Giving her two other well balanced and socialized dogs (Apollo + Artemis) to provide an example to emulate - helps dogs with lack of socialization a ton! *check out Artemis patiently waiting for a chance to run in and 'police' the interaction 😂 #dogtraining #dogtrainer #dogtrainingtips #dogbehavior #dogrecall #animalbehavior  #offleashtraining #caninebehavior #forcefree #forcefreedogtraining #sciencebasedtraining #sciencebaseddogtraining #positivereinforcement #advancedobedience #aggressiontraining #dogaggression #anxiousdog #reactivity #reactivedog #workingdog #workingdogs #servicedog #servicedogtraining #greatpyrenees #americanakita #akitainu #siberianhusky #germanshepherd

Look at that enthusiastic recall!!

Artemis sets great examples and can easily influence Athena's behavior. We use this to our benefit when training a Service Animal; in this case, helping Athena walk through a busy crowd and set a good pace for her handler. We refer to the older, established dog as a mentor! #dogtraining #dogtrainer #dogtrainingtips #dogbehavior #dogrecall #animalbehavior  #offleashtraining #caninebehavior #forcefree #forcefreedogtraining #sciencebasedtraining #sciencebaseddogtraining #positivereinforcement #advancedobedience #aggressiontraining #dogaggression #anxiousdog #reactivity #reactivedog #workingdog #workingdogs #servicedog #servicedogtraining #siberianhusky #germanshepherd #americanakita #akitainu

Despite a rough start, Finn did much better than expected! He has some big triggers with dogs. A couple of times we had to simply remove ourselves from the environment to let him regulate himself / calm down and then we returned at a slow pace based off of what he was ready for. As you can see we managed to actually settle at the patio and even accept pets from strangers without become overly aroused! #dogtraining #dogtrainer #dogtrainingtips #dogbehavior #dogrecall #animalbehavior  #offleashtraining #caninebehavior #forcefree #forcefreedogtraining #sciencebasedtraining #sciencebaseddogtraining #positivereinforcement #advancedobedience #aggressiontraining #dogaggression #anxiousdog #reactivity #reactivedog #workingdog #workingdogs #servicedog #servicedogtraining #blacklab #labradorretriever

The Guardian breed privilege comes out every once in a while 😜 If you know my Akita - you know very well she is never vocal unless it's something serious or truly unexpected / novel. She is extremely confident and well socialized, if she is on guard it is my duty to show her I trust her! #dogtraining #dogtrainer #dogtrainingtips #dogbehavior #dogrecall #animalbehavior  #offleashtraining #caninebehavior #forcefree #forcefreedogtraining #sciencebasedtraining #sciencebaseddogtraining #positivereinforcement #advancedobedience #aggressiontraining #dogaggression #anxiousdog #reactivity #reactivedog #workingdog #workingdogs #servicedog #servicedogtraining #americanakita #akitainu #guardianbreed

Anyone with a dog struggling with reactivity will recognize the behaviors in this video way too well. Note how patient I am with Jubilee. She is simply expressing her excitement / frustration with physical behaviors. Punishing her for simply telling us how she initially feels will only make her bottle up and suppress her emotions. The whole goal is for her to consciously choose better decisions - usually after a period of letting her regulate. You note after my second attempt at calling her name - I simply wait until she decides she is ready to respond. The trigger in question: my other dog Apollo meeting two pups through the fence. You will see at the end that she also gets to meet them, and by the training we practice, she is calm with the barrier greeting once it does happen.

Everyone house training a puppy - especially one with separation anxiety - understands the preparedness to come back to a house rearranged 😭 We're making amazing progress with Jubilee. I have had her for almost 5 months now and she's become so comfortable and confident, inside and outside the home. The key is to not set 'deadlines' for training. Let your dog progress at the pace that's suitable for them!

"But my dog never checks in or disengages!" The key is distance! Find a distance that your pup is successful, and work your way closer to the trigger.

I'm not sure who gets more excited, me or the pups I work with 😁