My EPIC Dog - Human and Dog Training

Pebble is working on meeting and greeting a new person in a calm and mannered way without any jumping. I love how she is checking in with her “momma”!! Awesome, you two! Fabulous job! 😘 🐶 👏

She is so darn cute that people would love to meet her. But guess what. She is not having it… 😉 Oshi, the cute little puppy in the video, is backing up and barking at the girl who is looking at her and walking towards her. That she is backing up gives us a good clue that Oshi is feeling uncomfortable, insecure, and possibly even threatened. For many dogs, it is too much when people approach and look at them and when they feel as if they are the center of attention. This is especially true for insecure and sensitive dogs. They might be overchallenged with a stranger or unfamiliar person making eye contact with them, especially when the person is coming closer at the same time. Being approached can be even more off-putting for a small dog, even seem like a threat, simply because of the size difference. Oshi, the pup in the video, is completely fine with other people walking close to her and coming towards her as long as they don’t pay attention to her specifically. I have seen this behavior in many dogs, mostly clients’ dogs, but also one of my earlier dogs, Kimba, who came from a bad background. There can be several reasons why a dog is struggling in these situations. For example, it could be: -a lack of experience -a lack of positive experience -the genetic background -an actual trait of the breed or a trait of their very own and unique personality -how they grew up … Sometimes we can’t tell exactly why a dog is struggling but one thing is clear and that is that they need some help. And they should get the help they need to feel better so that they can behave better 😊 Let’s look at what we can do for our sweet but insecure puppers next time so that this post won’t get too long… 😉 stay tuned.

Can you read your dog’s body language and behavior? What is this pup telling us?

Sweet Rottweiler pup Pebble has advanced to some amazing leash walking skills in her neighborhood and that in a super short amount of time! 😊 🐶 It’s always so important to solidify the basics and then advance at the pace of your dog. She is now ready to work on socialization in new places and with different kinds of distractions. Well done 👏 you two! Keep it going!

Laying the foundation for great leash walking skills and listening skills: We’re practicing inside with a limited amount of distraction at first, so that our sweet girl Pebble can understand and learn what we would like for her to do before we train the same outside. The inside distraction is mainly provided by her furry brother Rock-o, who goes through training as well. Pebble and her human are doing a fantastic job so far - I can tell they have practiced and done their homework as I can see how nicely Pebble is able to focus on her momma while walking with her 👏 it looks beautiful 😍

My sweet big friend Oso had his last session where we focused on adding dogs in as a distraction while testing his focus on his owner, self-control and listening skills (see video). Additionally to the set up training session with my pups, we had a lot of really good real-life situations come up: a few people (men) walking by as well as someone with a slightly reactive dog, dogs barking behind fences, the garbage truck making a lot of noise and such. It can be challenging for a dog to keep their calm when someone not far away from them struggles with their own temperament 😉 and men have been a tough challenge for Oso in the past. Therefore, I was thrilled to see that Oso has progressed immensely throughout his training and was handling everything very well, especially the situation with the passerby men and reactive dog. Congrats to this sweet boy and his family for doing such a fantastic job! I loved working with you and will miss you! Y’all have a great future together! 😃 🐶

These two made my day yesterday! 😀 We practiced along Magnolia Avenue and Oso did so well! He wasn’t overwhelmed anymore, therefore more confident and settled, he was fine with people passing and also didn’t really pay attention to a dog. And he did great with his focus, leash walking and listening skills! His owner has done such a fantastic job with him! I’m so happy for them and proud of them! ♥️ 🐶 It was really a joy and pleasure to work with them! 🤗

Did you know that… …your dog’s performance, aka listening skills, hugely depend on clarity, the clarity of your communication with your dog? Is it always clear to him when he is supposed to do something certain and what he is supposed to do? Is it really clear to him for long he is supposed to do it? Just think about it. Do you use short and precise commands? Or do you wrap whatever you want your dog to do into a phrase or even a whole sentence like we humans do when talking with each other? Do you always use the same command for the same skill? Or are you ok with your dog laying down when you say sit or him sitting when you said to lay down? Do you clearly tell your dog when he is allowed to walk away from a sit stay or down stay? Or are you just fine noticing that he sometimes decides himself when he’s done? A lot of dog owners complain to me that their dog is only listening when he wants to or that he’s not always doing it properly. Are you familiar with this, too? If you have the feeling that the communication with your dog is going only one way, towards him, but he’s not really reacting the way you thought he should, this is most likely due to you not providing clear enough instructions for him. Since your expectations aren’t clearly expressed, your dog finds himself in the position to decide on his own. And so he’ll do. This is a challenge that many dog owners and their pups struggle with. Are you one of them? Please let me know in the comments.

Meet Pretzel 🥨 and Peaches 🍑 These are two of my new students and they are so sweet! They’re struggling with pulling on the leash, getting distracted and too excited to see people and other dogs on walks. So, barking and lunging is a challenge as well as jumping on visitors because they’re so happy to greet them. Additionally, one of them suffers from separation anxiety. Right now, we’re working on the pups being able to focus on their owner with their fur sibling around and also when distractions are added in bit by bit. A lack of focus and self control is often the reason for challenges with our beloved fur friends, especially when it comes to them being impulsive or reactive. Your dog struggles with similar symptoms? We can help him out, too. Just reach out to us.

Celebrate 🎉 one of our graduates 🎓 with us! Bandit and his owner made fantastic progress and successfully overcame several of his behavior challenges. Bandit would dart out the door, be too hyper to be around in the house and was therefore spending more time in his crate than his owner wanted it to be; his hyperactivity led to a lack of focus and listening. Look at his amazing stay at the door now! 🥳 👏 His owner did such a wonderful job following through with his training! I’m proud of them. And I am so happy for them to be more connected now and that they can enjoy Bandit as a family dog that is easier to have around than before 😊 🐕 All the best for you! I’ll miss you!

Not long ago, a dog owner inquired about training and told us that she and her pup were rejected by other trainers because her dog was too old to train. So, I asked how old her dog is, and I was shocked when she said, “one year”. Shocked, because I expected to hear a number with two digits or something like it that would indicate a senior dog but not a young dog of only one year of age. I assured her that her dog is not too old to learn new things and be trained well. The oldest furry client we assisted with behavior and obedience training was 13-year-old Sophie who improved and learned just as fast as the young pups we have seen so far. And Sophie is by far not the only senior dog we have worked with. A dog can learn at any age just like we humans. Of course, learning at a younger age is typically easier and puppies raised with great manners that were trained from early on are more fun to have around. So, while we do encourage training for dogs and owners as early as possible, don’t hesitate to start it whenever you are ready no matter the age of your dog. Even bad habits can be retrained. Your dog just needs your help. And we are here to help you help your dog. Just call us at 817-805-8901.

Mabel is making big strides in her training so far - improvements from session to session which is wonderful! She is also nicely progressing with her potty training and seems to get an understanding of that she’s supposed to go outside. Her crate has been dry for a good while, no pee due to excitement and she goes outside right away. Wait until your pup is about to finish her business before you start to praise (so not too early) and reward or start some engagement that your pup enjoys such as play time or pets.

Here Mabel was alerting me for the first time that she had to go out to potty! I’m very proud of her! Wonderful job! It is hard for you to see so I’ll tell you what she did. At first she was nicely engaged with me and we were playing training games (sorry we walked out of the frame) and then, all sudden, she disengaged and walked away from me and then continued walking towards the back door. That’s when I turned off the video quickly and took her out. She hurried to go to the grass and went potty right away. Big win in the potty training process of a little puppy! ♥️ 🐶

Just recently a dog owner inquired about training and told us that she and her pup were rejected by other trainers because her dog was “too old”. So, I asked how old her dog is and I was shocked when she said “one year”. Shocked, because I expected to hear a number with two digits or something like it that would indicate a senior dog but definitely not a young dog of only one year of age. I assured her that her dog is not too old to learn new things and be trained well. The oldest furry client we assisted with behavior training was 13 year old Sophie who improved and learned just as fast as most young dogs we have seen so far if not even faster. A dog can learn at any age just like humans but of course, learning at a younger age might be easier than later. Also, set habits, especially unwanted ones, are harder to change than establishing great habits from early on. So, while we do encourage training for your dog and yourself as early as possible, don’t hesitate to start it whenever you’re ready even if your dog is not a freshly weaned puppy anymore. Back to the client who inquired, we’ve scheduled her and her dog for the new year and look forward to meeting with them and helping them. In the video you can see 13 year old Sophie at an early stage of training. She was easily irritated by other dogs and barked and lunged at them. So we were establishing focused walking with her owner as a new skill to do instead of getting distracted by other dogs.

Impressions of a training session This video shows the work on some foundation skills that will help both ends of the leash later on as we add people and dogs in as a challenging distraction. It might not look spectacular yet but we’re on the way to some great behavior! Watch them practice voluntary focus with very mild distractions. This teaches the pup that checking in with his owner is great and a better choice than looking at disturbing things. It also helps develop self control and self confidence and that he can trust his owner. You can also see that they have applied a rule which is to ask for permission to get back on the walk. The pup is waiting nicely for his human to release him by focusing on her one more time and waiting for her to say “ok” before walking on. This ensures that the dog learns to respect his owner and that he does not walk away on his terms when it’s not appropriate. Of course, we will add more skills and raise the level of difficulty bit by bit to set our clients, both human and pup, up for success. We want them both to feel confident in what they do and have a good time while they do it 🙂 Frankie and his owner are still at the beginning of their human and dog training journey to better communication, trust, listening skills with distractions and more self control. Frankie is a sweet and young German Shepherd who is struggling hugely when seeing other dogs on walks. He loses all self control, gets vocal and lunges at them and is then hard to get back under control. His owners are active people and enjoy the outdoors. Therefore, they want to take him camping, hiking and into public as they go. Of course with good behavior! 😉 That’s where we come into play. We can relate to our clients’ situation with Frankie as we love the outdoors as well, like to take our dogs with us no matter where we go and I’ve also owned a reactive dog in the past and know what it’s like. Therefore, we know how important and

We are still here for one more week this year to help you with your pup's manners and listening skills. So, grab our holiday special while it is still available and benefit from our outstanding dog training services while saving some bucks. Call today at 817-805-8901, contact us via our website myepicdogtraining.com or send us a message here on Facebook 🙂

Great leash walking skills start at puppy age

The next example of commonly made mistakes and dog parents waiting too long until considering dog training or not getting dog training in the first place: Many dog owners reach out for help with leash walking problems in a dog that they got at a young puppy age. In most cases, it’s about fixing leash pulling in a 9-month-old 85 lb. Labrador or a dog of similar age, size, and weight. This problem can be prevented when proper loose leash walking is taught from scratch when the puppy is only about 2-4 months old and still very light in weight. Even slight leash pulling at this age and low weight or in a slightly older puppy is so much easier to retrain than later when the dog is so much stronger and, in most cases, quite a bit stronger than their human. Plus, the longer a dog knows to pull on a leash, the more it turns into an established habit and yes, “old” habits take longer to address than setting new habits from the beginning. Not only in dogs but especially in humans… And please don’t get me wrong here, I love leash training and also turning pulling into good leash walking skills but why making it difficult for everyone involved instead of going the easy, relaxed and fun way? I get it, when a little puppy is pulling on leash it is still easier to handle than a full-size adult dog, but puppies don’t typically stay little for long, right? Especially large breed puppies. And we all know that. So, in your own interest, in the interest of your pup, and your joints, get professional dog training for leash walking skills set up as soon as you have your puppy. It won’t be too early. ❤🐶

Love is fun, fun is playing tricks with your dog