Welcome to Freedom K9 Training!! Here you will find tips and advice on Behavior & Training, Nutrition
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🎄✨ Merry Christmas from the Freedom K9 family! ✝️ May your day be filled with love, laughter, and the warmth of cherished moments. Thank you for being a part of our journey this year. Wishing you and your loved ones a joyous holiday season! 🌟🎅
One of my favorite places to take dogs – Osborne Boatlanding – is the site of an underwater archaeological dig!!
This small, two day event focuses on gathering information on two wrecks dating back to early 20th century (? I was so excited to talk to him I may not be remembering that detail correctly - blog link below where he will post some of his reports.)
*I’ll come back next week and take a video of the wrecks*
Training inspiration stuff 😜
While we were down there, these knuckleheads practiced down/stays and ignoring all the activity as I learned more and volunteers walked past😉
https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/?s=brendan+burke&_wpnonce=9df6db698b&_wp_http_referer=%2Farchaeology-blogs%2Fpage%2F2%2F
*Looks like all posts are together, regardless of location etc. I searched for Brendan Burke - the State Underwater Archaeologist - to narrow down my search. I'll keep an eye out and update when I see a post about these wrecks.
Headed to the park! Forecast 65% chance of rain and it is hot and muggy but we are on our way!!
freedomk9training • Original Audio
Idgie is hanging out with us a few nights!!!
Her family has done AH-MA-ZING at creating & maintaining structure and training throughout their life together!
Because of that they have a dog that can -
♦ Go places with them
♦ Hang out politely when they have company
♦ Explore a farm off leash
♦ Has dog friends (she struggled with some dogs when she fostered with me last year) &
♦ Overall be included in their life - despite being a pretty insecure and sometimes fearful lady!
Clear direction, accountability and advocacy, enables Idgie to be included, go just about anywhere and do anything!
She's so awesome, y'all rock!! & .sansalone
Limited dogs can live an Unlimited life.
- J
Our monthly Pack Walk is this Saturday!!
Open to everyone - We'd love to see and support you in your training journey with your dog!
Registration Required*
Sign up today!
👉www.FreedomK9Training.com
New Years is next!!!
freedomk9training • Original Audio
Living a healthy, structured, balanced lifestyle with your dog doesn't have to be complicated.
Creating a routine that's practical and realistic for you and your family can be incredibly simple!
☀️ Crate
☀️ Place
☀️ Walk
☀️ Play (appropriate outlet)
Quality over quantity
Rinse & Repeat!🤩
Happy Independence Day!
Have a safe and enjoyable day!
Whatever is good for you soul, Do That
Have a beautiful Saturday💛
Fireworks are a-comin!
Over 30% more pets become lost July 4th-6th than normal.
Keep your dog safe (and not a statistic) with these tips!
🎇 Bring all pets inside
THE safest place for your dog (or cat!) is inside your home.
Dogs can perform pretty amazing feats when they are overwhelmed by fear (or desire) - Like jumping or climbing that tall fence!
❗️Do not underestimate your dog ❗️
🎇 Provide a Safe/Secure Space
Limit panicky, frantic behaviors and help them settle by putting them in their crate.
Play music to help cancel out the noise and offer a Kong or bone to help your dog settle and stay busy.
🎇 Drain their brain & energy
Prioritize draining your dog’s energy a few times during the day leading up to any festivities.
A nice long and slow structured walk, followed up with some playtime - romps with other dogs, tug etc. will tire them out and help them to rest.
🤩 Proactively developing your dog’s coping skills is always best.
If you missed your opportunity this year, start now and continue throughout the next year to help your dog learn to cope with loud noises.
Enjoy your time with friends and family and stay safe!
xoxo
- J
Ozzy's looking good!
Most folks picture massive, thick (round) dogs when they think of Cane Corsos, however they're meant to be more on the athletic side.
While Ozzy has struggled with stomach issues from puppyhood and often protests by not eating, sometimes for days days days, he is really starting to fill out and looks awesome!
Fun fact! AKC states plaural is actually Cani Corsi!!
Is it really for the dog or is it for you?
Rather than coming in hot with unbalanced, overly excited energy, spatial pressure, high pitched squeaking and pawing at them to “ build a relationship” - build that trust by being a source of calm in the storm.
Whether a dog knows you or has been with you before it is still stressful to leave their owners and be in a place that is not consistently theirs.
We use a structured walk, to start their stay with clarity, consistency and reliability - the things that really builds trust and a good relationship.
What does your walk look like?
More importantly, what does your walk FEEL like?
Is it stressful? Chaotic? Do you avoid it?
Do you let your dog drag you along with tension on the leash because you’ve read that’s an exploratory walk and it fulfills them?
Here’s the skinny
To a dog, everything in front of you is a resource that is either exciting or a potential threat.
Unstructured walks - dog out front pulling, sniffing etc. - creates the belief in your dog that they are responsible for what’s ahead and allowed to scan, address, react/ handle it. This leads to your dog being in a constant state of arousal - not comfortable or fulfilling!
The structured walk puts you in the control position, helping your dog understand that what’s going on ahead of you is yours to handle and they don’t have to worry about it.
That they’re not responsible for assessing or controlling the environment and they can simply follow along and enjoy the walk - relaxing and fulfilling!
Structured walks also give you tons of believability building opportunities to show up for and to your dog that will only strengthen your relationship!
Want to let your dog sniff & “be a dog” ?? You can always add exploratory walks too!!
Just make sure that you’re paying attention to your dog and it’s helping and not hurting.
Need help with your walk??
Reach out today!!
Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/jonny-boyle/bright-life
License code: DI8AOR4WOWFZVMIV
: “What does your walk look like? More importantly, what does your walk FEEL like? Is it stressful?…”
"Be thankful and eat cake" 🍰
We all experience
Setbacks
Failures
Struggles
Then we pile on toxic media (social included!!)
With all that, it’s super easy to fall into a negative mindset
And carrying all that heavy negativity leads to
You feeling stressed out…
depressed…..and anxious...
The best way to lift yourself up and lighten that load?
BE GRATEFUL
Stop what you’re doing now and take 60 seconds to inventory your life and give recognition to what you are thankful for...
It can be literally anything
Career
Family
Friends
Your dog (challenging or otherwise!)
Yourself and what you've overcome!!
When you take time every day to think about everything in your life that you love you will default to being in a great mood.
Need help starting?
⭐️ Set an alarm on your phone to practice this gratitude every day (or multiple times a day!)
⭐️ Think about 3 things that you love about your life
⭐️ Write it down
Practicing gratitude daily and when you don't need it - just like your dog's recall!
Develops that positive mindset and energy
So when shtuff goes sideways and life gets stressful
You'll be able to call on that practice to find peace and strength in that moment.
Besides being tons of fun, playing tug with your dog creates connection (engagement), strengthens your bond and is a great leadership game!
It's a great way to let your dog blow off steam in a healthy, instinct satisfying way.
You can also use playing tug as a different way to reward, OR use a game of tug to help your dog relax when they struggle in a new environment.
3 rules to think about when you are starting to play tug with your dog.
🐇 Pretend it's prey -
Squirrels and rabbits don't walk up to your dog and say "take me!" Get your dog interested by wiggling it AWAY from your dog in variating speeds - slow, fast, slow etc.
🏆 Let them WIN!
Who likes to continue playing a game they NEVER win? Your dog doesn't. Let your dog win some and you'll find they'll happily bring it back!
🥳 Play resumes when they come back -
Another lesson to teach your dog to happily return is to start tugging as soon as they return to you!
Bonus: When you're done playing, "Out" your dog from play, not when they've "won" and are away from you.
Happy Tugging!!
What’s happening in your dog’s gut affects behavior - just like kids when aunt Jessica feeds them too much sugar!!! 🤪🤣
Feeding completely raw is not for everyone, so I will always advocate for adding some fresh rather than none at all.

The most controversial topic when it comes to feeding your pet! 😾🗯
Despite arguments against it, mixing raw with kibble is not only safe but scientists in Finland have found adding some fresh food to your dog’s ultra-processed food can add significant health benefits. Several studies have found adding a small amount of raw or fresh food to your pet’s bowl can reduce inflammatory markers associated with several diseases, including IBD, allergies, and cancer. So next time you're preparing a healthy meal for you and your family, add some fresh food from your refrigerator to your pet's bowl as well! 🐶🥩🥦
Today in the Inside Scoop, the Rawpetmedics (Dr. Nick Thompson, Dr. Brendan Clarke, and Dr. Conor Brady) are joining me to discuss the do’s✅ and don’ts❌ of feeding your pet a raw food diet and help dispel some raw food myths and fears.
We’ll also be covering topics like:
🔥How to get started with raw
🔥Balancing with whole foods vs supplements
🔥The impact of bad quality meat on dogs and the environment
🔥How to make your pet’s water better
Whether you’re new to feeding fresh food or you’re an experienced raw feeder, you won’t want to miss this episode! Join us today at noon ET for this lively discussion! Looking forward to seeing your questions in the chat! 🙌
👉If you haven’t joined our subscription group of 2.0 pet parents and want to learn more, just head over to the Planet Paws page and click the blue "Subscribe” button to join our weekly Livestreams + Archives! On some devices, you may find the button under the “About” tab.
https://www.facebook.com/becomesupporter/PlanetPawsMedia/
Oh it was gooood!!!
Bak-In Bread!!
We love Rye bread around here, so I tried to make my own!
You can’t pour from an empty cup.
Vulnerable confession time.
Overworked and not taking time for rest resulted in being overstimulated, struggling to settle, stressed out and ultimately forced downtime with a sinus infection…
It’s way too easy to fall into “I need to get x,y,x done” - even if you know you need to take the time for self care.
Y’all there will ALWAYS be something (or many somethings) left to do.
Minutes in an hour, Hours in a day, Days in a week, Weeks in the year -
Put yourself on non-negotiable Place!
You can start small with minutes of deep breathing, but make sure it counts with something that refreshes and restores you.
The first conversation I have with owners is Relationship.
The second? Corrections.
Corrections are the missing ingredient to effectively communicating with, training and living life with your dog.
If you're only rewarding what you want (or ignoring what you don't want), you are not giving your dog the entire picture and they will not fully understand until you correct the unwanted behavior.
Training Sit, Down or "look at me" does NOT teach a dog to not lunge and bite.
Rewarding your dog in between trash raids (or counter surfing!) does NOT teach them to not get into the trash.
Turning your back and ignoring a dog for jumping does NOT teach them to keep all 4 paws on the floor (and is super dangerous for those getting knocked face first to the ground!!)
Corrections are the other half of clear communication and provide the much needed information your dog needs to fully understand what's acceptable, and what's not.
Teach your dog how to be successful in the real world by balancing out "Yes, do this" with "No, don't do that".
"Great things are done by a series of small things brought together."
- Vincent Van Gogh
Fireworks are a-comin!!
Now is the time to start working on helping your dog develop coping skills that they can call on when those scary booms begin!
⛈ Also great for storms/ gunfire!
Proactively practice calming exercises and help them face their fears - no resisting or fleeing allowed - before you need it!
Teach a non-negotiable down/stay or Place
Throw everything (plus the kitchen sink!) at them while holding them accountable to staying in command
📀 Loud Noises (Youtube!!)
📀 Bang on things (pots and pans and buckets Oh My!)
📀 Stomp around, throw things (Be the elephant!)
📀 Anything else that your dog normally would run from
Teach a heel/structured walk - follow me, migrate with me, connect with me
Stay Safe! and Add more challenging distractions
⚡️Loud noises/ machinery / motorcycles etc.
⚡️Before a storm/ fireworks, Inside during the storm, Outside during the fireworks
Then pop them on Place or in their crate to further decompress
Lastly - this is super hard but super important! - DO NOT CODDLE FEAR
Touch is a reinforcer, it will reinforce (make stronger) the behavior, mindset or energy your dog has at that moment
Touching and cooing "It's okaayyyy" actually adds more anxious energy to your already stressed out dog.
The best way to say "I got you dog" is to work your dog through that scary situation with the calming exercises that you've been practicing!
When it's over, play a favorite game like tug, or chasing the ball!
If it doesn’t bother me, it shouldn’t bother you.
Gypsy working on not worrying about the mower.

If your dog struggles with lawn equipment, or the common household vacuum demon, help them gain coping skills by practicing being calm around them.
Place is a great exercise to utilize when building these skills!
Beautiful Gypsy is hanging out for the weekend while her mom takes time for some much needed self care!
Offswitch in action!
Even with all of the structure, calming exercises, corrections and tools dogs will always know how to turn on!
Harley gets the zoomies and we have a great time playing keep away with my feet!
But there is a time and place and when I need her to stop, if she’s getting too excited or tries to bite my feet then I remind her that’s inappropriate and she needs to chill.
8 month old Harley goes home Saturday and I’m so excited at how far she has come!!
An ambassador for young dogs and Pomskis, she has excelled in her training program!
Fully ecollar trained with high level obedience -both on and off leash- she now has all the amazing skills and tools on board for her to be included in her family no matter where they go and to stop any young dog shenanigans (her personal favorites were jumping on everyone and biting hands!) or any that may pop up in the future.
Great job Harley!!
Shop full of Harleys
🤩😂
Super busy memorial day weekend can be a great opportunity for exposure and proofing and fun but remember docks get hot too!!
Make it nonnegotiable to do things that refresh and relax YOU regularly.
Taking a few hours today spending time with my sweets and my inner cartoon character💚
Got the new project bike up and running out for the Maiden voyage.
Henrico, VA
VA
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🎄✨ Merry Christmas from the Freedom K9 family! ✝️ May your day be filled with love, laughter, and the warmth of cherished moments. Thank you for being a part of our journey this year. Wishing you and your loved ones a joyous holiday season! 🌟🎅 #MerryChristmas #CelebrateJoy #Grateful
“You can’t always get what you want But if you try sometimes You get what you need “
Trash Run / Duration Sit 🤩
Is it really for the dog or is it for you? Rather than coming in hot with unbalanced, overly excited energy, spatial pressure, high pitched squeaking and pawing at them to “ build a relationship” - build that trust by being a source of calm in the storm. Whether a dog knows you or has been with you before it is still stressful to leave their owners and be in a place that is not consistently theirs. We use a structured walk, to start their stay with clarity, consistency and reliability - the things that really builds trust and a good relationship.
Oh it was gooood!!!
"Great things are done by a series of small things brought together." - Vincent Van Gogh
Fireworks are a-comin!! Now is the time to start working on helping your dog develop coping skills that they can call on when those scary booms begin! ⛈ Also great for storms/ gunfire! Proactively practice calming exercises and help them face their fears - no resisting or fleeing allowed - before you need it! Teach a non-negotiable down/stay or Place Throw everything (plus the kitchen sink!) at them while holding them accountable to staying in command 📀 Loud Noises (Youtube!!) 📀 Bang on things (pots and pans and buckets Oh My!) 📀 Stomp around, throw things (Be the elephant!) 📀 Anything else that your dog normally would run from Teach a heel/structured walk - follow me, migrate with me, connect with me Stay Safe! and Add more challenging distractions ⚡️Loud noises/ machinery / motorcycles etc. ⚡️Before a storm/ fireworks, Inside during the storm, Outside during the fireworks Then pop them on Place or in their crate to further decompress Lastly - this is super hard but super important! - DO NOT CODDLE FEAR Touch is a reinforcer, it will reinforce (make stronger) the behavior, mindset or energy your dog has at that moment Touching and cooing "It's okaayyyy" actually adds more anxious energy to your already stressed out dog. The best way to say "I got you dog" is to work your dog through that scary situation with the calming exercises that you've been practicing! When it's over, play a favorite game like tug, or chasing the ball!
If it doesn’t bother me, it shouldn’t bother you. Gypsy working on not worrying about the mower.  If your dog struggles with lawn equipment, or the common household vacuum demon, help them gain coping skills by practicing being calm around them. Place is a great exercise to utilize when building these skills!
Offswitch in action! Even with all of the structure, calming exercises, corrections and tools dogs will always know how to turn on! Harley gets the zoomies and we have a great time playing keep away with my feet! But there is a time and place and when I need her to stop, if she’s getting too excited or tries to bite my feet then I remind her that’s inappropriate and she needs to chill.
8 month old Harley goes home Saturday and I’m so excited at how far she has come!! An ambassador for young dogs and Pomskis, she has excelled in her training program! Fully ecollar trained with high level obedience -both on and off leash- she now has all the amazing skills and tools on board for her to be included in her family no matter where they go and to stop any young dog shenanigans (her personal favorites were jumping on everyone and biting hands!) or any that may pop up in the future. Great job Harley!!
Adding new challenges? New experience (or experiment!)?? Bring back safety protocols and prior success cultivating tools! *possible duplicate – some of my videos are not posting*
Here's the video that didn't post!!
Short clip of our morning walk!
New default behaviors💛 When there’s nothing to do, go to Place, turn off and relax.
Practice and feedback. At this stage of training we are adding as much distraction and duration as we possibly can to further strengthen Harley‘s understanding of self control, and staying in command even in the face of all the exciting things or if our attention is pulled elsewhere! If she struggles or makes a mistake we have all the communication tools that we’ve built in place - relationship, body language, verbal commands, leash pressure and Ecollar pressure to get her back on track and into the work groove.
There are many others but here are 3 reasons I like to keep my leash short - especially in public!! ⭐️ Early warning system that your dog needs your attention ⭐️ Immediate information for your dog that they need to reconnect with you via leash pressure ⭐️ Helps keep you relaxed with your arm down While I train off leash reliability, the safety of your dog in public is most important, so I will always advocate having that extra layer of control especially in the early days of training!
Harley started nose work today! There are many ways/games to start nose or scent work with your dog. Today I used a pillbox and immediately paired the scent with food (breakfast) & reward immediately. Harley loves to play just about everything - ball, tug, you name it! - but we'll continue to grow Harley's search skills to give her and her owners another healthy outlet & game they can do together! Structure is super important, but just like us, our dogs need an outlet, a pressure release, and fun scent games are a great way to engage with your dog (and inside when it's stupid hot like today🥵!)
Enjoying calm company as I made dinner last night. I talk about Place a lot because it has so much value for both your dog and you! It’s the command/ default behavior I go to for re patterning dog and people interactions and giving them inclusion in your life without chaos and poor behavior choices. Having a calm dog, one less source of stress is also a huge gift to give yourself in this crazy, human world of ours💚
Harley off leash in the super distractioning back yard🤩🤩 
Happy Pups - Walks and Adventures
David Drive
