Best Choice Dog Training

05/02/2024

“Our journey with our dogs is never about training. It is about building a relationship step by step, behaviour by behaviour. While training with a dog does certainly affect our relationship, I believe, done properly, the relationship building IS the training.” Beautifully said!

Bonus Day 8 of 7 Days of Switch

Reflecting on the journey, dog training, and relationships.

Our journey with our dogs is never about training. It is about building a relationship step by step, behaviour by behaviour. While training with a dog does certainly affect our relationship, I believe, done properly, the relationship building IS the training.

Kim and Switchy’s relationship was a great example of that. Reaching goals by creating learning and boundaries with engaging games but never attaining those goals at the expense of the relationship.

That is the journey with a When we travel such a journey together, that's what makes the pain of loss at the end, all the more unbearable.

There are no stubborn, spiteful, stupid, or bad dogs.

There is just behaviour we can observe to give us feedback about our dog's needs, ourselves, our responses, and the choices we should make on this journey, and the next one we take with a
,
Rest well, sweet Switchy, thank you for the lessons, you will be missed by many.

04/11/2024

When you're teaching children about dog bite prevention and how to be safe around dogs, keep it simple. Here are a few easy tips to help children understand the importance of respecting dogs. Uncover more at avma.org/DogBite!

04/10/2024

Great advice from the National Dog Bite Prevention Coalition!

Dogs can bite for many reasons, including improper care or a lack of socialization. All dogs, even well-trained, gentle dogs, are capable of biting when provoked, especially when eating, sleeping, or caring for puppies. Therefore, it's vitally important to keep both children and dogs safe by preventing dog bites wherever possible.

The National Dog Bite Prevention Coalition (AVMA, State Farm, Victoria Stilwell, American Humane, and Insurance Information Institute) recommends the following tips. We can all by working together. Visit avma.org/DogBite to learn more!

04/09/2024

How can we all work together to help prevent dog bites? Experts from the National Dog Bite Prevention Week collaborated to develop these important tips and information - including the top 10 states reporting dog bites and how to prevent dog bites - in our infographic.

Remember - we can all work together to . Learn more by visiting our National Dog Bite Prevention Week page: https://bit.ly/3a3EzWJ

04/05/2024

Another article about adolescence, one of my favorite topics in dog training! I know adolescent dogs can be "challenging," but they need our patience and guidance. If you need help with a "rowdy" adolescent, please reach out. I'd be happy to help!

Dogs like most mammals experience an awkward phase between youth and adulthood characterized by poor judgement and impulse control.

04/04/2024

“When we approach adolescence with patience we can help create a world that is predictable and gentle so our puppies grow up to be their best selves.”

Ever wondered why a puppy's behavior seems erratic during adolescence, which occurs between six months and 18 months of age?

The neurobiology of adolescence is fascinating, with some key events that alter both the structure and function of the brain.

During canine adolescence, s*x hormones are changing which effects the animals stress responses. Adolescent dogs have a decreased ability to modulate sensory processing and subsequent behavior.

The connectivity between the frontal cortex (responsible for decision making) and amygdala (responsible for emotional processing) decreases, resulting in less behavioral control.

So what does this mean? This could mean that your dog, who used to come when called, suddenly cannot. This could mean that your dog, who didn't jump up on guests, suddenly does. Your dog that walked nicely on leash is now pulling. Or perhaps it seems like some days your dog responds to behaviors you ask of them, and some days they don't, without any rhyme or reason.

We also see increased risk taking and more sensitivity to fear.

As your puppy undergoes this transition into adulthood their inner world is intense, even chaotic. Many pet owners experience an increase in undesirable behavior and find themselves becoming increasingly frustrated. In turn, frustration and impatience sometimes cause us to act unpredictably.

This adds to your puppy’s inner turmoil. When the inside and the outside are both unpredictable it can be difficult for puppies to adjust.

By understanding this we can gain greater compassion and understanding. When we approach adolescence with patience we can help create a world that is predictable and gentle so our puppies grow up to be their best selves.

03/27/2024

This is why I always try to help people understand why their dog is doing what they do and how to help them learn to do something else instead. Connections are more important than corrections!

Using 'corrections' to alter behaviour only tells the dog what not to do. It gives no information on what to do instead, and doesn't take the reasons for the dog showing that particular behaviours into account. In particular it suppresses the emotions that have prompted the behaviour and, while it seems to have worked as the behaviour stops, the emotions are still there. Those emotions can then lead to fallout later, with the potential for much more serious issues than the original behaviour their humans wanted to stop.

When we focus on building a connection, understanding our dogs and their behaviours and why they do the things that they do, we can see the 'why' of the behaviour and take any action necessary to remove the need or reasons for that behaviour.

Whether there is something the dog is struggling with in that situation or if they need a bit more reinforcement history or help to understand that the cue we are asking them to follow means the same thing out in the world as it does when we first taught them it at home.

Whether the root cause is fear, frustration, confusion, pain, or any more of a list of possible underlying causes, having a strong connection and understanding of our dogs will let us see what they need and how we can work to provide it for them.

03/19/2024

This is why I teach with games! It’s not to trivialize the importance of learning. It’s to help your dog enjoy learning so it takes less time and effort.

Just like children, dogs love to play. When you combine learning with play, they retain that information that much quicker. Positive reinforcement training is all about making learning fun!
Contact us today to start your dog on their learning journey! www.sitsnwgglescle.com

03/15/2024

Please share Echo to help him find a new foster home or an adopter. He is housetrained, learning important skills like understanding visual communication and walking nicely on a leash, and he LOVES to play!

02/16/2024

Please join me in welcoming adoptable Echo to my Awesome Adolescents Program! He’s a smart, lovable pittie mix who happens to be deaf available from It's a Pittie Rescue.

Please like, comment, and share with anyone you know who may be interested in adopting this special young man! He will need continuing education to help him navigate the world, but he’s super eager to learn and very food motivated. Please contact It’s a Pittie Rescue for information.
ID: A white dog with gray markings, Echo, sits and looks at the camera.

01/26/2024

This is a good explanation, written by a veterinary professional, about one of the reasons I don’t use or recommend slip leads. If you need help with leash training, please contact me. It’s one of my favorite skills to teach!

Er komen steeds meer hondentrainers op de markt die het gebruik van een (slip)lijn hoog in de nek bij de hond adviseren en uitdragen. En dat is erg zorgwekkend! Het belangrijkste wat we als goede hondenprofessionals kunnen doen, is het effect ervan steeds weer te blijven delen:

HET GEBRUIK VAN EEN SLIPLIJN (HOOG IN DE NEK) EN DE EFFECTEN ERVAN

Er werd mij gevraagd om over het gebruik en biomechanica van een ‘sliplijn hoog-in-de-nek’ te schrijven. Ik hoop dat het mensen hierin bewust maakt.

Wat gebeurt er bij het gebruik van slip-lijn waarmee hoog in de hals door een opwaartse beweging wordt gecorrigeerd?
In deze hoge nek-positie zit de lijn naast de schedelbasis en waarbij de onderkant van de lijn met het tongbeenapparaat in aanraking komt (dit is het ophangmechanisme voor de tong en het strottenhoofd).

Daaronder zit de atlas (eerste halswervel) die aan het bovenkant een verbinding met de schedelbasis heeft. De onderkant met de tweede wervel heeft een pen die samen met het ruggenmerg in de boog van de atlas zit.

Het mechanisme
Deze twee bovenste gewrichten van de hondenhals zijn hoog bewegende gewrichten. De eerste maakt de op-en neer knikkende beweging (ja-knikken) mogelijk en de tweede de rotatie (nee-schudden). Deze gewrichten zijn in hun anatomie, articulatie* en vorm uniek in de wervelkolom.
(* Articulatie is de wijze waarop de boven- en ondertanden en kiezen over elkaar heen schuiven).

Wanneer er op de onderkant van de nek druk wordt uitgeoefend (door bijv de lijn), wordt het tongbeen samengedrukt en worden de wervels van de hond in buiging gebracht en wordt de schedel naar beneden getrokken (het hoofd van de hond maakt dan automatisch een knikkende beweging naar beneden).

Als er met een sliplijn- of ketting met kracht en/of hoge snelheid wordt gecorrigeerd kan de
2e wervel (de ophanging) breken.

Dus:
Correctie ➡️ tongbeen wordt samengedrukt ➡️ nek van de hond wordt hierdoor gebogen ➡️ schedel wordt hierdoor naar beneden getrokken ➡️ kans op breuk van de nekwervel is groot

Hoe voorzichtig het ook wordt uitgevoerd, deze methode mag vanuit veiligheid en pijn NOOIT gebruikt worden.

Tekst: Celia Cohen, MCSP, MSc dierenarts Fysica, Diergeneeskundig Fysiotherapeut ACPAT(A)

01/13/2024

No corrections ever in any of my training!

01/11/2024

This is a great explanation.

There is a lingering misconception that using force free and fear free methods consists of just ignoring any 'bad' behaviour and giving a dog food. The reality is that force free training is so much more than that.

It requires an understanding of the history of dogs, why they do the things that they do and how to change their behaviour. Of how to manage the dog's environment so they don't get to practice the behaviour we don't want to see while reinforcing the behaviours we do want - dogs do what works for them so reinforcing alternative behaviours makes the original behaviour much less likely to repeat.

Most of all it means having an understanding of the dog in front of us, their needs, likes and dislikes, so that we can help them with their fears or show them the behaviours their humans would like without danger of fear and pain, or of the dog becoming frustrated or scared.

12/17/2023

Isn’t this why we want to have dogs in our lives? 🥰

All we ever need to do is treat our dogs with the same loyalty, forgiveness and patience they show us.

12/16/2023

Any trainer who DOES use discomfort and coercion is using outdated methods from the 1940s and 1950s. There’s never a reason to hurt, scare, or coerce dogs to train them.

"𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘨𝘴"

A direct quote from another trainer's comments on one of my posts. Which exemplifies why it is 𝘴𝘰 important that you do your research before you hire someone to work with your & your dog. Because, in an unregulated industry like dog training, ethics and methodologies vary widely.

So look into a trainer's methods. Do your homework. Understand what they will, and will not, do to your dog. Make sure you understand & are comfortable with their approach. Make sure you are happy that it's a good fit for your dog. Ask questions if you're not sure.

Do your due diligence; because your dog can't.

12/13/2023

These are great tips to help dogs and cats feel less stressed during the holidays!

11/18/2023

08/17/2023

This is absolutely true! Your adolescent (teenage) dog is just going through a developmental stage. If you’re struggling with a teenage dog, please reach out. I’m happy to help!

Teenage dogs acting crazy, not listening half of the time and being moody is not actually a problem, it's a feature of getting a puppy 😂 You have to survive the chaos in order to earn the privilege that is having a mature dog.

So many people reach out to us and are out of their minds with their teenage pups and want to know “what’s wrong with them” but there is nothing wrong with them, they are developing normally.

Remember this the next time you want a puppy 😆

But you can still work with your pup, teach them boundaries and manners, and help them learn to LOVE to focus on you! Reach out to us today if you need help with this! 🙌

08/07/2023

Great graphic from Serenity Canine Behavior

1- Stimulus control often means exposing your dogs to conditions in their environment that are conducive to learning and consistent with their current skill levels.

2-Train FOR the moment if you want results IN the moment. Your dog’s choices are a reflection of the reinforcement history you have rehearsed.

3-To the extent we are capable we try to anticipate, and create solutions that put our choices at the cause of the matter and are resistant against environmental uncertainty.

4-Dogs can spot a good deal and they know how to count. Making the reward schedule generous and deeply joyful for your dog is critical in building value in the choices you want to reinforce. Besides, why WOULDN’T you want to be as generous as possible even if the science didn’t support it’s benefit??

5-We make a lot of sounds from the holes in our faces and yet many humans find their bond with their dogs deeply nourishing when they understand certain human words. If you’d like your words to have more value not less, conserve them. I also like to speak VERY quietly when I’m training my dogs indoors. It’s a separate sounding speech pattern than my average sound and I find it helps build value in the cue. Primates also like to repeat ourselves and increase the volume (i.e. A chimpanzee signaling ooh, ooh, OOOOOH, eeh, eeh, EEEEEEEH! Or a human with the stay, staaay, staaaaaaaaaaaaaay as they walk away from their dog). Use a generalized duration marker instead of the same cue on repeat. Say your cue once a wait for the result. Your dog heard you, I promise. Saying the cue again at an increased volume to get the result is not as efficient as waiting a few seconds for your dog to respond and using the information of the result to inform your next rep. If your goal is outcomes, focus on the learning process, not the proficiency of an individual trial.

07/25/2023

I’m often asked why I don’t use and teach corrections (disciplining dogs for making mistakes). This is why. I focus on teaching people how to teach their dogs what they want them to do instead of correcting mistakes. If a dog is making lots of mistakes, it’s because they haven’t learned what to do and need help to understand and practice being successful. They don’t need to fail and be “corrected” over and over.

One question I get asked a lot is how to "fix" an issue with a dog after they have already blown past their training. A great example of this is with teaching a dog how to walk loose leash. I get asked a lot about how to stop the dog from pulling on the leash, and people seem genuinely surprised when I simply state "don't allow it to get to the point of pulling." That means the moment I notice a dog is leaving the desired positioning - be that a heal or just a general not tight on the leash - I reset the dog, and reinforce for the correct position again. I don't wait till the dog is pulling on the leash, I get ahead of the pulling by having a set of criteria that needs to be met, if those criteria aren't being met I don't wait for the dog to blow right past the slack in the line and start pulling, I reset. This is a true practice for any unwanted behavior, if we are chasing the behavior trying to clean up what has already gone sideways that is what we will spend all of our time doing, we will never reach a point where the dog is truly learning. This is true for loose leash walking, this is true for recall, this is true for house training and the list goes on. Stay ahead of the problems, know what you can reinforce based on what you desire to see more of, and don't wait for it to go sideways when you notice a little slip, get things back in order right away. It should go without saying if you're following my page this absolutely does not mean offer any sort of physical or emotionally charged correction; this means reset the dog so they can immediately be reinforced for the desired behavior. Remember; corrections are still just chasing the problem, they aren't fixing anything.

07/19/2023

THIS!

Psssssst…

Just a gentle reminder:

❌Your dog doesn’t need you to be the alpha

❌They don’t need you to put them in their place

❌They don’t need to be physically or verbally intimidated using any manner of “training” tools

They need compassion. They need empathy. They need you to understand them and to listen to them.

And this is even more important if you’re dealing with fear or aggression.

07/13/2023

I love working with adolescent dogs and understand exactly what Happy Hound University is saying. Having a friendly, social adolescent dog is good and normal. Yes, I can help you teach your dog to have more self-control if they are a bit over-the-top. I’m always happy to see friendly, outgoing young dogs.

Part of raising a dog fairly and with compassion is having appropriate expectations.

I stumbled upon a tik tok post with a young puppy, wearing both a shock collar and a prong collar, working on his “frustration based reactivity” in a public space. It’s always painful to see tools like this on any dog, but whenever I see them on a puppy I’m really floored.

And then, because I’m apparently a ma*****st, I went into the comments, where I found this comment.

And I wanted to say this there, but if there’s one thing the last few years have taught me it’s that arguments on the internet rarely change minds. So I figured I’d say it here:

If you have an 8 month old dog who wants to say hi to people and other dogs…. You have a normal dog.

You did not “socialize him wrong”; there is nothing wrong with this picture. You have an adolescent dog that enjoys the company of other dogs and people. What a gift.

Whenever I read something like this I reframe it in human terms. “My 13 year old always wants to hang out with her friends! What’s wrong with her, how can I change this?!” There’s nothing wrong with this 13 year old! 13 year olds SHOULD want to see their bffs every day, that’s a normal developmental stage.

The truth is that adolescence is HARD. Harder than puppyhood. But having an adolescent dog who likes other dogs and people should be celebrated, not apathologized.

When you have a teenage dog, yes you need to continue to reinforce behavior you like, and train. But more than anything you have to have fair expectations. Canine adolescents, like human adolescents, are impulsive and excitable. And that’s NORMAL.

Ps can we please stop talking about “over socializing”? I get it, we don’t want our puppies to become maniacs around people and other dogs, but I’d much rather have a 9 month old dog who’s been taught to love and interact with new people and dogs a little too much then one who’s been kept away from social situations in the name of ”training”.

06/28/2023

Does your dog stress out to the sound of fireworks? Check out these tips to keep your dog safe and happy during the 4th of July celebrations.

06/26/2023

“Your dog's behaviour isn't personal. Your dog isn't out to get you.“

Your dog's behaviour isn't personal. Your dog isn't out to get you. There's no morality to behaviour - it's not good or bad, not right or wrong. It just simply is. And we can use it as communication and information to help us make appropriate decisions for our dog's training.

As much as dogs are "man's best friend", dogs are inherently opportunistic. They tend to do what works best for them, what makes them feel safe, and what gets them the fastest results without expending a lot of energy. Putting a label on their behaviour only serves to fracture the bond that we have with our amazing dogs. Instead, let's just take their behaviour at face value and use it to develop our skills to shape their behaviour moving forward.

06/23/2023

This is why I always say that I teach yes-based training instead of no-based training!

A common question I get asked is how to “stop” an undesirable behavior in a dog. And more and more I find that’s the wrong question. The question we need to ask is not how to stop an undesirable behavior, but rather what would a more desirable behavior look like?

A few days ago I was listening to a podcast. This podcast is by a friend of mine, who is a business mindset coach. She devotes her time as a former six figure corporate project manager helping small business owners and entrepreneurs focus and build their brands and success. I have absolutely spoken to her in a professional capacity with my own business to figure out more about building my own brand and identity. But on her podcast she spoke about how when we approach work and business with a mindset of trying to avoid something, it tends to stifle creativity as well as increase our stress. That instead of approaching building our careers with avoiding “failure” or seeking to avoid financial stress that we should always be working towards something. If we are working towards a goal, we are better off mentally and success will follow.

And it got me thinking about how often that applies in training and behavior work. That if we spend all our time focused on how to make certain the animal stops doing the thing we don’t want/like/appreciate, we are not focused on seeking a way to encourage them to do the things we would rather they be doing. And that puts us in a cycle of frustration (for both animal and human) that leads down difficult paths. So make certain when you are working with your dog (or your horse, or your cat, or your gold fish for that matter) that you’re mindful to set the goal TOWARDS a desirable outcome, not just that we want to avoid an undesirable one.

06/07/2023

Please join me in welcoming 5- or 6-month-old Coco to my Puppy Program! He’s a handsome, lovable Mountain Cur mix.
ID: A brindle puppy with white markings, Coco, sits in the sunshine looking at the camera.

06/02/2023

PLEASE DON’T USE PET TRAINING DEVICES INTENDED TO STARTLE – THEY CREATE MORE PROBLEMS THAN SOLUTIONS!

Unfortunately, the concept of dominance and the perceived need to have total control over one’s pets has evolved into a range of commercially available tools and equipment designed to stop, prevent, or punish pets for behaviors their owners deem unnecessary, unacceptable or simply annoying. There are also an abundance of "trainers" who are happy to use and also recommend these outdated tools!

As an example, in the marketplace, one can find so-called pet correction devices. These are simply aversive stimuli intended for pet care, management, or training by eliciting a “startle response,” and/or an alarm reaction. Ramirez-Moreno and Sejnowski (2012) define the startle response as a “largely unconscious defensive response to sudden or threatening stimuli, such as sudden noise or sharp movement” that is “associated with negative affect.”

Increasingly, peer reviewed, scientific studies show, whether discussing dogs, humans, dolphins or elephants, that shock as a form of training to teach or correct a behavior is ineffective at best and physically and psychologically damaging at worst (Schilder & van der Borg, 2004; Schalke, Stichnoth, Ott, & Jones-Baade, 2007; Polsky, 2000; Cooper, Cracknell, Hardiman, Wright & Mills, 2014).

https://dogsmith.com/please-dont-use-pet-training-devices-intended-to-startle-they-create-more-problems-than-solutions/

06/01/2023

Please join me in welcoming 4-month-old Rocky to my Puppy Preschool program! He’s a resilient puppy, and his family is dedicated to helping him to live his very best life.
ID: A black, white, and brindle puppy, Rocky, lies on his bed with a toy elephant looking at the camera.

05/31/2023

“If your dog trainer is setting your dog up, intending for your dog to show aggression, and then correcting him for it, just find a different trainer.”