Cat's Canine Academy

Cat's Canine Academy Dog training and Behavior Modification
(18)

We wore these two out!! Fast track almost over.... it's gone great!! So proud of these two!!
04/28/2024

We wore these two out!! Fast track almost over.... it's gone great!! So proud of these two!!

Kaylee Overholt did some pony work with the baby -- they did GREAT!!!
04/27/2024

Kaylee Overholt did some pony work with the baby -- they did GREAT!!!

04/26/2024

40 hours into the fast track and this family is doing AMAZING!!! All 5 commands, working on distraction at lowes. Couldn't ask for better!!

In Florida Doing a fast track, which is where I train the dog all in one day and then spend the rest of the time on the ...
04/26/2024

In Florida Doing a fast track, which is where I train the dog all in one day and then spend the rest of the time on the owners. These two lovely ladies did fantastic today! This picture was taken earlier when little cello ( The puppy) What was pretty darn sure? She was done for the day!!

04/19/2024

Star students kiva and jovie having a small workout tonight!

Took the newest working dog d'Artangnan to home depot for the 1st time today...the kid NAILED it!!!
04/12/2024

Took the newest working dog d'Artangnan to home depot for the 1st time today...the kid NAILED it!!!

Soapbox time y'all.  I just got off the phone with a lady and basically had to tell her that she needed to rehome her do...
03/16/2024

Soapbox time y'all. I just got off the phone with a lady and basically had to tell her that she needed to rehome her dog because she is trying to put a square peg in a round hole. Without getting into too much detail, It's a very typical situation: Child under the age of 7 just got bitten in the face and they spent all day at the E. R And now they're trying to find out what to do with the dog. The dog is a rescue boxer, blue heeler mix. I guarantee you, the problem was not the dog, The problem was the child. Dogs are very predictable in their behavior. Kids are very unpredictable and they tend to do the wrong things and have no idea what warning signs the dog is giving that something is about to happen. The most common age to be bit is between two and seven years old, And it's usually in the face. In my opinion, Kids and dogs do not mix. You should not get a dog until your youngest child is at least seven or older. And if you absolutely feel you must have a dog, then you go spend a lot lot lol of money With integrity labradoodles or legendary labradoodles ( The two best breeders in the state). It's not worth the risk. Picture of d'Artangnan for cuteness. ( Please do not try to start fights in the comments about how great your dog is with your kids, You're not gonna change my mind on this one).

03/02/2024

My company's newest working dog d'Artangnan at 9 weeks old. I think he's doing great! When you know how to train a baby properly, They are always going to outperform the older dogs in the long run! Over the years, I have had several dogs that work for my company, But only two baby puppies before this one. And the baby puppies always outperform the older dogs. They have no idea of right from wrong so you can go in and teach all the right things and then never have any problems!

02/29/2024

Website is back up and prices are updated!!

02/28/2024

Hey everyone, I just got notified that my website is down, Please bear with me while I try to fix it!

Introducing Cat's Canine Academy's newest working dog d'Artangnan!! Special thanks to Anne Anderson with Sav-a-pet rescu...
02/16/2024

Introducing Cat's Canine Academy's newest working dog d'Artangnan!! Special thanks to Anne Anderson with Sav-a-pet rescue for this little gem!!

Ha!!
12/07/2023

Ha!!

10/09/2023
Best part of my job.... :)
09/13/2023

Best part of my job.... :)

03/25/2023

Yeah, this dog is always worth remembering. He’s either passed by now or is VERY old (he’d be 15), but I’m sure he had a great life after this.

It’s interesting how I’ve continued to learn since this happened. I would still use Ryan Lee Hanawalt as a spotter on a dog like this, and I’d still use a muzzle. But one thing I possibly would have done differently is possibly get a vet to put the dog on prozac first. I’ve seen that make MARKED difference in aggression cases lately, even in some that I thought were just not canidates for prozac.

I will say I just got off the phone with a client after having a discussion as to why the equipment I use (namely training collars) have fallen out of favor. Honestly, it’s the same reason everything else in our world is going to pot in a lot of ways — people are not willing to discipline. Everyone gets a trophy. There are no losers. Ignore all the bad and reward the good and all you will get is good, right? Wrong. This is what is causing all the school shootings. Kids are not being taught right from wrong, and are not being disciplined, which is leading to adults who have no idea how to adult and take responsibility for their actions, and see nothing wrong with hurting others. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve had to fix the problems that reward only training cause….

Of course training collars when used improperly can cause harm to dogs. But discipline applied improperly to kids is also abuse. Both are to be used correctly, and when used correctly, they make valuable members of society (whether human or canine).

Alright soapbox over….

One of my owners idea of Christmas decorating -- perfect in my opinion!!
11/27/2022

One of my owners idea of Christmas decorating -- perfect in my opinion!!

Super hope someone can find this dog....
06/09/2022

Super hope someone can find this dog....

We are not giving up on Izzie! Please keep an eye out for her.

Ways you can help:
1) Share her poster on social media. The more people looking for her, the better
2) There are so many vets, groomers, dog stores, doggy day cares out there. I’m trying to get to them all. Please help me by sharing her flyer with the ones you know!

05/23/2022

Good little 9 week old student! Got turned over to her mom today — this was my last workout with this sweetie!

04/22/2022

Dog bite prevention video for families everywhere. 77% of dog bites come from a friend's dog or the family's very own dog. We want to change that number. Pl...

Really important info....
03/24/2022

Really important info....

One week ago I kissed my baby boy goodbye on my way out for work. But I had no idea it would be for the last time. Although I still can’t even wrap my head around what happened and I feel we have an obligation to share what happened to Petey to hopefully prevent it from happening to any of your babies. So we apologize in advance bc this is so hard to write about & I’m sure such a downer to read. Last Monday, Christian beat me home from work by about 10 min & was surprised when Petey didn’t greet him at the door like usual. As he walked in further he saw our sweet boy laying lifeless with a stupid chip bag over his head. He was able to get them off the counter that we will forever blame ourselves for leaving out. He ate every chip out but of course went back for crumbs... with there being nothing left inside every time he would go for more he would inhale making the bag tighter & tighter around his head.. ultimately resulting in suffocation 💔 Petey was SMART so I didn’t understand why he couldn’t get it off with his paws. But after doing research the stats on how often this happens is shocking. 3-5 pet suffocation’s get reported every week and 42% of those occur while the owner is in the next room. It only takes about 3 minutes for their oxygen to drop to fatal levels. With this happening so often we were so surprised by the lack of awareness on this topic out there. Especially bc I was a very overprotective dog mama. In fact 90% of the incidents reported the owner had never heard of this until it happened to them (us included). Chip bags, cereal bags, bread bags, popcorn bags, dog / cat treat bags seem to be the most common. So I just ask that in honor of my boy Petey that you be extra careful, warn other dog owners & give your fur babies some extra love today and everyday after this. I pray none of you ever have to experience your heart breaking this way. We love you papas you were the best boy in the whole world & we will remember our good times forever 🐶😇

Source: https://globalnews.ca/news/4058445/pet-suffocation-warning/ (2018)

This is hard, like I mean SERIOUSLY hard to watch.  But I'm posting because THIS is why I say do NOT leave your dog at a...
03/04/2022

This is hard, like I mean SERIOUSLY hard to watch. But I'm posting because THIS is why I say do NOT leave your dog at a board stay facility. This is in Ft. Bend county, and is being investigated by animal cruelty. But the only reason it is being investigated is because It was caught on camera. Most of these places are smart enough to know not to video. This happens all the time. ALL. THE. TIME. I have seen similar things 1st hand. Unfortunately a lot of times it's just because of ignorance on the trainer's part, When people do not know what they are doing, they tend to get cruel out of ignorance a lot of times. This industry is so dominated by apprenticeships as opposed to schooling, it makes for a LOT of ignorance.. Please do not ever let your dog be trained behind closed doors.

Blog post with the details: https://www.massholereport.com/2022/01/13/viral-video-depicts-dog-trainer-brutalizing-puppy/FAIR USE DISCLAIMER:Copyright Disclai...

01/05/2022

Service dog in training - first outing to home depot. He nailed it!

I did not write this, the boy I sure could have. Pretty much agree with just about everything they are saying. Then I ta...
11/28/2021

I did not write this, the boy I sure could have. Pretty much agree with just about everything they are saying. Then I talk about this all the time in my training classes. AF training is one of the reasons that I am as busy as I am, constantly fixing other trainers mistakes....

A Silent Killer:
The post is very important to me, and it is likely to upset some people. Those involved will not admit their guilt, will deny every aspect of what I am about to say, and place the blame elsewhere.
There is a silent killer in the dog training world. It is not a virus, not a piece of equipment, not a bacteria. It is an idea. It is the idea that all dogs, in all situations, should be trained with nothing other than rewards, and without ever the use of aversives. “Reward what you like and ignore what you don’t” is the mantra that is preached, and all will be well in the world.
In the dog training community this philosophy goes by many names, some call it Pure Positive (which is not an accurate description), some call it Progressive Reinforcement, some call it Reward only, but for the purposes of this article I will refer to it as Aversive Free or AF
*Aversive Free (AF) Training can be defined as training which involves only the R+ and P- quadrants of learning. When I refer to Aversive Free (AF) Trainers in this article, I am not referring to those who simply choose this approach for themselves, but I am referring to those who vehemently oppose the use of aversives for any dog in any situation.
Let me be clear, what I am referring to is not the idea that reward only techniques are good, and work in some cases. What I am referring to is the dogmatic belief that this is the ONLY way to train a dog, or deal with behavior problems. The aversive free philosophy is that any type of consequence other than simply removing the reward, is cruel, inhumane, and barbaric.
I want to avoid going into a dissertation on learning theory here, but let me also be clear: If you think rationally, and apply simple logic, it becomes clear that this approach to training dogs will have significant limitations. ‘Contrary to their claims, an aversive free (my edit to terminology) training approach is not as effective and takes considerably longer to reach any level of reliability even close to what a balanced approach can produce. In some instances, reliability cannot be realized using a positive only approach and some dogs will not be trainable at all until appropriate corrections are included.’ (Quoted from Roger Hild.)
“Well,” you might be asking at this point. “What does this have to do with death and killing.”
Quite a bit in fact. You see, rewards are used primarily to create new behavior and offer little to no assistance in communicating to a dog that a certain behavior is unacceptable. However, millions of dogs are killed in this country every year because of behaviors that are deemed “unacceptable.” The AF fanatics have made such a roar that the majority of shelters and rescues have adopted an aversive free philosophy within their organizations. Why? Well probably a few reasons. For one, it sounds great on paper to say that you only reward dogs, and never punish with aversives.
Secondly, they have drank the kool-aid. The aversive free proponents have created such a buzz, and are so good at promoting their philosophy that they have many people believing that anything can be accomplished with reward based techniques, and that corrections are always bad and will ruin your dog forever.
Yep, shelter staff, daycare owners, breeders, veterinarians, and many others (most of whom have only trained a handful, if any dogs in their life. And likely have never worked a dog, hands on, through a serious aggression problem.) have been duped into believing this non-sense. Many well meaning dog owners have also been sucked in, believing that, armed with cookies, hugs, and rays of sunshine they can transform their aggressive, unruly pooch into a well mannered pet.
It’s an easy argument to sell. After all, rewarding dogs is fun, and correcting is not. So when people are told by a professional that they never have to correct their dog again, they are all ears.
Unfortunately, most dogs with serious behavior issues will not be helped with this approach. And then come the excuses, “This dog needs medication,” “He was traumatized too much as a puppy and will never recover,” or the classic “It’s not the dog, it’s the owner.” the list goes on and on.
When the AF approach fails, the only other option is euthanasia. After all, it would be unheard of to just give a dog a simple correction, to help it understand that there are certain behaviors in life that have consequences. Simple, immediate, consequences.
Use a leash and prong collar to create momentary discomfort. . . . Oh no, anything but that. Death is certainly a better option.
Don’t believe me?
I am a member of many online dog forums, one of which used to be over-run by the AF cult. One woman had a young dog who she was having some trouble with. Even though she was using the aversive free techniques that supposedly can fix any problem, she was continuing to struggle with her dog. Several people on the forum advised her that she should try a prong collar to correct her dogs behavior. “No way,” she said, “I’d sooner put him to sleep than do that.”
Well folks, guess what wound up happening to that unruly pup? That’s right, euthanasia. (Murder if you ask me.) Needless to say, she was subsequently kicked off the forum, and other members stopped listening to the AF nonsense.
More recently, I was brought a foster dog by a rescue volunteer. The dog had been showing some fear aggression and no one had been successful in making any progress in the months that he had been with the rescue. The volunteer had been a client of mine with her own dogs, and seen success with similar issues, she had also been to the AF trainers that the rescue recommends, and seen no success. The rescue coordinator had already made it very clear that this dog was “running out of time.” (That means either he will be euthanized, or dumped on another rescue.) Several of the rescue’s volunteers had pleaded with the coordinator to let them bring the dog to me, because it is well known that I have a very high success rate working with aggression cases (additionally, I was offering my help for free, and told the rescue that I did not need any credit nor did they need to tell anyone that I helped). “Out of the question,” they were told. Simply because I apply a Balanced Training Philosophy. In other words I apply both reward and consequence (beyond the removal of reward) to help create understanding. Yep, the rescue would rather give up on the dog, than send it to a trainer who doesn’t conform to their religion. Then, in subsequent emails, they blamed the volunteers. The very people who reached out to help this guy, took the blame for his failure. Unfortunately, this dog’s fate is likely doomed now.
The other unfortunate thing is that these “trainers” who claim to be so positive with dogs, are often not so positive with people.
The same trainer who yesterday recommended euthanasia to a dog, today will publicly bash me and call me cruel and inhumane for rehabilitating the same dog, all because I gave a small correction. I save the dogs life, but I’m the cruel one! Myself and thousands of other Balanced trainers have had to deal with name calling, accusations, slander and defamation by the AF. I even had another local trainer say to a client of mine “I recommend euthanasia for him, but whatever you do, don’t go to K9 Connection.”
As a close friend of mine has said, “The Aversive Free mantra should be ‘Death Before Discomfort!'”
Of course if you talk to any Aversive Free trainer, they will never admit this. Why would they? It would put an end to their reign of terror.
Even in the situations where an AF only approach can work, it often takes a very long time. and time is something that many shelter dogs just don’t have. If they don’t show quick improvement, then off to the chopping block they go.
This is the reality for hundreds of thousands of dogs in this country.
Let me say that a bit more clearly: Aversive Free dog training is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of dogs every year.
I am tired of this issue being pushed under the rug. I am tired of clients coming to me in tears after being told by positive dog trainers that their beloved pet could never be helped. And I am sickened to think about the numbers of innocent dog owners who actually took their advice. The Aversive Free Trainers say they never punish, I guess capital punishment doesn’t count.
Again, I must restate. I have nothing against positive, rewards based dog training (I myself use positive dog training every day, it is a necessary component of a balanced approach), or those who choose the positive approach for themselves. It is the dogmatically Aversive Free mentality that I am speaking against. Those who force this philosophy on everyone around them, believe that it is the only way, and bash other techniques.
We need to wake up and realize that there is a balance. Using corrections does not mean you must cause pain, fear, and intimidation. Aversive free training has a place in the dog training world, but it is not the only place. We need to return to open-mindedness in dog training. After all, lives are at stake

Credit : Tyler Muto, K9 Connections

Here's hoping this actually helps the problem!
10/28/2021

Here's hoping this actually helps the problem!

There are plenty of Astros takes today, but you'll want to know about this if you're a dog owner.

Basically, if you keep your dog chained up outside (who would do that?) you should rethink things. https://trib.al/NAyoLFx

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