The weather has been a drag, so let this Power Puppy brighten your day a little!
It’s always Black (Labrador) Friday around here.
Today’s retrieve is brought to you by 8 month old Ghost.
Happy Thanksgiving from some of our holiday boarders.
Drew the Dane Power Puppy…
One of the perks of our Power Puppy program is that it includes individualized play time with stable confident adult dogs who aren’t going to do damage to your puppy but also aren’t going to be overly permissive, which is equally bad.
Blaise loves his job as DOP… Director of Puppies.
Fozzie breaking in the new equipment.
DogPacer time will soon be available to clients as an add-on service to both structured daycare and boarding. It will also be part of the new GunDog Garage program, especially during hot summers.
Everything is a training opportunity. Giant pecan trees getting cut up out back… sounds like a great novel environmental distraction to use.
Kennedy OBrien
Kayla Ferguson
“Do the dogs get to play?”
Yup!
Group class is always 100% very super duper serious…
Also, damn good job with Fender, Trevor… that Malinois started the board & train portion of the program being handled on a catch pole…
So your puppy pulls on the leash... and it does it because it works from their point of view. This is Bailey's second session, in the raw, with live narration.
DON'T...
🛑Don't restrain the dog into heel position with a short tight leash. This doesn't teach them anything and likely is also teaching your dog that they get to keep moving when there is pressure.
🛑Don't keep walking once the leash is already tight. Every step you take you are teaching the dog to pull. The movement, new things to see, and new things to smell are all reinforcing.
🛑Don't beg and plead for them to come back to you. We want the dog to discover resisting the handler doesn't work.
🛑Don't jerk on the leash. YOU putting the dog back in position or trying to punish the dog for being "wrong" doesn't mean you're making them "right".
Instead, DO...
✅BEFORE the dog is pulling on you, turn and go away from whatever direction they are going. We are trying to build attentiveness and cooperation with a young dog.
✅Once the leash is tight don't keep moving and try to drag the dog, 🥶FREEZE🥶 instead until the dog makes the line slack again. Once the leash is loose again,, if you have a developed marker system you can mark and reward or just use verbal and physical praise.
✅Reward the dog for doing the work and discovering what we're looking for. Avoid begging, pleading, pandering, and cheerleading the dog into the goal as much as possible.
✅Keep your upper body still and calm and allow the dog enough line to make choices and decisions.
While this isn't typical of our process with adolescent and adult dogs, the choices made here are all intentional, namely a 6.5' leash because she can't handle the responsibility of a longer line that we typically use for fundamental leash skills. The room is only so big and she can't stay engaged in a process enough for more room for more choices... yet.
We’re bringing it back starting tomorrow, 5/21!
Normal operations resume starting at 7:30am, including both group classes.
Please be patient as we work to reschedule everyone we’ve missed over the last four days.
Operations Update: Business as Usual Tomorrow
Here’s your one chance…
Meet Fancy… f/k/a Vroom. Yes, Fancy like
When Kennedy drove up to Kansas last week, she came back with more than just two puppies (you’ll meet Ghost and Reaper soon).
A current client has been considering adding a second dog to her home for a while, and knew she wanted it to be a chocolate Labrador. Though timing isn’t right for a puppy, sometimes other opportunities arise and things fall into place. Fancy was looking for a new roof to live under and Liz was ready to take her on. As you can see, she warmed up pretty quick.
We love helping connect good homes to good breeders so that people get exactly what they are looking for from their new additions, whether it is a puppy or adult dog, and we do it for free.
The right dog to fit your desires and lifestyle solves 90% of the problems people call us about, with proper management and training doing the rest. Start with the odds stacked in your favor!
