TSK9 Dog Training

04/06/2024

YES YES YES!!!!! Every working dog breeder should do this with every litter, and the handlers should continue this training THROUGHOUT the dogs work life. There's an industry wide deficiency on focus on foundations among most handlers, teams and agencies, despite the effort in research in this by Penn Vet Working Dog Center but it truly makes a visible and exponential difference in ANY work they do. Love seeing this so much, kudos to the breeder!!!!

03/27/2024

Starting young is key! Especially with breeds who are less agile, less environmentally stable, or those who are neurotic and exuberant. In every aspect of obedience, detection or service, early and regularly agility and control pays dividends!!!!

03/07/2024

02/27/2024

Of all of the foundational skills that are imperative, I believe the Pivot around a point - is the most critical for all walks of a dogs life, whether pet, competition or working. This seems to be the backbone of future skills in maneuvering, obedience, agility, and hind end awareness. For those who have worked on this, the candidate here makes it look easy, but pivots are not natural and most dogs cannot do them without consistent practice and training.

02/25/2024

This is something we work on at K9 Task Force weekly or more to build direction and control. Fantastic and critical training! Thank you Penn Vet Working Dog Conference for establish such an incredible program and setting the bar high.

02/20/2024

While there’s plenty of folks who will happily tell you no such thing is needed, and your heart will happily agree with them, reality doesn’t much care about those pedaling falsehoods, or your emotional preferences.

We can continue to go down this road of denial and delusion, but I promise you you’ll only end up deeper in the struggle—and so will your dog.

There’s a reason any honest and knowledgeable trainer can typically stop most of the unwanted behaviors that are making your life miserable; and do so close to immediately—because they’re not enveloped in denial or delusion. Sure they have more skills and knowledge, but their primary advantage is a firm grasp on reality and an unwillingness to dance around it.

And a large part of that embrace of reality is the embrace of skillfully applied, emotionally neutral punishment. Of course they teach the other stuff—the behaviors you DO want—but that’s easy…both to do and to talk about. Punishment is the elephant in the room; the elephant very few want to look squarely in the eyes.

That all said, it’s your life and your call. You get to do this dog training and dog-living-with thing however you want. But from where I stand, and from the dogs and owners I see who are both struggling and miserable and in need of help, the avoidance of that which can transform all this struggle and misery is both selfish and emotionally immature.

Choosing to bring a dog into your life SHOULD mean choosing to do all that is beneficial for them, including—perhaps especially including—that which is difficult, uncomfortable, and emotionally challenging.

02/17/2024

Identifying Fake Service Dogs: 10 Key Indicators

Service dogs play a crucial role in assisting individuals with disabilities. Unfortunately, some people exploit the system by falsely claiming their pet as a service dog. This guide aims to help you distinguish between genuine service dogs and impostors. Please note that certification, vests, or signs are not mandatory for legitimate service dogs.

1. Reactivity:
Authentic service dogs exhibit discipline and focus, while fake ones may react excessively to stimuli, such as other dogs, strangers, or loud noises.

2. Carrying:
Service dogs typically walk alongside their owners and are not carried in strollers or purses. Being carried restricts their ability to perform their duties effectively.

3. Leash Behavior:
A real service dog walks calmly beside its owner, without pulling or biting the leash. They respond to their owner's movements and commands.

4. Vocalization:
Legitimate service dogs remain quiet and composed in challenging situations. Barking, whining, or excessive vocalization suggests a fake service dog.

5. Excessive Sniffing:
While dogs naturally sniff their surroundings, well-trained service dogs prioritize their owner's needs over distractions. Persistent sniffing indicates a lack of focus.

6. Interaction with Strangers:
Service dogs are trained to ignore strangers and maintain focus on their owner. Any lunging, growling, attacking or seeking attention from others suggests an imposter.

7. Playfulness:
Authentic service dogs are trained to be serious and task-oriented in public. Playful behavior in public settings is uncommon for genuine service dogs.

8. Responsiveness to Commands:
A genuine service dog promptly obeys its owner's commands without argument or hesitation. Frequent disagreements indicate a potential fake.

9. Breed Considerations:
Although any breed can be trained as a service dog, certain breeds are more commonly chosen due to their intelligence, calmness, and trainability. Uncommon breeds may raise suspicions.

10. Vests and Labels:
While some owners choose to use vests or signs to indicate their dog's role, these are not mandatory. Lack of visible identification does not automatically indicate a fake service dog.

Recognizing the signs of a fake service dog helps protect the integrity of the system and ensures that genuine service dogs can perform their important tasks. Remember, it is essential to respect the rights and privacy of individuals with legitimate service dogs, regardless of visible identification.

Credit of and copy and pasted From Shane Doss at:
CANINE ENCOUNTERS DISCUSSION GROUP

02/04/2024

Your dog is so perfectly behaved , said the passenger behind us, so why does he have to wear a muzzle?

I can assure you it is not to protect other people from Him! It's to protect him and I from Other People!
..The parents who haven't taught their kids not to charge up to do dogs, especially these kind of working K9s.
..From the people who believe they are entitled to pet every dog in public "because they love dogs" regardless of breed or whether the K9 is working.
..And the sue-happy population of our society that will claim psychological damage despite nothing happening

On a recent airline trip, myself and my Belgian Malinois Working K9 were positioned in comfort row, just behind first class on our way to a deployment. Our team member and her Belgian Malinois Working K9 were next to us across the isle.
Suddenly an undisciplined ~4 year old comes running down the hall from first class, sees my teammates dog and instantly leaped on top of him. The handler quickly peeled the child off her K9 only for him to immediately turn and dive towards my K9. I had time to quickly block him from landing on my K9. The mother simply gave us a look as if to say "how dare you for not letting my child violate your space and tackle your K9s who are clearly working and are obviously not "pets".
For the remainder of the flight, the child continued to run up and down, unattended, trying to tackle the K9s on his way by each time.

This is one example why we require muzzle training for all of our working K9s and why I recommend it to all my client dogs.

Muzzle training however, does not replace poor or lack of training, it supplements proper training.

02/04/2024

This is a nice generic perspective of a dogs weight/condition compared to that of a human.

02/01/2024

It is important that handlers are able to carry their dog in case of emergency or scenarios where it is detrimental for the dog to walk themselves (heat related injuries, hurt or sore limb, internal health issue, etc).
A common position is the Fireman's carry. This one is great for dogs of all sizes, and is still possible when the dog is larger and or the handler is small. In this example, I am just over 100 pounds, and 5 foot tall. The dog is almost 70 pounds.

Below is a video of demonstrating how to get your dog easily into a fireman's carry position.

01/27/2024

At least 9 out of the 10 client dogs that come in to training with me are overweight and maybe only one of those 9 are even aware their animal is overweight.

12/28/2023

Foundations are Key! Of the 147 requirements of a working K9 at K9 Task Force only 20 of them include their target odor. The rest are imperative fundamentals that ensure the K9 can perform the 20 odor skills in each scenario that they might be faced with.

11/02/2023

It’s too simple, and too unsophisticated, I know. “You’re ignoring the underlying emotional cause.” “You’re just suppressing the behavior.” “You’re creating a ticking time bomb.” “You’re creating a negative association.”

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ve heard all the fearful messaging and warnings. Unfortunately, I’ve also trained thousands of dogs who were extremely reactive and helped them become relaxed, well-behaved, and deeply included dogs who could go anywhere with their owners with zero reactivity.

And I’ve yet to see a single one of these fearful proclamations become reality. But I HAVE watched countless dogs and their owners struggle needlessly due to ill-informed, opportunistic, indoctrinated trainers and other online “experts” spouting their usual nonsense.

Many trainers love the mental ma********on and fancy appearance of false depth—and many owners love the excuses and stories they can tell themselves to absolve themselves from doing the emotionally uncomfortable work, while simultaneously absolving their dogs from being accountable.

The false complexity and the myriad excuses aren’t meant to better clarify and enable success—they’re meant to obfuscate, create the appearance of expertise, support fanatical training ideologies, and let trainers, owners, and dogs off the hook… all while leaving the problems very much intact.

If you’re an owner who truly wants to get over reactivity issues, and you’re prepared to do the hard work, just keep it simple. Common sense and observable reality are still available, and straight talking, honest trainers are still out there—although they’re getting harder and harder to find.

Go find them.

10/23/2023

I hear this nonsesne from all sides of the training world. If the dog is properly trained, and properly reinforced, they will perform as desired sans tools—if you’ve trained them properly.

For balanced trainers it’s primarily a ge***al wagging argument used to try to deride the competition, and to elevate the admonisher’s sorely fragile ego. For positive only/force-free trainers, it’s primarily an ideological stance, or a gross demonstration of ignorance.

Regardless where it emanates from, the ones most negatively impacted are the innocent owners (and their dogs) who are looking to these so-called experts for guidance. And so after hearing repeatedly that having to rely on tools is a sign of either poor training or a poor moral compass, owners often view the very practical, and the very useful reliance on tools as a sign of their own failures. And so they feel compelled to try to get away from them as soon as possible.

As I’ve said many times, the goal shouldn’t be to get rid of tools, the goal should be to get rid of the problems. And for most owners and dogs those problems are best curtailed and best kept at bay by continued use of the tools which best serve the desired goals.

Are there exceptions? Are there dogs who will happily not push back against any of the rules once they know what’s expected and once they’ve been trained with lots of repetitions and diligence? Of course. Just like there are people who never speed, never roll through a stop sign, and who would never think to push back against any rules once they know them. But these are indeed the exceptions.

For most dogs, and for most people, the tools of authority (cops, laws, and the legal system for us—tools, training and owners who lead for dogs), are a necessary bulwark against our own desires and proclivities of the moment, which would often see either species—fully knowing whats expected and “proper”, make very different decisions.

Which brings us to something else I’ve written about often: knowing and doing are two very different things. It’s a simpleton who assumes that an animal (dog or human) with their own desires, drives, and unique personalities—would “do” simply because they “know”.

Put very simply, if we cannot get the highly intelligent, morally aware human to do what’s right without the threat of undesired consequences delivered by an authority figure, how on earth do we expect something equivalent or better from our dogs? Our dogs who are far less intelligent and where morals have no influence on behavior—which means they’ll be even more inclined to be opportunistic, self-serving, and impulsive. What foolish nonsense is it that would encourage owners to choose a far more problematic, stressful, freedom-diminishing, and dangerous tool-less path?

Enough listening to the “experts”. Find the tools which best help you and your dog, learn how to use them properly, and then, without shame, guilt, or self-judgement—use them as often and as long as they serve and improve you and your dog’s life together.

09/24/2023

So few owners and trainers fully understand this dynamic. Owners think trainers have magical powers, and trainers are often happy to perpetuate this myth. (“The second the trainer took the leash all the problem behavior simply vanished!”)

While this isn’t always the case, it often is. And while it may seem like magic Jedi skills, more often than not it’s due the combination of the trainer being a novel presence—which causes the dog to be more focused on figuring out the trainer rather than engaging in poor behavior—and the fact the trainer has a neutral association.

Put simply, whatever your presence predicts is the association you’ve built with your dog. For most owners that association is extremely lopsided and unhealthy. You’ve taught your dog that your presence predicts play, affection, freedom, excitement, food, walks/drives—and often very poor behavior, like territoriality, reactivity, possessiveness, brattiness, disrespect, and chaos.

What most owners haven’t done is create a healthy, balanced association. One where you of course predict the good things in life, but also just as equally predict the balancing factors of firm rules, consistent structure, high levels of accountability (a “healthy fear”), and confident leadership when challenging situations arise.

It’s precisely this careful, smart, and selfless balance of what we share with our dogs which either creates a healthy association, or not.

And because almost everyone very easily shares all the fun, self-rewarding stuff, the biggest hack to resetting your toxic relationship is something most will find absolutely unacceptable, unsophisticated, unhealthy, and ultimately undoable…sharing valuable consequences (gasp, punishment!) for poor choices and unhealthy responses.

Why does this create such profound shifts in your dog? Because it starts the process of resetting the association; it starts the process of your dog viewing you in a more balanced fashion, healthy fashion. It starts the process of you becoming a multi-dimensional association. Ultimately, it shares the critical component of your relationship interactions you’ve omitted, which have created this lopsided, toxic dynamic in the first place.

You don’t have to like it, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s almost certainly the reason you (as an owner) are stuck, and you (as a trainer) are unable to help your clients to the degree you so deeply desire to be able to.

PS, the amount of times I’ve seen “the lights go on” with a dog after their owner corrects some nonsense for the first in a valuable fashion are countless. For most, if they can step up to this challenge, it’s the beginning of a beautiful, and healthy transformation. For those unable, it means the continuation of all that came before, regardless of training.