Pawsitively Polite Dog Obedience Training

08/13/2024

Let your dog sniff when you walk on leash!

08/09/2024

07/30/2024

54 Followers, 26 Following, 74 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Debbie Tangen, CPDT-KA ()

06/18/2024

It's summer, a popular time of year to barbeque bone-in meat cuts such as steaks, chicken wings, pork chops, etc.

For those who love to grill: after you're finished cooking, please ensure that, after the meat has been consumed, all bones are discarded properly to prevent dogs from eating them. It's very easy for them to chew up and swallow splintered bone fragments, potentially lacerating their tender esophageal tissues and gastrointestinal tracts.

An abandoned meat bone left on the ground is as attractive to a dog as the aroma of barbeque is to us. And as much as dogs love gnawing on bones, the last thing you want to do on a fun-filled day of eating a barbequed meal with friends or family is to rush your dog to the emergency vet clinic.

06/07/2024

If you get a dog, please ensure you have the time, energy and funds to adequately take care of it. It's a living, breathing creature that will depend on you for its survival.

05/31/2024

Go see Dr. John Carey at Carey Chiropractic. He's very knowledgeable, compassionate & a great listener. He'll figure out what's causing your pain, fix it & set you on your way to a pain-free day!

05/15/2024

Is it OK to continue rewarding your dog for behaviors it already knows?

Think about this: let's say you just landed your dream job. You're doing what you were trained to do, you love your work and you're making a really good salary, getting paid every 2 weeks. Now, fast forward 6 months. Your boss comes to you and says, "You're doing such a great job, I don't need to pay you anymore. But keep up the good work!"

How motivated would you be to continue working? I think we all know that answer.

It's the same with your dog. Contrary to what many people believe, dogs don't perform behaviors out of the goodness of their hearts or to please their owners. They get a payoff. And whatever payoff it is, i.e., food rewards, praise, affection, play, etc., they want the rewards to keep coming. Perhaps you don't reward your dog for every single occurrence of a behavior you ask of it; maybe it's every other time, or every 3rd or 4th time. But keep rewarding your dog because that will keep the desired behaviors alive.

04/26/2024

Appeasement signals in canine body language

04/19/2024

04/15/2024

04/15/2024

03/11/2024

This pup, "B," is a training success story!

His owner stated B was fearful and barked at nearly everything: people and dogs he saw from inside his house, people and dogs he encountered outside, delivery people who dropped off packages at the front door, the sound of the doorbell, the sound of his owners' cell phone ringtones... you name it and B probably barked at it.

Because he wouldn't let me get too close to him to train due to his fear, I recommended his owner take him to his vet, get him physically examined and have a conversation with the doctor about anti-anxiety medication. Legally and ethically, I can't tell the owner his dog needs to be on meds - I'm not a licensed veterinarian - however, I can suggest the owner talk to the vet about this.

Ultimately, the owner received an Rx for B's anti-anxiety meds and after 24 hours of being on this medication, B's owner saw a marked decrease in his reaction to things he feared. This reduction in reactivity allowed me the opportunity to work in close proximity to B and teach him some new skills.

If you have, or you know someone who has, a fearful dog, talk to your vet about medical intervention. Fear reactivity can have a genetic component and no amount of training will effect a change. With chemical therapy, it's possible to reduce the fear in some dogs
enough that a trainer can work with it.

02/27/2024

I recently had a consultation with a dog owner who wanted to pursue training for her fearful adult pet dogs because they weren’t friendly toward unknown people and dogs. The owner hoped that I could change the pups’ feelings of fear when a stranger wanted to pet them and become more tolerant of being near unfamiliar dogs.

I wish I had that power! Unfortunately, fear of unfamiliar humans and dogs is a common trait among many dogs for different reasons. The most common reason is that they weren’t exposed to unacquainted people, dogs, sights, sounds and experiences during the critical socialization period of puppyhood, typically from 3 weeks to 4 months of age. During this period, puppies introduced to as many unknown people, dogs and experiences and having positive outcomes are primed to favorably accept new people, dogs and experiences as they mature and become adult dogs.

Keep in mind that genetics, and the environment in which a puppy develops, also determine how it grows into a mature dog. All the training in the world won’t affect genetic traits. In addition, should you adopt an adult dog, you can’t change what happened to your canine companion in their early days, but you can work toward decreasing its reactivity to fearful things. Certified Professional Dog Trainers and Certified Canine Behavioral Consultants can work with you and your dog to create a training plan that will, ideally, reduce its response to things it finds scary (see below).

As an aside: dogs determine what scares them – we don’t. Many people believe all dogs like each other and also believe dogs want to be petted by every human they see; these are falsehoods that continue to be mischaracterized by movies, commercials, pictures and books.

Here are some things to try:
• Walk your dog at a time of the day when you know the chance is low that you’ll run into other people walking their dogs.
• Don’t enter a dog park unless you see only a few dogs present. Fearful dogs who are swarmed by a lot of interested and friendly pooches can traumatize your dog to the point of not wanting to be around any other canines, ever. Trust me on this one – it happened to my first dog.
• If a person approaches you and your reactive dog, insists on petting her, and says, “Oh, all dogs love me,” suggest the stranger bend down, turn his body so his side is facing your dog and advise him not to make eye contact. This takes pressure off your dog to have to deal with something scary, before it's ready. If your dog wants to approach the stranger, it will. If not, this is your dog’s choice. Should the stranger persist, give him a reason to step back by telling him, “No, I’m sorry, she has ringworm,” or whatever you want to tell him to back off.
• Contact a Certified Professional Dog Trainer or Certified Canine Behavior Consultant for help. These educated professionals can design a treatment plan to slowly desensitize and counter-condition your dog to things it determines are scary. And I do mean slowly – for an adult dog, this process can take weeks or months to see a difference. For you, the dog owner, patience, along with consistency and repetition, are your most valuable assets to help your dog through this.

01/30/2024

Same 💗💗

❤️🐶

01/19/2024

I often have to remind myself when I walk my dog that it's not exercise for me, it's mental stimulation for her. Mochi gains so much information out of the various aromas she encounters. "Pee-mail" from other dogs tells her the gender, if a female is in heat, what the dog last ate, if it's sick and a variety of other important elements. So the next time you're walking your dog and he's taking his sweet time, seemingly sniffing every blade of grass, every rock and every leaf, remember that he's gaining of lot of knowledge about his world and it's keeping his mind active.

01/18/2024

Dogs may not like wearing winter gear but it's essential to keeping them safe and warm. On that note, please use pet-safe ice melt on your walkways and sidewalks. Regular ice melt burns sensitive paws. Your neighborhood dogs will thank you!

12/18/2023

You know that time when you discovered your dog had chewed up your favorite shoes, and you yelled, maybe screamed, perhaps stomped angrily? He looked "guilty," didn't he? He crouched against a wall, ears laid flat against his head, and his eyes looked up at you mournfully, as if he knew what he did was wrong.

Your dog's "guilty" look was likely a fearful response to your angry body language and tone of voice. Dogs are experts at reading human emotions and detecting changes in vocal inflection. However, dog behaviorists don't believe canines understand what guilt is. Guilt requires knowing that a particular action results in a particular consequence. Your dog didn't know your favorite shoes weren't meant to be chewed on; your reaction elicited fear, not guilt.

The best way to protect your possessions is to make them inaccessible: put your shoes in a closet with a door, or on a high shelf; install gates to keep him away from houseplants; place a tight lid on your trash can; and close the door to the bathroom. Managing your dog's environment allows you to relax, knowing that he can't destroy your things. Then you can focus on positively reinforcing his good behavior instead of getting mad at him for doing something he didn't know he wasn't supposed to in the first place.

12/06/2023

A big thank you to Scott Bowman, owner of Skizzle Productions for his creative genius in producing this video business card!

11/22/2023

When your dog training client falls asleep during the training session, you know you've done a good job at tiring him out.

11/14/2023

10/12/2023

My client's dog, Phineas, is obsessed with squirrels. If I can't get him to ignore the rodent with a "leave it" command, I'll get between him and the squirrel to block his view. This usually works, although sometimes he's just gotta go for it!

09/24/2023

My clients, Dany (on my left) and her brother, Henry, along with their dog mom, Lizz, are moving to Seattle. They've been training with me since I started my business 2 1/2 years ago. I've seen tons of improvement in both dogs and I know Lizz will continue to work with them. I'll miss seeing my furry friends and my human friend every week. Safe travels to the Northwest and many, many good wishes to you! Lizz White

09/13/2023

Mochi flashed me today. How rude! 🐶

09/07/2023

Is your dog's behavior puzzling? Do you wonder why it does what it does? As a certified dog trainer, I can help you find the missing pieces with a free* behavior assessment. I come to you and observe your dog in its familiar surroundings while asking you to describe the action(s) your dog is performing, what happens before and after the behaviors and many other questions. Contact me today!

*Free within the I-435 loop of the Kansas City metro area

08/30/2023

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