Professional K9 Solutions

08/30/2024

Thank you so much for sharing your week and your knowledge with us!

08/29/2024

What is the most important thing in dog training?

08/28/2024

Here lately we’ve had a stirring in regard to electronic collars and prong colors. Here is my take on both of them

08/27/2024

People are so tired of fake service dogs. So are businesses, apartment complexes, and HOAs.

A couple of months ago, I had the privilege of being interviewed by a group called, Take It To The Board. A group of attorneys that represent HOAs, Apartment complexes, and Rental and Retirement communities. The fake service dogs are taking over and there doesn’t seem to me much we can do about it, or is there?

I can honestly say, this is one of the hardest interviews I’ve had to prep for. Service dogs are such a touchy subject. I did not want to interject my opinion or view anywhere. I did my best to answer the questions based on ADA, HUD guidelines and case law.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2IYcVeDlfJR5ojifLBExg3

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/take-it-to-the-board-with-donna-dimaggio-berger/id1567848157

08/26/2024

Happy National Dog Day!! Post a pic of your dog in the comments!!

08/26/2024

What are your dog training goals?

08/26/2024

Leonora teaching Victoria the basics. We are growing so well and so fast!! ❤️❤️

08/25/2024

Is your dog being aggressive towards your family? This video will help.

08/24/2024

.Here’s another funny dog training story. Hope you enjoy.

08/23/2024

My entire life I have had the strange ability to read, understand, and manipulate animal behavior. Never in a million years did I think my gift would become the best career ever. Since starting West Tennessee K9 about 10 years ago out of my little two bedroom duplex, it has grown to multiple locations in multiple states.

I can honestly say, in the beginning there was no real direction or business plan. I was just doing what I loved doing and helping tons of people and dogs. As things grew I had to learn so much about business. In fact I’m still learning. I am so thankful for the mentors that the Lord has put in my life at exactly the right time. I am always blown away by the kindness and support of so many. I can honestly say, more people have encouraged me than discouraged me.

Thank you all for the roles you have played in our growth and success. There are so many more exciting things coming real soon. I can’t talk about them yet but it’s going to be amazing!!

08/23/2024

I wonder what he’s thinking 🤔

08/23/2024

It’s always fun the reveal the power of a solid recall when the pup is only half way through training.

08/20/2024

Has your pup trained with us before? Have you been busy? Let us give your pup a refresher! We are only offering this for a short time and limited spots are available!!

08/20/2024

Gia is with me again this week. Today we tied together focus work from last week with waiting at gates and thresholds. We want the dogs to automatically sit and wait until they are released. In addition to this we also started working on off leash recall. This is day 6 of her training. She’s doing great.

08/19/2024

08/17/2024

This one got me right in my heart. I’m so thankful for, and proud of our team!

08/16/2024

The only way to get dogs acclimated to an environment is to put them in it. The brown dog will be around these horses all of the time, but today was the first time he has seen them.

The white dog is a service dog in training and part of his life will be spent around horses that are used for therapy.

Both dogs reacted to the horses at first, but by the end they were both ignoring them. The brown dog was a bit more reactive, so at the end, we had mom bring out one of the horses so we could work them together.

Dogs use their mouths to make things they don’t understand, go away. We don’t want these dogs taking matters into their own hands. So, at the end of this video, you see the horse and the dog walking side by side. At the gate, Emily goes right with the dog. What we want the dog to understand is, we, humans, will advocate for you and remove you from the pressure of something you don’t understand. You, dog, don’t have to worry about that.

08/15/2024

08/15/2024

What a fun day today as we acclimated these two pups to horse life. The brown dog had never seen horses before. He was a little excited at first but calmed right down. The last pictures are of the final drills we were doing with the horses. The goal and purpose of this was to desensitize the dogs to horses and make them ignore them.

It’s always fun working with staff and teaching them new things about training. A lot of years ago I started working with horses. It’s been some years, but it all came back to me really quickly.

08/14/2024

Does your dog play the keep away game when you throw the ball? Here’s an easy way to teach drop it, I’m using the word out in this video.

There so many ways to teach fetch. With dogs that are motivated to chase and catch a ball, this is the technique I use. It isn’t fancy but it effective.

08/14/2024

Day 2 here in property with Gia. Today we worked on focus drills and luring into sits and downs. You can see the progression and improvement as we work. At the end of the session we did a little retrieve work for fun. Gia makes a fetching a keep away game with mom and dad. She’s doing doing really well.

08/13/2024

Please welcome 6 month old Gia! She is on property with me this week. It will be the first week of her 3 week board and train. There are a few advantages of staying on property with me at my home. One being, I only take 1-2 dogs at a time. As you will see over the next few weeks, I have multiple training areas set up here on site to expose the dogs to as much as possible. Although we have grown into multiple states and the training facilities take up so much of my time, my true joy still comes from working with dogs. I love training outdoors!! Today Gia and I are just building relationship!

This will be the first pup that I will use Scooter, AKA Lil’ Dude to help with. Layla is getting up there in age and has slowed down a good bit. Hopefully Scooter will do as good as Layla has done over the years. You can see at the end of the video he is pretty much ignoring Gia! We’re off to a good start.

08/09/2024

❤️❤️❤️Never get tired of this.

08/08/2024

Why the Muzzle?

This is bandit. He came in for a Board and Train a few weeks ago. When he originally came in he was pretty scared. When I tried to get a collar and leash on him he lunged and tried to bite me. A lot of training programs would have sent him home, never to return.

We deal with a decent amount of biting dogs. When a dog tries to bite me, it doesn't hurt my feelings. If fact, I would rather them try to bite me in a controlled environment, than someone else in public, or at home.

We handle this, by sending the dog home to get muzzle trained. I send a video that shows exactly how to do it. The muzzles we use are called Baskerville muzzles. They are designed to allow the dog to pant, open their mouth, and eat. In most cases, the muzzle is off within a couple of hours.

With the dog muzzled, I can safely handle them.

08/08/2024

We want to add to our pack. Second dog… yes / no? Why?

This is an every day question. None of us want our pups to live alone. Often times, we don't feel like we can give our pups the time and attention they need. Using our basic reasoning skills, we deduce that by getting our pup a playmate, we will somehow solve the problem. The reality is, it usually adds to the problem, making the situation worse.

When we have a one dog household, we can put protocols in place, to quickly change the dog's behavior. The only outside influences are people, sights and sounds; all of which can be controlled and adapted to. A second living, breathing, and thinking creature, that can't reason or make healthy decisions, is harder to keep under control. Just like with unhealthy relationships in our lives, you will find, the good dog does not make the bad dog better. The bad dog always brings the good dog down.

I don’t want you to think I am innocent of the things I teach. A lot of this stuff I learned from personal experience. Here is just a bit of my story. About four years ago my dream dog, Banjo, a Black and Tan Doberman, passed suddenly at the age of 4 ½ from an aggressive cancer. As far as I was concerned, she was the perfect dog. She was the dog that launched me into dog training. This dog was more than just a pet, she was part of my income. So what was I to do? I had a great idea. I will get two this time, so I will have a backup. This was a great idea as long as it was an idea. I searched long and hard and found two Doberman pups, a male and a female, from separate litters, and in separate states. Their birthdays were only a few weeks apart. When I got both the pups home, the challenges began. I kept asking myself, what have I done? The first year was the hardest. If it wasn’t for the help of a dear friend, I am not sure how I would have done it. I would call her and she would take one, or both pups for a couple of days, so I could get a little rest. It was not a fun time.

My second great experience was only about 16 months after I got the two Dobies. My family had found a One year old Newfoundland on Craigslist. It was in a very undesirable situation. With no warning to me this dog shows up in my living room. We had had Newfie's before and they are so sweet and docile, right… WRONG!! This Newfie was neither sweet nor docile. I hadn't been in the door for five minutes before he charged my male Dobie. So now I have two 100lb + dogs trying to kill each other in my living room. In all of the commotion, I got trapped between the sofa and the dogs and went to the ground. Now the dogs were on top of me going at it. I put my hand up to shield my face and the Newfie got my right pinky where it attaches to the hand, ripping the skin and severing the tendon. I was able to make it to my feet and I called my Dobie off and laid on the Newfie until he gave up. Then, off to the hospital I went. This is the only dog that has ever caused enough damage to warrant stitches and a minor surgery.

As you can imagine, I was not happy. I didn't ask for the dog and we were not keeping him. The decision was made before I even got back home. As soon as I walked in the door I made the official proclamation, the dog must go!!!!! My son, 12 at the time began his pleading. I gave him all of the reasons that we could not keep the dog, and he gave me no good reason why we should. Then he made this statement, “ Dad, if you fix other people's dogs, why can't you fix Gunner? He has had a hard life and just needs to be taught how to be good.” So how do you argue with that? VERY LOUDLY!!!! After much calming down and talking about it, I agreed to let him stay. The agreement was that my son had to work with him every day after school until he could live peacefully with the other dogs in the house. This process took about a year, with many dog fights in the process. Now Gunner is a therapy dog and I also use him to work the aggressive dogs I get. Even though Gunner is rehabilitated, we always have to keep in mind that that aggressive behavior is still deep inside him.

So to answer the question, When should we add another dog to the family? When the dog you have now is under control. That usually isn't after just a few training sessions. If you notice in the story above, I was able to call Rambler, my Dobie, off of Gunner. Rambler was about 1 ½ and he was completely off leash and obedience trained. He knew the “out” command, so when I gave it, he would let go and stop fighting. If that weren't the case, one would have probably killed the other. If you think for a minute that you can get two 100+ lb dogs apart, you are kidding yourself. Having one dog that was beautifully trained made the situation doable.

My advice is, be patient. Wait until your pup is 100% trained and under control. When you bring in the new pup, do it cautiously. Once the first fight happens, it harder to stop future fights.. Keep both dogs on a leash and allow no rough play for a while. Create a calm environment for both dogs. Feed and treat separately. No toys around each other. Don't allow them to immediately run free together in the yard. Make sure the same rules apply for the new pup. If it is a rescue, don't feel sorry for the new pup and over do it with affection. Take it slow……Use a crate to create structure.

08/06/2024

We get so many fearful dogs. With fear comes reactivity and aggression. You may be surprised how we handle it.

08/01/2024

A couple of months ago we had this pup at our facility for training. He was only a few days into it when we noticed something was off. Something I always say to the staff, especially new trainers coming in is, when you see enough normal dogs you will know when something is off. I also encourage them to trust that instinct.

When we notice something off about a dog, or if there’s an injury, our policy is to contact the owner and take the dog directly to the vet. We contacted this pups owner and she immediately took him to her vet. The vet did find something going on that they knew about, but did not realize how far advance it was before clearing him for training. To try and correct the problem they did immediate surgery and unfortunately, the pup passed away on the operating table.

Although it is impossible to make the pain of losing a dog go away, we do everything we can to comfort the owner. It doesn’t make it any less painful. However, having empathy is something that we have largely lost as a society. Although we never expect anything in return, it is awesome when a client goes out of their way to thank us.

I can honestly say, when the folks left today, after dropping this drawing off, we all gathered in the back and shed a few tears. We really do care about these dogs.

08/01/2024

In this video, it shows me doing a lunching and learn with a local doggy daycare. One of the things we encounter most in dog training is fear. The cause of this fear is a lack of confidence. What causes lack of confidence? Not exposing the dog to different environments at a young age.

When we see a fearful dog our first instinct is to comfort like we do a child. By doing this we are reinforcing and rewarding the behavior we are trying to overcome. This video will give you a glimpse into what real dog training with a fearful dog. It is all about building a relationship

08/01/2024

Here is a helpful tip.. your dog has no clue what you are saying.

As humans, we use our words to express ourselves and to communicate. When we are woking with our dogs, we try to do the same thing. By doing, this we are confusing the dog.

Dogs are instinctively programmed to react to audible and visual cues. (The nose is a topic for a different article) They learn to navigate their environment based largely on what they see and hear. Think about the sounds in a dog’s world. Loud sounds trigger fear and the dog moves away. High pitch noises trigger the dog’s prey drive, create curiosity, and the dog moves toward to investigate.

Now, think about all of the tones and volumes you are using when you are talking to your dog; whether correcting or asking them to do something.

To change everything, be precise with your words. The biggest word in your vocabulary will likely be “no”. Use the leash and the pressure associated with it, to communicate with your dog.

07/31/2024

I just put a video on YouTube on what all of the buttons do, and how to use an e- collar mini educator.

Hope this helps.

E Collar technologies mini educator is one of the top rated electronic collars on the market. Very easy to use and understand. In this video I will show you ...