Egbert (Gray Dog) and Shadow (Black Dog) are up for adoption. We’re sponsoring them for 6 weeks of In Kennel Training at On Command Dog Training. Upon conpletiong they’ll be ready for adoption. Contact us for more details 254-265-7400 or for Egbert contact the Harker Heights Pet Adoption Center and for Shadow contact The Gatesville Animal Control. #fyp#AdoptMe#HHPAC#GatesvilleAnimalControl#Egbert#Shadow#ThatsMyDawg
Play Dead
Byrdie Learning Play Dead
Obedience breeds confidence. Confidence allows your dog to be able to perform and ignore distractions and triggers in their environment. Check out Freyaj and Nixie showing off their obedience skills in Lowe’s this week.
If you’re in the Fort Cavazos area and looking for a pet to complete your family, please consider meeting Willow. Willow is a resident at the Harker Heights Pet Adoption Center but is currently training with us. She’s very energetic and loves training. Willow loves to meet and play with other dogs but can be inappropriate so supervising socialization is highly encouraged. She’s about 2-3 years old, spayed, dog and people friendly, toy and food driven and has a knack for training and learning. If you’re interested, check us out at On Command Dog Training or visit the Harker Heights Pet Adoption Center and let’s see if Willow is a good fit for you and your family. She learns so fast. Anything we begin to teach, she picks up on and performs.
Willow is coming with nearly $3,000 worth of training for a small adoption fee of only $80. She also comes with free follow up sessions with On Command Dog Training. Check her out in this short video, performing like a rockstar. 🐶 🎸 🤟🏼
Sunday Funday
Playtime with the OCDT dogs
What does “whatever it takes” look like?
For us, it looks like this. Sitting on the floor. Giving space and respecting boundaries. Offering reward when desired behaviors are presented. Giving appropriate levels of attention when the dog is ready.
Not all dogs that come to us are eager and ready to train. Many are apprehensive, nervous, shy, scared and just flat out uncomfortable. When I say “we work at their pace”, we really do. In these shots you’ll see Trisha, our newest trainer, allowing Nemesis to warm up and get comfortable in her new, temporary surroundings. In the last photo, you’ll see Nemesis…doing the opposite of place.??.?? 🙃🤪
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t socialize dogs by just taking them into public and allowing any and everyone to greet them. It begins with a baseline and that baseline is obedience. Through obedience, you’re able to communicate with your dogs and allow them to navigate the human world with confidence.
#GotObedience
#GotConfidence
Emma Sliding
Emma sliding
Socializing on a soaked Sunday
The “wait” command.
I prefer this rather than sit, down or place when working with multiple dogs. Wait just means don’t cross a certain threshold (doorways/gates/lawns, etc…) or discontinue advancing.
Winnie practicing her parkour skills.
Using obedience to overcome the loss of a housemate:
How does that work? In this video are Marvin (tan dog), Artimus (white chest) and her sister Nezzy (all black). Arty & Nez just met Marvin before we began recording. They’ve been training with us for the past 5 weeks, learning basic to advanced-off-leash obedience as well as socialization and a lot more. Marvin completed our 6-week program about 6 weeks ago, along with his housemate, Groot AKA Grooty Booty. Groot unfortunately passed away while at home this past week to a possible heat stroke.
SIDENOTE: This post isn’t to bash the owners or anyone who loses a pet. So, please, be respectful.
Since Groot passed, Marvin has been mopey and looking all around for Groot. We’ve never experienced this firsthand (losing a pet and seeing how the housemates respond), so we were unsure if the surviving dog would really show signs of depression. Mom wanted to schedule a session with us to allow Marvin to interact with other dogs to lift his spirits.
More background: When Marvin came to us, he was reactive, cage fought, was intolerant of other dogs and would respond inappropriately when approached. Obedience allowed us to teach him socialization. Socialization allowed him to interact with one dog, then two, then many.
Since Marvin did very well in social settings, he was able to interact with dogs we were currently training, whereas, the Marvin we had initially met would be unable to interact with dogs due to his inappropriate behaviors. When Marvin walked through our doors with his mom and without Groot, my heart hurt for them both. Marvin’s head hung low, he didn’t greet me with his normal wagging tail and enthusiasm to train. He was just…there. He really was depressed. Mom and I talked for about 15 minutes and Marvin remained uninterested, as he laid on the floor.
Mom and Marvin went into our large yard and I brought out Arty & Nez to play with Marvin. This video shows a complete different version of M
Some of this video is inaudible but here’s the gist. Obedience training helps to conquer fear. Whether of people, dogs, objects, fireworks and more. If you want to learn more please contact us at 254-265-7400, message our business page or send us an email. Hope you all have a happy and safe 4th of July.
#Happy4thOfJuly
#OnCommandDogTraining
#Fireworks
#PlaceIsMagic
#StartWithObedience
#DontJudgeMyLawn
#ChillingWithChico
PSA: Don’t play “it’s a service dog” with a dog trainer. It doesn’t end well for you.
Backstory: This is my mother’s home. She uses it as an Air BnB and my son manages it on her behalf. There’s a “no pets” clause. Of course, service animals are exempt from this clause. What does this genius do? Like many others, he claims his dog is a service dog. My son calls and asks how to confirm that. Truth is, there is no true way, unfortunately. So when my son goes to meet the occupants and ask him the two legally ask-able questions: Does the dog perform a service for a disability? What service does the dog perform? The man you see here becomes agitated and says “you can’t legally ask me that”. The fact that he’s unaware of those two simple truths, per the ADA, is evidence that his dog is likely not a service dog. Further, as I stand back, away from the door, I have one of my own dogs leashed and in a sit. This man’s “service dog” is in the window barking and growling. Another indication that this dog is not a service dog. Service dogs have temperament requirements and must perform a service for you that you cannot perform for yourself. Even if a dog is in fact an actual service dog, if it is showing signs of aggression or becoming a nuisance, you can be asked to leave an establishment. Moving on. My son called Air BnB as well as the local police and had the man and his family removed. This could have been a cordial encounter but when guilty and faced with reason, the unreasonable become…unreasonable. He went from cursing us out, bullying, and just being downright disrespectful to trying to plea for more time when the police advised him that he had to leave. He even went on to refer to my son as a “stupid f#ckin n#gg#r”, when he thought no one was listening. Outdoor home security cameras were listening though. It’s people like this that really make it difficult for people with service animals. I wish that the service dog industry was m
We’ve all heard “practice makes perfect”. On this day, Alex and Sam were practicing working the long line (30 foot leash) so that once they begin working dogs with it, they’re familiar. A large portion of our training is about mechanics and being comfortable with the equipment. The only way to get comfortable with training is to TRAIN! Mechanics affect communication and communication is the key to successful training sessions. This was definitely Leah’s favorite piece of equipment. Right, Leah? 😜
#OCDT
#OnCommandDogTraining
#Mechanics
#JustTrain
Trigger Warning! The truth about prong collars and their lasting side effects.
It was tough but with practice and perseverance, I was finally able to train all of these dogs to run in slow motion simultaneously. 😜
#OCDT
#SlowMo
#OnCommandDogTraining
#Running
#Training
Come meet Django at the Harker Heights Pet Adoption Center.
#SweetBoy
#Django
#Husky
Many of the dogs that come through our facility hold a special place in our hearts. Goose is no exception. Dogs like Goose are the reason many of us do what we do. We strive to make a difference in the owners’ lives as well as the dogs’. To see Goose be the goofy, confident and happy dog she’s blossomed into is reward within itself. Goose was found on the side of the road, abandoned, scared and alone. When we met Goose on 10 January, she was nervous, timid and had no understanding of any obedience. How can we train a dog that’s nervous and lacks confidence? First, we gain her trust. Once we do that, we begin letting her know that not only are we trustworthy, we’re actually fun to hang out with. We have cool and fun toys, lots of food and lovins for days. Before she knows it, she’s learning to trust, learning obedience, learning routine and all of these things build confidence. She went from a timid, tail tucking dog, to a confident, well-trained pup. We took her to busy parks, where she exceeded our expectations and to busy, noisy environments like Lowe’s, where she once again rocked it. This isn’t a post to congratulate me; more so to thank and congratulate our trainers, Raegan and Leah and their unique ability to pull out of a dog what she doesn’t know exists. Raegan and Leah did and do just that with each dog that comes through our doors. Of course, they couldn’t do it if Goose wasn’t willing to try. Definitely gotta applaud Goose on her transformation.
