Snow!!
Did you get snow?!?! This is Trixie from our Bacon X Ruby litter, bred and trained at Legend! She sure is enjoying the snow!! Post your snow photos and videos here, we want to see your kiddos enjoying the rare experience! ❄️ ⛄️
Pops- Alert to fall
Pops the service dog in training has learned to “speak” to alert if his owner has fallen. Because depending on where she falls, Pops could need to bark for extended periods of time until help arrives. He’s also being trained not to leave her side if she falls.
Today we transitioned to Pops alerting despite his mate- the other dog being in the room. She is his play buddy and her presence can sometimes be distracting when it’s time to work.
Both dogs became concerned when she”fell” and Pops immediately began his alert! Way to go Pops! This is an exampple of a virtual training session where we build and practice our tasking skills. Contact me today to find out how your dog could become your service dog or home help mate!
Dacus Doodles
Inks lake state park
Bacon, Molly, Aeriss, Chica and I are camping for Christmas this year! Having a good work life balance is super important not only for us, but for our dogs too!
Service dog and therapy dog burnout is a real thing. I am a big believer that working dogs should also be taught the Ecollar and become off lead obedient (in most cases. I don’t use it for any task training, but I think it’s important for working dogs to have a clear picture of when they’re “off”.
Quartering at the park off lead on an Ecollar is a totally different picture than going with Mom or Dad to the pet store without a vest (what many people would consider their dog being “off”). This provides minimal distinction, and whether in vest or not, a working dog should always be on their best behavior in public, therefore this activity feels no different t to the dog than a normal day at work.
By taking our dogs somewhere and showing them a completely different picture, allowing them to run, sniff, explore, be silly- this looks and feels totally different; making a clear distinction between work time and play time. This is especially important for dogs who task inside the home as well as in public, because these dogs are “on” 24/7.
The doggos and I are definitely enjoying stretching our legs and using our obedience skills to master camping this week too! Should be fun hiking with 4 dogs!! 😉😉😉🥾🏔️
This is also the first year I’ve been able to travel for the holidays, usually I would have a kennel full of boarding dogs. A win for work life balance!! 💪💪❤️❤️🐕☀️🏔️🥾🎄
Therapy dog outing
Goose is a pup from our Sunshine X Rio 2022 litter. He was my keeper pup and I raised him until he was 4 months old, when he was placed with N, a client and friend.
N currently works for CPS and her goal in purchasing Goose was to produce a well rounded therapy dog who could go out on calls with her.
Goose did his formal obedience with me and N has been working with him for the last year to prepare for certification. We met up this weekend to train at Cabellas for the test; I brought Molly along to practice the friendly dog approach piece of the CGC test.
Goose was a pro!! And N did such a beautiful job handling him! They got some good tips and pointers and I am feeling confident that they will pass the test on their first go! Good luck 🍀 N and Goose!! ❤️❤️💪💪🐾
Winnie- heads up heel!
Miss Winnie and I are working to perfect the beautiful heads up heel!! ❤️❤️🐾💪
Winnie- enrichment
Winnie is the new pup in obedience training. I recently put a couple of the new kennels on the back porch now that it’s cooled off. This has created a fabulous enrichment space, so the dogs can play, solve puzzles, master body awareness and entertain themselves while I’m training other dogs or meeting private lesson clients. I’m so excited that it’s cooled off, giving me the opportunity to use my outdoor spaces! 🙏❤️
Winnie is mastering the wobble board while she tries to find every morsel of peanut butter and sweet potato cookies stuffed in the chicken feeder on a bungee cable. 💪💪 🧠 🧠
I got a little creative with my Halloween decor this year…
Lady
Lady is a 9 week old puppy in jump start. She came from a fabulous breeder who temperament tested the litter and chose Lady specifically for her family. They have two tween girls and really wanted a calm, snuggly puppy.
Well Lady is all those things, but she’s SOOO people oriented that she is highly prone to develop separation anxiety. Anytime I walk away from Lady, she begins scream crying, and will continue on and off for HOURS. As humans, our natural instinct is typically to think that something is wrong, be it the crate, she’s too young, she’s not ready etc. and to get her out of the crate when she cries and is inconsolable. But this would only reinforce this behavior and would certainly create separation anxiety.
So I created a training plan to help Lady enjoy and even look forward to time outside without me. Each day I change up the obstacles and toys in her pin, and I adjust the treats and food sprinkled, from very simple and requiring minimal effort. To hiding underneath things, hung on toys, or stuck in peanut butter, so she has to investigate and explore to find and access the food and treats.
Lady is practicing 4 hour stints in her crate during the day to help her progress into longer periods of time. She’s not ready for a full 8 hour night yet and because of her barking issue, if I take her out in the middle of the night to potty, she will scream for the next 4 hours 😱 so we do daytime crate training in preparation for transitioning to 8 hours at night.
I have also filled her space with physical challenges to build body awareness and confidence- like the balance board, toys hung from a bungee chord, the pool with slowly increasing amounts of water. Body awareness training helps decreaseher lifelong risk of injury, and builds her confidence in any situation or environment.
If I cannot correct a behavior (because Lady is only 9 weeks old she’s too young for a traditional correction for severe demand barking) the next best thing is to in
Pops the Service Dog
Pops, the service dog in training practicing a bark alert command when his owner pretends to fall. Pops is being trained to stay with his owner until help arrives and bark continuously. Today was our first lesson where we transitioned this training outside. Pops did a fabulous job of not getting distracted but sticking with his job!
We offer a variety of custom tasks designed to meet the needs of many people who need service dogs. Visit our website to learn more about some of the tasks we train for!
Www.Legendworkingdogs.com
#servicedogtraining #austindogtrainer #atx
Place training in the house
Our training programs are designed for dogs who live in the house- so we take practicing our skills in the house seriously!
Lainey graduated from board and train obedience with me about a year ago. Her family is expecting a new, very small addition! 🎉 so they decided to send her back for some touchup work and to progress her skills even father!
Today she did an extended place stay while I prepared and ate lunch. Good girl!! 💪💪
Because your dog will feel right at home, here in my home ❤️❤️
Item retrieval
This is Muffin! She’s a pup from our 2023 Reecie X Scout litter. Muffin is a service dog in training, I meet with her owner weekly in the self train model. Muffin’s owner does all of the training under my direction.
Muffin has been working for several months to stretch out her item retrieval- retrieving a pill bottle for her owner. We started at first building confidence jumping up on counters, or grabbing the pill bottle off of a table. And as of now, Muffin can independently go upstairs, search for and identify the correct pill bottle, and bring it down to her owner.
Service dog training starts with choosing the right puppy for your job, so reach out to us today to learn more about the kind of dog who will best meet your needs! ❤️❤️🐾🐾
Breeding and Training Labrador Retrievers to be Service Dogs, Therapy Dogs and Superior Family Companions.
