Play & Train Dog Behavior, LLC

Our hike needed to be on the shorter side yesterday so we took a few moments at the end to scan the environment, one of the skills taught with Predation Substitute Training. Scanning the environment allows our dogs to perform one of the safe parts of the predatory sequence, and - why we chose to do it at this particular moment - it's incredibly enriching, and will leave them calm and tired. You do need to practice this as a skill so they don't accidentally become over-aroused/go over threshold. Stay tuned for private training and group class options so you can learn this skill and so much more! #predationsubstitutetraining #predatorybehavior #rewardbaseddogtraining #rewardbasedtraining #forcefreedogtraining #forcefreetraining #dogtrainer #dogtraining

Today's @animalpositivecoalition meeting was a lovely time reflecting on all that APC has accomplished this year, and networking with other force-free professionals. Here's a snippet of a color recognition demo given by Pat Miller at @peaceable.paws .

Dash got a visit from her friendo, Kyber today. Aren't they just so silly with their long play freezes? 😍😁 #dogboarding #dogplay #dogplaydate #dogsocialization

Dash is rocking the scratch board training. This is her first session since the 2 she had during her stay with us 3 weeks ago. I thought we might have to go back to using a towel briefly to remind her what the behavior is, but she said nope and flew right on to adding in the cue. 🩷 #dogboarding #dogboardandtrain #dogtraining #dogtrainer #scratchboard #fearfree #fearfreepets #fearfreehappyhomes #cooperativecare

Two training sessions and Dash is already using the scratchboard. 💅🏻 #dogboarding #teenadventurecamp #dogtraining #scratchboard #cooperativecare #fearfree #fearfreepets #fearfreeboarding #fearfreehappyhomes

We squeezed in one more quick training session before Oscar went home yesterday. So close to the verbal only cue. @tmperkins1 & @catrin321 will have to finish, or send him back to me so we can. 😁 #tricktraining #rollover #dogtraining #dogtrainer

Tricksmas Day #23 - Skye had a long car ride today (with extra meds to keep her comfy) so we kept this really short, but it's definitely one we're going to keep working on because getting a selfie with her is...not easy. 😅 #tricksmas #tricktraining #dogtraining

Tricksmas Day #21 - We are having a lot of fun with this one! We still have a few days left so not committing yet, but this one might go down as our favorite trick this year. Does anyone know/remember what our favorite trick from last year was? #tricksmas #tricktraining #dogtraining

What do you do when you wake up with laryngitis and realize you can't call your dog in the yard because you have zero voice? You add a new cue to an existing behavior that doesn't require your voice. I paired 3 claps in a row with targeting my hand. I chose targeting my hand because it's an additional visual cue to get to me, but the claps will allow me to call her when she isn't looking at me (which targeting does not). Pairing a new cue with a known cue is simple: 👏🏻 Give the new cue (in this case 3 claps) ☝🏻 Pause a few seconds 🫱🏻 Give the known cue (in this case holding out my open palm) 🦴 After the dog does the behavior (in this case touching my palm with her nose), reward After some repetitions, try the new cue alone and see what your dog does. If they don't do the behavior, go back to pairing for some additional reps. In this case, it took Skye only a handful of repetitions before she understood what the claps meant. It probably didn't hurt that she thought this was a fun new game! What cues could you see adding, or have you added to existing behaviors? Leave your ideas in the comments! 👇🏻

Skye has been increasingly excited about her underwater treadmill sessions. Last week she barked because we were too slow to let her in. 😄 Look at that happy tail! Abigail, our wonderful PT at @marylandanimal even got a smile today! #underwatertreadmill #caninephysicaltherapy #fearfreepets

Good morning groans from Wynnie (volume up). 🥰 #stayandplay #dogboarding