That's The Spirit Dog Training

10/03/2022

We often tend to get puppies with big expectations of what they will be and big hopes and dreams, which is wonderful! But sometimes, puppies can end up being really, really hard to live with.

The “puppy blues” can make it hard to enjoy life with your puppy. Plus? Puppies kind of suck. Here’s how to cope.

09/27/2022

Hank, the dog on the right, might look familiar. That's because he's one of the dogs in my logo! I got Hank about four years ago from Dalmatian Rescue of Colorado and he was the one to introduce me to positive training and especially into the concept of cooperative care when it comes to things like nail trims. I've learned so much because of him. I've taken so many classes and read so many books and learned so much about how to make things like nail trims easier on dogs.

And he still goes to the vet for sedated nail trims. Why? Because it's less stress on both of us. Nail trims are incredibly stressful for Hank and while I have managed to change how he thinks on alot of things, nails trims are still very overwhelming for him. And that's okay, and I know it is but sometimes, we don't fully believe it.

Sugarfoot, on the left, is my current foster and has been here since July 15th. When I first picked up the nail clippers, she ran to the opposite side of the house and I was like 'oh boy'. But I took all the stuff that I've learned and started to slowly desensitize her, first to me just picking them up, then to me touching her feet, then separating a nail and then, today, I managed to clip one. And she was delighted to get some snacks and pestered me to work on them more.

Every dog goes at their own pace. Some dogs will seem impossible but will make incredible progress. Some dogs will seem fine but never quite seem to get there. It can be frustrating and disheartening but this is where an outside party going over what you're doing and your methods can be invaluable, as well as to keep your spirits up.

09/13/2022

People tend to make dog training seem really complicated. There are a million books out there and a million methods and it can all get really frustrating and overwhelming really quickly. So here, let me give you The Secret.

Reinforce your dog for things that you want them do and keep them from getting reinforced by doing things that you don't and be consistent about it. It's that simple. Or at least it should. Dog training can also get really complicated really fast so here, let me give you an example of what I mean.

Rusty, my teenage dalmatian, has been taught to hunt for things and he's very good at it. He's also struggled with impulse control and is a very big boy. On top of that, I am a forgetful person who tends to leave things out that I shouldn't. We should be a match made in heaven on How To Create A Counter Surfer. But instead, I have a dog who will go into the kitchen, see something that he wants on the counter and dramatically take a step back away from it.

Why? Two things. One was that when he would stay out of the kitchen or stay back, I rewarded him. Alot, and often. Sometimes I would use kibble, sometimes I'd toss him a scrap of whatever I was cooking. He learned really quick that the best way to get the delicious food was to stay down, and that's what he did. The second thing that I did was to put an exercise pen up in front of my counters and I left it there for months, you can see it in this picture. That xpen made it so that even when I was working in the other room and he was loose, there was no way for him to jump up and get the fun things on the countertop.

It's taken time and consistency and a lot of cooking around an xpen, but I now have a dog that I can leave food around and he leaves it alone. He knows the food is there, he knows that he would want to eat it, but he knows that the best way to get it is to hang back.

It's that easy. Of course, it can get complicated to know what to reinforce and how best to manage your dog to keep them from getting reinforcement and that's where a good trainer comes in, but at its core? Just reinforce what you want and prevent what you don't.

09/11/2022

In the last few years, I’ve watched “dog culture” explode into a phenomenon I’d never seen as an early dog trainer. When I first started training dogs, people didn’t come to me with requests for their dogs to be able to handle things and expectations we put on them so heavily today. Nowadays, it’s amazing what we ask of our dogs because of this culture that emerged. And then we wonder why dogs are going downhill behaviorally so quickly.

1. Dog “groups” where people get together with dogs on leash and do activities and social events. Including birthday parties, Halloween parties, etc etc

2. Dog daycares where dogs are kept in large groups to play

3. Dog parks where humans AND dogs interact in groups

4. Behaviors like perfect heel on leash, sit stays on beds, ignoring environmental enticement in the name of “training”

Then there’s dog sports, dog classes, therapy dog work, service dog work, dog shows, trail walks, public outings, restaurants, breweries, and farmers markets and parades and town days and family over (with their dog) for every holiday and apartment complexes and car rides and pet stores and all these places we’ve been made to believe dogs SHOULD go and should WANT to go to and if they don’t then you need to do more and more work with them and help them like it and if you don’t then you aren’t fulfilling them or meeting their needs and your dog isn’t happy and you are failing or they just haven’t been raised right.

Please. Take a breath.

For 20,000 years dogs existed beside us doing none of that. For 9,000 years they were created for purpose and work, not for pets (with the exception of a few toy breeds) We didn’t expect ANY OF THIS during that time unless they were designed and created for it: now it’s what we want all the time. From all dogs. That’s not fair.

Our culture has changed SO much and dogs haven’t had a chance to catch up. We want all this new stuff because it’s part of OUR new culture, but we need to pause and realize it’s not a part of most of theirs. People coming over? Not really what most dogs were created to enjoy. Going new places all the time? Not what most dogs were created to handle. Hanging out in groups and put in costumes and having their pictures taken? Not normal to a dog. Riding calmly in a glass box going past all these distractions at 35mph? Not part of their DNA either.

We would NEVER expect this of any of our other animals either. Why are dogs taking the brunt of this. Because dogs are extremely adaptable and truthfully, they love us so much they will try so so hard to make us happy and do what we ask of them. But, can we for a second stop and think that maybe it’s too much sometimes? Can we please take some accountability for their stress and mental health as part of OUR unrealistic expectations that we’ve been led to believe make for a good dog vs a bad dog? I’m not talking about not working with them and helping them learn to live in todays world. That’s important. I’m talking about taking a step back and having respect for who they are and why they originally ended up with us. I do this all the time before I put any of my dogs in a situation, and that means sometimes I don’t bring them.

If the culture is changing; let’s add human education and understanding of basic canine ethology, body language and respect into it too. It’s only fair to honor the animals who have stood beside us for so so long.

Helen St. Pierre

09/11/2022

Yup yup yup! As humans, we are fallible and sometimes we lose our tempers. That is understandable. The problem comes when we assume that the dog has learned a lesson from that besides 'this human is less safe than I'd thought'.

You might have the best intentions but dogs aren't programmed to understand that.

Contrary to popular belief, they can't tell the good guys from the bad guys.

They can only guess if something is safe or unsafe. And even if it seems clear to you which is which, it may not be to the dog.

09/06/2022

This this this! Give your teens a little grace, you'll both be glad for it.

It is my fervent wish that people understood the importance of giving their dogs breaks in training and time to grow up.

All the time I hear people wanting their young dog, 5 months, 6 months, only a year old, to be a therapy dog, a service dog, able to achieve and do things that are beyond their capacity at that age. And then wondering what is wrong with the dog or what they have done wrong. Nothing. Please just give them time.

Dogs need time and space and understanding in order “dog” well later in life. Imagine the damage I would do to my 12 year old daughter if I insisted at this age she start college and go to law school because I just knew she’d make a great lawyer? You’d think I was crazy. She still needs to be reminded to brush her teeth at night. She has plenty of time to have a career, right now she needs to be a kid.

Young dogs need TIME. Please stop forcing goals and expectations on them before they’ve even grown up. You can train them and work with them to teach them valuable skills but make it fun and give them breaks and let them have time to just dog. All that stuff you’re worried they’ll “forget” if you don’t keep pushing and pushing is the same as worrying a car will lose its ability to move forward if you take the foot off the gas. It’s okay to coast for a bit, let the engine rest, and do little reminder work here and there without overwhelming a developing brain and potentially damaging your relationship. It will all be there when they get back from their adolescent trip, I promise.