Prairie K9

02/18/2025

Dangerously cold today. Wow, that wind is brittle and biting.
Let's keep all the dogs and the humans warm and safe.

Puppy kindergarten is canceled for tonight. Emails sent, so check there for specifics.

Looking ahead to longer days and warmer temps, and more opportunities to get out and do fun things with dogs and puppies.

Puppy and beginner class starts on Tuesday, March 4th
Aimed at puppies ages 10 weeks - 7 months
Dogs under twenty pounds can join at any age.

Four weeks: all basic obedience commands, some fun leadership exercises, safety for dogs and kids, and how to be your veterinarian's favorite client!

Canine Good Citizen class starts on Monday, March 10th
Perfect for your adolescent or adult dog
Six weeks: Sit, lie down, come, stay, and loose-leash walking.

All the things we expect our dogs and puppies to know whether we've actually taught them or not. ;)

So, let's get together and actually teach them, create some joy and harmony, and peace, and mutual understanding. :)

Send an email for information, and to register.
[email protected]

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02/17/2025

Canine Good Citizen class is CANCELED tonight due to weather conditions.

Emails sent.

Keep warm. Stay safe.

02/13/2025

Not protection.
Possession.

Not funny.
At all.

02/09/2025

Flashy websites and slick marketing are always a 'tell' and now another dog is dead.

Bryley Holmes of Lincoln was away from her home on a trip when she received a call explaining how her dog had died unexpectedly. She didn't know the caretaker's past.

02/07/2025

Pressure and release, where the release is oh-so-much more important and informative than the pressure.

02/02/2025

"This need to all be in place, without cookies or toys, by eight to ten months of age, to give them the building blocks for adolescence.:

Yep.

01/30/2025

Wise words.

01/23/2025

Our house.

Every. Single. Day. 🤣

01/21/2025

Momentarily interrupting Squirrel Appreciation Day to let our puppy owners know that due to extreme temperatures our Tuesday evening puppy class has been postponed.

Emails sent, but wanted to cover our bases here so that nobody ventured out this evening unnecessarily.

Stay warm, and don't let the below zero temps derail your housebreaking efforts. :)

I now return you to the SQUIRRELS!!!!

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01/21/2025

01/20/2025

A very very talented author-friend blogged this morning, writing about the writing process as an act of creativity and celebration.

I thought his words suited our creative work as well, for dog training is that: both creative, and celebratory.

He writes: "It [is] above all a celebration of the creative spirit, the force that’s sustained many of us for years. We choose to create something, whether it be music, art, pastries, or poetry or prose. We engage with the world by making things be they furniture pieces, houses, sculptures, inventions, plays, or whatever our talents produce. We sustain ourselves, and we try to sustain the world by what we give those around us. A full, vibrant life demands creation rather than destruction."

And a few lines later: "To make something is to love something, maybe even the world, imperfect as it is. To make something is to insist on the power of creation to take us to a more human place, a place of joy, perhaps, or nostalgia, or understanding, or celebration."

Training a dog is a creative act, a celebration of who they are and who we are, and it's powerful to come together with another species in that way -- each of us recognizing in the other one the joy of being and doing things together, and we sustain the world by what we give in that exchange.

I can't imagine anything I'd rather be doing and invite you to feel that way, too. :) Bring your dog, and let's find out what sparks your joy, your creativity, and the life-long celebration that follows from mutual understanding and respect.

New puppy classes start February 4th (Tuesday).

(and thanks to Lee for the inspiration)

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01/17/2025

IYKYK

01/09/2025

A Thursday thought regarding expertise, and following from yesterday's post:

Jean Lave has said that most people don’t have problems, they have predicaments. If you have a predicament and have to look for help from someone – whether a hardware store proprietor, a courthouse clerk, an airline ticket agent or a dog trainer – you dearly hope that you will encounter an expert.

Because an expert will help you turn your predicament into a problem (or a set of problems) and then map the circumstances in ways that help you to take the steps to solve it.

The nonexpert will provide you with a standard course to follow, more likely than not adding further complications to your predicament.

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01/07/2025

Over the weekend, several phone calls from frustrated dog owners who have 'already done training' (and some of you know where this is going)...

Let's try this: Psychologists (and dog trainers) speak of pattern knowledge, but pattern knowledge does not explain everything about expertise. By itself, it does not explain anything. For example, through special training non-chess players can be brought up to the same level of skill in memory for chessboard configurations as chess masters. This does not make them experts at chess. In fact, their skill is irrelevant; they recognize chessboard patterns by features that have nothing to do with chess – for instance, by the resemblance of one arrangement to a candlestick. But chess experts do not merely recognize thousands of chessboard patterns, they recognize them in ways that are relevant to playing the game.

Expert knowledge is not just a head full of facts or patterns. Rather, it is information combined with skill and so finely adapted to task requirements that it enables experts to do remarkable things...
..such as:

* teaching you how to train your dog to keep the leash loose at all times, where keeping the leash loose is his job (not yours);
* training that will allow the dog to use his nose to discriminate between the dog's toys and the baby's toys (i.e., which toys are allowed and which ones are off limits);
* training that makes a distinction between 'hold still, but pay attention because there is more information coming' and 'hold still in the position I put you in, until I return and release you';

and a whole lot more, but you get the idea.

One more thought: Experts and non-experts, even when they are nominally practicing the same profession, are actually pursuing different careers.

The career of the expert is one of progressively advancing on the challenges constituting a field of work, but the career of the nonexpert is one of gradually constricting the field of work so that it more closely conforms to the routines the nonexpert is prepared to execute.

Be careful out there.
And PK9 is here whenever you're ready.

(insights and inspiration from Bereiter & Scardamalia)

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12/31/2024

Pausing a moment to say thank you to all the brilliant and talented puppies, and every dog and handler team who came out to train with us in 2024.

Thanks for following us around town as our veterinary clinic 'home' of twenty-two years faced a structural crisis; we had some fun over the summer in new locations, including a couple of university campuses and other local sites. Thanks for your good faith, flexibility, and spirit of adventure.

PK9 students carry with them new understandings about puppy development, safety for dogs and kids, what it takes to make your dog into his veterinarian's (or groomer's) favorite client, how dogs learn and how they don't, and the structured means to the ultimate goal: a dog you can take anywhere with you. A dog you don't have to make excuses for.

Working one-on-one, the 'reactive' dogs aren't reactive anymore; we created calm and tolerance in multiple-dog households, and taught many (many) dogs to walk politely on a leash in the presence of distractions. No gadgets, no gimmicks.

We celebrated some new Canine Good Citizens out of our classes, dogs who go on to do therapy work in the community; our competition cohort earned obedience, rally and tracking titles, UDX legs, OTCh points and a few blue ribbons to go along with the green ones.

But most of all, our dog and handler teams gain the skills to make their homes, neighborhoods and communities safer, quieter and more welcoming for everyone.

We are truly grateful for each of you and look forward to working with you again. If you haven't met us yet, make plans to come out and join us for classes and workshops in 2025.

Sending wishes for a safe and Happy New Year!
All new classes start in January. Join us!

12/30/2024

Speaking of puppies....

The more _crate time up front_ with any new dog or puppy leads to more freedom later on.

The more _freedom upfront_ with any new dog or puppy leads to more crate time later on.

(HT to the Relevant Canine)

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12/30/2024

Christmas puppies are so cute. :)

But of course, we all eventually discover that good looks can only get you so far in this life. Good manners, though? Now that's the ticket to success.

Classes start next week, with a few spots remaining.
Email: [email protected] for all the details!

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12/27/2024

Out with dogs early this morning; many, many, many dogs barking at us through the windows as we passed by otherwise dark houses filled with (presumably) still-sleeping humans.

This has to be an opportunity, right? Some kind of PK9 wake-up service. Just let us know what time you'd like us to go past and wake up your dog so he can do the same for you...
...or we could -- by pre-arrangement -- be sure to NOT go past your house at 5:30 a.m. but that would be a slightly higher fee. ;)

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