dreamlike4paws

09/07/2024

🐾 Part 3 of my *Adolescent Dog* series is up! 🎉

This post is all about *Effective Techniques for Positive Reinforcement* to help you navigate those adolescent dog challenges with ease! 🐕💡

Ready to strengthen your bond and guide your pup through this phase? Check out the blog – link in my bio! 🔗 Stay tuned for part 4! 🙌

09/06/2024

The big secret to dog training? 🐾

Spoiler alert: It’s not just about perfecting cues like “sit” and “stay” – it’s about creating a pawsome bond with your pup! 🐕✨
Building that connection is where the real magic happens – because when you and your dog are truly in sync, there’s no challenge you can’t overcome together! 💪❤️

What’s your favorite bonding moment with your dog? Share below!👇

09/06/2024

This is so true! Kindness, predictability and compassion is sooo important in this phase. And it is a phase where you both can come out stronger bonded than before. 💕

Adolescence occurs between six months and 18 months of age—a time when guardians typically struggle the most with their dogs. Some guardians are so overwhelmed and underprepared for this developmental stage of their dog’s life, they choose to surrender the dog to a local shelter or rescue group. In a recent study published in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science found that the majority of the surrendered dogs (47.7 percent) ) were between 5 months and 3 years of age (M.D. Salman,John G. New, Jr.,Janet M. Scarlett,Philip H. Kass,Rebecca Ruch-Gallie &Suzanne Hetts, 2010)

The neurobiology of adolescence is fascinating, with some key events that alter both the structure and function of the brain.

During canine adolescence, changing s*x hormones effect the animals stress responses. Adolescent dogs have a decreased ability to process information they are receiving from the environment including the presence of dogs, vehicles, people, or really anything around them. They behave in ways that might feel frustrating or upsetting for the dog’s person.

The connectivity between the frontal cortex (responsible for decision making) and amygdala (responsible for emotional processing) decreases, resulting in less behavioral control. We see increased risk taking and more sensitivity to fear.

So what does this mean? This could mean that what was once no big deal to the dog now feels scary; what was once easy to do is now stressful; what once made sense is now confusing. At times, the world can feel like ‘too much’ for the adolescent dog.

As your puppy undergoes this transition into adulthood their inner world is intense, even chaotic. Many pet owners experience an increase in undesirable behavior and find themselves becoming increasingly frustrated. In turn, our own frustration and impatience can cause us to act unpredictably. This adds to our puppy’s inner turmoil. When the inside and the outside are both unpredictable it can be difficult for our dogs to adjust.

If you have an adolescent dog, what can you do? You can give your dog the time and space to observe what is going on around them when on leash at a distance away from the activity when possible. You can give your dog long walks to sniff and explore in nature, giving their brain time to decompress. You can offer your dog a quiet space to sleep so that they can consolidate memories effectively. You can continue training various skills, breaking them down into easier steps that can be generously reinforced.

By understanding what our adolescent dog is experiencing we gain greater compassion and understanding. When we approach adolescence with patience we create a world that is predictable and gentle so our puppies grow up to be their best adult selves.

09/03/2024

🐾 Adopting a New Dog? Let’s Set Them Up for Success! 🐾

Bringing a new dog home is a joyful experience, but it can also be a bit challenging as they adjust to their new surroundings. That’s why I’ve created the Rule of 3’s overview – a simple guide to help you navigate the first three days, three weeks, and three months with your new furry friend. 🏠💕

This guide offers practical tips on how to help your dog decompress, settle in, and truly feel at home. Whether it’s understanding their need for space in the first few days, gradually introducing them to new environments, or starting basic training – the Rule of 3’s overview is here to guide you every step of the way.

👉 Want a copy? Comment below with rule3, and I’ll send you a link to download the Rule of 3’s overview! Let’s make sure your new companion feels safe, loved, and ready to thrive in their forever home. 🐶💖

Hashtags:

08/28/2024

The breeder's death is being investigated as a homicide and the missing puppies are part of the investigation, Clear Creek County Sheriff's Office confirmed Sunday.

08/27/2024

🐾 Does your teenage dog suddenly forget their cues? 🤔 You’re not alone! Consistency is the key to unlocking success 🗝️ and staying sane during those adolescent phases! 😅 In my latest blog post, I’m sharing how to stay consistent and compassionate in training your adolescent dog. 💪❤️

Check out “The Adolescent Dog (2/4): The Importance of Consistency in Training” 🐕‍🦺 and discover the simple yet powerful ways to keep your dog’s training on track, even when their attention seems to vanish like a treat! 🍪✨

📖 Read more at the link in bio and let me know your biggest training struggle with your dog! 💬👇

08/26/2024

Happy National Dog Day! 🐾🎉

From our pack to yours, we’re celebrating the incredible bond we share with our dogs—our loyal companions, adventure buddies, and forever friends. Today’s all about honoring the joy, love, and tail-wagging moments they bring to our lives. 💛🐕

Here’s to every walk, every cuddle, and every happy bark. Let’s spoil our pups a little extra today and show them just how much they mean to us!

Sending love from Gin, Hercinia, and me to you and your furry family! 🐾✨

08/26/2024

🚀 Had an incredible time co-hosting this weekend’s dog training workshop with K9 Kate!

🐾 This time we added some super fun exercises—learning how to use the clicker and shaping behaviors. Everyone got to participate in pairs, with one person as the “dog” and the other as the “owner” to practice behavior shaping. So much energy and excitement from the group! I’m already looking forward to more workshops next year! 🎉

08/26/2024

Every challenge is an opportunity to grow closer to your dog. The more obstacles you face together, the stronger your bond becomes. It’s all about growing and learning together, step by step!

👉 What’s one challenge you’re facing with your dog right now? Drop it in the comments, and let’s tackle it together! 💬

08/23/2024

Grab one of the last spots! 🐶🐾📝

TOMORROW! Build a better relationship and learn how to train your dog using positive reinforcement. It's more fun than you think, and dogs love it! Join us for this workshop for paw-rents who want to learn more to improve their dog training skills. There is still time to register and a few spots are available.

We are excited to collaborate again with Sandra Winfrey of dreamlike4paws to present this workshop.

http://www.k9kate.org/dogtrainingclasses/class_workshop.html

08/17/2024

When your clients are already waiting at the door… Ready for the paw-ty to begin! 🐾🐕🎉

“I guess someone heard the training rumor! 😆🍖
Hold tight, fluffballs—I’m bringing the cues and rewards for some brain-boosting fun! 🚪✨”

08/08/2024

Please please beware!!!!

🔴 IT'S PARVO!!! 🔴 (see previous post) ATTN SOUTHLANDS COMMUNITY!! If you bought a doxy puppy from the King Soopers Parking Lot on Smokey Hill and Arapahoe this last weekend, the dogs are breaking with PARVO. Get your dog to a veterinarian ASAP if they are low energy, not eating, vomiting, or have loose stools! We have 3 of the siblings and they popped positive with parvo today. We will take your dog as a surrender to rescue to get them treatment and try to pull them through this if you cannot afford their care. Treatment can run $6k-$8k. (Yes. We've actually paid that amount for several parvo dogs in years past). Please DO NOT EUTHANIZE! Contact me directly, by text at 720-207-4186
TO SOUTHLANDS NEIGHBORS

07/30/2024

Workshop Recap! 🐾

Thank you to all the amazing participants who joined us for our free dog training workshop on Saturday! 🐾 Your curiosity and eagerness to learn more about positive-reinforcement training and building strong bonds with your canine companions made it a fantastic experience.

Our first collaborative workshop with K9 Kate was a huge success. Special thanks to Kate for her expertise and dedication to helping dogs and their pawrents tackle training challenges with positive methods. 🐶

Don’t miss our next workshop on August 24th, which will have an even stronger focus on training techniques and making learning fun for both you and your furry friends! 🐕📅 Register now at www.k9kate.org!



Stay tuned and get ready for more tail-wagging fun! 🎉🐾

07/27/2024

🌟 Exciting News! 🌟

I am thrilled to announce that I’ve joined an incredible group, the Canine High-Performers Group established by the School of Canine Science! 🎉 Those who know me understand how deeply passionate I am about learning and constantly striving to improve. My goal has always been to be the best I can be for myself, my clients, and their pups. 🐾

I am so looking forward to this journey, filled with science discussions, roundtables, and learning from industry experts as well as improving every aspect of my life! This is a fantastic opportunity to enhance my skills and knowledge, and I can’t wait to see where it takes me! 🚀

Are you a trainer?! Come and join me too!

07/26/2024

Training your dog and not seeing the results you want???
Join us to learn how to understand your dog better and improve your training.
Registration is still open for tomorrow's class!
www.k9kate.org

We are thrilled to collaborate with dreamlike4paws on this workshop!
Presented by K9 Kate Dog Training & Dreamlike 4 Paws.

07/24/2024

Yes! Come and bring a friend too. We can’t wait for Saturday!

Bring a friend! Join Sandra and I to learn how to understand your dog better and improve your relationship.
Register today! Spots are still available!
www.k9kate.org

We are thrilled to collaborate with dreamlike4paws on this workshop!
Presented by K9 Kate Dog Training & Dreamlike 4 Paws.

07/22/2024

Yes! So true and important for the child & dog.

A lot of my clients seem to be very uncomfortable with the idea of separating their dog and child for safety reasons. But I recently had an epiphany - they all assumed that separation was the same as isolation. And it's not.

Using management strategies, such as using a pen to cordon off an area for a child to play, provide separation between the dog and child. But neither the dog or child is isolated. Everyone can still see each other. The parent can still interact with everyone. And with time and patience, everyone can be very comfortable and safe with such an arrangement.

So now, I am always reminding clients that "Separation is not the same as isolation." It's simply a way for parents to function and do the impossibly difficult job of raising kids and dogs together.

07/16/2024

I am so excited to offer a free Dog Training Workshop in collaboration with K9 Kate. This workshop will cover various training techniques to help you understand and improve your relationship with your dog.

• Date: Saturday, July 27

• Time: 9 AM - 1 PM

• Location: Smoky Hill Library, Centennial, CO

• Cost: Free (Suggested donation $25)

• Sign-up Link: http://www.k9kate.org/dogtrainingclasses/class_workshop.html

07/11/2024

Come and learn from Kate & me in our free Workshop!

TIP: When training, allow dogs to make mistakes. No verbal comment is needed, simply allow them to try again. This builds resilience and confidence in your dog. If they make repeated mistakes, something in the training setup needs to be changed. And always end on a successful rep. 💜🐾
Learn more about how to learn from mistakes at our FREE Dog Training Workshop on July 27! www.k9kate.org

07/01/2024

🌈 Color Choice Time! 🌈

Hey family! 🐾 I need your help picking the best two-color combinations for our new leashes! 🎨

I’ve already got blue and gray set, and now I want to add six to eight more colors. Check out these two photos with different leash colors and let me know your top choices! 🥇

👇 Comment below with your favorite two-color combo! Can’t wait to see what you all choose! 💬

06/30/2024

Hi friends, I need your help!!

I want to add custom made dog leashes to my products but have no idea what colors to choose… they will be two colored with one being primary and the other a secondary.

Out of the options for colors in the two photos, what colors would you choose? I have decided on blue and gray already, but want 6-8 more colors. (Color names are in the photos). What do you like??

Please help me choose!!! Thank you 💕

06/19/2024

PAWS & REFLECT - word of the week
TRADING

Teaching your dog to trade items is a game-changer! 🐾 It prevents resource guarding, builds trust, and makes your furry friend more cooperative. Here’s how to get started:

1. **Start with Low-Value Items**: Offer a low-value item and trade it for a high-value treat or toy.
2. **Use High-Value Rewards**: Make sure the item you’re trading for is more desirable than what your dog has.
3. **Practice Regularly**: Consistently practice trading during playtime and everyday interactions.
4. **Praise and Reward**: Always praise and reward your dog when they willingly trade, reinforcing positive behavior.

Happy trading and training! 🐶✨

05/14/2024

PAWS & REFLECT - Word of the Week RESILIENCE

is the dog’s ability to adapt to adversity, stress, trauma, or significant change.

Resilient dogs recover quickly and find balance after they got thrown off their emotional and behavioral homeostasis by frightening or negative experiences.

Building resilience in dogs is not easy and is influenced by many factors such as:
* genetics
* experiences during early development
* traumatic or challenging events

BUT Fear-free, kind and compassionate training methods will help your dog to become more resilient!

HERE ARE A FEW WAYS TO WORK ON RESILIENCE

* Giving your dog control & choices - if your dog gives you signs of discomfort, give them a chance to leave the situation
* Giving autonomy - allow them time to sniff, explore, and choose the direction they want to walk.
* Reinforce displacement behaviors - shake offs are great to teach, in addition to reinforcing their choice to disengage and not to react
* Teaching tricks - e.g.play bow on cue helps to relax the body and gives something else to focus on
* And many more!!!

❓How do you build resilience in your dog?

•
•
•
•

05/11/2024

Something to think about today and the next few days

Solar storms and how it may impact your dogs.

Scientific studies have repeatedly demonstrated that dogs are sensitive to geomagnetic changes.

Currently the earth is experiencing a powerful solar storm. It's effects on our dogs should not be underestimated. Especially our sensitive working dogs who are bred to have a heightened sense of direction. Dogs who are anxious or nervous may experience exacerbated symptoms. Dogs are sensitive to even small changes in the earth's magnetic field, this current storm is big and disruptive.

Epileptic dogs and people may be affected. There is a huge body of evidence relating to solar storms and seizures, have a little Google, there's too many relevant bits of literature to post here.

What can you do? Dogs are at increased risk of becoming disorientated in new environments, keep them on lead, in sight, have a heightened awareness of where they are. For dogs who rely on their sense of direction for work such as sheepdogs working hills, search and rescue dogs, tracking dogs, hunting dogs and trail dogs, it might be worth evaluating putting off any work where a dog may get lost. This is not me being a f***y either, I've already heard of a couple of normally savvy dogs becoming lost and disoriented in the north of Scotland, out of character for them.

In humans existing mental health conditions can worsen temporarily, particularly conditions caused by or associated with trauma, where your integral ability to orientate becomes distrupted and makes you feel unsafe, increasing anxiety and hypervigilance. This change in your presentation can also impact your dogs.

Just something to be aware of. As much as it sounds like hippy woo woo nonsense, I can assure you, it's a thing.

"the idea that animals can detect Earth’s magnetic field has traveled the path from ridicule to well-established fact in little more than one generation. Dozens of experiments have now shown that diverse animal species, ranging from bees to salamanders to sea turtles to birds, have internal compasses. Some species use their compasses to navigate entire oceans, others to find better mud just a few inches away."

https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/article/61/3/29/413382/Magnetoreception-in-animalsDetermining-how-animals

(Google stock image)

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259472878_Dogs_are_sensitive_to_small_variations_of_the_Earth's_magnetic_field

05/01/2024

RATTLESNAKE DOG TRAINING

Look at this precious boy!
Xander is taking my reward based 6 week Rattlesnake Dog Training class!
And we are one week away from finishing up. How exciting!!! 🐍🐾

Stay tuned and follow me for videos from his last class and see how he smashes it!
•
•
•
•

04/30/2024

PAWS & REFLECT - Word of the Week
CONSEQUENCE

is the feedback for a behavior performed and acts as a catalyst for repeating & strengthening the same behavior in the future, or not!

This was observed and first described by Edward L. Thorndike and is now known as the Law of Effect. It argues that ‘any behavior which is accompanied by satisfying and agreeable consequences maybe repeated and those which are followed by undesirable consequences will most probably be terminated.’

So what are the consequences when your dog jumps on people to greet them, counter-surfs or relaxes happily while kids are noise around him?

Remember! You don’t need to punish your dog for unwanted behavior but can choose to ignore or redirect it! - have a behavior you don’t like with your dog?! Let’s have chat!
•
•
•
•

04/27/2024

While I was just brewing a tea for myself. Let’s get one for the pups too! 🍵🐾💕

WANT TO HELP YOUR DOG LIVE LONGER? Try these inexpensive, polyphenol-rich longevity teas for you and your dog (or cat)!🫖

According to scientists at the University of Helsinki, over 70% of dogs exhibit noise sensitivity, separation anxiety, aggression, fear, compulsive behavior, and other behaviors associated with stress and anxiety.😿

Thankfully, one group of herbs🌿 known as adaptogens has proven to soothe and relax the nerves thereby reducing stress. Animal studies also show they are neuroprotective, and have anti-fatigue and anti-depressive activity. Additional studies have found that by regulating the body’s stress response, these powerful compounds can help reduce the effects of aging and may increase longevity. Researchers found one adaptogen, chamomile🌼, was associated with a 29% decrease of all-cause mortality!

🍵Using these herbs to make medicinal teas for our dog or cat is an inexpensive and easy way to create polyphenol-rich toppers (“gravies”) that infuse longevity benefits into every meal!

This is why we created this Calming Tea from our new book, The Forever Dog LIFE, using these three powerful herbs that you can share with your dog and enjoy as well:

🍃 Holy basil, aka tulsi, a potent adaptogen has been found to protect organs and tissues from physical stress including excessive noise, as well as from chemical stress from pollutants and heavy metals.

🍃 Lemon balm has been shown to reduce anxiety, especially when combined with other calming herbs like chamomile. High in flavonoids like quercetin, its high antioxidant activity has been show to protect against oxidative stress and the progression of degenerative diseases. In animal studies, lemon balm was found to have potent neuroprotective properties.

🍃 Chamomile contains a flavonoid, apigenin, that studies have shown significantly lower symptoms of anxiety and depression. In both human and animal studies, compounds in chamomile have benefits ranging from being anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial to potentially reducing the growth of cancer.

🙌For more ways to add longevity benefits to your pet's bowl, comment and we’ll message you the link to our new book where starting on page 149 in the section “Teas, Straight Up”, we take you through other powerful herbal combinations to make TUMMY Tea, COGNITION Tea, DETOX Tea and more! PLUS you’ll find a section on Herbs for Health where we cover important herbs and why you might want add them to your pet’s diet, along with dosages and recipe ideas.

04/22/2024

PAWS & REFLECT - word of the week
BAT (behavior adjustment training)

A dog training method made popular by training expert Grisha Stewart.
It focuses on modifying reactive or fearful behaviors by empowering the dog to make good choices, while providing controlled exposure to triggers at a safe distance.

You set up scenarios for your dog, which are similar to situations that would cause a reaction but that are different enough that the dog can explore the area and learn about the trigger at their own pace.

So if you have a fearful, reactive, aggressive or easy frustrated dog, talk to a trainer or behaviorist who knows BAT, it might be the solution for you!
•
•
•
•