The Connective Canine Dog Training

A few clips from Harley's go home lesson last week. He did so great. We challenged him with different distractions, and I was so proud of his focus on his owner.

Teaching the owners is such an important piece to the training puzzle. It doesn't matter how well trained the dog is, if the owners aren't taught how to maintain and continue the training then it's all just a waste. Zara's owners are on point and showed up eager to learn. And Zara was proud to show off her new skills. She genuinely wants to make you happy. She still has a few days til her final lesson on Monday and I know her owners are excited!

The past few days Harley has been hard at work! We've been challenging his skills in several different locations. The coffee shop, Atwoods, and he also joined us for our Thanksgiving festivities.

Yesterday, Harley joined us along with my friend and her dog Leia. Holding a downstay was a little challenging for him at first around a new dog. And the chairs startled him a little. But he settled in and started to relax. Every dog can benefit from neutral exposure. Learning to settle no matter what is going on in their surroundings. This is equally important for a service dog in training. He needs to be able to not worry but his environment and be focused on his handler. Zara joined us for a trip to Atwoods to practice her training in a distracting environment. Noah even got to walk her, so she got practice working with a different handler and not just me. Only a few more days til these two go home! And I'm so excited for the progress they're making!

Had a nice day working with Zara and Harley on their offleash skills!

This is your friendly reminder to PLEASE ask before petting a strangers dog. 1. The dog may not be friendly. 2. It's not your dog. 3. They may not want you petting them. As simple as that. Chester is extremely friendly but if I allowed everyone that came up to us to pet him, it would lead to him getting too excited. My goal while we're out is to practice calm behavior in public.

Had a fun day working the dogs through some distractions today. Chester got to practice being handled by another person besides me. This helps him learn that it's not just me he has to listen to. He'll have to listen to his owners too. Chester also held a sit-stay while my friend handling him walked away to hold the door open for a gentleman. He did so great! Apollo did great for his first time working in a public setting. Both dogs did really well! They held their down stays while people passed and talked to them. They settled while we had coffee and lunch. This was a great challenge for both dogs. This is real world training. Making our obedience skills practical and useful.

Obi finished up his board & train a few weeks ago. He's a prime example of a "good dog" that still benefited from ECollar training. He didn't have any behavior issues and already knew a lot but his owner wanted more off leash ability and a better communication system with him. She also wanted to be able to do things with him like her other dog Leia who has also been through our program.

Chevy went home yesterday! Can't believe it's already been 3 weeks since Chevy started training! I'm so excited for his owner to be able to walk him and take him on more adventures now that he has way better leash and listening skills.

Chevy has been with us for almost a week now! He's settling in and learning lots of new things. He's a lot more focused and eager to learn now!

The other day I had a good training moment with the dogs and wanted to share. I was recording some stories and talking to my phone camera. While I was distracted and my attention was elsewhere, Kat and Leia took the opportunity to mean they were done and tried getting up a few times. I didn't make a big fuss. I just verbally corrected them and had them lay back down. They didn't get released to go play in the yard until they were all waiting patiently. Dogs are opportunistic and will take advantage if they think you're not paying attention. So practice and set up scenarios to test your dog's skills.