How to get that dog back into that HEEL POSITION 👏
The more you do this, the quicker they get!
A dog who can be appropriately calm and playful with a small puppy is worth their weight in gold! Cannoli was taught these same lessons when she was a pup (shoutout to Lu), and passes them down to every puppy we have here for training. She will gently correct and redirect naughtiness without going over the top, she’ll teach them how to play gentle bitey face, chase, and when she done with them, she teaches them what to do when the other dog doesn’t want to play anymore.
Do you have your own Cannoli? Volunteer their services to your friends with new puppies! Just be ready to step in and advocate for both dogs if things don’t stay chill. ✌️
Not every dog is born naturally knowing how to play fetch or engage with toys. These are the basic first steps I take to show them how!
1. TUG TUG TUG, make fun noises, be loose and silly!
2. When you want them to drop it, lock your elbow close to your body while holding the toy still. Don’t make a single noise. Just be flat and boring. The moment they drop you can say “Out!” or “Drop!”, but wait for them to actually spit it out before you give your desired cue.
3. Throw the toy or make it come “alive” again for tugging. Rinse and repeat until the disengage, or after 3 minutes (you don’t want to overdo it).
4. If they check out for even a moment, the game is over and I typically will tease them with the toy for a moment and then put them away to rest and think about how much fun they were having.
If the grab the toy and run away, (be sure they’re on a long line or in a fence) and you run the opposite direction! Never chase them down unless that’s what you want fetch to look like forever.
I don’t know what I was expecting. 😅
Off to the pool with 6 lucky dogs!
These happy hikers hope you take your dog somewhere nice today!
This is now a Koa stan account, not sorry.
This was immediately after I brought him out of the car for this disc event. All these dogs moving around and barking is challenging for any dog, let alone a reactive one! He’ll only get better (more calm and neutral) from here. 🦊
Sooo… my phone fell in the pool this morning while we were swimming dogs 🫡
Maybe the camera lens will dry out soon, but for now all my content will look a little foggy.
Check out Oscar and these cute baby groundhogs!
Augustus’s walk has improved after literally one session of clear and consistent feedback from me:
Pull, and I’m going to immediately do a 180 and walk the other direction.
Give in to leash pressure and follow, and I’ll immediately praise and reward in position as we walk together.
Sometimes things can be simple, but we have to follow through!
One last romp before we start the long drive home from Georgia, where board and train pup Zoey tagged along for 4 days of the most exciting dog frisbee competition in the world.
I don’t plan on bringing clients along for too many cross country trips in the future, but talk about a full immersive experience for Zoey! A 9 hour drive for a dog who previously suffered from car sickness (she didn’t feel sick at all!), hanging out surrounded by dogs but not meeting them (for a dog who is used to going to dog parks), and being calm around hundreds of strangers and so much food and frisbees flying through the air. I am so proud of her!
We headed to @athomestores to practice Ranger’s ability to remember his training in new and busy places. I think he did great! As always, I kindly told strangers who approached that he was in training and could not be pet. Everybody understood and gave him compliments instead! 🐺
We don’t have control over strangers or the environment… so it’s our job to advocate for and protect our dogs when we choose to take them into public spaces. You can’t control the noises people make, or the children who rush up to pet, but you can control your response to the situation!
STAY CALM, and do whatever you need to make your dog feel safe. Move away from the stranger, block the oncoming child or loose dog with your leg. Once the threat is neutralized, get your dog into work mode and carry on.
You can (and honestly should) teach your dog a non negotiable Down Stay that can withstand the test of a baby talking and quickly approaching stranger- but you’d better be hustling over to remove the stranger instead of assuming your dog can handle it on their own.
Millie had a hard time separating over the top excited play from actually looking to her humans for guidance. While it’s impossible to be mad at that sweet face, being clobbered by a playful dog when you need them to be calm is FRUSTRATING! I’ve been going at the pace I felt she needed to help her understand the “right” way to behave, but even though we’ve been taking it slow, I’m very pleased with her improvement in the few short days we’ve had her!
We’ve been out of office for the past two weeks taking care of our forever employee of the month, Mr. Taco. He had a spinal cord injury on Saint Patrick’s day that left him unable to walk normally, but we’re so proud of his improvement and looking forward to getting him back in action! Bring on the training dogs to keep me busy while he’s resting 🥳
The difference 1 walk with clear direction and well timed rewards can make! Biggie the city slicker is enjoying all the space to run here. 🥳
Baby Donnie heads home tonight! We’re taking one last trip into public to see how his training has stuck.
What do you think? 😁
