The PupperZone

08/21/2024

Mom was able to get the cap and glasses on Seven.

08/21/2024

2 graduates in 1 day. Check out this awesome German Shepard Seven.
This little guy was certainly a handful. He definitely put me to the test several times but we made it through. He still very jumpy and mouthy but we are continuing that work. I'm terms of his obedience, he nailed everything sit to go to mat and everything in between. He certainly is a head strong "teenager" but he's falling in line.

Mom said he absolutely loves the Gentle Leader. So, now I KNOW he's a little whacko. 😂

We tried to put the cap on Seven. He lasted about 3 seconds. Needless to say the hat didn't survive.

08/20/2024

Another graduation 🐕🎓😃🎉
This is Rufus. He is a 7 month old golden doodle hailing from Hoboken. I loved working with him and his parents. He is so attentive and mom and dad are great with all their homework. Every time I came over he quickly got into "training mode". Rufus is a beast in training. He is a little skiddish of the big construction sounds but he seems to bounce back quickly.

He wasn't a fan of the graduation cap but that's my fault. I didn't teach him to wear it 🤷

Congratulations Rufus!

08/17/2024

if you are a client (graduate or in-progress student) would you please take a moment to leave a review. This will greatly help potential new clients in their decision making process.

Post a review to our profile on Google

08/16/2024

Check out Sophie. A 1 year old Maltipoo. She's on week 4 and doing great. She was having a hard time last session with stay but her mom and dad put in the homework and this week we were about to work on sit and stay when opening and going through the front door.

For fun we also worked on paw and high 5; we she nailed!

08/14/2024

Meet our newest student. This is Jake. A 4 month old chocolate lab. He has his first lesson today. He is incredible. He learned sit, down, paw, hand targeting, and the beginning of go to mat. In. One. Session. This pupper is bound for big things.

08/12/2024

Meet our latest pupper. This is Cricket a male puppy chocolate lab. Just a few months old but he is super intelligent and lots of fun. Today was his first lesson and he did fantastic. He learned sit, down, and hand targeting. I'm really looking forward to working with this little guy for the next few weeks.

08/08/2024

Meet the newest pupper. This is Poseidon. Supposedly he is a 6 month old golden doodle. I'll wait to see the DNA test to confirm that one😆🐕

In any case, Poseidon is super smart. He picked up 4 cues in just 45 min.

08/07/2024

Check out the latest graduate. This is Dewy. This little pupper was so fun to work with. He always have me a look like "I got this! Give me more."

08/01/2024

Check out this little nut. This is Pistachio (see what I did there).

This baby mini dachshund is having some separation anxiety. We're helping him build his confidence being alone as he's currently a "Velcro" dog.

He did excellent on his first day. We saw an 8000% improvement. Literally! He went from being able to be away from Mom for 1/2 a second without whining to just over 40 seconds.

07/31/2024

Another graduate! This is Micha. A bernedoodle pup rockstar.

He wasn't a fan of the cap 🎓 by he played along (as long as he got the treats 😁)

I can't wait to see him again at a follow-up in the near future.

07/31/2024

Check out our new student. This is Ellie. She is a gorgeous champion line Rhodesian Ridgeback pupper.

Who would think that this pup could take down a lion? Ok. No lions for this little girl. Unless they are stuffed and have a squeaky in them.

She's expected to be about 70lbs and has already doubled in size from when I met her just a few weeks back.

07/29/2024

This is Tenoch. As a senior dog he proved that dogs a NEVER to old to learn. You may just need a little more consistency, persistency, and patience but they can certainly learn a lot.

In just five sessions this little guy learned a lot about patience on his own. He learned to sit, down, stay ( to be fair we are still practicing this but he is getting it when he wants to ), go to bed, and leave it.

Like a lot of senior dogs he can be a little grumpy sometimes. He definitely likes his alone time and can get a little growly when he is with his mom and dad and trying to share them. However, his mom and dad mentioned that have seen a big change for the better in his personality since we started.

With behavior modification, there is no guarantee that behaviors will change for every situation and every variable. However when new issues pop up that push your pup over their threshold you can go back to the plan that was implemented for the other items and go step by step. I know his mom and dad will be able to help Tenoch continue to be the best "good boy" as the years go on.

07/28/2024

Update: this baby is staying at her existing home 🙌🎉🐕‍🦺🐶😃

If anyone is looking for a new family member, this beautiful 2 year old pupper is in need a new home. Unfortunately, she can't stay at her current home.

Nica is one of the sweetest dogs I have had the opportunity to train. She already knows sit, down, stay, drop it, leave it, take it, and go to bed. She is potty trained. She is currently living with a small dog and they get along great. She is in a family with a teenager right now. She is also spayed (she just got spayed on 7/24). I'm not sure if she is microchipped but can confirm later. She does slobber when excited but who doesn't love that?

We were still working on her loose leash walking. However she is doing very well with it.

If you would like to give this pupper a new home I would provide training at no cost to help get her acclimated to your home.

07/28/2024

Another graduate. This is Shoresy. He's a 9 month old golden retriever.

Shoresy is an absolute rockstar! He comes from a line of champions and it showed. There was nothing this big guy couldn't get.

He definitely lives by Shoresy's motto of "Go til you can't go no more"

His favorite move that he learned was "cen ter" as he showed in this photo.

I look forward to working with him more in the fall on becoming a therapy dog. For now, he is enjoying the Summer.

07/27/2024

It's been a while since I posted. That will be changing soon. I have some help updating this page, my blog, and even Instagram while I get to focus on the puppers.

Here are a couple of the recent graduates

Shibu and Rufus

These two were pups are stars. They picked up everything so quickly. Sometimes they were even pushing me to go faster.

I'm so lucky to have worked with both pups and their families.

03/02/2024

Hello everyone. I just got my Google Business profile up. A 5 star review would be greatly appreciated 😁🙌🐾🐕

Post a review to our profile on Google

02/19/2024

When training we want to make sure that the pupper stays engaged. To do this we need to make sure we are having fun. During a recent lesson with Canela, we took a break to play in the snow.

We had a great session. Afterwards, she was able to calm down quickly

02/15/2024

The site is still a work in progress. I will be adding videos, blog posts, and other services in the coming days.

Let me know what you think.

a rewarding journey Professional Dog Training & Behavior Modification Learn more Contact us Contact us N Persistence N Consistency N Patience N Fun The right way to train your dog We teach you how to best communicate with your dog, using positive training techniques that create lasting results.   W...

02/15/2024

Meet Charlie. This little boy is the Pupper of the Week.

Charlie is a Brooklyn boy who is super smart but his mommy was concerned about some fear and "aggressive" behaviors towards people and dogs.

We've been working with Charlotte for several weeks. We have been taking it slow and letting Charlie set the pace. Working on some basic cues to help build his confidence while helping his mom have the tools to help set up Charlie for success.

One of the main concerns for mom was Charlie, "doesn't like other dogs" and barks and lunges at them. So, we worked on the leash and gave mom some tips to proactively manage the walk so Charlie didn't get overwhelmed by dogs.

This part weekend we to a big step. We went to a dog park. When we got there, there weren't that many dogs which we saw was a good thing. We didn't want to overwhelm him. However, as soon as Charlie got in to the park he quickly ran over to the first dog and engaged in a very nice greeting. He even initiated the play with the dogs.

As the day went on more and more dogs came in and some were quite large. Charlie was unbelievable. He interacted with almost all of them and every time was a positive engagement.

There were some times where the dogs were getting loud but their body language and behavior was not aggressive and remained playful the entire time.

Now, we are going to continue working with Charlie to socialize him with other dogs, people, sounds, and experiences. However, this was a fantastic example of how far Charlie has come.

02/12/2024

All our clients aren't just little dogs and puppies.

This is Zombie (male brown & white Pit) and Nyla (female cream Pit xl)

With a new baby coming home, we've been working on manners (jumping, sitting, staying, patience) and calming down.

Nyla is a little older and wiser but Zombie has been making great progress.

02/09/2024

Check out Rocky. He's a 5 month old German Shepard. This boy is super intelligent, beautiful and an absolute pleasure to work with. He is picking up his cues in both English and Spanish thanks to all the great work his mom Kelsey is putting in. He seems to nail everything we work on and has great energy.

Rocky is just a little cautious around other dogs. He had a bad experience with a couple bigger dogs so we are going to work on building his confidence up and reintroducing him slowly to his fellow canines

02/07/2024

This is one of my clients, Terry. He is a 16-week Shih Tzu pupper and is our first Pupper of the Week

This little guy is super smart and has been doing great with his training. We have been working on Sit, Stay, Leave It, Drop It, Come and Down. This little boy is like a sponge. He picks it up so quickly, and his dad is doing a great job reinforcing the work through the week.

It is essential to train your puppy consistently and persistently. They may learn it real quickly but when they get into the adolescent stage (See Teenager), they will "forget" some and challenge you.

01/29/2024

Did you know that dogs are talking to you all the time? I don't mean when they are barking. Though they do communicate with us by barking, this is their last resort; at least until they realize that you aren't listening to the other ways they are "talking to you.

Dogs are experts at communicating through their body language. In fact, their language is a universal language for all dogs throughout the world. Even some communication is understood through other species (Think of a Border Collie herding sheep).

The problem for us, though, is that most humans do not recognize our puppers' signals. Too, some of these signals are really quick. With some practice and understanding of these signals, you can go a long way to being able to better communicate with your pup.

Here are just a few examples of how dogs communicate with us

* Tail wagging (a wagging tail does not always mean they are happy). The tail is one of the main communicators for the dog. It can signal happiness, playfulness, stress, anxiety, fear, and aggression. If you don't know how to read their tail, you may never know what your pup is trying to tell you. This can be very difficult to understand with dogs that have short or docked tails.

* Eyes - Through the shape of the pup's eyes, they can communicate excitement, fear, stress, anxiety, happiness, and more. When a dog wants to calm you or another dog, they will make their eyes smaller.

* Ears - Like the tail, this can be a little tough if the ears are docked. Are your dog's ears straight up, down, pointed forward or backward? Each of these communicates something completely different

* Mouth and snout - Open, closed, panting, lip licking, yawning, and snarling all provide different information. BTW, each of these can mean several things. You need to assess the whole situation for context. A snarl is not a bad thing either. It is a clear signal, however, that your pup is giving.

* Body - In combination with the other sites above, the body can help you further understand the dog's intent. Is it loose and floppy? Is he shaking? Sitting, laying down, stiff, and leaning forward? Did she just dig a quick sake like when coming out of the water (but she is dry)? The way a dog presents himself to another animal or human is saying a lot. If you don't know what he is saying, the results could be bad.

Would you like to learn how to better communicate with your pupper? Call or message me today.

01/24/2024

Do you have a new baby? Perhaps you are pregnant and are concerned how your pup will react and behave around their new sibling.

Here are some tips to introduce your pupper to the baby.

Introduce your pupper to all the baby supplies and scents. Rub baby lotion or baby powder on your hands so that your dog will associate a positive connection with the scent.

Set up the nursery early. Let your pupper explore the new setting and get accustomed to any new furniture or baby items that may frighten him.

Praise your pupper regularly. To avoid any potential anxiety, give your dogs some extra praise when they are around new items such as baby tables and cribs.

Establish the ground rules early. Do not allow your pupper to jump or sleep on any of the baby's furniture. Pets tend to avoid sticky surfaces, so if your pet views the new furniture as a napping place, consider a double-sided adhesive to make the new items undesirable.

Introduce changes in your pupper's routine early. These include play sessions, walks, feedings, grooming, sleeping, and other daily schedule shifts. Dogs need some quality time with your undivided attention for a short period of time every day. Plan ahead to determine the best time for this so that you can maintain the new schedule when the baby comes home.

When the Baby Arrives:

After arriving home from the hospital, greet your pupper in a quiet room so you can reconnect and bond. After you’ve had a few minutes of undivided attention with your dogs, you can let everyone else, including the baby, in the house.

Let your pupper investigate by placing an item that smells like the baby, such as a receiving blanket or article of clothing, in a quiet place for them to smell and get acclimated with the item.

Don’t let your pupper feel forgotten about. Praise your dog and give them attention when the baby is in the room. Baby naptime is the perfect opportunity to spend some quality time, just the two of you.

ALWAYS SUPERVISE ANY INTERACTION WITH YOUR BABY!!! CHILDREN (ESPECIALLY BABIES AND TODDLERS MOVE STRANGLEY IN THE EYES OF A DOG. THIS CAN BE FRIGHTENING TO YOUR PUPPER. A SCARED DOG CAN PROVIDE UNPREDICTABLE BEHAVIOR INCLUDING GROWLING AND BITING.

NEVER LEAVE YOUR BABY ALONE WITH YOUR DOG!!!

Do you have a new baby or one on the way? Would you like some help introducing your pupper? Call or message me to set up and appointment

01/17/2024

Did you know that behavior issues are the #1 reason adolescent dogs are surrendered to shelters?

Adolescence is typically 6-12 months of age (depending on breed, smaller breeds may be sooner, while larger ones could be 12-18 months). This is commonly called the "Juvenile Stage" or "Teenage Stage". This is when the puppy starts to begin shedding their cute, goofy nature and emerging adolescent behaviors can be challenging for parents.

Even well-socialized and well-trained puppers may become more difficult to handle during adolescence due to the typical teen-age boundary testing and a secondary fearful period. Ask any parent that has dealt with the transition of their child into a teen. It can be super challenging, confusing, and frustrating to say the least.

Adolescence is a make-or-break time in the relationship between a dog and their parent. Good leadership, management, and attention to positive reinforcement training can solidify the bond; whereas failure to provide these fundamentals will almost ensure that the adult dog is going to be a difficult pet.

Raise your paw if you have a pupper that is displaying some unwanted behaviors
Let us assist in building a solid foundation for your pupper's success. Call or message us today (201) 889-3243

01/16/2024

Why do dogs jump?

Jumping is a very rewarding action for dogs. It is not that they are trying to dominate you. They simply want your attention. Many dogs get very excited when they see people; especially their 2-legged parents and new people. Jumping on someone is their way of saying “Look at me!!! Play with me!!!”

Reinforcement drives behavior. We have to think about what we are doing when the dog jumps. Not just what we are doing but what other people in the house are doing. Are they being consistent with your pupper or are they doing what they want? If it is the latter, it is sending mixed messages to the dog and making it harder for him to understand the correct behavior. Think of it like you not giving your children candy but every time grandma comes over she gets them all hopped up on sugar. One other thing to consider is, are you putting your hands on the pupper and pushing them down? If so, this is giving them the attention they want. Almost any attention you give to the dog is good attention.

So, what should you do? Reward the behavior you want and ignore the inappropriate behavior. When the dog jumps on you simply turn away and say “OFF” in a deep commanding voice (Not yelling though). Ignore the dog. If the dog continues to jump, continue these steps. As soon as the pupper is on all 4 feet, give him 1 second. Immediately reward the behavior. Give praise and treats if you have them. If the dog tries to jump again during this, repeat the steps above. Likely the pup will quickly learn that they cannot jump to get your attention.

YOU MUST BE CONSISTENT WITH THIS BEHAVIOR.

You cannot do this one time and then different the next time. You must do this in all situations. If you are coming into the room, outside, on a walk, or sitting down. Your reaction needs to be the same.

What about when people come over?

You need to follow the same routine as before. If this is someone you know and they are COMFORTABLE with your dog, quickly explain the procedure. You may also want to have a leash on your pupper if you have a big dog so you can better control her. Ideally, when someone comes to your house, you should cue your pupper into a sit-and-stay to allow the people to enter. They should ignore the dog until you release your pup. Then follow the same instructions above.

Additionally, you can have some treats by the door. You can use the treats while the pup is in a sit-and-stay. Have the guest provide the treat and then greet the dog calmly. If the dog jumps, the people need to stop the greeting, turn away, and say off. Do NOT reengage with the dog until the dog is on all 4 legs.

Do you need help with a jumping dog or other behavior issues? Message me today to set up a free consultation.

01/11/2024

Should you crate-train your pupper?

Crate training is one of those areas that many people misunderstand. They feel that the crate is going to confine their dog. That they should be able to roam free. Some feel that the crate is a punishment. Others think that the crate will create anxiety in the dog because they cannot be with us. Finally, many people get bad advice on how and why to crate train their dog.

First, the crate should NEVER be used as a punishment. If you are placing your pupper in a crate and locking it when YOU think they have done something bad, that WILL create stress in the dog. They have no clue why you are locking them away. They just know that they cannot get to you. They will end up barking, panting, whining, and even possibly soiling the crate.

Natural Behavior
Crate training a puppy takes advantage of the dog's natural instincts to seek out a comfortable, quiet, and safe place when the environment around them becomes too loud or overwhelming. Having a space that your pupper knows is only for him and he can go to will also help with anxiety

Safety
A crate provides a safe space for your dog, especially when you're not around to supervise them. It also helps prevent your dog from having access to dangerous items or getting into mischief.

House training
Crate training can help with potty training, as dogs have a natural tendency not to soil their den. You just need to make sure that the crate is not too big. If you anticipate your pupper is going to grow to be really big, big crates usually come with a divider to tighten the space. You only want enough space that they can stand, sit, and lay down comfortably.

Behavior management
Crate training can help encourage positive behavior and teach dogs how to follow commands. Adding the cue of "Bed" or "Safe Spot" is a great way to help your dog learn where to go when they should be in their crate.

Travel
Crate training can be especially important for dogs who need to be contained during travel, such as on airplanes.

Vet visits
Having your dog rest in a crate while you're not around can make vet visits easier.

Damage limitation
A properly crate-trained dog is less likely to destroy items in your home.

Would you like help crate training your dog? It is never too late BTW. If you would like to learn more, message me to set up a free consultation.