Great Scott Dog Training Inc.

06/05/2023

Be a Dog Detective
Learn to Speak Dog and teach others:
https://doggonesafe.com/

06/03/2023

https://youtu.be/xX4K2ue2qik

People always ask me how to teach their dog to swim. This is one way to do it.

06/01/2023

There are lots of bad and even dangerous trainers out there. Here’s how to find a qualified training and behavior professional.

05/17/2023

Bribe or reward?!?

05/13/2023

05/13/2023

FREE LIVE WEBINAR! 💜

This month's free webinar looks at how to help those looking to add more positive welfare-based approaches to training and living with their dogs.

NOTE: This webinar is best suited for dog guardians, not professionals. PLEASE ONLY TAKE A SPOT IF YOU ARE A DOG GUARDIAN

If you are a professional and you would like a more in depth webinar, leave a YES down in the comments!

Limited to 50 spots.

Link: https://calendly.com/rplusdogs/welfare-based

05/05/2023

As it warms up outside, please keep this in mind!

03/20/2023

Basic Obedience Class
Location: Melbourne Community Center at Wickham Park
You must be registered by the last Friday BEFORE class.
Starting Date: Tuesday Nights
Tues, Mar 28th - May 2nd/2023
Time: 7:15 pm - 8:15pm
Cost: $110 for six weeks
How to Register: Christine Scott 321-482-7451

Basic obedience skills will be taught. Dogs must be current on their vaccinations. Dogs under the age of one have the opportunity to earn their AKC STAR Puppy certificate. (All six weeks attendance required.) Bring a 6 ft. leash (no retractable leashes) and a blanket or towel for your dog to settle on. Bring lots of yummy treats. NO PINCH or CHOKE COLLARS. Reasonable footwear (no high heels or flip-flops).

Advanced Obedience Class
Location: Melbourne Community Center at Wickham Park
You must be registered by the last Friday BEFORE class.
Starting Date: Tuesday Nights
Tues, Mar 28th - May 2nd/2023
Time: 6 - 7pm
Cost: $110 for six weeks (including test)

How to Register: Christine Scott 321-482-7451

This class is specifically for dogs and handlers who want to sharpen their obedience skills and earn their AKC Canine Good Citizen for Community Canine. We will have practice sessions for five weeks and a testing in the sixth week. Bring a 6 ft. leash (no retractable leashes) and a blanket or towel for your dog to settle on. Bring lots of yummy treats. NO PINCH or CHOKE COLLARS.



Location: Melbourne Community Center at Wickham Park

You must be registered by the last Friday BEFORE class.

Starting Date: Tuesday Nights

Tues, Mar 28th - May 2nd/2023

Time: 7:15 pm - 8:15pm

Cost: $110 for six weeks

How to Register: Christine Scott 321-482-7451

Basic obedience skills will be taught. Dogs must be current on their vaccinations. Dogs under the age of one have the opportunity to earn their AKC STAR Puppy certificate. (All six weeks attendance required.) Bring a 6 ft. leash (no retractable leashes) and a blanket or towel for your dog to settle on. Bring lots of yummy treats. NO PINCH or CHOKE COLLARS. Reasonable footwear (no high heels or flip-flops).

03/19/2023

When your blueberry muffin looks an awful lot like your best friend...

03/13/2023

gets it. 💕Snuggle up everybody. 💕

02/27/2023

I’ve heard this one probably hundreds of times at this point, from clients, volunteers, shelter workers, adopters… “Won’t playing tug with my dog make him aggressive?”

02/15/2023

Dogs have personal space bubbles, too!

01/24/2023

01/24/2023

A little goes a long way when it comes to training. And if we want to make something sustainable, we need to start small.

One minute is enough, it’s achievable.

Use it for whatever is useful for your dog. A find it game, a 1 minute pause and cuddle. A one minute training session.

Make one minute just for you and your dog because that one minute of you focused on them, will make more of a difference than you might think.

And then anything more is a bonus.

01/22/2023

Sounds like the perfect solution... kids itching to walk their new dog + over-stretched parents thrilled that their children are taking responsibility and lightening the workload! What's not to love?

Actually quite a LOT.

I can't tell you how many disappointed faces I see when I try to explain why a child walking a dog ALONE *might NOT be* the best idea for anyone!!?

And I get totally it.

If this is your first family dog, a quick spin around the block may look harmless enough - until you consider ALL of the things that can (and DO) go wrong.

Even (mentally and physically) FULLY-GROWN ADULTS get pulled down to the ground, or dragged over to squirrels, skateboards and the neighborhood cat. They accidentally drop leashes, or watch helplessly as their pup slips their collar. They struggle to control their dog around other dogs, or conversely, they panic or freeze when an off-leash dog comes sprinting full-speed towards them (friendly or not friendly.. who knows? They’ll likely find out when it’s too late!)

And this is ONLY a handful of the things that can happen to GROWN UPS… so for kids the stakes are simply exponentially higher.

As a trainer, I’m pretty calculated about where I go, and when I walk my dogs my radar is always activated. Even still, I’ve personally had to dash after my loose dog, I’ve been bitten by a dog who was attacking mine, I’ve seen a dog run over in a school parking lot, and watched a child be literally dragged for 50ft against her will!

So, I hope by sharing the potential risks with you, you can make informed choices about your family dog walking situation:

Here’s my hotlist of things to consider:

Size - of child and dog
Strength - of child and dog
Maturity - of child and dog
Training - of child and dog
Temperament - of child and dog

Then download, print and share our poster.
THESE are my questions to help families size up the COMBINATION of their dog and child to see whether WALKING ALONE together is a SMART call.

For more info for kids, dogs and making EVERYONE'S life SAFE and HAPPY - go to thefamilydog.com/families

01/17/2023

A study of 26 years' worth of wolf behavioral data, and an analysis of the blood of 229 wolves, has shown that infection with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii makes wolves 46 times more likely to become a pack leader.

01/16/2023

Quit laying around! It's time to sign up you dog for classes.

Basic Obedience Class
You must be registered by the last Friday BEFORE class.
Location: Crane Community Center
Starting Date: Wednesday Nights
Jan 25th - Mar 1rst/2023
Time: 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Cost: $105 for 6 weeks - (Melbourne residents)
$126 for 6 weeks - (Non-Residents)

For Registration call: Pete Williams at
321-795-0857

Basic obedience skills will be taught. Dogs have to be current on their vaccinations. Dogs under the age of one have the opportunity to earn their AKC STAR Puppy certificate. (All 6 week attendance required). Bring a 6 ft. leash (No retractable leashes), a blanket or towel for your dog to settle on. Bring lots of yummy treats. NO PINCH or CHOKE COLLARS.

Reasonable footwear (no high heels or flip-flops).

01/16/2023

I'd like to clarify some common misunderstandings out there about dog aggression.

I don't really believe in 'An Aggressive Dog'. It's not a personality trait or a guaranteed behaviour by that dog, nor does it tell us anything about how the dog is feeling or the motivation behind the behaviour.

Let's say it how it is.

Most aggression is a defensive response to a dog feeling under threat. The majority of dogs showing regular aggressive responses will also be experiencing pain, or another underlying medical condition such as thyroid or neurological abnormalities.

To delve a bit more into defensive aggression - many people see aggression as the dog threatening a person/dog. Hence they may feel angry and justified in punishing the dog. This is our OWN defensive response to feeling threatened, amongst other reasons. Understandable, yes; justified, no.

I often hear 'yes, but my dog needs to learn they can't growl/snap/bite'.

Aggression is merely communication and is almost always only utilised when the dog feels that other options are not available to them. The dog feels unsafe and will preferentially opt for flight/freeze options first as distance-seeking behaviours - i.e. they are asking the person/dog to give them space. If these are unsuccessful (i.e. the dog/person keeps on approaching) then the dog has no option but to opt for defensive behaviour to protect itself.

There are dogs that may seem to go straight for fight (defensive aggression) over flight/freeze. This is typically because a) we've missed the early flight/freeze signals; b) some breeds are predisposed to opt for defense first; c) they have learned that flight/freeze hasn't worked and only fight gives them the safety they need.

Even if you don't think your dog is justified in feeling threatened, we still need to respect that they do and respond accordingly to make them feel safe again.

If you punish or ignore the defensive behaviour and continue to keep the dog in that situation they are not coping with, you get dogs that go straight for the bite.

Your dog isn't 'bad' for showing aggression. They can't speak, remember - they're communicating in the only way they can, through their behaviour.

Finally, remember that dogs can read people extremely well, and can certainly read other dogs far, far better than we can. Aggression towards other dogs is commonly a reaction to what the other dog is giving off: distance-seeking signals, their own anxiety, underlying medical conditions, their neuter status .. all things we typically have no way of knowing when sat in a cafe, mixing with family dogs or out on a walk.

So, rather than stating 'my dog is aggressive', let's call it what it is. Let's reframe it to 'my dog is worried because that dog's too close/that person tried to touch him/that puppy continued to jump on him and ignored all his 'f**k off' signals'.

01/13/2023

Cat in the Hat...no Sam I Am

01/03/2023

Basic Obedience Class
Location: Melbourne Community Center at Wickham Park
You must be registered by the last Friday BEFORE class.
Starting Date: Tuesday Nights
Tues, Jan 17th - Feb 28th/2023
Time: 7:15 pm - 8:15pm
Cost: $110 for six weeks
How to Register: Christine Scott 321-482-7451
Basic obedience skills will be taught. Dogs must be current on their vaccinations. Dogs under the age of one have the opportunity to earn their AKC STAR Puppy certificate. (All six weeks attendance required.) Bring a 6 ft. leash (no retractable leashes) and a blanket or towel for your dog to settle on. Bring lots of yummy treats. NO PINCH or CHOKE COLLARS. Reasonable footwear (no high heels or flip-flops).

Advanced Obedience Class
Location: Melbourne Community Center at Wickham Park
You must be registered by the last Friday BEFORE class.
Starting Date: Tuesday Nights
Tues, Jan 17th - Feb 28th/2023
Time: 6 - 7pm pm
Cost: $110 for six weeks (including test)
How to Register: Christine Scott 321-482-7451
This class is specifically for dogs and handlers who want to sharpen their obedience skills and earn their AKC Canine Good Citizen for Community Canine. We will have practice sessions for five weeks and a testing in the sixth week. Bring a 6 ft. leash (no retractable leashes) and a blanket or towel for your dog to settle on. Bring lots of yummy treats. NO PINCH or CHOKE COLLARS.

Basic Obedience Class

You must be registered by the last Friday BEFORE class.

Location: Crane Community Center
Starting Date: Wednesday Nights
Jan 11th - Feb 15th/2022
Time: 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Cost: $105 for 6 weeks - (Melbourne residents)
$126 for 6 weeks - (Non-Residents)
For Registration call: Pete Williams at
321-795-0857
Basic obedience skills will be taught. Dogs have to be current on their vaccinations. Dogs under the age of one have the opportunity to earn their AKC STAR Puppy certificate. (All 6 week attendance required). Bring a 6 ft. leash (No retractable leashes), a blanket or towel for your dog to settle on. Bring lots of yummy treats. NO PINCH or CHOKE COLLARS.
Reasonable footwear (no high heels or flip-flops).

01/03/2023

Bunting, allorubbing, and allogrooming in cats - why your cat rubs their head on you and what it means.

12/30/2022

Life is full of excitement :)

12/30/2022

You are not going to find a better deal than this. Even if you have to drive from the south end of the county, it will cost less than microchipping at your Vet. No appointment necessary.
Saturday, December 31. Happy New Year.

12/29/2022

One way to keep Killmouseki from pestering the other cat: harness training! 😂

12/28/2022

He is outnumbered 😂😂

12/28/2022

Last graduates of this year! Congratulations to all

12/28/2022

Branch manager and assistant branch manager 😂

12/25/2022

Merry Christmas everyone !

11/24/2022

IS A TIRED DOG A “GOOD” DOG?
It sounds logical - if a dog is tired from lots of physical activity or environmental stimulation they will settle down and have a good, long sleep which will in turn make our lives a bit easier. Sometimes they will, every dog is different and different breeds have different needs, but sometimes a tired dog may become more aroused, more energetic, behave out of character and make bad choices.
Some of us may be familiar with young children who are hyped up, can’t settle down, behave badly or have tantrums and outbursts often when they have not had enough rest or sleep and are over tired. How do we behave when we are overtired? We may feel edgy, snappy, irritable, less in control of our emotions and more likely to make mistakes or bad decisions. The same applies to our dogs.
Although exercise and stimulation are so important in meeting the needs of our dogs, too much may have a negative effect. Too much stimulation increases arousal chemicals in the brain and body and more adrenaline is produced. Even after the stimulating activity has ended, elevated arousal chemicals can remain high for a day or more. Some dogs need time to decompress to allow these chemicals to dissipate.
Balance is important. Help your dog to decompress by providing frequent break periods, a quiet place to rest and sleep where they won’t be disturbed, calming activities like chewing, puzzle toys, Licky mats, Kongs or go for a slow, calming sniffing walk in a quiet area.

11/06/2022

Killmouseki found a calm dog friend...

11/03/2022

All pups should be "muzzle" trained... this is a great post explaining just one reason how it can be helpful. https://fb.watch/gyNiqtmDMV/

10/25/2022

The benefits of using food puzzle toys, how to choose them, and how to introduce them to your dog.

10/24/2022

Meet the newest member of our house hold: Killmouseki :)

10/23/2022

Are you planning some long-distance travel with your dog? Here are some important things to consider when deciding whether you should drive or fly with your dog.